Changing Channels

I nearly forgot a pivotal milestone last month. Then again, I forgot last time, too. As I promised in 2013, I went down with the TV.com ship; I think I was one of the last remaining editors to hang on when my account was eradicated in December 2019. A month or so later, the site no longer existed. I kept things up when the last site admin was phased out in mid-2018, the reviews and blogs were shut down a few months later, and site's new episode generator glitched well into 2019. I guess I carried the delusion that TV.com would be salvaged. 

If TV.com has any legacy, the site established an unexpected comradery. Someone created a private Facebook group for the "refugees" about 10 years ago, and a fair number of us are still in touch. People that met in the discussion boards in 2005-06 (or TV Tome a couple years before that) still communicate to this day. There's even a group messenger convo of people from the old SNL forum. Several lasting friendships, almost exclusive to the internet and scattered around the world, came from that page. In short, our love to TV wasn't defined or dissipated by one unprofitable, mismanaged web site.

Next time: my annual baseball preview.

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My Empire in Ruins

Early last month, I reached a remarkable milestone and I completely forgot about it for 3 1/2 weeks. February 1st was the tenth anniversary of my registering on TV Tome, the site that proceeded (and begat) TV.com. Considering how much time and energy I've put into the site over this past decade, one would assume this would be a cause for celebration. Instead, it barely registered in my conscious. What once was a passion now feels like a chore.

If you visit TV.com now, it feels like a second-tier entertainment news site, rather than the communal celebration of all things television that it was and should be. The people that built this site from scratch so many years ago are long gone; an anonymous group of corporate hacks are pulling the reins. The community is dying, episode guides aren't being updated, and most of the forums feel like ghost towns. My Level 63 status, high ranking and hard earned, feels increasingly hollow. CNet's presence has been both a blessing and a bane.

So why haven't I left? For the same reason why I didn't leave eight years ago; I had too much to lose. I still contribute information, but not at the same frequency as I did five years ago. I still post in the forums, though fewer people comment after me. Most of my TV.com acquaintances keep in touch through social media outlets like Facebook and Twitter. If the ship sinks, I'm going down with it.  Unlike most of my peers, there's too much of me on that site to just up and leave. That's not to say I haven't been tempted...

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