Bringing this back on topic. (Heresy, I know.)
Sometimes one must look at the community and consider if the purpose of the community was lost, or if perhaps it served its purpose and it is time to move on. We speak of communities as if they are evergreen and that they should be self-sustaining but that isn’t always true.
For example some TV series garner fan communities to talk about them, theorise etc. - I certainly remember participating in forum discussions about the X-Files back in the day. Buffy the Vampire Slayer/Angel had its forums, I’m sure you can think of others. But these communities have a life span and while some successfully transition into a new form, many don’t, and perhaps they shouldn’t.
If the purpose of the community goes, and discussion disappears, close it, do something else. Find a new tribe. It’s OK that communities don’t live forever. There are only so many discussions and takes that some material can sustain, and not enough in common for the rest of the community to band together to sustain it through related discussion.
If, on the other hand, the issue is that the admin’s drive has gone - not the community as a whole - that’s usually a sign that the admin needs to take a break, maybe hand some of the reins of the community to people who can be trusted for a little while. (If more permanent, maybe talk to the community about a transition.) This can work for smaller communities, and usually hobbyist ones that are less about monetisation - large ones that have that element going on, maybe it’s time to sell up and move on.
End point: all things, including the intersections of people in places, have their time, and all things will pass in time. Some like tears in rain. Some may yet circle round and reconnect.
