We have seen a(nother) rash of TTFN diaries and comments recently.
But what does it mean?
No, really? I am asking. Because from what I can tell, not many of the many people who claim to be going somewhere have gone anywhere. Maybe not even one.
For the record, I like the diarist who posted the linked diary, and would prefer he didn't leave. So I guess that fact that he didn't go anywhere is a good thing.
The rash of others linked in the diary who claimed to leave never left either. They are still commenting, recommending diaries, and the like. Maybe in those 4 days since the diary posted some of those who claimed to leave have even posted a diary. It would not be the first time someone who TTFN'd diaried within a week of the TTFN. (Another person I like, FTR)
Now I do realize that on rare occasions people actually leave. We had a Kossack join the military. We had another lose his internet service due to lack of income.
But it seems a bit much when people never leave, not even for one day, after "leaving".
If a diary history has TTFN listed among "Most Frequent Tags", (trust me, it is not uncommon, and there would be more if the TTFN-tagged diaries could not be deleted, like GBCW), then we have no idea what people are suggesting when they use it.
Do we need an announcement for "breaks" under a month? Should people post a TTFN when we are going on vacation? How about to use the bathroom? Shouldn't it be a "BRB".
The whole reason the rules had to be changed to limit one and only one GBCW diary is because too many people were posting multiple GBCW diaries. Some people were so quick to reach their wits' end they posted several GBCWs each week, and twice on Sundays.
How is this new system much different?
Do we also need a rule to limit the number of times someone can "leave"? Especially if they never really go anywhere, not even for a few days?
I have noticed that the people who actually leave for extended periods rarely post a TTFN beforehand. They just don't post for a while. Heck, Al Rodgers was gone for over a year before we saw him again, without a peep in between.
Some of my favorite posters have simply left this place. Gone. Poof. Or maybe they sporadically grace us with their presence.
I hold no resentment toward them for not saying goodbye before they left. Quite the opposite. I think it is graceful, even classy, to quietly ride off into the sunset. I hope they return, but that is another diary...
The reason the rules were changed to prevent endless, repetitive GBCWs was to try and reduce the drama. Maybe we could reduce it further still.
My own personal tack on this front is to avoid recommending those types of diaries. If it is a "blog friend" type of person, I'll leave them a comment wishing them well in their absence from DKos. I usually won't even tip the diary because mojo is something you won't need if you are really leaving, now is it?
I realize I am in the minority here with this policy. It seems that the most sure-fire way for a diary to reach the rec list is using a 4-letter acronym. Frankly, I think the world has more than enough drama already.
Perhaps if we showed greater restraint in our posts about how much we want to leave this site, more of those who brought us here in the first place would stick around too.