Fantastic discussion in my last piece asking people whether they preferred "stories" or "diaries" as the nomenclature for what are now known as diaries. In short, there were fairly persuasive arguments that those two options were both flawed.
Diary: Generally understood to be a personal record of events and experiences.
Story: Either a fictional account, or a reported news item.
Clearly, neither term fully encapsulates the full breadth of content you guys produce. And as many noted, "diary" may work on-site, but it's terrible off site. One such comment:
I've had issues with friends who've not wanted to read diaries I've emailed them simply because they were called diaries which made an otherwise fine piece of reporting sound amateur & unsourced (to them). It's amazing how many people I know won't read things I've sent them from here because of that one word. For obvious reasons, I no longer refer to articles I send them from DK as diaries!
Another good comment:
I often use "article" in conversation.
I understand where "diary" came from, but it does lend an air of junior high Truth or Dare to conversation, IMO. So I'll say "I read an article on dKos". Sometimes "story" or "piece".
It'd be nice to find a word that isn't colored towards any among factual, opinion, or even fictional writing.
On the other hand:
Here's what I like about diaries. There are articles, essays and stories ALL OVER THE WEB. Diaries are and have always been unique to the Daily Kos.
To me, diaries cover a territory that none of the other terms do. Stories seem either about hard news or fictional. Essays seem pedantic and threatening. Articles are a dime a dozen.
An earlier poster here said that for him/her, a diary was a personal adventure and a chance to have and share voice. Some diaries are fact heavy and article like, other diaries are light and lose but moving or funny all the same. Some are about books, some are cartoons, some are about their beloved dog that just died. Article just doesn't cover the territory for me. Again, there's a personal dimension to a page from someone's thoughts---a page from their "diary."
And there are many things that will change if "diaries" die. For instance, how will we refer to the author of these things. Will we say "this author," or will we say this "essayist," or will we say this "writer?"
I like referring to "this diarist." It may be a bit of an old fashioned term in some ways, but I like contrasting the old with all the new in technology. To me, "diaries" describe the right side of this site better than anything else, and again in a uniquely Dkos way.
Everyone is so persuasive!
Someone suggested essay, which are short piece of writing, but that has an academic tint to it. A "pootie essay" doesn't have quite the right ring to it. But, I could be persuaded.
Article could work, but it sounds dry to me. Yeah, not a good argument, so if people like it, I could be persuaded.
I've always talked about my "posts" on the site. I post stuff. It runs on Daily Kos. So maybe we call them posts. But the noun version of that word has an awkward feel to me. "I posted a post." Could you imagine it in the top navigation? "People - Groups - Posts - Tags." That just looks and feels weird to me. But it almost works. I could be persuaded.
I liked this comment:
Diary = what I did today
Story = fiction or personal adventure
Essay = formal composition
Article = report or opinion piece
But article seems the most neutral, it might encourage more focused work, on the other hand it could discourage the sort of personal stories which are certainly a strength of the site.
Great summary. And yes, I worry that changing to more formal terminology might discourage the personal stuff which I agree is a strength of the site.
I'd like to continue this discussion, moving past just diaries and stories and considering posts, essays, and articles as possibilities as well.
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p.s. As to concerns over the new community moderation scheme, the big one is fear that organized cliques will manipulate the system. Trust me, we're aware of that problem and are trying to design this new scheme in a way that minimizes their ability to game the system. More details will be forthcoming as we flesh the idea out, but I wanted to make sure you guys know that we're aware of that problem and are trying to account for it.
