Last night there was a lot of unpleasantness here on the forum. For those of you who missed it, consider yourselves lucky!
I've been a member here for quite a while, and this is not the first time something like this has happened. Sadly, I doubt it will be the last.
According to the directory, there are over 6000 members of this site - which shows a number of things: It fills a need. It is strong. There are a lot of people who need information and support about this illness. There are a lot of people who probably just read what others post without posting themselves, and if this helps them in some way, then that's great.
Sadly, there are currently 2 volunteers, and 4 admin to support the members who use this site. This, in my opinion, is not enough. Why?
Because: these people all have fibro themselves, so they have good days and bad days, and if they all had bad days together - where would we be? The site is very active and reading and responding to all the posts is time consuming and tiring. Because no-one can please all of the people all of the time, and because variety is the spice of life. I think we need more volunteers and admin to share the load.
I have thought about volunteering. Unfortunately my time commitments in the real world do not allow it. When possible I do respond to blogs and questions. As do quite a few other people. But of the 6000+ of us, really not that many who are regularly active.
In the time I have been a member here I have seen volunteers and admin come and go. Some I feel I have come to know a bit. Some, not so much. Some I have really appreciated for the way in which they respond to blogs and questions. Some not so much. This is probably true for you too. You have warmed to some people more than others. But If i were to name those I liked more, and those I liked less, you might not agree. That's because you and I are different, with different needs, and different perceptions. And that is OK. But that is precisely why we need more people to be more active here.
I for one, appreciate all the effort that is put in on my behalf by ALL the volunteers and the admin team - past, present and future. And I would like to say thank you ALL - without you there would be no site.
I would also like to thank every member, past, present and future, for the support, encouragement, and caring that you have contributed to the site, to me personally, or to others which I have felt part of.
I wish I could give back more, but at this time I can't. But if anyone reading this feels that they can, then I would encourage you to give it a go. This site won't run itself. We need YOU! Please, if you have never posted, do so. If you don't respond to other posts, do so. If you do often post, think about volunteering. The site will only survive when it has a strong team to run it. And the more people there are in that team, the easier it will be for them, and the more chance there is that EVERY member will find someone they warm to.
So, to Lindsey, Simon, Reay, Mdaisy, Ladymoth, and V-G - Thanks for the site, thanks for the support, thanks for all your hard work, and I hope last night's events have not upset you all too much!
xxx