Changes Coming to AOL Message Boards
Dear Message Board users,
We wanted to tell you about some changes that are coming to your
These changes will take place on
Thank you for being part of the
Sincerely,
The
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Reader Comments (Page 5 of 5)
81. Why are we redirected to the People Connection page rather than to a page that tells us if our particular message boards that we have been posting on for a decade or more have been terminated? There isn't even a message on the People Connection page, there is only this vague message above on this blog that can be found by clicking on the link at the bottom of the People Connection page. The UK message board links at least take you to a message that states the following:
"Important information regarding the shutdown of AOL Message Boards.
We regret to inform you that AOL Message Boards has been shut down.
Sincerely,
The AOL Team"
At least that would let us know and not give some the false hope that their message boards are undergoing maintainence and will be back. It seems that it would have taken just a little effort to post a message on each board at least the week before for each message board was ended or redirected to another location by AOL on 3/31/09. Luckily the people on the message board that I have posted to for 11 years made plans in case the message board ended suddenly which we had seen others do in the past few months. We now have a new message board home. I know the AOL focus has changed to advertising, but who will you be advertising to when you have alienated a HUGE message board population. No one will be coming to AOL at all soon and those advertising dollars will not be coming in anymore either. Then AOL is gone. Too bad, it was a nice place to be for many years.
Posted at 11:24AM on Apr 10th 2009 by MT
82. To whomever this company gave the okay to revamp what most of us used on you rotten internet service (insert middle finger picture here)this is for you! Is it your plan to get out of business by doing stupid moves to annoy those who still pay for your service. I suppose some numbers guy said this would work itself out in the long run so lets make a change. This is why those who over think something like this get canned. When the money is lost in revenue then those who made the poor decision are booted to the door. I do not see that happening here as you love to be stupid on a regular basis. Time to leave your sorry company as your becoming less in inovation and a non informative internet provider.
Posted at 12:09PM on Apr 10th 2009 by David Herman
83. I agree with what everyone has posted here re: the AOL message boards.
It would be different if people were warned, but the message boards that showed they would be gone as of 3/31/09 were not ALL of them. Just certain ones.
If AOL is updating the other boards and plan on bringing them back, they could at least put an update here on this blog for everyone.
I am sure that the message boards are a big part of why most users continued to keep coming back to AOL.
What is to keep people here now if these boards do not come back?
Posted at 12:48PM on Apr 10th 2009 by Dee
84. I have written many comments regarding this unfortunate subject, and like always is the case with AOL, they don't appear anywhere in this blog!
Trully, AOL sucks!
This is it, I'm leaving AOL for good. The boards were the only reason why I stayed with AOL for over 10 years.
Posted at 1:12PM on Apr 10th 2009 by iskinder
85. AOL, you are COWARDS--taking away message boards that were relavent to many bosrd users- You have ruined many ideas with your changes!
Posted at 5:45PM on Apr 10th 2009 by Raffael Zuccaro
86. I can't understand why you took off the Young and Restless boards. There were many posters. I have no reason to get on People Connection Blogs so I won't be seeing any of the advertisements that pay for aol.
Please, please put the Y&R boards back on.
Posted at 8:47PM on Apr 10th 2009 by wapperk
87. The Christian message boards were a place where I made many friends. We laughed together, cried together,fought and made up. Please bring them back.
Charlene
Posted at 10:04PM on Apr 10th 2009 by Charlene
88. AOL, I need to ask you a serious question. Are you trying to get rid of your members? Because if you are, you could have just told us, it would have been a lot easier than deleting our boards. I visited the NASCAR boards, and the Boston Bruins boards daily, and both had regular posters with plenty of posts. Now, Both are gone. While we complained when you changed the format, I can guarantee that EVERYONE would rather that than the horse sh*t you are giving us now. I think you guys need some serious help when it comes to brainstorming new ideas.
Signed,
A pissed off user.
Posted at 2:11PM on Apr 11th 2009 by Pissed of user.
89. Well...I guess AOL has finally had the long awaited nervous breakdown we all saw on the horizon. The message boards were the only reason most people I knew retained AOL, mostly due to the horrible lack of customer service, rude CSR's when you do get one, and the uncaring attitude, as if new subscribers are a dime a dozen.
This change is the nail in the coffin.
AOL is going the way of the dinosaur. And they can thank themselves for it. They did to themselves with their stupid decisions that were almost designed to push customers away.
Bravo AOL. Bravo. Fait Accompli.
Posted at 11:38PM on Apr 10th 2009 by Shelly
90. Hello! Can you please tell me how I can find the AOL Molly Maguire message board at:
aol://5863:126/mB:415656
My computer only recognizes http:// !
I use Mozilla, Internet Explorer, and Netscape.
What does the aol:// mean, and how do I find things that use it?
If you can please give me the http:// equivalent, I can plug it into on Archive.org!
The forum has alot of important history information that is not available elsewhere. Can you please help?
