In light of the creation of Premium Membership and the news of financial difficulties I’ve been thinking the unthinkable (not difficult in this present situation).
I don’t want this to come to pass but if MN had to ‘close’ or contract its services for a period of time, what would happen to its archive? As a person with an interest and a bit of a background in social history I would hate to think of the legacy of all the old threads disappearing.
Do you have a digital preservation package in place? I’m sure The National Archives would love to have the MN archive safely archived in its digital ‘vaults’ for future historians. Obviously it would only be accessible in 100 years time like the Census records but it would be such a phenomenal resource.
Is this something you’ve thought about? (regardless of what the future holds)
I know people complain about the clunkiness of the search facility but I’ve always been impressed with the fact that I can retrieve a thread from 12/13 years ago in its entirety (with lots of holes where previous posters have had their accounts deleted) I realise that so much of my growth and life as a parent is documented on so many different threads - from the banal tribulations of potty training to the really intimate and confessional stuff. It’s the main reason I would dip into my pocket to pay MN if I’m honest. But I would also hope that if I can’t do that, or if that doesn’t solve your financial difficulties, then the archive would still be safe.
Sorry it’s a horrible but necessary and important question to ask.