An Important Update

Thanx for the explain! Emmi

I have been a member for 11 years. OD means a lot to me. (I am not a fan of Face Book) I would not mind a slight price increase if it meant that this site stayed current and functional.

Thank you. We can’t support you unless we know what’s going on.

I do understand all of the issues with social media and site traffic. All I ask is that you do give notice to us if the site ever does go under. I do appreciate this place and often wonder if you realize how many lifelong relationships have started here.

Thanks for the explanation Bruce – it’s much appreciated – and I’m glad you & your family are doing okay!

Love you for building this site, Bruce. We sincerely miss seeing your name in bold, is all. Come by and say hello, old friend.

any stats on mobile users?

Rock on, Bruce!

Perhaps there should be a small minimum charge for all the “free” members and even though I’m a lifetime member, perhaps that wasn’t such a great idea either. I’d be willing to pay a reasonable annual fee for the privilege of being part of OD. I have made many friendships on here. And personally, I hate Facebook and its invasiveness into our lives. Many of our friends on here are older people likeI am. We simply aren’t into a lot of the “new” stuff. For many of us OD is a lifeline to the outside world. Don’t get me wrong, I am as computer literate as many younger people. (I have four of my own websites and look after several more.) If there’s anything I can do to help, please let me know.

I understand. KI truly hope this place can keep going for as long as I want to use it – – which I hope will be a long time. I think OD’s archives should be kept, if not forever, for a long time. There is a lot of life here, and a lot of good writing. It’s a powerful picture of the time we live in. I can’t wait for the movie.

Good to hear from you. Thanks for the update

I have been here for 10 years. I came here as a young teen and am still on here, everyfreakingday, as a grown married-with-kids woman. I have followed this site from the beginning before myspace and facebook and all the other crap. I have always understood, and applauded, your story as a family man and how you started this site and how it took off. Your situation is understandable!! We all appreciate your update (finally!). What do you think of having a donations page? I’m sure even the lifers wouldn’t mind sending a few extra bucks your way to keep the site afloat. Also, is there some reassurance of the site not going anywhere? Or is that still a possibility given the lack of profit? And how on earth could any one of us also volunteer as an admin? Keep up the good work, thanks for addressing the issues!

So that’s what’s been going on…thank you for sharing all this information with us!

Thanks for stepping up to the mic and clearing the air. I love OD and won’t go anywhere else. You are right, I spend less time here because other places (FB) take my time and attention. But I also lately have come to realze how much I miss my OD time and reading my favs here. I’ll be putting in more time here in the future. Thanks again for all you do for us here.

Welcome Back!

Small and intimate. Frankly, I wouldn’t have it any other way.

I’ve been here on OD for about 12 years and gladly pay for this service. How about raising the OD+ rates a bit & purge the tens of thousands of abandoned diaries and let the whiners go to Facebook?

Good to hear that everything is okay and that you are alive (!) and well. 🙂

Thank you for coming by and explaining things. That’s all we ask, is to be kept in the loop. I’ve been here for almost twelve years and I can’t imagine my life without OD in it.

Better late than never. Be well, Bruce.

Thank you to you and the administrators for keeping Open Diary alive. I don’t know what I would do without it. It has changed my life in many different ways, all positive. The very best to you and your family. A loyal Lifetime Member of many, many years.

I like OD just for journaling what goes on in my head, that is my main purpose of being on OD. I love my OD Plus subscription and am always willing to pay I think $24 for a year every year. And if I have extra money, I try to gift my favorites subscriptions because OD+ is a great product. The only complaint I have is maybe there needs to be more admins to help out with things such as subscription issues. I was scared reading what I was reading from other users about them paying for subscriptions and the subscriptions not being credited. OD is a great place, a great service/product. 🙂 ~*Samantha*~

You could have just told us that to begin with. I’m pretty sure most people would have been understanding, and wouldn’t have kicked up a stink about you not being around as much! I’ve been here for 7 years. I have a Lifetime subscription and I paid that money knowing that the site could be around for another week or another 15 years. Yes, paying customers are entitled to expect a certainlevel of service, but they also have to keep in mind that this is a finite resource, and won’t be around forever – though I do hope it’s around for a good many years to come.

That wasn’t so hard, was it?

So glad to read this and I for one chose this my # one site and spend 95% of my online time everyday here on OD..I would give up all other sites for this one…Love that your okies and I and many others stand behind this site no matter what…Huggs Mermy

Thanks DM. Have been here under one name or another since Feb 1999

I hope this will be an end to the matter. :/

As a lifetimer, I thank YOU. I’ve more than received my money’s worth and appreciate it very much.

Thank you for sharing with us. This site means so much to those of us who are here every day. As others have mentioned, we’ve made close friends and expanded our horizons and our world view. I’d really be lost without OD. I agree that maybe there should be a nominal charge for those who use OD for free now, and I also agree that I’d be willing to pay a slightly higher annual subscription fee. It’samazing how you start something and it takes off and has a life of its own, isn’t it? Did you ever envision this?

Also, wasn’t there a gift shop of sorts at some point? I’d buy from that. I wouldn’t mind having an OD coffee cup!

Thank you. The update is much appreciated. And many, many thanks to your brave band of volunteers!

Thank you for letting us know what’s going on. I think that’s really all anybody wants. It scares us when this place and these connections disappear without warning or explanation because we all remember what it was like when we thought we’d lost our online home.

i appreciate all your hard work more than you can possibly know. <3

thanks for the explanation. Like someone else said, certainly miss seeing The DiaryMaster in bold on my list. You always had interesting things to say, regardless of what it was about. Please don’t forget us. We love this place. It’s been my home for more than 10 years, and I’d be lost without it.

Its a shame it took rumours of your death for you to bother to explain to us what is going on. I appreciate OD is no longer your full time job and you need to put food on your family’s table; I totally get that. However the fact you haven’t been on here for months and have relied heavily on the admins (who I have nothing but admiration for) working their balls off for free (yes I knowthey are volunteers but they do a damn fine job) to cover your slack – well – Im not impressed to be honest. Its good you’ve finally bothered to inform us of what is going on but just because you dont make a profit from this site anymore doesnt mean you can willingly abandon the people who did not abandon you This is yet another example of the appalling lack of OD Customer Service and as a Lifetime Member who absolutely adores this site and is dedicated to her diary and her friends, I find this all really disappointing. Kudos to Gail, EWS and particularly X who is a friend of mine too. They deserve a medal for the time and energy they put into this site.

Thank you for addressing us…it is appreciated. Here is my two cents free of charge…haha! Everyone has a busy life filled with work, family, etc…It would take five minutes once a month to say hey, I’m here yadda yadda yadda…as some above me have suggested why not purge all inactive diaries that have been inactive over say a period of three years…if they haven’t been back in threeyears its very likely they aren’t coming back. Also…why not try to find a couple of more admins? If I remember correctly that is a volunteer position. Also what happened to the whole ting to get people to promote OD and get new members? Anyway some of this stuff I think could cut down on the mob mentality attacks and rumors.

Thanks for the explanation, it is appreciated. I’ve been here for so long…I was a 16 year old, and now I’m married (to another ODer) with kids! It would leave a big void if this site were gone. Only three minuts, really? This is still the site I spend most of my time (either that or tvtropes.org or tor.com reading). I actually am not that into Facebook and have never done Twitter or any of the other things you have mentioned. Anyway…I hope this site stays around for along time…

Thanks. I really do love this place, and have been here off and on for over a decade. I would be devastated if it went away.

Argh, I meant ‘a long time’. Also, the volunteer admins rock, and I really appreciate all their hard work. Still, a little regular communication would go a long way. I know what it’s like to have a family to provide for. I bet when you first started this project you never anticipated what it could become!!!!