Hal Smith
Pennsylvania
Posted at 1:31AM on Apr 11th 2009 by rakovskii
91. Hello! Can you please tell me how I can find the AOL Molly Maguire message board at:
aol://5863:126/mB:415656
My computer only recognizes http:// !
I use Mozilla, and don't have AOL service.
What does the aol:// mean, and how do I find things that use it?
If you can please give me the http:// equivalent, I can plug it into on Archive.org!
The forum has alot of important history information that is not available elsewhere. Can you please help?
Hal Smith
Pennsylvania
Posted at 1:30AM on Apr 11th 2009 by rakovskii
92. Try sending feedback to AOL using this link:
http://www.aolfeedback-clarabridge.com/se.ashx?s=04BD76CC65A7BB3C&tid=25&r=http%3A%2F%2Fdaol.aol.com%2Fmain&ch=us.daol&oid=930c88d002b4ce0c111e770a4e5aba387723cc42f2ab012f9df6158df6968fe7&c=en-US
Lets see if someone listens.
Posted at 2:35AM on Apr 11th 2009 by craigun2007
93. What reasons do people stay with AOL? They want email contact with the friends they have made on AOL. They want message boards so they can talk across the world on their favorite subjects.
There is no longer any need to use an AOL browser, which is the worst browser on the scene, since Independent Service Providers allow you access to the internet, and also to AOL.
So,if you all contact your ISP and get an email address through them, or use yahoo or other such places, you can still keep in touch with your email buddies. If the Message Boards do not come back, you can make independent email lists of your favorite board members and continue discussion that way.
The truth is that if we stay with AOL, we can all cancel our paid membership and still use AOL as a freebie for whatever our reasons. However, there really is no reason to stay with AOL and I am not sure there ever was, except for the email and message boards.
So, in their infinite wisdom, the Think Tank at AOL is working at a snail's pace to do whatever it is they say they are going to do. By the time they get around to "restructuring" the Message Boards, will there be any of us around to use them?
Posted at 10:12AM on Apr 11th 2009 by morah8956
94. Here are some addresses:
Kelly.Wilson@corp.aol.com, Charles.Rock@corp.aol.com, Dori.Salcido@corp.aol.com, ted.cahall@corp.aol.com, joanna.shields@corp.aol.com, Kim.Partoll@corp.aol.com, Jon.Werther@corp.aol.com, ,Allie.Burns@corp.aol.com, alysia.lew@corp.aol.com
Posted at 11:10AM on Apr 11th 2009 by romad
95. I think most of the comments talk about message boards that were cancelled.
I used only two boards for l0yrs..THE VIEW and IFKT
how sad to see them knocked off. You should have taken a POLL of users to see which boards were most utilized...not just make up a random group.
From the beginning of AOL..so many wonderful things were availabe..and NOW..it has gone so far downhill that i eventually see the END OF AOL
Flo
Posted at 5:44PM on Apr 11th 2009 by Flojo
96. I cannot believe you took the message boards away. The Pets one....The Chicago Cubs. This was the only reason I PAID to use you. I have not seen one person say this "Change" for the new and improved is making anyone happy. AOL -= AO Hell
Posted at 7:26PM on Apr 11th 2009 by Toni
97. For AOL Message Board Users who are now looking for an alternative, I suggest the CompuServe Forums, where people can use their AOL IDs to sign in and post. If you use AIM, all you need do when signed into AIM when you enter a CompuServe Forum is click on "Log In" and you don't even have to type in anything --it signs you in automatically.
The CompuServe Message Board Forums can be found here about halfway down the Page under the various Topic Sections Listed (Cut & Paste this next Link into your browser if you must) here:
http://webcenters.netscape.compuserve.com/forum_center/default.jsp?f loc=DC-channel4
Here are a few the Forums there, just to give you an idea:
SF Media:
http://community.compuserve.com/sfmedia
Under "News"
Political Debate:
http://community.compuserve.com/politics
I think most of you get the idea.
We can liven these places up and make those boards/forums active. The Section Folders for each Forum are listed on the lower lefthand side about halfway down the Forum Main Entrance Page.
Posted at 7:39PM on Apr 11th 2009 by StarFuryG7
98. The following is a letter I sent to aol, I see my address list was picked up on a previous post..I sent to many and suggested they send emails as well...here is the letter I sent...........I received a phone call from aol, from someone on the executive escalation team, but all they did was agree with me.........not much help to agree, but we are still without boards........Let's see how fast this post gets pulled!
To:
Kelly.Wilson@corp.aol.com, Charles.Rock@corp.aol.com, Dori.Salcido@corp.aol.com, ted.cahall@corp.aol.com, joanna.shields@corp.aol.com, Kim.Partoll@corp.aol.com, Jon.Werther@corp.aol.com, BHeikeS8
April 2, 2009
To: AOL
From: Sharon Watson
Subject: Message Boards
There is no way to accurately convey the dismay at what has been done to the AOL message board system.
