Gannett’s MomsLikeMe shuts down, deletes all content

Gannett announced this week that it’s shutting down MomsLikeMe.com, a hyperlocal parenting network that is in 100 cities nationwide.  Gannett Digital announced the closing in an Oct. 6 memo, citing efforts to invest in core news products, local marketing services and new product development as the reasoning behind the move.

The site, largely a collection of content and discussions centered around parenting, was started in 2006 by the Indianapolis Star. GannettBlog reports that the MomsLikeMe network had over 800,000 unique visitors per month.

Although publications and websites shutting down is a common story these days, what is unique about the MomsLikeMe situation is that Gannett plans to delete all the content after this Friday, Oct. 14. It was my understanding that deleting online content isn’t really done, and it is difficult to find a reason behind Gannett’s plans.

I find particular fault in the plan to delete it all when I think about the people who will be laid off as a result of the closing. Although Gannett has never released numbers on the employees involved with MomsLikeMe, you have to assume that many people will be laid off and thus looking for other jobs. They won’t have anything to show future employers if all the MomsLikeMe content is deleted.

What do you think? Is deleting content understandable?