Mister Bin, what inspired you to start this site, and how much time does it take up, and is there any profit in it?
Nope, I'm not thinking of starting my own.
I've run sites, clear back to dial-up days. I gave it up because it was not making money and it got to be too much of a hassle. At one point I had 10,000 dial-up users from all over the world.
One of the big problems I faced in the days of the Internet was the amount of SPAM. Rick does a good job of catching SPAM, but it must be a heck of a chore. I have had my own forums and helped others, and misuse of the medium completely outstrips its legitimate use unless you have your total focus on it. It isn't just SPAM either. You have to be on guard for everything from pedophiles using your photo upload facilities, to online prostitution, to hackers to international espionage. I had to deal with several of these. I had to call FBI and the county sheriff on a couple of occasions. I have to say, LE can be ruthless when they want to be.
The other thing that you have to watch is a liability. Forums walk a thin line with current law. On the one hand, if you don't do any censoring at all, you become a cesspool. On the other hand, if you censor, now you might be construed as a publisher. Publishers are held to a higher standard. They can be sued for libel committed by those posting. Watch out for this to be a hot issue with Facebook, Youtube, and others in the near future.
I am down to now running a single weblog. I also have a couple of forums and weblogs and such for friends that have next to zero visibility to the Internet at large. I'm happier coming here and letting Rick to all the work.