The changes at AOL in the last three years have not been viewed positively by your users. Increasingly, it's been hard to understand where we have been taken into consideration at all, in any recent programming decision.
When changes are made, it is always amazing to hear people being told that the disturbing change was made because users were asking for it. As an active beta tester for many years with AOL, as an active Message board participant with AOL for many years and as one who has communicated with AOL on many levels through the years, I have never been asked how I felt about an upcoming change, or had an opinion solicited in any way. I have had a far reaching acquaintance with many AOL users through the years when AOL promoted user Community, and no one with which I've ever spoken has wanted any change we ultimately have been told was user driven.
We have just been faced with the demise of our profile system for the fiasco AOL has thrust upon us, Bebo. For AOL to think that would be accepted by those that use profiles, is so far away a thought in touch with reality that perhaps the company needs to crash and burn. It was hard to maintain hope for the future.
I have often equated the changes that have adversely affected User Experience with the idea of AOL shooting itself in the foot, toe by toe.
The destruction and demise of the AOL message board system has now cut out a vital organ necessary for the continuation of life. AOL has taken away the Community that has made AOL, AOL from the user experience leaving each of us an island unto ourselves, cut off from communication with friends, people we have felt become associates, and a specific reason to want to come to the AOL software on a daily basis to...Experience AOL.
Your programming has disintegrated to that aimed at the youth to very young adult category of user. Feature stories have become more and more inane and even what promises to be a story on the Welcome Screen, leading to only silliness.
As a 50something intelligent adult female, you've lost me. You'd think I'd have been a target audience. I have buying power.
You have taken away message board categories of interest in favor of...auto enthusiast? Sports and Travel and Money and Finance all seem like good choices, for specific target groups, but you have left out such other important groupings it's hard to imagine how such a decision could be made.
The Computing category of message board was such a gem of an area. Members...or users, as we have become, helped other people with their problems in not only their personal computers, but AOL issues long after AOL tech support became impossible to deal with or understand. The area of Health and Nutrition....gone. Personal and support area forums....gone.
Those people will leave AOL.
Those people are not interested in the Comment areas below Welcome Screen stories. That is not a community, but only a forum for hatred, prejudice and the unintelligent.
People would have screamed and yelled at the format change of the Message Boards, but settled down, accepted it and moved on with AOL.
What they do not and will not understand, is being kicked to the curb with no word, no warning, no reason to take away what has been part of AOL, what has helped make AOL for all these years. what has brought so many into AOL, day after day.
The UK members were at least told that their message boards were closing as of 3/31/09. There were some areas of US message boards that users were told their message board area would be closing. I know that was reported from the Television board areas. But a great majority of us were not given the courtesy of that warning. There was no time to say goodbye, to set up alternate means of staying in touch and other communication avenues. We were told Changes were coming. While a change can indeed be a discontinuation, that is NOT was inferred and as active message board users, we had no reason to anticipate such an action. Frankly, that was cold, and cruel.
If it is AOL's goal to become only a Web Portal with no internal client support, no community base of user, no loyalty to your user or user to your product, you are well on your way.
As a user with three active screen names and a long history of those being my email addresses, I won't be rapidly abandoning ship. I have too much personally invested in those addresses. But, my use of AOL, my loyalty to AOL, my reason to come to AOL have otherwise been crushed, and you'll find my page views will dwindle. Many other non reactive, intelligent mature adult user have also told me they are pretty much finished here.
Perhaps AOL has it's obituary written and there is an active time line working toward the release of that announcement. If it's not.........it's time to start writing. What was once such a great member based, user friendly, loyalty invoking product in our Internet market has shot off all it's toes, dismembered it's feet and is now cutting out vital organs of it's life. Life support may keep things afloat for a while, but the rest of the body will begin breaking down and total deterioration will kill off the very heart that kept trying so hard to keep beating.
It is with heavy heart I send this......these decisions have affected things I have come to enjoy and adapt as part of my life. Just as when a limb is cut off your body, even when the initial
wound heals, what had been part of you, and where it had been, leaves a phantom pain that just won't go away.
AOL has wounded many, and it will only be a double edged slash that won't heal, on either side.
I have lost all hope.
Sharon Watson
Previously loyal AOL member
Posted at 7:40PM on Apr 11th 2009 by Sharon
99. Why do you have this comment section when you don't give a flip? What's your agenda? When are you going under and will we have any warning? Who's the master genius behind this monumental betrayal of your customers? Fire him/her, it's a bad plan! You left a paltry handful of boards that don't even interest the majority of members, there is no variety! Adios, AOL!!!
Posted at 8:19PM on Apr 11th 2009 by Lee
100. Unless, I didn't read the explanation correctly... The more popular Boards, will return. A different look and such... I await their return. Thanks AOL, as your format is most enjoyable. I hope the changed format, is user friendly. Rants & Rave was good, when Gunnside didn't post his crap there... Most of the posters, there were smart and informative.
Posted at 11:16PM on Apr 11th 2009 by Carolyn Bond