Caladia's Blog

I'm so nostalgic for the community we had in the beginning. There was this one night when we were all over the Prosper forums, talking about whatever random things came to mind, and throwing out haiku & Yiddish all over the place. (You had to be there.) That was *such* a fun night! It was like a party.

Gradually, as more and more people joined the forums, it got to be less like a party and more impersonal. It's a natural progression I guess. And now, some of the people I've gotten to know and like through the Prosper forums are leaving and I'm sad.

It's been almost a month since "Black Friday." In the weeks since that day, higher level Prosper employees have been more visible in the forums, and John Witchel has started a blog here at this alternate forum site, to communicate better with the forum community. Members who had been boycotting the official forums have begun posting over there again, and it looks like the rift is healing.

It always seemed odd to me that higher-ups at Prosper only put in an appearance in the forums when someone complained about how people were treated in the forums. With so much other insightful, important discussion going on, why on earth would they narrow their focus to "forum etiquette”?

Then I saw a post on John Witchel's blog, where he asked for ideas about how to improve the forums, and it dawned on me that he sees the forums as a kind of virtual "community relations" branch of the company-- a way to foster a sense of community, enhance communication between the company and its stakeholders, and build and maintain a satisfied customer
base. I don't think this was the original idea. The forums were not given any kind of prominence in the initial layout of the site. The Prosper founders envisioned Groups as the mechanism that would provide a sense of community and customer base.

Things never turn out the way you expect them to; the key is to be able to see the reality and adjust accordingly. In de-emphasizing groups, and acknowledging the importance of the forums, the powers-that-be at Prosper are doing exactly the right thing.

I’m glad Black Friday happened. It triggered some much needed changes, and opened up a dialogue between Prosper and the community. We all want Prosper to succeed. We may have concerns, we may disagree on the best path to success, but on a fundamental level, we all have the same goal. As it turns out, this community plays a key role in reaching the goal.