When Scribe commented on the reduction in general crankiness yesterday, I confess, I didn't understand. I therefore offer this addendum to general crankiness to keep the ball moving forward.
I like to write diaries. I enjoy commenting but, I really like to write diaries. I like the chance to broadcast my mutterings, get feedback from the community, and rethink my own ideas as a result. Writing diaries is the main reason I paid for a subscription, rather than just continuing to read the works of others.
Well, this Brave New World has me stumped.
I have written a couple of diaries within the past few weeks, only to watch them disappear without much notice because I did not publish them through a "group". A group seems to perform the function of vetting a diary and providing enough recommends to move it from obscurity to a more visible place in the stream. It then receives as much attention as it warrants, given the value of the ideas and the writing. It has some chance of being seen by the wider community - but not until it is approved by the editors and administrators of each group.
OK. I'll try. I'll gird my loins and jump into the deep end of this free-for-all community policing system.
So, I spent a good part of yesterday looking for a "group".
There are several hundred, some so obscure as to be beyond definition, some so focused as to leave little room for inventiveness, and some designed to provide a forum for some of the most contentious issues to ever grace these halls. I could not find one active, general group that would provide an entree for my diverse tastes.
I briefly toyed with the idea of starting yet another group, only to discard the notion, at once. The last thing we need is more groups. The thicket of titles is overwhelming, now.
I have had a number of invitations to join various groups, but I have declined. I found the stated purpose of each to be quite outside of my areas of interest.
I haven't applied to be included in any group because I stopped doing that in high school.
So, I am adrift.
I can write, but with little chance of having my efforts read unless some one just happens to find it and recommend it before it disappears.
I can join a group, whose focus has little personal appeal and just use it to get my efforts out.
Or, I can rant and rave about the muddy notions that have destroyed a perfectly good system. A system that gained wide international respect, and now has left us with a landscape so changed as to be oppressive. We have moved from the open fields of free exchange to the narrow canyons of specialized interests. We have gaily entered the Balkans of Intellect, and the carefully directed control of though, interests and participation. And I see nothing gained for our sacrifice.
