I did make a promise to keep the shoutbox open. And I wish I were in a position to keep that promise.
I don't personally maintain the shoutbox or have the knowledge of how to do so, I also don't maintain the system resources it uses, or the complications it introduces when network wide updates are made to different systems that effect the shoutbox. There are teams at deviantART like devious Technologies and Product that do this. And they area easily the most strained resources that deviantART has.
These teams made a strong case to me this week in saying that usage of the shoutbox has decreased substantially from the hundreds of people who would flow in and out of it in years past, to now exactly 60.
I will tell you that the number 60 is a very particular number to me and to deviantART. The number 60 was used and discussed in great detail during the design and build of the Groups system. When I heard the number, I knew the tides had turned and it was time for change.
I wish the number were 70, or 90, or any number above 60.
I read a case study that said men participating on a regular basis in a social group of 60 other men live 10 years longer on average. (I realize the shoutbox is men and women almost equally) -- But the case study reveals value to both genders of participation in larger social groups of some diversity as well.
Malcolm Gladwell writes in the Tipping Point about social connections, and that 60 people is the number of people that the average person can maintain relationships with after family, old friends and necessary-to-know co-workers are removed from the total number of people a person can keep personal track of.
At the start of my digital life on the Netherworld BBS in Northern Virginia when I was just 12 years old, we had built the network up to 42 phone lines which was the total number of people who could be on to "chat" and play games at any point. This was the single most important group of people to me in my life if I had to summarize. They shaped me and helped me through the most difficult things even if they didn't necessarily know it.
Moving to upstate New York made dialing in to The Netherworld a long-distance phone call that my parents had to pay for. Many $700 phone bills later, they put an end to it. And my heart was broken in a way I will never forget.
The pain made me seek community again, and led to the creation of DMusic.com, which led to the creation of deviantART and the creation of the Groups system quite directly for example. I want nothing more than a harmony of 60 person eco-systems all around deviantART, so that deviantART can "feel" small and serve millions in just this way.
I believe we all have a thirst for this feeling. It is as human as the wires of the web can be in their current state. (I mean who's to know what Google Glass or something adds to the equation right?)
So I understand what is on the line here and the passion with which you guys will fight this. My heart really goes out to you here and as I told my team earlier today, sometimes my role really effing sucks.
It is clear that the 60 of you have found a harmony together. I love this! And I feel awful that I have to be the bad parent that can't keep their promise. In every way I can count I've literally convinced myself about 3 times in the writing of this note to keep the shoutbox going.
What hardens this reality is that the number is 60. deviantART must maintain a position where it builds and maintains software for the building of communities. When we service a single 60 person unit of community we are utilizing resources in a way that doesn't benefit the greater good of deviantART.com.
I encourage you guys to stick together and to fight through this change. There are alternatives to the Shoutbox right on deviantART: A GROUP, a CHAT ROOM, even a Profile page that already has a shoutbox on it. All of these things are substitutes on deviantART, not to mention available alternatives in private web hosting. None of them would be the same. I get it.
It is precisely the purpose of a community like deviantART to bring together groups of sixty people for life long companionship in a best case scenario. This is a very difficult thing for a group of people to achieve and I really believe it is something you guys should work on quickly to relocate so that you don't lose your touch with each other.
My heart goes out to you, and I'm sorry.
-- Angelo
