In before the Lock

In Before The Lock is a podcast from Erica Kuhl and Brian Oblinger about community, customer experience, and leadership at scale.

“In Before The Lock”, or “IB4TL”, is forum slang commonly found in discussions that have completely gone off of the rails and will be locked by a moderator shortly. It’s a game of sorts - users post this term to denote that they have beaten the moderator and are collecting their free post in the soon-to-be closed thread. By using this name, we’re paying homage to our deep roots in online community culture.