[Michael Juster]

Undoubtedly, as Eratosphere's first moderator, I have a somewhat sentimental view of the history here. In the first few years I remember it as a small, closely knit group; our reputation rose due to the courtesy and content of the critiques. As we mushroomed, those qualities continued with the addition of moderators Tim Murphy, Alan Sullivan, Alicia Stallings & many talented others.

In my view, which many do not share, the addition of General Talk, without a restriction of the talk to poetry, made Eratosphere a platform for politics. Soon the civility was gone, Alex rarely enforced the ad hominem rule, and many of the key people left.

I myself was driven off for many years by bullying driven by anger & extreme politics.