Thank you so much for the explanation! I joined OD in 2010 but have only been really active since November 2011. I have fallen in love with this site and the people who are on it. I agree with some of the other posts that maybe it wouldn’t hurt if there was some nominal charge for “free” subscribers. You may also want to reconsider the lifetime membership option since I know it doesn’t contribute as much to your bottom line in the long run. I am glad you are still involved and that you and the admins are working so hard for your families as well as OD. Again, thank you so much for the update!

Thanks for this entry. I’m here as long as OD is here. Renewing my subscriptions every six months. Still glad for this place.

Totally understandable. Please, pleeeaaaaaaassssee be more proactive keeping us informed in the future. Then you could always feel the lurve of your people.

Thanks for the update. Good to know that you are alive and well. The noters before me all have good points and ideas: especially a donation site & ‘purging’ the inactive diaries. I think maybe making an announcement warning of the impending purge might help re-activate the site, as well as a clause (as hotmail has) that after 90 days of inactivity (or some pre-determined-by-you timeframe) their account will be deleted – unless they are OD+ which may even give more people incentive to buy a subscription.

Yep, I’ve been around for about 11 years. I don’t have much by way of expectations, even when my subscription is current. 🙂 Do what you gotta do! ~

So what you’re saying is — the admins do all the work and do it unpaid, while you take whatever profit there is? Sounds like America to me!

What is this “OD” thing that you speak of? ;^) Eric

Thanks for the update. Hope you and the family continue to live well.

@Mac&Cheese: What he’s saying is that OD makes just enough money to cover the server operating costs, and we admins happily keep everything else operational so that you can enjoy this site, and the DM has to take on other work to put food on his family’s table and pay the morgage. Any other dynamic would mean that OD would be no more, and we admins love this site too much to let that happen. :)<br> Eric

bruce you left us long ago

I love this place. I don’t know what I would do without it. I have been here since the start. And will always be here.

Thank you for the update but a lot of us spend a whole lot more time than 3 minutes a day on OD. I’d have to be a world-champion speed typist to only spend 3 minutes a day here. Maybe you need to add more administrators so that the ones you have aren’t so overworked? I’m still waiting for a response to my help ticket from January 3rd!!! I really want to continue my OD+ membership but I want toknow for sure that I’m not sending money that won’t be applied to my diary…I’ve seen some people complaining about that. Money is too hard to come by to not have it go where it’s intended. I really do love this site and I hope it’s here for a long time to come.

Thank you for this entry DM! Quick question! I I leave OD running in a tab or on my mobile (since I currently use free and am ad supported) would that generate more revenue?

Thank you. This site is a home to me, and I hope it will continue to be so for a long, long time.

i’ve had three diaries here since i joined in 2000. i dont think i could ever love a website as much as i love this one 🙂

It’s good to hear from you! I totally understand about needing to provide for the family. I hope you are enjoying your current job! I also hope OD stays forever. It has always been my home. 🙂

thanks so much for taking the time to explain. It doesnt surprise me that many have gone off to other sites but I for one remain an ardent OD fan and don’t use the others ( except only very occasionally on FB). OD is my #1 choice always. I spend an average of 1&1/2 hours a day here…I love it. There are some of us older folks who don’t really like or trust some of those other sites too…they are geared for the young. Besides, they are not always as SAFE as OD is either. That is its highest value..the safety here. Thank you again to the team and to you in particular, for the years of dedication. I have been here since 2003 and cannot abide the thought of ever losing or leaving OD. take care and don’t overdo things too much. hugs p

Bruce, I totally respect that you need to support your family – anyone would do that. I also appreciate your words here, because they were pretty badly needed. I also understand that unpaid volunteers are just that, and it’s not up to them to make OD a full time job. I am also not minimizing their efforts. My concern is just with the frequency of communication. You linked theOD Site Operations diary, and just looking at it tells the story all too clearly – regular updates from August through November, then complete radio silence. It doesn’t take a whole lot – as you can see there’s a very loyal contingent of people who are here for the long haul – but there needs to be *something*. When the site goes down, there needs to be a quick message on that diary, on the Facebook page, and even on the message board even if it just says, “Hey, we had an outage, not sure what caused it, but things are okay and back to normal!” Just some sort of feedback. Seeing outages come and go with no explanation makes people nervous, even those of us who get that these things just happen. It should take ten minutes to dash off three messages. That’s really all we’re ask

@ Eric, “operational”? Is that a joke? Also, your little inside jokes with the DM are really cute. You should definitely keep them up.

…asking. That’s all we’re asking. (Fixing the character count on the notes window would be a nice perk 😉 ANYWAY. Even with three volunteers and your very busy schedule there should be something in place to pre-emptively respond to basic site issues. It’ll prevent a whole lot of speculation and frustration for everyone. I’m sure you’ve got an alert set up that emails you orsomething whenever the site is down – why can’t it then be a process to respond to the users, as well? I’ve seen a handful of people volunteer to help with the basic customer service response, to act as a real person on the other end (heck, I’ve offered this a couple of times in the past decade I’ve been here and was told it wasn’t needed). Why not let a few more in? It certainly can’t hurt. In any case – best of luck with your new job. I really do appreciate all you and the Admins have done and continue to do for OD. I hope you’re able to come up with some improved processes to make things more responsive for your users.

Thank you for the update, DM. And thank you, to both you and all the administrators, for keeping this site going. We all owe a very big debt to all of you. There is no other site like OD.

Thanks for the updates. I love this place and wouldn’t be anywhere else. Please keep it running. =) Thanks for all you do.

Thanks for keeping this place for us crazies, and thanks for the explanation.

While I do have a Facebook, I don’t spend nearly as much time on that website, and the time that I spent is virtually wasted. I’ve been on Open Diary pretty much daily for the last four years, and it has changed my life so much. This will always be the original social network to me.

Many thanks for the update! =)

I think the value that OD provides is disproportionate to how much it charges. I’d gladly pay a little more to keep the site running.

I wouldn’t mind a slight increase either, if it would help keep things running. Sorry you’re still getting so many negative notes about the situation, seems to me you’re doing the best you can in light of the circumstances.

Keep on keeping on! Thank you for keeping OD up and running.. It has been a lifeline for me for sure!

I’ve been here since almost the beginning (Nov. 1998) and don’t find much different from your recent behavior to that which was complained about years ago. Your lack of attention. Maybe if you paid more attention to this site, it would have a lot more people staying here rather than trying to find other on-line homes. Open Diary has something very special that other sites have not be able to mimic, but when your base is ignored and felt disrespected, they are not going to stick around. Rather than just let Open Diary die a slow death from lack of attention, why not devote a little time to improved communications and actually following through with some of the things you start and never seem to finish. Maybe if you did that, this site would start bringing in more traffic and more cash.

As you can see, there are a lot of people on here who would gladly pay a little more to keep the site up and running and at it’s best. Perhaps there should be no more “free” option, and instead, what the free users see is actually $30/year and the current charges… and then the OD plus membership is more? Even $15/year is not unreasonable for the “free” users.

Thanks for the explanation. There are many of us who wouldn’t mind helping out with the site and have some extra time to do so…all it would ever take is for someone to ask. I gladly would spend time posting announcements, updating things, etc if I was asked and wouldn’t mind helping. I think the loss of communication just threw everyone for a loop.

Also been here since Nov. 2000, and I couldn’t live without this space. I love my readers and they love me, and even though we are connected at FB, it’s NOT the same. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE! If you ever do decided to shut down the site, give us enough notice that we can back up our files. I keep working on it, but life–as you know–is busy and I’m way behind. I am eternally grateful for this site and all the work you’ve put into it. It’s better and cheaper than therapy. If I lived anywhere near you, I’d give you a big old hug! Simple thanks just aren’t enough.

Thank you for putting everyone’s fears to rest. I’m with the above noter who says to eliminate all the abandoned diaries. I don’t mean ones who’ve paid for a life subscription but there are so many free ones out there that haven’t been touched for years. This would free up space and make for less maintenance, no?

