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In a widely unexpected but highly detailed shock-the-troops message Aaron Wall (seobook) announced that he will be closing the Threadwatch forum this coming Friday.

Seems he doesn’t have the nerve and the gumption to pump more resources into a venture that was never conceived to be a major profit maker in the first place and expectably never evolved into such.

And he admits to not having been able to turn it into something more compatible with what he views as being today’s discourse:

I thought I could make it more mainstream over time, but I just don’t have enough time too and probably am not strong enough to move it that far from what it currently is.

Nothing much to say to that: It was indeed one of the few places where out-of-the-box thinking SEO minds (“white hat” and “black hat” alike) and even a few search engine reps such as Matt Cutts would convene in a somewhat rowdy but essentially good-humored atmosphere.

And yes, there was the news, too – not always top reliable, true; sometimes a mite oddball, yes; frequently given to hypey headlines that would make your eyes water, sure. Sure. Yeah. I said sure, ok?

But also: unrelenting in calling the corporate droidspeak bluff; strong, widely uncompromising even on privacy issues; nurturing a healthy and refreshing give-no-shit attitude as originally implemented by its Brit founder Nick Wison who’s now doing Performancing – so hell, yes, if nothing else it was different, it was anything but f—ing “mainstream”…

As John Andrews puts it so well in his comment-cum-obituary:

It was a water cooler for many who find most water cooler communities distasteful.

[…]

It looks like we are one step closer to a world of SEO forums that don’t offend the talking heads.

Nor can Aaron really be blamed for throwing the towel now – for him, it wasn’t really his baby, it was an adopted child: beloved, perhaps; well taken care of, certainly. But essentially alien, not properly bonded nevertheless. Or so it seemed. Only he would really know.

So bye, Threadwatch – it sure was fun while it lasted. And I’m not one bit convinceable that the world will be a better place without you…

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