Has Fintechtalk been closed?

[anon75400416]

@N26throwaway

And I think we can apply that here too. Yes, this is Monzo’s forum, likely designed for Monzo’s customers, but the community has grown well beyond that scope now, for better or worse, and there’s so much great variety here. That’s what I love about it. You can come here to learn about fountain pens, discover new tech, bash Royal Mail, discuss video games, complain about Monzo, engage with staff and provide feedback, discuss stocks, or crypto, get excited about the latest Apple product, discuss your favourite subscription services, learn how to be more environmentally friendly, discuss politics, share experiences with meal replacements, or learn how to hide your PDSA subscription from your spouse. The scope of this Monzo forum is virtually limitless.

I think it would be a shame if this regressed into a place to discuss only Monzo things as some people seem to want at times when it’s used as an excuse for hostile reactions that bear ill will towards folks who may have an unsavoury opinion.

I agree with this statement 100%.

[ysconhb (Jenny Linson)]

It does feel a little, and I appreciate this might be a little blunt and harsh, like instead of all this lovely eulogising once the place is gone people should have just made the effort to use it and contribute something when it was there. For all of the talk of the owner and his grief, after a mass exodus of the vast majority of the original members a year or two ago it was, as far as I could tell, down to less regulars than you could count on your fingers, and maybe a couple of toes, by the end. As with anything in life, if you want it to continue existing you have to make an effort and use it. It’s never any good sitting by on the sidelines silently watching as something decays then after the final whistle saying ‘awww, that’s a shame’, we all have to be proactive in supporting from the outset. I tend to agree with some of the comments that while the owner may have reached the end of his tether, it was dwindling more and more, whole days would go by with no new posts at times, so perhaps it was time to kill it anyway.

[anon75400416]

@N26throwaway

I think that’s a cynical take on t

I admit that my comments are slightly cynical. BUT making assumptions that something is affecting someone’s mental health without considering the possibility that they are just an ass makes it very difficult to have a balanced discussion IMO.

@Lhx has an account here. I’ve been very careful about where I name him directly to stay within the forum rules AND not be accusing somebody of something when I don’t know the facts. However he’s made statements here before and he could do so again at some point if he wanted to

[Demmedelusive (Graham)]

As an ex-Starling Guru (I know ) and therefore an early adopter of the Fintechtalk forum, I was keen to see it succeed. There is certainly room (and maybe a need) for a fintech forum other than this one.

In respect of the timeline leading to its closure, I see reference to a mass exodus some while back. Must admit I didn’t witness that. I am aware of one or two posters who became disillusioned by admin responses to their dissent such that they left.

That was recent - and regrettable as they were of the more thoughtful persuasion, certainly not knee-jerk posters and definitely not the sort that needed to be ever-visible.

Although a small forum, I’d taken the view that it’d be healthier if there were more width to the admin/moderation, there’s be less risk of taking dissent personally. The forum was a personal project and it showed. I wish Liam well.

This thread doesn’t need another lengthy post so I’ll simply say that Fintechtalk was a welcome bolt-hole with occasional (but diminishing) entertaining even really funny threads. I’ll miss that.

[Revels]

Ditto. And those are the reasons that a lot of us are here daily, because if it was alllllll Monzo, well that would be really boring.

[simonb]

@N26throwaway

and there’s so much great variety here. That’s what I love about it. You can come here to learn about…

Not to blow my own trumpet, but the very first thing I did as admin on here back in late 2016 was to create the General Chat forum. I strongly pitched to Naji, who was the only other community manager at the time, that it needed places to discuss non-Monzo stuff. Before that, this forum only had Monzo specific sections.

So all these years and topics later, I’m really glad to see this mentioned specifically.

[gt94sss2]

The sad thing for me is the suddenness of this decision which has prevented users from archiving useful links etc.

In addition, (I suspect) given it was not a bank specific forum, there were staff from both NatWest and HSBC giving some info/insights on their digital plans/app enhancements which I will miss.

[Demmedelusive (Graham)]

@Neil0

I’d say it was a bigger exodus than you might think.

Yes, I’m sure you’re right.