I have been here since 2003, when the site was failing I stepped up and purchased the lifetime membership knowing that it could be here a long while or could be gone the next week because there was problems at that time. In the past few years I have not seen any changes at all to the way the site is, there has been no more additions to features and the admin staff have been inundated at all times. X is a personal friend of mine and I know just how many hours he has put in- I have been on the end of an MSN conversation for many hours where he disappears quite a lot (and this could be at any hour of the day) because he is answering helpdesk queries. I dont quite understand where you get the figure of how long a person on average spends here, however, I know that I am here anywhere between half hour to 3 hours a day. To get people to stay on this site then they expect a certain level of service. If you are unable to be around to help out on a regular basis perhaps you should consider getting additional administration staff to assist in the running? The admin staff are gems who seemingly keep this place running most of the time. cont…

Thank you very much for the update, and more importantly, the explanation. My only quibble with it (the same quibble I had with the admin’s update) is that it came a bit later in the game than would have been ideal. Imagine in the “real world” going months without seeing or hearing anything from elected officials, police, fire, et cetera — that’s a fair analogy for what appears to have happened here, so I’m sure you can see why there was concern in the ranks. But knowing the situation now will hopefully make us all a bit more understanding. The numbers were especially surprising — I would never have guessed that paid subscribers made up such a small proportion of total users! For what it’s worth, while I do also use Facebook and Pinterest, OpenDiary is still the only place I truly feel part of a community. Thank you for reassuring us that this community isn’t going anywhere just yet.

cont…. If I hadnt been on this site so long (and met amazing people as a result of it) I would have been gone a long time ago. If any other site was to have a downtime with no explanation and was not having additional features being added then I would not continue o be a part of it. OD whilst being a business has also been a lifeline for many people, the first place they go when they have a good thing or bad thing happen. HOWEVER, even the most patient people (such as myself) will get frustrated when they feel that they are not getting the customer service or experience that they expect. Perhaps more advertising needs to be done to make this place more profitable, or perhaps the realization should be made that it is what it is and that when there is so much competition those that have stayed despite the problems should be considered to be important (and therefore told when there is a problem). What concerns me and a lot of other people is that you and the admin staff ALL have busy lives, OD is not anyone’s priority and therefore unless something is done there is a chance that everyone will give up eventually.

I’ve been a member since 2000, and wouldn’t want to go anywhere else! I’m on Facebook but I don’t share my deepest darkest secrets there, obviously. I’m also a lifetime member, which I guess means I’m not creating ongoing income for the OD folks, but I knew a long time ago that it was worth paying for lifetime membership so I did!

Hey, I’m here and a paying customer and intend to be for years yet. A little more transparency on downtime issues is all I’m asking. A volunteer admin acknowledging them and updating progress a coupla times a day, letting us know nothing is permanently lost or down. That’s about it.

I agree, maybe there should be no such thing as free od..even a very small charge might generate more income for things that need to be maintained or for salaries.

maybe just take paid members..would get my lazy butt to subscribe on time in stead of letting it lapse every month lol

how about freshening this place up a bit? A poll asking what people feel is needed to get this place to feel more up to date and would therefore attract new revenue?

i definitely am glad for an explanation. i’ve been here 11 yrs next month. and i would hate to lose this place.

Thanks for the update, Bruce. I’ve been on this site for years as well and like many on here, cannot imagine my life without it. It would be nice to see the same dedication from you, though. I’m sure everyone can appreciate how busy life can get, and the need to provide for your family if OD alone just isn’t cutting it- but you couldn’t spare a few minutes monthly for an update? Really?

I’ve been here since Dec 1999. I never noted before this. I do mimic much of what Linda Kay says..this is the only diary site for me..and still my favorite online site. Yet, I understand that you have to do what you have to do for your family.

Hmm, this is a grim entry from the financial angle of things. Is this site financially sound?

To CanadianJade: If the “free” diaries have to pay a minimal charge as you suggest, they would not be “free”! The reason for the lifetime memberships was to help pay for restoration after a huge hacking incident that was very expensive. I have a lifetime membership and I’m not willing as you suggest to pay a reasonable annual fee for the privilege of being part of OD. I paid my lifetime membership as just that, a lifetime membership not an option to pay more later.

i have never been one to talk bad about you but “We are currently home to 365,851 online diaries. There are 6,179 diarists online now” how does that not pay the bills?

thank you for the explanation Bruce. I truly appreciate it.

It sounds like an election year here. I’m not here to vote. I do like the suggestion of developing a nominal fee for us “free” users. I’m an old-timer here, since Jan 3, 2000 and have never been able to afford + or Lifetime status. I have always wanted to support this site as it has been my lifeline. I’m sure many other free users feel the same. Way to go Admins!

thank you

Have you thought of asking for donations from diarists? Maybe an event or something, like a write-a-thon? Something can be done I’m sure.

Although it’s way past due, I appreciate your explanation very much. I understand about the money and the time-it looks as if most of us do. I just don’t understand why you (or one of the Admins) can’t spend FIVE MINUTES logging onto Facebook to let us know that there’s a problem and they’re on it. From the million point five notes that’ve been left in the past three hours, it looks like I might not be the only one with this problem. All we’re asking is for a little communication. Please, Bruce, will you address this issue?

in 2012, the average OD user spends less than three minutes on OD at a time.– See, I find that statistic difficult to believe. Folks come on OD to write entries – that takes more than three minutes. Then they go and read the entries of others – that could take up an hour or half the day. Then they go and see who noted on their recent entry and what the feedback was – that might take 5-10 minutes depending on the volume of notes. Then they might answer questions about what you wrote in an entry – that could take up a few minutes or even longer if a back-and-forth interchange occurs. I hope OD doesn’t go under. OD is vastly better than Facebook.

OD is such a great place to collect thoughts and share them–thanks for making it possible. Appreciate your communication.

I have been on opendiary since October 31,2004. I have met many wonderful people on opendiary. I have 1,809 entries over these many years. I couldn’t imagine my life without my opendiary. I love it so much. College sometimes makes it hard to find time to write but when I do opendiary makes it worth it.

Thanks for touching base. I didn’t share the same worry others felt, but I appreciate your laying things out anyway. And I’m glad OD is still here. It’s been almost thirteen years for me. And I have to say that both then and now I’ve pretty much always had longer site visits than the average! >.<

I am glad to hear that you are alive and well.

OD has been my lifeline for so many years. The support of the OD community has kept me going time and time again. Dont know where I’d be without it xx

Gonna be honest here, many of the site users either knew the jist of this already or could see it as a likely possibility, none of it explains the communication blackout though. None of it. Not that I’m not being unappreciative now, but I can only be honest. You didn’t mention Myspace in your list. They owned the internet, now look. Facebook didn’t kill them, they killed themselves.

I like OD sooooo much better than facebook.

I love OD and i cannot imagine my life without it!! been around since 2005, i believe and i will subscribe when i get hired ft! anyway i could retrieve my other OD that I accidently deleted when i was pissed? or am i sol? LoL LoL ! good luck with keeping up and running for all of us users! 😛

I never would’ve stopped using the site regularly if the servers hadn’t crashed or whatever and lost all my data back in late 2003/early 2004. You all kept promising it to be restored and it never was. So I moved to Live Journal where I have been sense.

I’m OD Plus, paid up till the end of June. But I’d be happy to invest in OD for Lifetime Membership.

Thanks for updating! It means a lot to the community.

I didn’t really read anything new in this entry, I knew there are 3 unpaid admins that have been very nice and helpful to me. I knew you were working at another job to provide for your family, you have told us all of this before. I do however disagree with your statistics. There is no way you can do anything on OD in 3 minutes. I for one keep my OD and FB open in a browser 24/7. The amount of time I spend on OD depends on how many of my Favorites have written. I don’t write much any more but that has nothing to do with OD. I suggest that you take on a few more unpaid admins that have offered. One job that would benefit us all is to delete inactive diaries. Some still think there is a threat if they don’t write on a certain time basis as long ago you scared everyone into thinking their diary would be deleted if they didn’t write once a month I think it was.

