The Curse of Tnooz!
Within days of Earth.org being featured here the site's backers have stunned their community of writers and users and suddenly announced operations are over.
In a short post on the Earth.org blog, Otto Stricker blames the site's users for his decision to pull out of the open travel guide system.
He says his involvement will end with "immediate effect" - dated January 28 - and thanks the team of virtual writers around the globe.
"We have ten thousands of users visiting the site every month and they have not done what we suggested them to do: Become engaged and contributing users on the open travel guide Earth.org. And spread the news to friends – the growth base for every website. This is the core of our decision – what else shall it be?"
An official says the the website was still "another 12 months" away from working smoothly and the founders admit they made the website "too complex".
The domain Earth.org is now up for sale, an official says, while the company is also
Stricker and brother Mathias - the other figure behind the scenes - have responded to a number of messages posted in the forum.
In one, Otto says:
"We have been working over years on this website – always with a 100% positive approach. We can either be 100% positive – or we do not work for Earth.org. This was always our thinking. We do not think there is a world in-between."
Mathias adds:
"I’m afraid I’ll never work again in such a great environment and with such a great team as I did in the last years with you. I’m really sad that this is all over now, but in the end we had to take this decision."
The main website gives very little away in a brief note at the top of the site:
"This is a demo version - and if you want to take it forward - please free to ask us for the code, which is open. Thank you for visiting."
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NB: Last week TripAdvisor removed a recruitment video from YouTube after it featured on Tnooz.
Weha have ten thousands of users visiting the site every month and they have not done what we suggested them to do: Become engaged and contributing users on the open travel guide Earth.org. And spread the news to friends – the growth base for every website. This is the core of our decision – what else shall it be?