are all evidence/information based. They are also forums that needed very
little moderation, and have members who are very committed to the subjects, and who know each other well.

Surely there is a wait and see at OBT... but many have WAITED a long time,
and waiting gets old after a while. I noticed at OBT that there is a huge percentage of zero posters. Here it is the reverse, there are very few posters with zero posts, the vast majority here are active.

People tend to go where their friends are. And that is very obvious here as
well.

The database is very important, to many who post here. In order to
use the internet effectively, and find those answers to puzzling medical
problems out there, data has to be posted. When data and posted links are LOST and this is
the SECOND time data was lost at OBT..then there is little incentive for members to
restore it all (for free with valuable private time), as far as I am concerned.

Even for socially oriented support members, losing those archives is effectively a loss of personal friendship histories. Going back into archives to view milestones,
anniversaries, etc, is as meaningful as data storage. Many are waiting to see if those archives come back.

And of course, obviously, management style means ALOT...and that difference alone, will be, I think a huge issue, as time passes.

OBT was huge, and novel in the beginning. Most biological systems, have one thing in common. They have a cycle. When systems get too big, they tend to self correct, use up resources, be vulnerable to attack, and sometimes die off. This analogy seems pretty accurate for OBT. Only time will tell if this self-correction is lasting.

I think we are extremely lucky and blessed that we have this haven.