Where did the groups and forums go?

professor city social network

I absolutely loved the social network we tried to grow here, and I wanted it to stay, but we took it down and here’s why.

Without an advertising budget, our little grassroots initiative (which began with a group of about 40 middle-aged PhD students and recent PhD grads) could not scale.

To keep everything free, yet private, required upgrading servers, which became cost-prohibitive.

The minimal sophistication of the forums was disappointing. We wanted a fancier social network, dammit.

Balancing freedom with privacy is complex. We wanted a space for free speech, and yet one that was a vetted community, restricted to fellow educators. Manually approving accounts deterred new members before they could understand why we were gate-keeping.

If you have thoughts on this, leave a comment below or contact us.

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About Erika Sanborne

Erika is an award-winning, long-time educator, who consults with individual faculty and administrators on how to meet their teaching goals. She is now also a population health researcher and sociology PhD candidate at the University of Minnesota, which means for now, she is a senior adjunct professor, a consultant, a research assistant, and a student, all at the same time. This has enhanced her understanding of the issues students may face, especially today.

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