On May 5, 2016, barely more than two weeks ago, John DeNardo announced that the venerable SF Signal mega-blog would be shutting down for good.
I was blown away—crushed, even.
At the top of my browser are a bunch of my most-used links, including a pull down menu called GROUPS that include places I visit regularly to keep up with the world around me. This includes Facebook, GoodReads, and up until a couple weeks ago, SF Signal.
Now I have no idea where I’m going to go to keep up with the genres. From books to movies and TV to games and all sorts of stuff including science and technology news, SF Signal has been one of my go-to sites for years.
JE SUIS SF SIGNAL!
I know, Locus will cover the nuts and bolts of what’s happening, but they don’t come from a fan perspective. I find Locus too journalistic. I don’t get the feeling that I’m wallowing in SF/F/H goodness with a bunch of fellow fans like I did at SF Signal.
If you look down and to your right you’ll find a link to SF Signal under “Resources.” I don’t have the heart to delete that.
I was once part of one of SF Signal’s Mind Meld discussions. Go read that now before their archives disappear!
I particularly loved the recurring feature they called [SF/F/H Link Post] that listed all sorts of interesting stuff going on around the internet. I would click through that once a week and can’t even estimate how many times I ended up sharing something I found through SF Signal on Twitter, making me look like I have my finger on the pulse of the genres.
I did have my finger on the pulse of the genres, and the vein was called SF Signal.
I hope there’s someone out there who can pick up the flag for this amazing site, but in the meantime, please join me in bidding a fond farewell to SF Signal, wishing all the best to John DeNardo and his people, and the best of luck for whoever dares try to fill their shoes.
I do read a lot of Gizmodo/iO9, but now, use the comment section to point me in the direction of the next best thing from SF Signal . . .
—Philip Athans
Fantasy Faction is similar, but only for the fantasy genre.