I wrote to you several years ago asking you to delete this diary: http://www.opendiary.com/entrylist.asp?authorcode=D534493&mode=date (name is broken by bj) as I was wanting to use the name BJ. I even told you that the last they the diary was written in was 10/26/2006. The diary is still taking up space on OD and still has not been used. I took the name BJ. since BJ wasn’t and still isn’tavailable. I think it is horrible to leave a diary sitting and not use common courtesy and not delete it but not many are that way. I saw someone asking for the place to be spruced up and added to. I think everything is fine as I had a screaming fit when you changed Favorites to Bookmarks etc in that huge update. However the only change I can think of is a place to “Like” a note such as on Facebook. You said at the time you changed Favorites to Bookmarks is you were trying to keep up with FB and other social places. Many of us don’t play those stupid time consuming games on FB or other places and spend much more time on OD than you think!

Sounds like you need to employ a marketing strategist. OD means a hell of a lot more to me than facebook etc – OD’s attraction has always been that it’s personal. I have a subsciption service that I only get every so often, and it’s because of the site problems in the past (ie OD not loading at all for a long period of time!) that I’m reluctant to ever purchase a lifetime subsciption. If I’m guaranteed to get a reliable service, I’m happy to part with my money. That’s how business works, right? Thank-you for providing happiness to so many thousands of people, and I hope this site is here to stay.

Completely understandable and thankful to you and the system admins.

Glad to hear from you. And as a member under different names since 98-99… I am glad this continues. Frankly, I pay in six month blocks instead of getting a lifetime simply BECAUSE I thought it provides cash flow. I explain this site as Fight Club. If we weren’t interested in a private place online… maybe we’d talk about it. However, with many many of us… our actual jobs are at threatif we were irresponsible with our online writing. Makes it hard on you. I appreciate what you do and the situation. I’m fine with it all… just keep in touch.

There’s a problem? I had no clue. 🙂

thank you, Bruce, for addressing our concerns. i am a user since 2000, and have met many, albeit mostly internet, but some personally as well, and consider all of them friends. when i was going through cancer care my friends here were a huge support. i also spend more than 3mins a day here, just so you know. i suppose some day this site will be a thing of the past, but this site will forever be more than informational like Facebook, but an inter-personal exchange of a caring community. ps. i would be willing to pay a price increase for OD to remain current.

hi

couple of thousand dollars a month in running costs?? that seems… wasteful. especially since with that you can have 100 dedicated linode instances running, or get enough resources on amazon webspace to be able to support a high traffic site like reddit =/ not that you’re answerable to me or anyone else on here, but simply out of curiosity i would love to see a breakdown of the costs

OMG I can’t imagine life without OD. I was freaked out enough when I was locked out because I couldn’t remember my password. Thanks for all you do!

There is nothing I could say that has not already been said by the other lovely diarists on this wonderful site. I’ve been here since 2001 on various diaries, but this one I’ve had for many years. I loved OD so much I went ahead and bought the Lifetime subscription some years ago when I didn’t have much money. I put so much stock into this site & its members (Facebook isn’t nearly as personal or easily navigable as OD) but if it ever does go away, all I’d expect is a warning so people can download their entries & possibly find other means to stay in contact w/ the no-doubt thousands of friends that have been made through this site. Over the years I’ve been able to meet in-person no less than 4 beautiful people who have helped me through countless trials, & the communication has blossomed to include phone calls & mail. Even now in 2012 it still feels a bit weird to say I evenly split my time between my real-life friends & online friends… but at this point, OD is *also* real-life, & I think most people here understand that you are doing your best, but a sentence-long entry here & there is all we ask for in the future. Cheers, Rachel

Loyal member of (nearly) 11 years. I hope and pray this site continues for many many more years.

Thank you for this entry. I’ve been here for 11 years and have a very close circle of friends. I’d be crushed if I was no longer able to be part of their lives. So, although I’m a Lifetime Member, I would be willing to start paying an annual fee again if that would help.

I just want great service for what I am paying for simple as that…I work too damn hard to make a buck. BTW I am on here way more than 3 fricking minutes. OD is by far better than Facebook.

I will never leave OD, because I love it, but let me tell you, my other diary site has a hell of a lot more attention from the owner.

Thanks! I have been here since 2003, and have no interest in moving.

I challenge all of those complaining about the “service” they receive at OD to call their current internet provider to chat about anything, and see what sort of service they receive there… and I’m willing to bet MY internet service bill that it’s for much more than what they pay for OD… just saying. Hold your retail and “service” providers to the same standards you hold OD.

This place has been home for me since I found out approximately 7 years ago. Rumors of it closing really felt like a loss. I don’t have a lot of friendships here, but it’s where I’ve made my best online friendships. I’ve ventured out to other blogging sites, but none of them feel cozy like this place does. I am glad to hear what is going on, and I really hope this place keeps going for a very longtime.

Just for the record, I’d much rather give up FB than OD. I go to FB to mostly play games and I can play those same games elsewhere.

OD has been a home to me for over a decade, where I was previously on TOD. I’ve made some great friends here and could not imagine losing our little online world. I spend a helluva lot longer than 3 minutes on here, that is for sure!

Thanks. 🙂

going on 12 (!) years of reading and writing (and spending way more than 3 minutes!) on the site. thanks for everything.

First and foremost, I was never concerned about the site suddenly disappearing, because I knew it wouldn’t! I had faith in it. My ONLY concern is how you were so capable of updating your personal Twitter about your everyday life, when there is “no time left in the day.” I understand life DOES get busy, but if OD is really something you love, first update the OD Twitter, Facebook, whatever…(cont)

(cont) Please? I’ve noticed this complaint more than anything, about how we NEVER get any sort of update. How long has it been since an actual update from you or any admins? We had how many blackouts of the site, and users freaked out. We, as a family, as a community, need you to speak up sooner rather than later. “Sorry, the site was down, but now it’s back” isn’t soon enough.

Well that’s a different perspective. I have to admit, I never gave it a thought. I am glad you and OD are still here. Haven’t written much because of a computer problem but after so many years (10? 11?) I’d sure miss it if it was gone.

Good to read this update. :o) Take care,

I spend an enormous amount of time on Facebook, and I don’t think the games are stupid, but when it comes down to needing a place to write I prefer OD. I have a WordPress, but it just doesn’t have the same feeling there. In the 12 years that I have been here this is the first time I have ever been concerned with the site possibly not being there anymore. Thanks for the heads up. Now I can go aheadand renew again.

Wow, I have read every note on here and I guess ppl have a lot to say. I have been here 13 years and I became a lifetime member when you needed some money back when. I hope and pray that OD will be here for a long, long time. Please let us know if a decision is ever made to close this site. The financials sound a bit scarey, is all.

A BIG THANK YOU!!!! for all the time being spend to keep OD voluntarily alive and well. To spend so much time and effort on something non-profitable when the time could have been spend with the family or somewhere else, should be recognized and appreciated by all. I spend many hours on OD, but not everyday. FB cannot compete. OD is the greatest! OD is a big part of my being.

I find it VERY hard to believe that the average user only spends 3 minutes on this site. Is that the average of ALL the users, even the ones that are inactive? Because that would account for that number. Personally, in my almost 13 (!) years here, I can’t remember a time when I ever spent only 3 minutes on this site. Weird. That being said, thanks for the update. It’s nice to know you’restill alive and kicking…but would it kill you to update once a month or something?

If you bring back the lifetime member I will subscribe.