[SouthseaOne (Michael)]

OK, stop it with bringing speculated mental health issues into the discussion

You don’t know, it’s not helping, and it feels like it is being weaponised

This topic is balanced on a knife edge and is likely going to get closed if this continues

[Jays6]

Would someone care to explain why my comment about how being careful upsetting the coral crew and how im going to miss Fintech Talk was put into Removed posts please?

[SouthseaOne (Michael)]

It wasn’t me, but the community has been told repeatedly, especially recently, that railing against moderation in comments has no place here and can be directed to the admins, so I can understand

Coral Crew is totally unpaid, voluntary and conducting a fairly thankless task - I can certainly get a slight hint of what Liam faced - so the last thing we need is folk running around - and to the other place when it was still open! - taking pops

[Jays6]

@SouthseaOne

against moderation in comments has no place here and can be directed to the admins, so I can understand

Understood, That was not the aim of my comment. I merely was stating not starting an arument over the topic that was just speculation as this would get closed, Plus i was just adding my thoughts on FTT being closed as i was regular reader but not did not have an account on the FTT Community.

[ysconhb (Jenny Linson)]

@Jays6

explain why my comment about how being careful upsetting the coral crew and how im going to miss Fintech Talk was put into Removed posts

Where is the note to say it was removed? I’m not suggesting that it wasn’t, but there should be a note on the thread for the record to say posts had been removed and I don’t see that.

[Jays6]

Yeah, Its strange because there was also a comment from nanos that was also vanished
Edit: I aso had a notification that it was removed which is gone now too. So … strange.
Must be a superadmin thats coming for me. Regardless im taking this off topic now so no more speculation from me

[DaveJ (Dave)]

I can vouch it was there, at least 2 comments have moved.

[davidwalton (Award Winning Hot Coral Analyst)]

@N26throwaway

You are right. And it isn’t said often enough, so thank you!

Criticism of some frustrating actions aside, I genuinely appreciate the coral crew, and how they keep the community running as best they can. Without you guys, I think it’s fair to say this place would not be able to exist at worst, and at best, a completely toxic and uninviting space. You do a good service that I believe is appreciated by most of us here, even if it times we don’t always agree with the way things are approached.

Again, thank you, and the rest of the coral crew.

I couldn’t have said it better myself.

[Lonford]

Blimey, well that was a hell of a shock. I come back from a 2 day break from social media and find the whole of FTT is gone. Poof.

Well, I guess the main thing I’d like to say is thank you @Lhx. You provided a space for discussion independent from the control of any single company and, I think, permitted and facilitated very free discussion - I don’t recognise the iron-fisted moderation described by some in this thread (and incidentally I also don’t recognise the overt Starling-fanboyism either; I think the objections to the pinned article were more about format and it coming across as an opinion of the community as opposed to one individual). As a personal project that you financed yourself with no advertising or donations, I understand that this must’ve been draining and I appreciate the time that it was around for. Some in this thread have kind of belittled it based on how small of a community it had become, but actually I found it close knit and generally welcoming and friendly. Just because it was small doesn’t mean it wasn’t valuable to those who frequented it.

I think it’s a shame it vanished so suddenly, and the rapid descent from what I believe was largely justified critique regarding the distinction between editorial content and community discussion to the plug being pulled entirely was unexpected for me, but I guess that’s indicative of the toll this whole thing was taking on Liam. And of course the personal attacks he describes that went on behind closed doors are deplorable and none of us regulars over there had any idea some individuals were being so vicious. No one deserves abuse like that, and especially not when they’re dedicating their time and money to provide a free-to-use social space online. Shameful.

And I agree with @N26throwaway, sometimes the slower pace of things over there was actually quite relaxing when things were a bit too fast-moving over here. Equally, when things got a bit barren over there, I enjoyed coming over to join in the discussion here - so the choice of dynamic was something I appreciated.

Oh well, not sure I thought I’d ever say this, but thank god for the Monzo forum!

[SouthseaOne (Michael)]

And the topic is back, at least temporarily, in a happy place

Let us hope it stays that way

[Jays6]

Blimey, That must of took a long time to type. Very good view on the situation @Lonford