So, what’s there for members-only? You know, the ones who pay for AOL accounts? There’s the Safety and Security Center. Yawn. Most of the programs there can be found for free online elsewhere via ISPs or the companies who created the software. The chat rooms have gone the way of the Wild West with no Community Leaders and members not willing to use Ignore, as well as those folks bent on disruption.
Maybe I’ve just become too “savvy and sophisticated” over the years. Yeah, that’s it. The shame of it all is that AOL was always a special community for both the Internet novices and for those of us who enjoyed the communities there. I have friends still working for AOL and I’m concerned whether they’ll have careers there within another year or so. As an AOL member dating back to the early ‘90s, the service is nothing of what it used to be and the only official response comes across as a “don’t let the door hit you on the way out” comment - “maybe AOL isn’t the ISP for you.” Huh?
Perhaps if AOL focused a bit more on the members who are leaving in droves, unsatisfied with the current direction of the company; perhaps if there was some content specifically for members - a teensy bit of a walled-garden and a community growing within; perhaps if they lowered the price for members since they’re giving most of the service away for free; perhaps, perhaps.
Now, I don’t see Ted Leonsis blogging about this, nor AOL’s Golden Boy, Jason Calacanis. So, as an AOL member with sentimental feelings regarding the company and its direction, I am. I just hope the door doesn’t hit me on the way out if I choose to leave the service. It is a shame that the members are forgotten, those who actually built the service way back in the day.
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