The Implode-O-Meter Sites Went Down from August 1 to the Evening of August 5 -- No Explanation. Don't Imitate This!
August 6, 2008
Beginning on August 1, the Implode-O-Meter site went down. So did its twin, Bankimplode.
When I searched for both sites, using Firefox and IE 7, I got these messages:
Hmm, ml-implode.com isn't loading right now.
Hmm, bankimplode.com isn't loading right now.
I checked back every day, at least five times per day. This was no minor glitch. This was a major breakdown.
I contacted Mish Shedlock. I asked if he had heard anything. Mish posted a response from Aaron Krowne on August 3, saying this was not a problem with Firefox. Krowne was wrong. It was a problem with both Firefox and Internet Explorer. I used both to access both sites. Both were down. I sent Shedlock an email warning him on August 4.
Krowne did not immediately go on YouTube to tell his readers what was going on.
When the site came back up late on August 5, there was no post at the top saying: Why my sites were down for for five days. There was nothing about the down time.
When a high-traffic site goes down, the owner needs to alert his Website peers that there is a technical problem, if it is a technical problem. This way, they can alert their readers.
When it comes back up, he should admit that there had been a problem. He should explain it.
Pretending that nothing had gone terribly wrong is always a bad policy. It says, "I don't owe faithful followers an explanation. It is easier to pretend they did not notice." The more faithful the readers, the more they noticed.
Never treat your readers as if they are either naive or asleep at the wheel.