Sometimes, you just have to know when to give up. That’s what we’ve done on our website, www.evesun.com today – the online Forum is no more. We started it with a redesign of the website five years ago, and at first it was a lot of fun getting that kind of instant feedback from our readers – and some lively discussions ensued.

But we all know where that ended up. The mistake we made, and one that is rampant across all Internet message boards, was allowing posters to choose anonymous user names instead of using their real identities (something that, in the age before Facebook, would have been nearly impossible to do). What began as an interesting way for readers to interact with us (and each other) online quickly devolved into a hostile, childish and often slanderous mess.

It was the Age of the Troll.

We policed the online forum as best we could for a long time, but it quickly became evident that we were spending a lot of time and energy to babysit a very small percentage of our readership – on a feature that, quite frankly, was not making us any money. In the end, it came down to economy – and propriety. While we still have “30 Seconds,” of course, the website forum seemed outdated and redundant.

We still want and encourage feedback on our stories and discussions of community interest, and provide you several ways in which to do that:

• “30 Seconds” – Completely anonymous, save for identifying yourself by gender and town. The standard rules guarding against libel and profanity apply. Do it online, or call the old-fashioned way, 334-8122.

• Facebook – You can comment directly on The Evening Sun’s Facebook page (www. facebook.com/theeveningsun) or, starting today, you can comment on our website at the bottom of each story when you’re logged into your Facebook account, and your comments will appear there – along with your actual name and profile picture.

• The Telephone – We all still have them on our desks, and you can call us! The main line for The Evening Sun is 334-3276.

• Fax – No, on second thought, don’t do that. It’s 2011!

• E-mail – Everyone on staff here has their own e-mail address, and they’re good about corresponding. The “general” e-mail comes to me, and I sort it out from there – it’s news@evesun.com.