I think I am one of the last hobbyists here who was in strict relationship with Eddie, before he suddenly passed away.

In the last year of his life, Eddie shared his encyclopedic knowledge of the hobby with me, and we exchanged thousands of emails, relating with every possible issues of the hobby. We had a fiery debate after in one of my first posts I criticized his perspective on where porn was going. Since that debate, and other following exchanges Eddie and I lay out many possible research projects, from updating his UTRs list, to literally study the porn stars market using the TER database, by putting together my 'research skills' and his 'knowledge.' We talked a lot about the direction of the PS board too, and where the board may go once he will step out. Unfortunately, Eddie passed away, and all the exchanges we had remained buried in my files.

The PS Board, after Eddie, had a transitional period, after which the Moderators where removed. This change in my view, structurally, made this board a different creature. Without ‘moderators’ or someone who has the stature to mediate the different interests that the PS board inevitably carries, the traffic on it is likely to be a jam. Without some senior personnel who can harmonize the different perspectives that hobbyist carry inevitably with them the posts are likely to be a free shooting. Without a group of hobbyist who work should be to discipline and educate those newbie who want to be part of this board, their career will always be a marginal one. All this may be possible when these three agents speak from a position of ‘above the parts’ that has to be institutionalized from the board itself, otherwise everything is stalled. Indeed, that is where the board has become today: a stalled one.

The main reason, in my view, is that the principal project of Eddie was to build a community, rather than anything else. If there is not a community but an aggregate of individuals, then the board cannot be what is today: a platform for exchange of information which accountability is totally personalized. Everyone can ‘talk’ about everything’ since that ‘talks,’ and that ‘everything’ is never openly discussed and especially debated with competence and precise knowledge of facts, persons and contexts. Consequently debate about important issues have disappeared altogether from the board. A simply statistical will reveal that 50% of the posts are about ‘Is she provides?’ Another 20% is about “What about 411?” The rest of the post falls between the request of miscellaneous info, and other minutia that are of marginal interest for anyone excluding the poster, and so forth.

Eddie had both that institutional position (as moderator and with the help of Sly) and the patience to work and build a community. That community does not exist anymore, so the board is back again, what it was before Eddie: an aggregate of individual seeking information about this porn stars, that agency, those porn flicks and these conventions, etc. etc.

Without a community, there are not collective interests, but to be just an atom floating around the board and landing when your personal interests are calling for info. The exchange of info is between atoms, not between members of a community. When there is not a community, there are no incentives to educate the others, there is no interest to make the new members learning the ropes, and there is no attraction to make real contributions about important issues.

So what are the contributions in this board? Saying, ‘yes she provides,’ or ‘everyone is available so check with X, Z, Y, and Y.’ Arguing from a position of interest that ‘Agency W is the best of the best’? Mentioning that ‘porn star K is the best bang for the bucks’? Attacking “agency Q because their ‘rates are too high’? Suggesting that ‘X is better than J’ so you should see the former rather than the latter? Posting about this and that without having posted any reviews that can back up what you are saying? I can go forever but I think I made my point.

Without a community, everything goes down the road, and that is the biggest problem I see in this board after Eddie passed away. Eddie was always repeating me about his belief that once you built a community formed by high profile hobbyists everything relating with the hobby will take the high road. To build that community it takes time, hard work and lot of patience. After Eddie this board has lost completely sense of what a community of high profile hobbyists should look like, and what the impact of that community would be to porn stars, agencies, and everything else in between.

Eddie was a special man, for both his generosity and his knowledge about the hobby. He cannot be replaced, but his ‘spirit’ is still around us. That ‘spirit’ has tons of stuff to teach to us, who are humble enough to learn from him. So there is not going to be any new Eddie on this board. However, reconstructing a community of high profile hobbyists should be the first priority of everyone here. And in that regard, Eddie’s spirit is by far the only point of departure I see for us.

That is the challenge lurking in the future. Otherwise, leaving as an aggregate of individuals is the destiny of both those who live “for” the hobby, and those who live “off” the hobby.

Sincerely,
BM