We gotta get outa this fix
Or is it just me?
We gotta get outa this fix
If it's the last thing we ever do
We gotta get outa this fix
Folks there's a better place that we can go
It's all bright and breezy they say
Not a glitch in the system today
But I can't access my stats anyway
We gotta get outa this fix
Tried last night to reply to a comment
A kindly thought that was well meant
Still pending this morning you bet
We gotta get outa this fix
Checked the status and it seems there's no problem
Must be imagining cyber crook mayhem
Still at least the investors won't moan at 'em
We gotta get outa this fix
You see I have invested three years of my writing
500 stories in Vocal's safe keeping
To lose this would leave me broken and weeping
We gotta get outa this fix
Dear Justin,
I appreciate you are busy right now but is there any chance you could provide a simple mechanism for creators to make a mass backup of their work so that if your cyber security mission fails, we will be able to recover our valuable work? Or would you say that our work isn't that valuable? Or we shouldn't use Vocal as a writing platform? We should write using Word and transfer only when completed owing to the inherent instability of the platform?
Written on Notepad, awaiting a time when I could access your platform. I presume you are aware that it is not working despite https://status.vocal.media/ telling us all is well?
Thanks,
Ray
A loyal customer
O ~ o ~
Justin has very helpfully and generously replied to my concerns and those of other creators in comments below. His assurances are very welcome. It seems that the lovely people at Vocal are considering a backup facility (see comments) but, in the meantime, I would urge all creators to keep their own copy of their work, if only for peace of mind. You should also consider compiling some of your Vocal stories for publication. See: Publish and be damned
Click below for some further backup and publishing tips:
Thanks for reading.
About the Creator
Raymond G. Taylor
Author living in Kent, England. Writer of short stories and poems in a wide range of genres, forms and styles. A non-fiction writer for 40+ years. Subjects include art, history, science, business, law, and the human condition.
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More stories from Raymond G. Taylor and writers in Poets and other communities.
Let's Don't Do This
"I just can't do this anymore..." "Do what?" What can't you do? Put gas in your own car? I swear to God you make me take care of everything, don't you? You know I'm on my way to work right now but that never stops you from bothering me, does it?"
By Shirley Belk5 days ago in Fiction
Comments (16)
Wait, does this mean Vocal doesn't have a content backup? OMG! I am absolutely flabbergasted and have a lot of work to do now.
Just recommended this for a Top Story in RYV here https://shopping-feedback.today/resources/raise-your-voice-thread-08-28-2025%3C/span%3E%3C/span%3E%3C/span%3E%3C/a%3E%3C/p%3E%3C/div%3E%3C/div%3E%3C/div%3E%3Cdiv class="css-w4qknv-Replies">
Wooohooooo congratulations on your Leaderboard placement! 🎉💖🎊🎉💖🎊
Thank you, Ray for writing this call to action. I often think about losing my work. Fortunately the ones I care about most - which is most of my work - are stored on my computer. However I do have a 2TB external hard drive - MacBook. I need to take the time to back all my works up on that hard drive. Thank you again for bringing this awareness.
The site was down for me for more than 12 hours 😖😖😖 I'm just so glad it's working normally again. Also, I'm sorry if me saying this offends you, but that isn't my intention. I just wanna state my opinion which is we can have a backup for our stories on our computers/laptops/hard drives, etc. Shouldn't having a backup be our responsibility? Again, I'm so sorry, but I'm just curious
Thanks so much for sharing your concerns, everyone. I want to reassure you that all stories on Vocal are safe and securely backed up. Even when we experience disruptions like the recent DDoS attacks, those only affect site performance temporarily, they do not put your content at risk. Our engineering team has multiple safeguards in place to protect creator work, and we’re continuing to strengthen those defenses. We understand how important your stories are, and keeping them safe will always be our top priority.
Ray, I agree. I used to free-lance for Associated Content out of New York city in 2006 through 2008. Yahoo bought them out and dumped everyone's stories. I cried for days. YES THEY NEED TO DO THAT.
Raymond, Thanks for bringing this issue to Vocal’s attention in a creative yet effective way! (Here is my response set to a different song by The Animals!) // There’s been an attack on Vocal // A website server flood // And it’s been the ruin of many a writer // Dear God, I know I was one //
Nice to see you received a prompt response from the team. Hopefully all will be fixed soon. And I love the idea of more safeguarding work we only have saved here.
This skeerd the bediddly out of me. I haven't backed up for ages. Well written, well timed. 😬
Well said Ray, I had been suggesting a Status page for years, but it is no good if it's not used correctly. I have contacted them so many times but ...
I was wondering if the site was glitching for me just because I moved countries and it may not be as available here in Georgia. But apparently, it's not just me. Thank you for raising this issue (again), Raymond!
Raymond, we’re working on it. We’ve been battling a DDoS attack but the platform stayed up (technically, though performance was degraded), so it didn’t trigger the alert page. That’s why you’ve been seeing issues. Things are starting to come back online now, and our team is actively monitoring. We’re also strengthening our safeguards so this doesn’t happen again. Thanks so much for bearing with us.
So true
Well said! I was so frustrated last night just trying to read a few stories before bed. But now you've got me nervous that my writing might disappear the next time there's a glitch. I have most of my stories saved in Google, but that's the unpolished versions before my final edit.
This is sharp, witty, and makes its point loud and clear! I logged on this afternoon ready to read some stories and nothing would load!