Catholic Answers Forums Closing

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I’ll probably get jumped on for saying this, but the reason given for the forums closing (that they cost 10 times more to run than any money they make from them) is dubious to say the least.

Quite a lot of people run discussion forums like this and they don’t cost a fortunate like CA is suggesting.

CAF has what, 50 or so patrons at $10 per month? That’s $500 per month + a bit of ad revenue. Even leaving out the ad revenue, that would mean the forums cost about $5000 per month to run. I might believe that if they had a handful of moderators who they paid to moderate them on a full time basis, but they don’t, so I find it very hard to believe they are losing that much money. I think they have decided to close them because they don’t get anything out of them (i.e. a profit).
 
Polak said:
but the reason given for the forums closing (that they cost 10 times more to run than any money they make from them) is dubious to say the least.
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I received factual evidence from an outside reliable source supporting what CA said about cost.

You are free to believe it or not. I’m not going to argue the point further.
 
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Well I won’t get into how and why you in particular received this, but the evidence confirmed the forum costs thousands of dollars per month to run?
 
Well if you’re saying you have seen evidence for it then I’m going to assume it’s true, but I still can’t calculate in my head how it could possible cost so much to run, unless some type of wages are included in the cost.
 
Polak said:
Well if you’re saying you have seen evidence for it then I’m going to assume it’s true, but I still can’t calculate in my head how it could possible cost so much to run, unless some type of wages are included in the cost
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You are probably not including the cost of managed hosting in your calculation. This Discourse forum is actually managed by Discourse themselves, which takes care of virtually all the maintenance. But this is considerably more expensive than just throwing up a server and doing all the administrative stuff yourself.
 
When I recently saw the announcement that CAF is shutting down, it was like an unexpected punch to the gut. I understand their reasons, and I admit that I have not financially supported the forums. I also am not very active here – my activity tends to come in spurts, with long breaks in between. But I have been visiting and posting on these forums since 2005 (I think), and many times I have found very helpful advice and support here when I was facing a tough decision or a tough situation. I also have tried to give back by providing advice and (name removed by moderator)ut where I felt I could be helpful.

Before CAF, there was Steve Ray’s Catholic Convert Forum, which was also a great community, but I tried to find it recently, and it apparently has shut down (perhaps long ago). Now without CAF, I’m not sure where to go for good online discussions with other Catholics. I don’t do non-anonymous social media (Facebook, etc.). I see that someone has recommended a Catholic forum on Reddit, and I may check it out. But I would feel better about a forum on a Catholic site, rather than a subforum on a secular site.

I also see CAF closing as part of a larger problem with finding good Catholic internet sites these days. It seems that so much of online discussion and content has moved to corporatized platforms like Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, etc., and so many people are using smartphone apps to access everything rather than a web browser, that the types of discussion forums and blogs that nourished my faith in past years seem harder to find. And many of the great Catholic and pro-life sites of the 2000-2009 decade no longer exist, or are shadows of their former selves. Perhaps it’s just that in the busy-ness of everyday life, I have failed to seek out enough good new sites to replace the old ones. Maybe I just need to spend a bit more time searching, and not stay stuck in the past.

To all of you regulars, semi-regulars, and anyone else this applies to, thank you from the bottom of my heart for all of the times that you have given me good advice and counsel when I needed it. I hope that I have been able to do the same for some of you from time to time. And even after the forum shuts down, I would appreciate your continued prayers for my wife, who is currently receiving treatment for breast cancer.
 
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Lucy_1 said:
@adamhovey1988, @F_Marturana, @aroosi, @RolandThompsonGunner, @po18guy, @beryllos, and @TMC I hope you will make it over to St. Isadore’s Lounge. I’m always interested in what you have to say, and there are lots of familiar faces over there.
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(Never mind. I got my answer, and the link I had posted was incorrect.)
 
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Paul71 said:
Before CAF, there was Steve Ray’s Catholic Convert Forum, which was also a great community, but I tried to find it recently, and it apparently has shut down (perhaps long ago).
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Hi Paul,

Steve Ray’s old forum is alive and well over at Ave Maria Radio’s website.
Posting the link here as it’s another alternative forum that people might be interested in.
For some reason it doesn’t come up readily in search results, and I understand it had some downtime recently, but it seems to be back and doing very well.

https://forums.avemariaradio.net/index.php?sid=a5dec204b78793aa92817e8f3e08c9ac

I will send you a PM about the other forum you were asking about.
 
I don’t mind getting jumped on. I believe the closing was just based on the reasoning put forth in the announcement. I have no reason to doubt or place other motives than what was said. Additionally, there is a lot of activity on the forum that has nothing to do with Catholicism, Christianity, or even religion. Their time, talent, and treasure can be put to other uses.
 
I’ve offered to help via social media with the running of the forums. Since I can’t travel to San Diego currently is there a way we can virtually discuss the numbers and policies?
Particularly the cost of moderation and the liability of minors and sexual posts? That’s a huge identifiable risk. But I’d love a perk at the financial numbers if that’s an option!
 
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Cruciferi said:
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MNathaniel:
Doesn’t look like a Discord server; what is it?
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It’s the same platform as CAF. Discourse.
MNathaniel said:
And is St. Isidore a saint of hospitality or something?
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He is the Patron Saint of Farmers and Laborers
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Wrong St. Isidore. St. Isidore of Seville wrote the “first Encyclopedia” and is the patron saint of the Internet.
 
Whatever happened to Thomas Casey, the Traditional subforum moderator? I always liked him very much. He was very fair.
 
I’ve been a member for 10+ years. It’s sad to see it go, but it’s nothing like it used to be.
 
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