I can truly see both sides of this issue. I can understand a lot (not all) of the Peas' criticism and I can also understand or empathize with how Jeffrey and Kristina must feel and things they had to deal with for years.
I believe a valid debate could be made that both sides acted poorly at times and made bad decisions all along the way.
The Peas:
- I often wonder how many Peas gave very little of their actual money to support the business side of Two Peas but freely gave their opinions about every part of the business/website. To sum up - many Peas (myself included) could have been better customers. I shopped locally for years but still visited Two Peas weekly to chat, upload my work, enjoy their free content and more. I felt faithful and I was loyal in lip-service but not enough in the way that counted. I regret that.
- The blatant disregard of the Terms of Use was so frequent that I often wondered why J&K didn't just block Peas that repeatedly refused to comply to their wishes (which were reasonable from a business standpoint of sending people immediately to a competitor's site). Often people did it without realizing what the TOU were and I think it was kind of them to not hand-slap everyone who did but from the moment someone started using M's, HL and J's so they could continue to talk about other stores, I just shook my head and wondered why it was so hard for some people to just be kind to others and follow the rules. Didn't we learn to do that in Kindergarten?
- The complaints from so many Peas about a free message board were enough to drive a wedge into any relationship. Really, after a while, I think the Whites probably had resentment toward a lot of Peas who just seemed to despise them but still came back, day after day, to carry on a big conversation. I could see how they would ask themselves, "Why are we paying for this board again?" The board didn't just appear there out of the universe like the big bang - they worked hard to make Two Peas what it was. My guess is they knew they needed the message boards to help drive traffic to the store but over the years, they evolved into something that they never intended them to be. To quote one of my favorite novels, "they were perpetually impaled on the horns of their dilemma." That's how I imagine it, anyway.
Jeffrey and Kristina:
- If you are going to ask people to follow Terms of Use, then you have to enforce them. They obviously didn't want to pay someone to police and patrol the boards and it's unfortunate that it was necessary but for them to overlook so much and delete select threads did cause controversy, bitterness and resentment from the users and that is understandable.
- The whole private board GG thing being shared was just a moment in history that can never be taken back. It's like hitting "reply all" and saying your boss can go screw himself, not realizing you just replied to your boss. That "oh crap!" moment that you wish had never happened - it happened to them and it kind of screwed them over for eternity to those with a long memory and unforgiving nature.
- Too little involvement personally on the boards. I remember when Kristina did talk on the boards and I understand she was running a business but if you are the face of the business, it helps to be visible.
- I think they could have been a bit more honest about what was going on in the end. I don't think they OWED us an explanation but a lot of us did support them and would have liked a heads up on getting content we paid for and keeping connections we made over the years. I hope they will do the right thing and give the Garden Girls the content they created and allow them to sell it on their blogs but that is between the GG's and them...it's really none of my business at all.
I really don't have any other criticism for them because when all is said and done, I ask myself, "What did I do for them?" and "What did they do for me?" What they gave me is literally priceless. I can't put a value on the impact Two Peas has had on my life. I made true connections that will continue here, on Facebook and in person. I met lovely people who delight and inspire me! I will be forever grateful to them for that and think fondly of them often.
I don't think they gave me the big finger for shutting down the boards, I don't think it was a "dick move" - I think they're human and had enough of the negativity and just did what they thought was best. I wish them well and will continue to follow Kristina on Instagram and hope she continues to scrapbook because I enjoy her work. I extend to them mercy and grace so God and others will extend the same to me.
It's the end of an era and the loss will be felt for a long while. In fact, I'm getting teary eyed just writing this.
I am trying to say that a few of the rants could be because of grief and mourning for a place that was like home to us and part of our daily routine and not a bash fest. 
