I’m trying something new.
About a month ago, I got frustrated. Rather, I’ve been frustrated for some time, but about a month ago, that frustration came to its peak. I had wanted to post something to Reddit. So, I typed it all out, formatted, spell checked, and then posted. A few seconds later, I got a message from one of the moderators that my post was removed. The message was that the post did not follow the one or more of the guidelines and had a list of all the guidelines. So, I read through all the guidelines and thought I found the one that I had not followed. I amended my post and tried again. A few seconds later, another message that my post was removed with the same automatic response that it did not follow one or more of the guidelines.
I could not figure out what the issue was this time. But, some of the guidelines were a bit vague, so I guessed that one of those may be the issue. I amended my post again and re-posted. And, a few seconds later, another message that the post was removed, due to not following one or more of the guidelines. I was getting frustrated, so I emailed the moderator who sent the message, asking for an exact violate, so I could fix it. The response was similar to the automated message that my post did not follow one or more of the guidelines. So, I rage-quit Reddit.
After calming down, I started to think about, why was I so mad that I could not make the post? It was not a life-or-death matter, just something small that others may or may not read. And, I realized it was not about how important it was for others to read, as it was about me wanting to add my opinion to an already ocean of opinions. The only thing that would benefit would be my ego.
With Facebook, Twitter, Reddit, Digg, the various message boards, and comments sections, it is easy to post your thoughts about anything you want. The thing is, maybe we shouldn’t. While being able to weight in on something or share information is good, there is a lot of things said that don’t need to be said. It is fine to share a life experience that others can relate to, but our opinion about a celebrity’s outfit or our politics is entirely unnecessary. Yet we do it, because it feels good. And, to me, it felt a little too good.
After all this thinking, I decided to severely reduce my posting on-line. I’ll still maintain this blog and will occasionally comment (about one or two a week) on posts on Facebook. Other than that, I’ve decided to remain silent.
So far, it has been difficult, but has got a little easier. One thing that I have noticed is that if I give it enough time, someone usually will make the same comment that I was going to make. Or, I spend a lot more time reading the comments, instead of trying to figure out how to respond. I’m going to keep this up for the next few months and maybe I’ll write a follow-up post. Or, I will get so accustom to not posting online that I’ll eventually abandon my blog. We’ll see.
Warm Yogurt 