Thanks for the communication – it sounds like that’s what most folk are cross about – uncertainty about what’s happening. Glad you and dear ones are OK – that’s first. Second, understand your work/pay issues – I am Lifetime, but would be ok with a levy of some kind to contribute to cash flow. Despite the bitter suspicions of some, I feel great goodwillf or you, and hope we can all keep OD going -as has been said by many – this place is very important to me for the start and continuation of real-life friendships. Please, dont’be a stranger .. all the best,

It must be very hard to keep on top of all of this. Take your time, take your breaks. So long as I can still write, I will be a loyal ODer

I will now become a paying member of OD again.

There’s no site like OD anywhere else on the internet. I absolutely love this place. I’m an OD+ member and wouldn’t mind a bit if the cost to use my diary increased. A few questions, though: 1) Are old, inactive diaries counted when calculating the daily time-usage of OD? 2) Does time spent on OD via my cell phone count? Like another user said, I can keep a window for OD open all day, not logged in (so that the ads run 24 hours.) I can also do this on my computer at work.

Thanks for the entry and the explanation. This site has been a place for me to become who I am today. I appreciate you and your work very much.

I have been here since 2000. I love this site and am not going anywhere. Facebook sucks. I could careless reading about what people are doing every minute of their lives, lol.

I couldn’t imagine life without OD, I love it so much! I’ve been on here forever and don’t know what I’d do without this site!

A suggestion might be to have a donation button, you might have some very wealthy members that might like to help out. I use it for free and realise it is time I paid for the privilege, and very happy to do that. I think the lifetime membership needs to go too.

This is great however it would have been nice to hear from you a bit sooner as the rumors were flying that the site was going to disappear. I understand you have a real life and so do the admins but if someone is paying for a service, they have a right to expect some SERVICE. Just saying.

I have an alter ego, created one November evening over 13 years ago, and I can’t imagine not having the name ermentrude. I appreciate your update and would like to join everyone else in saying that I’d be happy to pay a little more. My subscription is due and I’d be happy to give a donation if that’s possible.

What this (once again) unbelievably late response does NOT address is that YOUR Linked In page says that you left Open Diary in September 2011. I can guarantee you that THIS tiny little tidbit had quite a bit to do with our concern about Open Diary. Also, the fact you changed your home page from OD to EchoSomething made (makes) us worry. And yet you have said nothing about it. The Internet is NOTthe world of mystery it once was, back when OD first started, so if you are trying to hide something from your new employers, you might want to rethink that strategy since we lowly OD loyalists found out this info about you. As I said in an entry and in notes to friends, your utter and complete lack of communication is NOTHING NEW. In fact, that is status quo coming from you. As others have noted, you have time to update FB and Twitter but you can’t squeeze out even three minutes to add to that stats of the website you founded and that somehow was the birth of social networking despite the fact we were all sworn to conceal our true identities back in the beginning? Amazing. And typical.

Thanks for the explanation. You’ve all given me some of the best friendships I’ve ever had and I’m very grateful for my ten years here 🙂 I would love to see more regular updates from YOU though. I miss your little thoughts and updates in your own diary, they make the place feel more secure and more like a community. Also I think there are some long-term users who’d like to helpout with the admin a bit? If you can’t afford paid staff seems like getting more volunteers would be a good idea. Thanks again DM 🙂 xxx

Thank You.. I can understand your predicament. All I would really like to ask is that we get fair warning if the end is imminent so we can make sure we dont lose touch with all our wonderful friends here..

I wish you had a “like” button for some of these notes.

Thanks for everything you do. I’m glad the site is still around, it’s been life-changing. People will complain about everything as customers are want to do, but just keep up the good work. Thanks for making this place and allowing us all to continue to be here.

I’m still here.. I just don’t write.. I miss it!

I spend several hours a day on this site! It is the most important place on the internet for me. Facebook is a mere shadow of what OD offers. Don’t ever forget how much we love OD and truly appreciate it. If there is any way I can volunteer to help you, let me know.

OD was my first “Social Network” and if I had to choose between OD, my Blog(s), Facebook, and Twitter – OD would win hands down. In fact: I have am an OD Lifetime Member and didn’t hesitate to make that investment.

i am fb friends with some of my od favorites but….it is not the same..i have been at this place since the beginning…and i would..god, i can’t even imagine what i would do or how i would feel if it went away. i’m sure eventually it will..but…i just don’t want to think about that. higher prices in od+ might be a good idea. purge inactive diaries. that’s all i got. 🙂

As someone who works in the online space, I can read between the lines here and I know that this means you’re just letting OD exist … Until it runs it’s course. I get it. It’s unfortunate, but I get it.

I wi say though that considering your new venture I am surprised at the seeming major lack of transpanracy/caring here. I’d be fired if I treated my job that way. I get it that there aren’t enough of us here for it to be a priority but it just comes across as lazy and uncaring.

Thanks for the explanation.We all know that inflation has risen very much in every country since 2000 and its very hard to make a good living.I think you and the admins are doing really a great job and OD is the first site I started to write.In fact from OD I learn to write a diary.I never did.I think you should upgrade the site.Like look and feel.Add themes in it, etc.

Thanks. I don’t think you should always have to keep explaining yourself to the people who use this site. I really don’t know why or how these latest rumors got started anyway. I think OD was “down” for part of a day within the last couple months, but the rest of the time it’s been working just great and so why has anyone even had reason to notice your being here or lack of being here?? I am surprised that there are so few users who pay for their OD. Most of the friends I have here do. It is certainly worth it! blessings,

Excellent. Thanks to all who keep this place running.

Glad to read an explanation of what is going on. I would be so upset if OD closed as I have been here since 1999. I agree with Tigressa. I would be happy to pay more for this site if necessary.

A well written explanation and very much appreciated. What you have set up here goes beyond all expectations for me. I have found a wonderful community of true spirit and selfless support to fellow (wo)man. May you continue to juggle family life, work and OD demands. And may you be happy in all you do. Very best wishes, Annie

Thanks for this Diary Master

Not all are on FB – well, most , of course. Diary is more of a place for people who loves to write and it is all more about something for yourself, for close trusted friend, about memories to keep and just like you’ve said Bruce; it is more like a HOME for your heart. This ENTRY of yours here means so much for all of us and it is more than enough to explain the situation. And wewill always be here and a loyal member! I do not know of where to go if OD simply vanish! Thank U for all, Bruce! You take care! And please stay fit for your other family here too! *smile*

Hey, thank you for writing this entry. It goes without say that there is an element of “stress” by you and your admin staff who work voluntarily. I am a Life Time Member and this place for me far exceeds any other site on the net. Yes, I have FB, Twitter and Pinterest accounts and they don’t take up my time like OD does. In fact, my preference is to always come here. The people here arewonderful, the sharing of life stories is great, the noting that happens is also good. Everything that goes on here is “REAL” Perhaps, in order to ensure that OD keeps kicking along and not “suddenly” get taken away from us, consider asking all members to pay a fee, have it structured so that it doesn’t hurt anyone financially, yet can sustain the work that happens behind the scene here to keep OD going. Overall, when something as good as this exists, it is important to keep it alive and well. A big thank you to you and your admin volunteers for giving of their time in a most generous way. G~

He can’t delete the inactive diaries because then advertisers would realise how few people subscribe. He can’t make everyone pay, because then we don’t see the ads. he could look for investors and/or marketing strategists – but then OD would change. ‘(If you’re in marketing: kill yourself,’ Bill Hicks) Either it wanders off into the sunset, slowly – or OD subscribers pay more and agree tolook at ads. That about right Bruce?

Im not on OD as much as I once was. But I love coming on and reading and noting, then writing when I feel it necessary. I’ve made some of my best friends IRL on OD. x

Thank you for the update… I have to agree that while I’m a lifetime member – maybe that wasn’t the greatest idea at the time. Now at the same time I think if changes were made and required lifetime members to start paying something every month again – I’m sure there were would be some who would throw a fit – which would be ridiculous because a LIFETIME membership for only $100 is a TOTAL BARGAIN! So, maybe not a monthly fee (even if it was at a discount) – maybe something like PBS does? A drive every few months for donations? I think that it might help offset costs… Just my two cents.

