Step 1:
Be up front about your intention to leave. Be firm and resolute. You want to create some sense of drama here. You can add in an “I can’t take it anymore” or “the site is simply not fun anymore” or something that clearly states that you have no choice but to leave. The word toxic is a good one.

Step 2:
State how the board is clearly shifting to viewpoints opposite yours. Don’t forget to mention how the board management encourages this and that is why you can’t support it anymore. “The mods turn a blind eye” is a really good phrase if you want to borrow that one.

Step 3:
Explain what you plan to do with your time now. Throw in that you will possibly sign up on another message board because that demonstrates that you want the interaction but this board simply won’t do. Talk about plans to spend time with family and maybe work on that old ‘69 Chevy that’s been sitting in your garage. A nice touch would be to throw in a plan to work on your son’s pinewood derby car. That will drive home the idea that you are a family man and CB has just been a distraction from your family for years and you’ll have a healthier home because of this decision. Give everyone the image of picnics in the park and afternoons at the lake. All things that were missed because of your previous obligations to this website.

Step 4:
Open it up to comments. It could be a simple “I’m open to people trying to change my mind but I think my mind is made up” or maybe a “I’ve given my contact info to my FO so I know they can get in touch with me” and that will let all of gen pop know you had a friends group within this community and you will be missed enough that people will still be contacting you. You want to encourage some gushing over you. It’s important that people feel some sense of loss over your departure.

Step 5:
One more time, be sure to reiterate the board climate is what is driving you to this dire life shift. You are willing to uproot your whole life because of the climate on the board. That’s how bad things are. This step is important because you don’t want people to think a lack of self awareness or even immaturity led to your inability to deal with opinions different than yours. Your anger and stress over a message board is not your fault or an area of weakness that you need to address. It’s the responsibility of the thousand other posters to conform to your values and ideals. So a simple “I’ll check in on the board from time to time just to see what is being discussed and maybe when things have settled, I’ll be open to coming back but it’s just not an environment I want to be in right now” will suffice.

Step 6:
This is important. Give enough time that people can say nice things about you in FO and BM and even in gen pop then after you’ve sufficiently padded your ego with support, hover over the Deactivate Your Account button and when you feel you can do it, click that mouse, sit back, take a dramatic breath, contemplate briefly how much better your life will be without any discord, walk outside, look at the sun, take it in, then walk back inside, open your computer, and look at CB to see if people have said more nice things about you in your farewell thread. When you get angry about the people that made fun of you for being dramatic, close your computer, shake your head, and storm away. Watch tv for a minute, open your computer, and think of the things you’d say to the jerks that teased you.

Step 7:
Plan out in your head how long you’ll stay away. You want to know you made a point but you also want to tell people they are wrong about stuff. Give it 2 weeks or so. Appeal to jefe to let you come back. Give your “I’m back” post so everyone can say how great it is that you are around again. Complain to people about how bad the board is and you needed the break to reboot.

Step 8:
Start a new message board called Cobalt where there will be a new approach to moderation.