There are just way too many people in there. There are so many that something strange and sort of ugly has evolved concerning authorship.
I have found that over the years there have been many good diaries scroll off down the poop chute toward oblivion without half a nod. Horrors!
Some of these diaries were mine, mostly not because I write here very seldom. There have been cases where well written pieces just disappeared without hardly a comment. And why? There is a standard you have to meet to get to the rec list.
But you don't know what it is. What makes an opinion piece good enough to be recommended enough times to make the list is an ever evolving, elusive thing. The only standard is that the diary must meet the approval of a certain number of users and the exact number of "recommends" needed to make the "recommended list" is not public knowledge.
The standards, or the quality, of a diary good enough to be recommended and make the coveted "rec list" is up to the whims of the users. One day it can be because the diary is funny. The next day it can be because the dairy is serious.
You don't know.
One day you can pour your heart out and no one gives your stuff a casual glance. The next day you can be short and noncommittal and no one gives a crap about that either.
Your diary will sink to the bottom of the scrolling "recent diaries" list like a whale turd on its way to the ocean floor, without hardly a passing glance.
It feels like the reason no one reads your stuff is because there are too many people in there. Your diary goes unnoticed - even with catchy UPDATE and MUST READ in the title and the reason is that there are soooo many more in there with the same catchy stuff in THEIR TITLES and it all looks like a dark foreboding alphabet black hole as you watch in horror, stupefied, that your diary which you slaved over for hours is sinking off the screen.
As I am sure this one is. Have a great day.