Thank you for creating this website and putting in all the hardwork, time and money. I’m a relatively new user and I love it so much, so thank you once again. Unfotunately I can’t pay for a subscription because I’m a high school student. xxxxx

I think a nominal fee for everyone would be a good idea. And allow new users to have 30 days free. Allow ads on the minimum level of subscription. And update the look of the site. I know a lot of people like the fact it’s not changed or moved with the times, but it doesn’t draw in new users.

We appreciate the update and I hope there are more in the future. Besides trying to recruit more followers like old times it would be great to throw out some ideas on how we could all better our community. I know I will do everything I can to help the site. I met one of my very best friends on here 11 years ago and many other amazing people. I never want to lose that.

For a horrible moment I thought this might end with “OD is closing down the end”. But it’s all good 🙂 grateful for all you do DM!

I fully understand where you are coming from. I do hope that OD will stay here for a long time, I spend a happy few hours a day here, it’s the first site I go to every morning. And thanks to the admins, too. They probably had a lot of grief over the last few days… I’m happy to pay my subscription every year if it means OD will stay online. Hope to still be able to come here for many, many more years. Take care,

Just wanted to thank you for all that you do

As one of your newer members here, I want you to know that your creation has become a big part of my day…and I’d be happy to do anything I can to help keep it that way. Sounds like increasing our membership would go a long way towards doing that, and the best way to go about that would be word-of-mouth advertising. I’m thinking an entry on that is in order…. Thanks again, Michael

Thanks for the update. Hope OD will remain active.

Thanks for the update dm x

Hey, I’m rarely on here compared to what I used to be, but much thanks for keeping it running and much thanks to those badass admins!!!!

Thank you for the answers….I have seen many entries stating OD s closing down. I cerainly hope not. This is the best diary site I have found yet. I too would even pay more to keep it if necessary!

Even though I am a Lifetime member I wouldn’t mind paying some kind of maintenance fee.

I feel guilty for becoming such a Facebook addict in the past couple of years, but OD is always my first love and I still come here religiously. Some of my best friends and even lovers have come from this site, from shared lives and pouring out our hearts and souls like we can only do here. Thank you for this entry and please keep us posted if OD is on the verge of something even more dire… I”m sure there are enough of us that would pull together if it were a matter of a bit more volunteers or even *gulp* money to keep it going…. Thank you for all your years of very hard work and dedication.

Thank you for keeping this running.

Bruce- Thanks for this. I have been here since 1999 and it is fascinating to understand the ebb and flow of the site. Please let us know what we can do to support OD.

i’m glad you updated us on what’s going on with open diary. there have been some panicked people that have spread rumors that od was going away. so, thanks for your explanation of what’s going on. i would be so lost without opendiary. you have no idea. glad you are liking your job. take care,

Thank you for the update. I’d gladly make donations via a donation site – I can’t imagine my life without OD.

dude, thank you for this entry. i think a lot of us out here do appreciate the transparency of OD.

Thank you! I love OD! I understand it does cost money and time to run!

I’ve been here for more than 12 years now. I would love to help support the site and I agree with the others about letting some more volunteer admins help. Just let us know what we can do to help.

Thank you.

Thank you for the explanation. I’ve been here since 2000 and I love this place, the talks of it going away almost sent me into a panic. I wish that it could be more profitable for you but I am happy to see that you will do your best to keep it up and running.

We the loyal users feel good about supporting you, as long as we know what’s going on. I’m happy to send another OD Donation your way if it helps.

I truly appreciate the explanation.. and you can be assured, I’ll always have an OD Plus account! 🙂

While I appreciate that you can’t make a living off of OD anymore and you have to do other work for a living, I can’t say I’m pleased that it took you so long to communicate with the membership. Most of the previous motets have covered what I wanted to say. But why do you list on Linkedin that your involvement with OD ended in Sept. 2011? I think that the lifetime membership might have been a killer for this place too. All of us with those (me included) are no longer contributing, and do we even count for the purpose of advertising dollars? I don’t see the value in having everyone pay because there is no way every teenager out there with a diary or two and no credit card is going to ask mom and dad to cough up the dough for a paid membership and basically show them where to go to find their diaries. Not an attractive prospect at all. The three minutes kind of makes sense, though doesn’t capture an accurate picture of the true users. I often look at OD on my phone for a few seconds to see if I have any notes and then have to put it down and go attend to life. I’m with the donation call. I mean, to those of us who are committed to OD and have been here for a long

…we’d probably most contribute here and there to keep it running and you can do that without requiring lifetime memberships to pay, but giving us the option. It’s a tough call and I’m not sure what the answer is. Hopefully this place can stick around, although it’s starting to feel a little post-apocalyptic. ~jo

I like puppies.

I’ve been reading notes with interest. It’s great to see other 1999-era diarists come out of the woodwork 🙂 I didn’t realize there were so many of us! OD has been one of the biggest parts of my life – probably only after things like my faith and my family – for 12 years. I am not exaggerating. There is no way to quantify the way it has helped and changed me, and how the people I have met through this site have changed or influenced my life. I would cry if it went away, I really would. There are other journalling sites, or I could keep a journal on my computer (which is what I did before I discovered OD in October 99)…but it would feel so lacking. I have a backup LJ but I don’t enjoy that site nearly as much. Anyway…I will admit that I would NOT be willing to pay a monthly fee even though I am a Lifetime Member. The point of the Lifetime Membership is to avoid that (although I definitely invested in it knowing the danger because I wanted to help OD out; it wasn’t just frugality on my part), and that would be unfair to reneg on that. However, I would CERTAINLY be willing to donate occasionally – even places like wikipedia have requests for donatio

donations on their site, and the occasional plea from the site owner. I wish I had more free time because I would LOVE to help out – but my job and son keep me really busy so I wouldn’t be much use to you or anybody else. Maybe if when I retire OD is still here I’ll keep my coding skills sharp and help out 😉 Or, maybe when my kids are in school, as that will happen much sooner, haha.

I have tons of free time if you would be in need of another Adm. and thanks for the info~.

Ugh..some people are never satisfied! Thanks DM for the update. And thank you to the Admins for all you do to keep OD up and running.

I’ve been here for 12 years and love this site. Thanks for the explanation, and I, too, even as a lifetime member, would be happy to pay an additional annual maintenance fee to keep my beloved site alive and well.

I wish I had enough money for a lifetime membership or a membership at all. When feasible I will. In 12 years I have had a staff/system question maybe twice. Multiply that by the number of od’ers. I am in awe of you, the staff, and this site. 🙂

I have been here since 2000. I have seen the ups and downs.. Listened to the worried people when the site has an aliment. It’s like a Body.. now and then we get sick. This isn’t a perfect world. It’s true though other sites such as World of Warcraft and Facebook have stolen my time from here, however I NEVER intend to leave the OD. I think it is the Best Blog Site online. Thank you for all you do,and continue to do. I have faith in this place.

One additional thought, ***COMMUNICATION*** is the key to Happy Customers. We all know that in our own daily life’s when dealing with people we pay to do an service for us. It makes me decide if I intend to use that company again or not. So now and then when things to go haywire here could one of those Admins leave a note to calm the fears? Is that too much to ask?

Now that I have renewed my subscription I can write a long philosophical note. First, it doesn’t sound accurate: the average od’er is spending 3 minutes on the site. If you took active members using the site, the time spent here would have to be much longer than 3 minutes. Maybe, years ago, before we had sites like Facebook, if you could have attracted the kind of investors that had seen the tremendous value of this site, you could have also have been a billionaire. Maybe not, but I’m sure that I echo the feelings of thousands of diarists: no other site offers the kind of community that we have here. Yeah, maybe it’s even unfair to expect the personal kind of attention that our society gave us, say 40 or 50 years ago: that was a different, slower pace world. And yet, if you had the right kind of investors who would have put ‘real’ money into supporting this site, you could have hired many customer service helpers that would offer that personal kind of attention that just may have kept many of those 80% of diarist who have left in the last couple of years. Still, despite any criticism that may be deserving, you offered up a great product some 13 years ago….

