I think the 'icecream' metaphor really screwed me over here. I know members don't pay for the forum, but it seems I had a mistaken belief that they did pay to support the org. All of the words on the donation page contributed to this mistake of mine, so I do withhold some responsibility. The community isn't supported by its members? So the people contributing to help make this community what it is don't get anything in return for their efforts? It's a charity, then, not a donation toward the services they get in return? This doesn't quite fit with what the site says, about how projects will not be possible without members, and how the site cannot move forward without the members contributing to it. I'm sorry, but this isn't a charity. A charity is an organization you give to out of the kindness of your heart even though you get nothing in return - you give to help those less fortunate who can't afford to help themselves. This is (or claims to be on the main page) a community dedicated to amvs, and unless the donation stats are lying, it is supported by the community that uses it.sixstop wrote:you don't pay for the msg board when you donate. In fact, you don't pay for anything when you donate, you simply donate. Not invest, not buy, but donate. In MCs reference, the message board is the icecream, not the hosting.
Maybe that's the problem, maybe it's a semantic debate around the word community. A charity that is funded by donators who get nothing in return. It doesn't provide a service for those people, it's aimed for those who need it, not those who make it possible. A community is made of individuals working for a common goal, supporting each other, and reaping the benefits together. If members didn't support the site, there would be no community. My point was that it *is* a community - at least it claims to be on the main page - and a community is not a charity that hands out free food to the starving, it's a place that provides services to the members who support it by helping in return. If the forum is separate from that community, then fine. Say it is! I asked before and was told that the mission statement for the main page is *exactly* the same as for the forum. That means the forum is also part of the community. So when I discuss the org, I speak of the entire community, not GD versus the forum, the entire community.
And if you'll notice, I didn't complain about the OT moving - sure, I made some predictions that have so far come true, but I never said it was a bad idea. The only thing I complained about was comparing the org to a charity that hands out freebies rather than a community supported by, and made for, the members of that community.
