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@swirlie A good one.
swirlie · 31-35
@FreddieUK
I was a member of EP since it's original inception in 2005 when I was 13 years old, then remained as a daily poster until 2010 when EP was sold, then remained another 5 years until 2015 when EP was finally shut down by law enforcement. Six months later in early springtime of 2016, SW was born.
The first 5 years of EP's operation from 2005 to 2010 was a website that was owned by a Physician who's mission in life was to provide story-telling experiences to young people who were either home-bound or bed-ridden with Muscular Dystrophy. He solicited people's true life experiences who traveled the world as either business travelers or travel resulting from being rich and famous.
Those of us who were among the original Founding members of EP then wrote short stories to EP which the MS patients in question would read about, thereby living their own lives vicariously through the experiences of others who travelled the world or through those who simply had lots of life experiences in life to talk about, myself being the latter case. This is why the website's name became "Experience Project".
When EP was sold to a new Webmaster in 2010, that whole mandate I've just described was immediately cancelled and all those MS kids no longer had anything to read about from EP in terms of life experiences from others.
EP then turned into a wild west free-for-all, somewhat like how Reddit and Yahoo Answers turned into as well, where EP was largely UN-moderated and soon filled to the brim with trolls and pedophiles.
EP then shutdown permanently in 2015 and during the last 6 months of it's operation, there were absolutely no moderators on site nor was the site managed in any sort of way internally. It was as if the Webmaster just left the server turned on then went on vacation for 6 months as his house remained totally vacant and unattended.
SW then got started up in the springtime of 2016 and from the beginning it became a website with a focus being nothing more than an online version of the game Trivial Pursuit. Someone would ask a dumb question and then 50 people would try to answer it.
In that regard, nothing has actually changed here at SW since 2016 with the exception of games being added, plus a few other little perks and subtle nuances, but making SW nothing whatsoever like what EP was in it's first 5 years of operation, but becoming somewhat like how EP was during it's LAST 5 years of operation if you know what I mean...
The reason SW cannot ever be like EP use to be in the beginning, is because this website's web format is not designed in the same way that EP was and therefore, to attempt to write stories and have those stories listed on your screen in front of you is a physical impossibility here.
To do what EP use to do would require that an entirely different website format be created and implemented from it's inception, which means that a website's format cannot be transformed into something it inherently is not, simply by moving a few things around. Website platforms are very expensive to build and to own, the more complex the website, the more one can do with it.
SW is more than adequate for what it offers it's membership, but SW is not a complex website in comparison to what EP "use to be". That is why it became a physical impossibility for SW to ever become what EP use to be, either now or in the future without canceling what we have here and starting over.
I was a member of EP since it's original inception in 2005 when I was 13 years old, then remained as a daily poster until 2010 when EP was sold, then remained another 5 years until 2015 when EP was finally shut down by law enforcement. Six months later in early springtime of 2016, SW was born.
The first 5 years of EP's operation from 2005 to 2010 was a website that was owned by a Physician who's mission in life was to provide story-telling experiences to young people who were either home-bound or bed-ridden with Muscular Dystrophy. He solicited people's true life experiences who traveled the world as either business travelers or travel resulting from being rich and famous.
Those of us who were among the original Founding members of EP then wrote short stories to EP which the MS patients in question would read about, thereby living their own lives vicariously through the experiences of others who travelled the world or through those who simply had lots of life experiences in life to talk about, myself being the latter case. This is why the website's name became "Experience Project".
When EP was sold to a new Webmaster in 2010, that whole mandate I've just described was immediately cancelled and all those MS kids no longer had anything to read about from EP in terms of life experiences from others.
EP then turned into a wild west free-for-all, somewhat like how Reddit and Yahoo Answers turned into as well, where EP was largely UN-moderated and soon filled to the brim with trolls and pedophiles.
EP then shutdown permanently in 2015 and during the last 6 months of it's operation, there were absolutely no moderators on site nor was the site managed in any sort of way internally. It was as if the Webmaster just left the server turned on then went on vacation for 6 months as his house remained totally vacant and unattended.
SW then got started up in the springtime of 2016 and from the beginning it became a website with a focus being nothing more than an online version of the game Trivial Pursuit. Someone would ask a dumb question and then 50 people would try to answer it.
In that regard, nothing has actually changed here at SW since 2016 with the exception of games being added, plus a few other little perks and subtle nuances, but making SW nothing whatsoever like what EP was in it's first 5 years of operation, but becoming somewhat like how EP was during it's LAST 5 years of operation if you know what I mean...
The reason SW cannot ever be like EP use to be in the beginning, is because this website's web format is not designed in the same way that EP was and therefore, to attempt to write stories and have those stories listed on your screen in front of you is a physical impossibility here.
To do what EP use to do would require that an entirely different website format be created and implemented from it's inception, which means that a website's format cannot be transformed into something it inherently is not, simply by moving a few things around. Website platforms are very expensive to build and to own, the more complex the website, the more one can do with it.
SW is more than adequate for what it offers it's membership, but SW is not a complex website in comparison to what EP "use to be". That is why it became a physical impossibility for SW to ever become what EP use to be, either now or in the future without canceling what we have here and starting over.
FreddieUK · 70-79, M
@swirlie Thank you so much for taking the trouble to give me that really clear explanation. I can see now why people ask the question and I can hear your sorrow not having what you had. I suppose because I don't know what I missed, I just put up with what's here which is enough for me to idle a few hours away sometimes. There are a few people like your good self, who interest me and I'll prepare a challenge sometimes when I make statements which are contentious. I am always pleased to hear from people who think differently from me: the disappointment is that so many just can't debate and fall into abuse or block because they don't want to hear anything which discomforts them.
@swirlie This is THE best explanation of why SW will never be EP.
swirlie · 31-35
@onrealityofdreams
What I've learned about web design from a girlfriend of mine who is a Webmaster herself, is that a website that starts out to be made into a sweater, cannot suddenly be turned into a pair of pants if the web designer changes her mind half way through the process.
Basically, the sweater has to be pulled out and taken right back to the very first knitted knot of yarn and then at that point, turned into a pair of pants if wool pants is what you desire!
What I've learned about web design from a girlfriend of mine who is a Webmaster herself, is that a website that starts out to be made into a sweater, cannot suddenly be turned into a pair of pants if the web designer changes her mind half way through the process.
Basically, the sweater has to be pulled out and taken right back to the very first knitted knot of yarn and then at that point, turned into a pair of pants if wool pants is what you desire!