You allowed countless diarists to experience much joy, peace, love, and support that they didn’t find elsewheres! So, you deserve much acclaim for all of that! And like all things created, except for those qualities like joy love peace…’they’ will all end. But ‘we’ will always have the treasured memories and blessings that have been given to us. And you did make that all possible! So thanks! *smiles* Bri

Why can’t you weed out all the freebees and charge 50 to 75dollars a year? I would pay to keep it going. There are all these lame people that take advantage that could easily be weeded out by paying. This website is the best for a lot of us, we don’t write like this on our other sites…I cherish OD, I need it like a good shrink too…I don’t want to list this site…some of my best friends havecome from this site…can’t you charge a little more?

I’ve been here for going-on 12 years and I’m staying. I’d be a fool to underestimate the importance OD has played in my life and growth.

Woooo, look! You got everyone all fired up! Haha. For the record, there are some of us, myself included, that will *not* pay a “nominal” fee for a no-longer-free diary to keep the place going.

OD has been my #1 site since I joined it…I spend more time here than anywhere else. FB has never been able to hold my interest, I only got it so I could see what my kids were doing and up to, if games are taking people away maybe od could come up with a deal to get some of the games on here then we would be giving you time and we all know time is money…hope your new job keeps you happy but we have missed you here

hummmmmmmmmmm fascinating. Would you consider selling this site? since it makes you no money it seems that maybe someone/an investment group might be able to buy this site and make it into something.

Thanks for this. It is important to know what is going on. I’ve been here since 2000, and have no interest in joining Facebook. This community sets the standard for me – anonymity and respect and the chance to find a community of like-minded people. You have done a wonderful thing in creating it and so have the Admins in maintaining it.

The Zappos ad freezes my computer every time, and does not let OD load.

This is a nice, breath of fresh air!!!! I’m really glad, that you are fine. I was praying for you and your family, because I feared that something was wrong. So, it’s awesome news, that ya’ll are doing well. I never figured out what the problems were. I just kept praying that OD would “Keep On Truckin’.” I LOVE O.D. I am a + member. I can’t afford a lifetime subscription, but, I surely WOULD get it!!! This is a big, huge part, of my life. When it goes down, I feel cut-off from my “support group,” of friends. I sincerely hope, and pray, that OD lasts WAY, way, long!!! :*))) As my 4 year old granddaughter would say, “Gramma, I hope you live a long, long, long, (etc w/longs) time!!” LOL!!! Thank you for this update, and explanation. I sincerely appreciate it. I used to be totally addicted to Farmville, but, after being my (ex) hubby’s caregiver & then his passing of Cancer, I can’t explain, I lost any inerest in FV. I rarely go to FaceBook, but, HERE, this is my “main stay,” my awesome family here, of such great friends. Thanks again, for creating OD. I will always be grateful to you, for this site. BigHUgz to you and your whole fam. Thanks to the Admins for an excellent job, too!! 🙂

I’ve only been on OD for over a year…and I don’t like any other social-networking site ever since I joined it… Thanks for the explanation!

What I like about this is that you’re a real person, and the internet today has become a very impersonal means of communication. Please just let us know ahead of time if you’re closing shop. Thank-you!

Thanks for the update! I don’t know what I would do without Open Diary, honestly. Please don’t allow it to fall into nothing. I would be more than willing to pay a little more for OD Plus if it would help with the costs.

Great speech, Coach. Gave me goosebumps. Did you ever think that maybe the reason OD isn’t as profitable these days is because people left in droves due to lack of communication from you? It took a near mutiny by a great many ODers for you to emerge and try to calm everyone down. That should NEVER have happened in the first place. Can’t wait to see your next update in June 2013.

…assuming the site even makes it past 2012.

I have been an od member since you first came around and with out the friends and the support through my teen years from od, i have no clue where i would be today.I unfortunatly dont get on as much as i use to but i still come everyday to read my friends and to keep up to date as much as possible, 2 kids take alot of my time..THANK YOU SO MUCH for opendiary, i love it, its my second home, i know ican come on here and write what i feel with out getting looks and bad mouthes from others..Look forward to spending 12 more years if not longer on open diary, with out ya’ll i would be lost..

OpenDiary WINS m/ `Nuff said!

I do not agree with making everyone pay a small fee to be a member here. I would perhaps be able to do that, but I wouldn’t like to and certainly wouldn’t ever have started here, as a teen. I know a few diaries that just flat out wouldn’t be able to pay, and so would have to leave. In my eyes that’s hugely unfair. Free members pay their way by having ads. Big fan of OD, I’m glad things are ok.

Thanks for letting us know what’s happening here. Sorry the site usage has dropped so much and blogging is out. And it seems to be. Communication is the key to making it all work.

I’ve been here since early 2001, so, 11 years for me. My use dropped off a lot with my facebook account set-up, but then I realized that the interaction here is very different and in many ways, much better. If anything does happen where OD can’t be around anymore, please give us the ample notification. The rumor mill always says that we will go under (for the last two years) buthonestly, I hope that we won’t.

Having been reading the comments, this is what I definitely agree to: ~ Donations page ~ Annual fee ~ Getting rid of unused diaries ~ Edana`s note: I think maybe making an announcement warning of the impending purge might help re-activate the site, as well as a clause (as hotmail has) that after 90 days of inactivity (or some pre-determined-by-you timeframe) their account will be deleted – unless they are OD+ which may even give more people incentive to buy a subscription. I appreciate OD a lot and have no intention on leaving. I pray that this site will be here for a very. long. time. because it is totally worth it! Anywho, glad that you are well and the work you have done for OD is so much appreciated ♥ Good luck with everything!!

According to the DiaryMaster, site traffic dropped dramatically 3 years ago, OR, exactly when President Obama was elected and the economy crashed. Thanks to President Obama, we have lost our DiaryMaster while he now struggles to make ends meet, and Open Diary is in the fray. It’s clear, Open Diary will NEVER survive 4 more years of President Obama. This message brought to you by

I do hope you take some of this great feedback to heart and write a follow up entry that shows the suggestions are being taken into account. Those who wrote long and thoughtful notes certainly deserve to know they were heard, at least. Obviously if the many inactive diarists are counted, the average time spent on the site will plummet. I think the best suggestion so far is to get rid ofdiaries inactive for a year or more. Should bump up your stats quite nicely, but maybe you’re concerned about not being able to claim as many users if you did that? Thanks for your hard work. I love OD much more than any other site.

Thank you for this entry. 🙂 Just wanted to thank you for creating and maintaining OD… it is such a special place for me, and my life would be a lot poorer without it. I appreciate the hard word you have put in over the years… thank you so much. OD is my all time favourite website and probably always will be… it’s a special place. x

I want to thank you for leaving an entry and giving a short history of OD. For some of us OD diary members, it’s been a long journey and a very good and productive journey. You and the faithful admin folks have greatly improved OD over the years. More than an on-line diary, OD has been an outlet for so many of us.We share our lives very good and the very very bad to some very special friends thatwe have never met, nor may never meet. We pray for them, think of them, and communicate with them. We share their joys and sorrows. We bond . . .here on Open Diary. I humbly request that if you ever decide that OD must be put to rest, that you give us a warning. A chance to say our goodbyes, and thank yous and preparation for the grief to come. Thank you Diary Master and your awesome volunteers. There is no other place that will EVER replace OD. None!! I could go on and on but will refrain and be grateful for OD and the people that I’ve grown to think of as family. You too, DM. You’re the often forgotten, but most important member. God Bless!!

thanks for the update. frankly, my hat is off to you for keeping this place running despite the low profits. thank you for providing a great *recreational* space for us.

