We created EP to provide a safe, private place online to share the experiences that mattered most, and to deliver it fairly and reliably to every user, however and wherever they were comfortable. Doing good for the world was not a side effect, it was the goal.

Over the last decade, while social media has evolved from Blogger to Snapchat, and become increasingly focused on pictures, short text, and individual popularity, EP remained focused on anonymous, long-form text stories from everyday people who were recognized for their experiences above all else. From day one, privacy of our users has been paramount, and we have never allowed names, phone numbers, or addresses. This approach bucked every trend, and challenged our ability to build an advertising-based business, but we passionately believe it provided the foundation for some of the most meaningful relationships imaginable. And you are proof that we were right! But there is no denying that the way people expect to use social media today is markedly different than it once was, and as the primary use has moved from web to mobile, our hallmark attributes like long-form stories are not aligned.

But, there are deeper, and more troubling trends than formats. Online anonymity, a core part of EP, is being challenged like never before. Governments and their agencies are aggressively attacking the foundations of internet privacy with a deluge of information requests, subpoenas, and warrants. We, of course, always support proper law enforcement efforts, but the well-documented potential for even abuse, even if unintentional, is enormous, and growing.

At the same time, scores of new laws require compliance with intricate, sometimes contradictory, data privacy regulations for each country, territory, and even state. For example, today there are nearly 30 different agencies that can decide whether sending data, for example, a private message from your inbox, between Europe and the US is "proper."

Finally, the sophistication of "bad apples," as few as they thankfully are, has increased dramatically. They are better able to cover their tracks and evade user bans by using mobile and encryption networks, and they use information to exploit the trust of others through social engineering. These advances, of course, relate to the first point about increasing government information gathering, in an ever escalating game of cat and mouse.

None of these are insurmountable problems, but they require immense resources to address reliably, effectively, and safely at scale. Those are outside the reach of all but a tiny handful of massive companies like Facebook and Google.

So it is with these themes in mind that we have come to the conclusion that it is better to freeze what we have today, instead of letting it erode, and affect our ability to deliver value, safety, and to respect our users' trust and expectations.