Or: AOL commits organizational suicide, in public?
Announced on certain 'members only' message boards earlier today. (7-21)
We are pleased to announce that all News message boards will become "Open to the Web" and available to AIM users. This is an exciting opportunity for all of us to discuss our favorite topics with a larger group of people. In addition, you will notice that these boards have a new interface.
What Is an "Open to the Web" Board? An "Open to the Web" board is an AOL message board that is open to both AOL members as well as registered AIM users. We have several "Open to the Web" communities on AOL, including AOL Movies and AOL Television.
So How Does This Work, You Ask? AOL members will have all the tools they alwaiys have, just more opportunities to interact. Web users will be able to view board posts and see why AOL's message boards are the best on the Internet, but in order to post messages, they will need to register for an AOL Instant Messenger (AIM) screen name.
Why Is AOL Doing This? In some of our communities members have expressed an interest in talking to non-AOL members as well as their AOL friends. This, combined with our experience, research, and member feedback, show that allowing AOL members and AIM members to interact with one another provides a richer community experience.
When Is AOL Doing This? You can expect to see the change the week of July 25.
If we accept that one of the very few things keeping some people on AOL was the members-only nature of its message boards, this just leaves one question...
... when the last person leaves AOL for real internet access... will he or she turn off the lights?
