TOF (Scobienz Sells Khmer440 Expat Forum)

[Jamie_Lambo]

It seems vlad doesn't post over there much anymore. The new owner needs to be not so up tight so the likes of vlad may drift back.

he got permabanned, although it looks like that has now been lifted since scoobs has sold it, hes also un-permabanned batshitcrazywierdo and re opened his thread

[violet]

My first thought was gavinmac but based that only on him seemingly spending 20 hours a day active on there and figured he might as well own it. However, using that logic, he'd also own a large portfolio of hooker bars by now.

I was drinking with GM tonight (and with Playboy and Violet for that matter) and read this out to him.

He nearly spat out his beer and had a good laugh! As we all did.

Well put!

I thought Playboy and Violet hated each other?

[mauser765]

Playboy is a gentleman and he and violet have a love-hate relationship.

She takes his barbs with a pinch of salt.

[Barang chgout]

My first thought was gavinmac but based that only on him seemingly spending 20 hours a day active on there and figured he might as well own it. However, using that logic, he'd also own a large portfolio of hooker bars by now.

I was drinking with GM tonight (and with Playboy and Violet for that matter) and read this out to him.

He nearly spat out his beer and had a good laugh! As we all did.

Well put!

I thought Playboy and Violet hated each other?

Nah, playboy and Violet are all cosy. Don't worry about that. It's just that playboy likes Raffles and Violet likes bkk1. Same group dahling!

Sent from my SM-G570Y using Tapatalk

[Bitte_Kein_Lexus]

[
it looks like great 'fun' for the owners and their close friends, which is also a big turnoff for most except themselves.


if you don't think CEO had a LOT to do with KiR being pushed out of Khmer440, then you don't remember the story-line very well.

I definitely agree with those two points. I know that nee members can be intimidated by K440 and I also know a lot of long-term expats (I'm talking 10-20+ years in some cases) who hate the place and don't post or read I much. But then again, they don't post here either. They just don't like the whole online thing. It's also worth noting that many there (not just the biased ones like PB) don't post here because they think it's the same few cliquey users who post all the time...


Anyways, don't you worry, I most certainly remember KIR freaking out and selling because of CEO. Remember I started making trip reports and a whole bunch of restaurant reviews? Scobienz actually approached me after he purchased it to ask if I'd be interested in doing a few paid ones in K440... I did all that as my small way of helping CEO gain traction and spite KIR (I can be as childish as anyone). I posted exclusively on CEO for a good while as well, and once he sold it and his dictatorship ended, I reverted to dual-posting. Anyways, I agree that CEO played a big part in KIR selling, but I don't think it's the case here at all. CEO has now firmly established itself as a new player, but it no way has it eclipsed K440 and I doubt it ever will. There's room for both. Besides, Facebook has way more active people registered to the various groups than either forum tbh. Mark Zuckerberg wins...

[stek]

Good.

Let us hope the new owner's first objective in life is not to tell everybody what a knowledgeable or affluent person he/she thinks he/she is.

He was using the place as a platform for neocons who blame the poor and food stamps for economic hardship rather then the wars the west seems so fond of starting..

It would be nice to have a woman forum owner around, tbh.

Anybody know who bought it?

And what of Playboy? I hope he stays. Kind of ambivalent about the third man.

[Rain Dog]

Long time since I logged in here..... but just saw this today.

This forum no doubt accelerated the demise of khmer440 by giving people a viable alternative to the toxic environment there. That said, most of the damage there was self inflicted.

KIR for all of his shortcomings and shoot from the hip style of moderating was at least funny and interesting at times and encouraged a free for all environment. We were polar opposites politically but i always sensed he enjoyed "give and take" as long as it was somewhat intelligent.

When scoobz took it over, khmer440 became all about conformity, not only to his adsense friendly restrictions on content, but by imposing a group think culture on everyone.

I always sensed he just wanted the status of fronting a semi-private club based on upwardly mobile social climbing ... that it was more of a networking tool for him and he lacked either the will or competence to sucessfully grow a vibrant forum.

People can think what they want about individual posters ... but many added different perspectives and different styles ....

Andyinasia was loathed by some but if we are honest, he was one of the forums most interesting, articulate, and open posters ... even before the whole Gibbons Arms fiasco.

Vladimir .... certainly annoying to some ... rattles cages ... but forums need people like that ... particularly when people are taking themselves too seriously.

SCC boooted foe being not being upmarket enough for them but willing to stand up to them.

I was booted for taking a political view unpopular with some core members and mocking them as a cult of backslappers

My arch-nemesis (Jacked Camry) on the infamous Gaza debate a few years ago never seems ro post any more. Despite our differences, he was also an interesting and articulate poster at times.

Guys like JM, and others whose names i cannot recall contributed to the forum quite a bit with informative and intelligent content at times.

So the forum wound up with still fairly high vieweship due to some news stories marketed to overseas media and topics like revised visa rules, but participation rates have been way down and interesting content otherwise almost non-existent. A group of post middleaged men trying to convince themselves and potential readers what "ballers" they are with the occaisional nutter tolerated for awhile to be ridiculed even as they improve post counts for the search engine bots.

Hopefully the new owner is more dynamic, visionary, and appreciative of diversity in both views and demographics.

The scoobz era of khmer440 has largely been a disaster.

Cheers,

RD

[ExPenhMan]

I believe participation rates on forums and FB are declining all over. In my opinion, Thaivisa is crashing, K440 was sliding badly, various FB expat pages with seemingly rising memberships show very little traffic but with a few exceptions. My small number of real-life friends on FB hardly post new threads or comments on anything anymore since last year. Some have even disabled their accounts. I think CEO might be an exception because of a more congenial atmosphere. The same could be said of some of the busier FB expat pages (in Cambodia and Vietnam).

It's the toxic nature of many FB pages and forums that is taking big cuts out of participation rates on many social media outlets. All you need to do is post one thing vital to expat life (particularly visa topics) and suddenly dozens of people come out of the woodwork. Then they disappear for months. But all it takes is a few trolls -- I'm being kind -- to scare off a huge majority of members.

PS. Since last year, I know lots of people who left (or are leaving) SEA and dropping all connections with this part of the world.

[mauser765]

Yup, I think you are right.

And some trolls from 440 followed me to Facebook, hell hath no fury like a spurned wo(man)

The good thing about Facebook is one can just block bogan trash, neo-Nazis, racists, misogynists feminazis, and other assorted masturbators.

You can't do that on forums unless they pretend to be normal...no names mentioned.

[mauser765]

It seems vlad doesn't post over there much anymore. The new owner needs to be not so up tight so the likes of vlad may drift back.

he got permabanned, although it looks like that has now been lifted since scoobs has sold it, hes also un-permabanned batshitcrazywierdo and re opened his thread

I was never perma-banned, I got one month.

I just didn't feel like posting again there when it ha d been made clear that no matter how much evidence one supplied in a debate/argument, it would never be accepted unless it favored the carpetbagging nouveau riche, Israel, Thatcher, and trickle -down economics, which any idiot knows is a sales line.

I suppose several carpetbaggers got what they wanted and now things are not so easy, and the govt is clamping down, time to go.

He has left the cabal behind, as well as Retardo..sorry Edwardo Retardo (oops, I did it again). Anyone have a snorkel for the fawner so he can breathe while his head is up scooby's posterior?