Much has been said recently with regards the technical glitches people have encountered in trying to use ipernity, the so-called optimization process and what has been happening with Explore.

On the whole I've kept out of the discussions of late, but I did reach out to Christophe to see if he could offer any explanations or reassurances over what's happening and this is what he has had to say:

I must apologize for the last days service outages ... I've done a lot of platform optimizations lately, and yes, I've fixed hopefully the last problems this morning.

Regarding the moderations issues (explore/spam) I've been speaking with the IMA today. A new "moderation" team will be in place very soon.

Whilst I appreciated the fact that at least he replied to me, I was saddened that he didn't really offer any reassurances on what is happening with regards the IMA takeover, although the fact that he has been talking to them today about site moderation suggests that he is still committed to handing the platform over.

I had also commented on the fact that subscription fees have been increased dramatically and suggested he think again about making a 1 month or 3 month renewal option available to existing users, but sadly he has not given any indication as to whether or not he might do this.

However, at least he has made it clear that the technical glitches of late have indeed been down to site optimization; that he is still in contact with the IMA although they have suggested he was proving difficult to reach; and that between them they intend to establish some kind of "moderation team" in the near future.

From a personal point of view I'm trying to decide if he has said enough to satisfy me that the IMA takeover is still on track and that he is committed to seeing it through as I must admit of late I have been thinking of leaving ipernity.

If for no other reason than the fact that it seems increasingly difficult to ignore all the uncertainty that surrounds the platform and simply carry on as before, because it's simply not the place it used to be.

The drawn out negotiations between Ipernity SA and the IMA combined with poor communication on both sides has seen tempers and nerves fray amongst the community; disagreements and splits have appeared where once there was harmony or at least as much harmony as you can ever have on a global online platform; and so, so many good people have left ipernity and are unlikely to return.

I'm also frustrated that over the last 17 months since I posted an open letter to Team Ipernity suggesting that all was not well behind the scenes, an article that prompted them to admit for the first time that the site was in jeapordy, we are still surrounded by uncertainty and ambiguity.

The comments by Christophe today with regards establishing a "moderation team", whilst most welcome, provide a clear example of why I feel so frustrated.

Way back in January 2016, a few weeks after I posted that letter, I also sent a document through to Christophe that sought to address many of the problems ipernity was experiencing back then and it contained not only my own ideas, but many of those that others had posted in various threads across the platform.

And within that document the following problem with ipernity was highlighted and a possible solution was suggested:

The resource issues that appear to be increasingly hampering you when it comes to doing what needs to be done to keep the site functioning properly and to keep the spammers at bay:

This surely must be one area where you could utilise a group of volunteers to great effect, acting as moderators if you like, with access to certain tools that would allow them to remove unwanted messages, issue abuse warnings, and even close/block troublesome accounts.

All of which just reminds me of the old adage/proverb that we have in the UK that states you can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink" ... it so clearly still applies to this day.