And I like that there haven’t been ‘your diary is too short’ requirement that the site abandoned several years ago… I think this diary will probably be neither lengthy nor particularly substantive.
So maybe this is just me. I have always—on some level—been aware that I am conversing with other human beings on DailyKos…. but I have also found myself occasionally forgetting that in more heated exchanges. Obviously someone’s actions are more important than what they look like… and the words they say are more meaningful in terms of figuring out what someone is all about than simply seeing them.
But, there is something about seeing someone *and* their words at the same time that makes me hear a human voice saying the words vs. simply reading them and then attributing them to someone/something disagreeable in my head.
I belong to a large, conservative family. My roots are in Holland in West Michigan… and we used to have this e-mail distribution list for the whole family. Every once in a while something political would find its way in there, and my Uncle (RIP Uncle Jeff), a few of his sons and myself would end up staking out a liberal position and basically getting buried under a tidal wave of red rage.
With the ascension of Facebook, I was afraid that it would get even worse… but it really didn’t, in fact the conversation got a bit more civil. I’ve discussed it with my relatives, and the conclusion we have come to is that on Facebook, it is easier to remember that the people we are typing back and forth to are the relatives we love and not just ‘enemies’ out there in the vacuum of the internet for us to fire off bumper-sticker missiles at.
I’m not suggesting that Facebook isn’t a cesspool… I’m just saying in that one very specific sense, it made some communications a bit more cordial.
And, while I am not going to suppose how other people feel about it, I’ve noticed it here since the avatars appeared too. When I read someone’s comment and there is a tiny portrait of them next to it… just someone standing in their dining room or smiling with a friend… I take a moment to take in that person—THEN I read what they had to say… and it’s like I ran into someone at an Amnesty International Conference or whatever and we just started chatting politics.
So anyway… I have no real opinion on any of the other changes. DailyKos looks more to me than the other sites I frequent than it used to (small font, blaring background and all) but I am supportive of people who want some of those things tweaked (nobody’s eyes should hurt). Maybe add another layer of indents for the comments? OK.
But ‘Facebookization?’ Not all bad.