From an email, sent July 13th, 2010:

Hello,

Josh Rhoades here again, on official idkfa business.

We're coming up again on "idkfa week," similar to what we've put
together the past two years in early August, commemorating idkfa's
"death day." I probably won't be in town for August 8th (the usual day
we schedule around), so I'm having it the week of August 16th, or
thereabouts.

This year I'm asking the same thing: reflect, and let us know what
you've been up to in the last year, or since you last posted on idkfa.
If you won't be around during this time, feel free to contact me if
you'd like to have something posted. And, even if you'd rather not
participate, I'm curious myself on the happenings in people's lives,
so please reply via email at the very least.

I should tell you that this will be the last idkfa week, or at least,
the last idkfa week in this context. This is because things are
changing around idkfa. Things you might be interested in.

First, rather than just leaving idkfa in read-only mode, I will be
disabling idkfa completely. While I have received no requests for
auditing personally identifiable information on idkfa since last
year's offer, it's been indicated to me that idkfa's content is
embarrassing, or at least no longer accurate of peoples' current
views, even when stripped of authorship. A lot changes in eight years,
I suppose. Even for myself, I cringe when I come across my baseless
fanboyism for since failed technological exploits, or anything I had
to say about what music I liked at the time. My hoarding instincts
forbid me to delete content, of course, so the information will be
archived for the rainiest of days, nestled snugly within my dedicated
storage, and available upon request.

Second, and probably the more exciting part of this announcement, is
that I have rewritten idkfa. As mentioned last year, idkfa's codebase
was showing extreme age, almost to the point where I could no longer
adequately maintain it, or bear to look upon its face. In early June,
I made the mistake of fixing a bug in idkfa that had been bothering me
since I had finished v2. That fix more or less snowballed and
scope-creeped into what I'm now calling v3, being the third massive
rewrite idkfa has undergone since inception. It runs about 25 times
faster, is written in half the number of lines of code previously
used, and isn't gray on gray on gray.

Though this latest incarnation of idkfa was born mostly out of boredom
and neck-bearded code monkey indignation, it was also inspired by
recent justification of my very fashionable tin foil hat. Very
recently, and on a number of occasions, people have been outraged at
various social networks' treatment of personal data. Though privacy
statements and policy documents agreed to by users plainly stated the
potential uses of a user's information, they started to notice when
companies like Facebook began exposing a person's information
publicly, and by default (i.e., user photos, profile "links", search
visibility). Facebook, fearing a mass exodus, rewrote their privacy
interface, twice, just to allow users the chance at their checkbox
labyrinth to hopefully protect one's online "identity."

I've been against Facebook from the beginning, likening it to what
reality TV did for television, that is, a sinister way to sell our
stupidity back to us. And yet I find myself (begrudgingly) checking
status updates, correcting people's grammar and spelling so I can
sleep better at night. Admittedly, it has its uses as an online
personal directory, but it has effectively become an advertising
platform, which I feel is not a constructive use for the Internet.
Additionally, for being a social network, and despite Facebook's
networks and groups and events and applications, Facebook fails on a
pretty massive level to engender any sort of community. I feel that
Facebook's encroachments upon our online identities and inability to
make us feel like we're participating in something important reflects
a failing on our part to understand what the Internet was originally
intended for, and that unless we are careful, companies like Facebook
will soon own anything we contribute to on the Internet.

Which is what I have kept in mind for the new version of idkfa. I have
stripped personal information down to username and real name. I have
removed polling, awards, and other superfluous function. I have given
users the ability to preview their posts, and to include images, and
tables, and not have to memorize silly notation. I will be finding a
way to allow users to delete their account. Comments flow sanely, and
rearrange themselves appropriately depending on page size and
boundaries. There's a search box that doubles as a command line. And
the login button is on the top right. It is pretty great.

I have taken what I felt worked best on idkfa (compared to Facebook,
other forum software), and tried to improve upon it. Work remains to
be done, which is why I am not sending a URL, but I feel things are
shaping up. And when it is done, I will send word, and I will expunge
the database. Everyone will create new user accounts, and start with a
clean slate.

The last part of the announcement is that with the disabling of idkfa
v2 and the beginning of v3 will also be my departure from Facebook and
social media. Some might say, "Wait, Josh, they're fixing the
problems!" or "Wait, they're coming out with a new Facebook killer
that we'll all jump onto in the near future!" or "Wait, but how will
we ever hear from you again if you aren't on my FEED?"

Facebook isn't going to fix something I've felt was broken since it
began. Its replacement will try to replicate its function, potentially
do it poorly, and further do it wrong. And all I post are acerbic,
cynical, and vague quips to my status anyhow, you aren't going to miss
that. In addition, you'll be able to consume, to feed voraciously upon
content on new idkfa by external means (RSS readers, to start), so you
won't have to open another precious browser tab if you don't want to.

Notice that I say "departure," and again, not "deletion." This is
because Facebook does not allow you to fully delete your accounts, nor
much of the information you contribute (photos, etc.). So, rather than
deluding myself that my data is safely locked away in Facebook's
vault, I'll lock down my account further, disable all requests and
invites, give myself a ridiculous password, and set notifications only
for direct message. That way, if you want to get a hold of me you can,
but otherwise, I'll be on idkfa. Look me up whenever you're tired of
hiding Farmville notifications and wondering if your employer can see
those photos.

I would hope for you to join me in creating a better online community.
idkfa in all likelihood won't see its glory days again as people have
jobs and families that have a necessarily higher priority, however, it
really doesn't need a high daily post count or a dramatic struggle for
awards and points. It just needs to suck slightly less than the
alternative.

Stay tuned for updates. idkfa is dead. Long live idkfa.

Regards,
Josh Rhoades