A friend of mine encountered a pretty funny thread on Reddit about how our sites suck and I was a dick 20 years ago and must still be. I'll come back to that, but it's funny how some things never change. Going to another community to complain about one that you for whatever reason don't like or don't fit into has been standard practice for a long time.
In the early days, momentum had a lot to do with the success of those sites. Internet usage wasn't mobile yet, but it was growing constantly and there were so many ad dollars to be had. It was a lot of work, in part because I custom wrote all of the code instead of using existing stuff, but I wouldn't describe it as "hard." The intent with PointBuzz (then Guide to The Point) was mostly to share photos, and CoasterBuzz expanded on that to some extent. Then I had to grow a club out of the latter in order to pay for it all, and I've written about that a hundred times.
Years later, I find myself contemplative about what I was getting out of it all, then and now. In the early days I was leaning into my media training from college. Since I transitioned into tech, I wanted to stay connected in some way. CoasterBuzz started out more as a directory than anything else, because every kid with a computer in a dorm room had a site. At one point, I offered hosting to some of those sites. One of the guys went on to work in all of the valley dotcoms, another has designed many attractions at a major theme park company. I never got deep into making content myself because I knew how much work it would be to do that right. Everyone else was doing POV videos and what I'd call a precursor to today's ephemeral "influencer" stuff. I wasn't interested in any of that. I was content just to run what was an entry point for other people's stuff.
I also did not want to be the face of any of it. I wanted the site, the community, the data to be the focus. This was hard when we were doing events, but most of the time people were kind and would thank me for setting the event up. What I did not like was the randos that would expect me to engage with them on their terms, as if I owed that to them. It was particularly bad when I was with friends, or on a date. Diana and I went on our second or third date at Cedar Point, and this kid gets in line behind me and talks my ear off for the next hour. He did not get the hint that I was there with my special lady and not interested in talking with a stranger. That happened all of the time, and I did not care for it.
The podcast we did for years, on the other hand, was admittedly personality driven, but even that was not an hour of dorks talking about airtime and who has been on the most roller coasters. So much of my extended social circle was like that. We came together via those sites, but over time I think coasters became a much less prevalent part of our interests.
I did some video stuff over the years, before YouTube put up minimums to get a cut of the ad money, and while it was infrequent, I had some pretty big gets. Interviewing a CEO, visiting a coaster track factory, a mini-doc on the opening of a ride... I was very proud of what I got out of these. They still weren't at the level of quality I would have liked, but for one guy doing run-and-gun shooting, it was the best I could do. And as I said, I never wanted it to be about me. I like storytelling... other people's stories. I wish I had the time and energy to do more of it, but maybe only because I don't care for the countless videos where people steal other people's shit and just talk and talk about what they think. It's a low form of the medium.
These days, the truth is that I'm just not as into it as I used to be. Working in SeaWorld corporate in some ways made it less interesting. On the other hand, I do miss having Cedar Point nearby. This is the first time in years that I couldn't get up there for the media event, and that grinds on me.
I don't give much energy to the haters. About ten years ago, I was at a wedding, where someone pointed out that the reason many of us were there together on that day was the communities that I built. While that kind of acknowledgement is a little uncomfortable, it's also satisfying because that is what I got out of the experience. Folks these days are happy to use the big platforms, which is like going to Applebee's when you have this great locally owned burger joint down the street. But if even one relationship happens because of those communities, it's worth keeping them going.
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