I have been here a long, long time, I think I was 15/16 when I forst found OD, and now at 29 I am still here thou with new name. I love he place, warts and all, and I think you all do a brilliant job. The only reason I’m not a subscription member is that some of the ‘benefits’ put me off, I didn;t want to be a member of tiny weeny group, I like the security of feeling lost in a mass of people!

With apologies to Andrew Lloyd Webber: Don’t cry for me Open Diary, in truth, I never left you.

Hahaha, Ashleigh’s note made me laugh until I had a coughing fit. Stupid cold season, that’s Obama’s fault, too!

We do care passionately about this site, some of us. It has be hugely, hugely impactful on our lives. It’s sad the way it goes, that everything comes down to advertising…I don’t have a solution, but I wanted to add my voice. Thanks for helping me understand your situation, thank you for your for your time and dedication and particularly I want to express just how profoundly grateful I am for themore-than-decade I’ve spent in these pages. Love you Bruce.

Reading all of the comments and I only have one thing to say – please do NOT add a ‘like’ button to OD. I ‘like’ it just the way it is.

I’m a free OD user sporadically since July 2000. I’m always relieved to see OD still here. I’d have to jump thru hoops to pay becuz my diary is truly that, A DIARY. A secret place for me to purge & also an escape. I’ve spent hrs lost in other people’s lives & stories. I have never been on FB. This isn’t a social networking site for me. I’ve found strength & new perspective here. I hope OD endures.

Thanks. 🙂

I do not do Facebook or other sites, just OD. I can understand financial problems, as I had to let my diary go off the plus for awhile. I am hoping to get back to plus however. I do hope if we all work together we can keep OD afloat. You and your staff have to be commended for the great job you do here.

Of not a nominal fee, how about having an ad that you HAVE to click on before you access the site? Or a popup that asks you if you’d answer yes or no to this question? I don’t know much about computing, would this even work?!?!

I’m not on Facebook, and don’t ever plan to be. I’ve been on OD since 1999, and plan to stay indefinitely. I can tell you I spend far more than 3 minutes here. I probably spend more time here now than I did 10 years ago. I appreciate your explanation, and appreciate all you and the admins do. There truly is nowhere else like OD. Perhaps there is a way to capitalize on all the things that makeOD the special community that it is.

Heartfelt thanks to you and the admins for everything, and for giving us both the history and the stats. I use multiple social media, but each format serves a particular function. OD is still a unique and nurturing place to be.

I’m a lifetime member however I agree with others like me who would be willing to pay an annual fee to keep the site viable. I don’t know how to make it fair for everyone – plus members and lifetime members, but there must be some way to do it. Also agree that free members should just have a 3 month trial subscription then they should pay – basic, plus or lifetime.

i became a member and a lifetime member to keep track of my grandkids now i kep track of friends i made here and use facebook to keep track of my grandkids

Very well said, and well written. Kudos to you for setting everyone straight! 🙂

It’s great some people are making suggestions to improve the sites profitability but I’ve been making suggestions for updates to the site for years and no one listens. Changing stuff means time and effort, something DM has none of for OD these days.

It appears there are plenty of users free or paid to generate greater useage than the 3 minutes you have estimated, just spanning thru all the notes here took that much time and more to post a response of our own. It doesn’t sound promising. If we are to take this post to the base message its our fault that OD is spiraling downward to a permanent crash, because there are too many other distractions online to keep us from spending more time here. I’m sorry but the lack of communication and the lack of follow through made it very easy to walk away. I see this post as a feeble response to the uproar from diarists here in the past few weeks. There is no promise to do anything to change things here. The responsibility appears to rest on our shoulders.

*hugs*

Original diarist #68 here Bruce 🙂 I’ve been here a long time and appreciate your work immensely. This place has been an outlet and a comfort to me since Oct 1998 and led me to the man I married (12 year wedding anniversary in 2 days 🙂 ). Good to see your words as always and wish you had the time to write like you used to in the beginning. Take care of you and the family.

Thank you for all the hard work and energy that you’ve put into OD.

Well said.

Server hosting can perhaps be cheaper than a couple of thousands per month. http://www.sqlservermart.com/ offers SQL Server hosting starting at $5 per month. Sometimes it is good to move hosting in order to get a better deal.

Thank you for the update. As a very loyal user since November 1998, I just cannot imagine life without Open Diary. Thank you for keeping this place going and may it continue to thrive for many years to come.

I first learned of OpenDiary when I read about it in a little box in the Sunday Parade Magazine. It seems like another little story about OD could be published there that would bring in more ODers. I too, would be lost if OpenDiary were to close.

On my income of $875. per month I will be glad to pay a little more for this place to keep going. I have never been a person who used OD everyday, but I would miss it if it was totally gone. My only request is you give us a reasonable time to remove our diaries before you quit completely. Other than that I think you and your admins. are doing a pretty good job.

Thank you for the update, dear DM. I’ve been here a long time, paying, free, whatever, and I do dearly love OD still. Blessings to you. With a smile…

Thank you for the update. IT’s good to know the sky isn’t falling. I’m glad you’re alive and well, if not terribly busy. This site, and you, mean a great deal to me and will always. After all, this site saved my life, literally, at one of the lowest points of my life.

I don’t know what I would do without Open Diary.I’m already a lifetime member..Is there another way I can donate some funds?Every little bit helps, right?

I’m on a few other sites, but you’re right about none of them being what OD is to me. I’m a lifetime member, and have been here almost 3 years, but I’d go back to being an annual paying member if it kept this site afloat. I wouldn’t want to go to any other blogging site. I’m pretty sure most of us would agree. We have a community feeling here that don’t exist other places.

BTW, I like puppies too, and I don’t think President Obama winning the election caused the downward trend. 🙂 Or maybe if Sanatorium wins, you can start listing aspirin in the the ads as effective birth control? 😉

Get rid of the free version?

You know what else you need to do? Address every single question in the notes to this entry.

THANYOU for your time..if u ever do make it essential to pay for member ship,keep in view the muslims who cant have credit cards due to religious bounds..a bank account that accepts all currencies would serve them..i’ve been a member since 2003,and i agree there is no other site like OD..best of luck and thanks again..salaam(may u be out of harm’s way in every way)

And now that I’ve read all of the other notes I’m curious about a few things: What’s up with your LinkedIn profile stating that you left OD in September ’11? Does the statistic for average diary use factor in all of the inactive diaries? Over 6,000 diaries online at one time makes your statistics seem a little skewed. Why the silence for SO LONG?

Continued: even the busiest of people spend hours a day on here. When I travel a lot guess what I’m looking at? OPEN DIARY. In this age of technology that’s a laughable excuse. This entry has so many holes in it. If it were a field we’d all have broken ankles by now.

Thanks for the explanation. I know one thing: I spend way more than 3 minutes at a time here. Hours pass without my even being aware of it. I would be lost without OD. My friends here have helped me through many a tough time. Kindred spirits abound here like nowhere else on the web! Keep OD going! Thanks!

Thank you for all that you and the admins have done. As someone who’s been here for 12 years, OD holds a special place in my heart. I’ve made some really great friends here and am willing to pay a subscription fee to keep it going. Please keep the updates coming!

well thank you for keeping our community alive. I haven’t been here as long as some but I hit a decade sometime soon. I’ll be celebrating the anniversary! *

There were rumors of your death? What Chicken Little idiot came to that conclusion???? I don’t bother with Facebook. OD is an emotional home to me. From someone whose first post was on April 25th, 2000 – thank you for all that you do.

Thanks so much for taking the time out to explain. I like details! ^_^ And thanks for keeping OD up and running. This place means the world to me. I’ve been here a long time.. *hugs* Go rock it, DM.