hkellick: Pittsburgh, City of Bridges (Shut Up)
HK ([personal profile] hkellick) wrote2006-11-30 08:08 pm
Entry tags:

When Worlds Collide

This is going to be a usual splork, so... I shall be verbose (as usual!)

I guess let's start with livejournal, ever so quickly, before I move on.
I started livejournalling in 2001. At the time, I was still in college, as were most of my friends. I had all the time in the world to hang out online, as did my friends, and we used it.
But times change and people grow up, get jobs, and get busy. So it is. I don't feel bad about it, it just simply is. And maybe people didn't have as much to say anymore. It's funny how one day seems to run into another when your life becomes... regimented. Wake up, eat, go to work, go home, cook/eat, do chores, go to sleep.
Not to suggest everyone's life is like that. I'm really describing my own.

Enter Calorie-Count.
I came in looking for a place to help me find the support I need to stick with the weight loss.
And I found it, and more.. I found a whole different community. One that was active and fun and interesting. I met people who could make my work days pass by quicker and would amuse me, and I did cherish it.
And I made friends with people. I met some of them in person and strived to meet others in person. I'd still like to meet more of them in person.
I gave back to the community, in a very useful and helpful way that earned me great admiration in some and great enmity in others.

But... along came a bully. Well, really, the bully was there the whole time, long there when I entered the scene.
And.. drama happened. Lots of drama happened. I got caught in the middle of some of it. Some of it happened without me.. IS happening without me.
I could detail the drama, but.. really, the specifics don't matter. And, also, I'm posting this publicly, so best to be wary.
The point, however, was that a bully was on the website and me and the bully... didn't get along so well.

It's not fair to say that my leaving C-C was ONLY about the bully. I was using the site less. Alot less.
I'd stopped answered most questions because most questions would annoy me. It'd be the same question for the billionth time, or someone who's obviously trying to do something unhealthy like try to be 90 lbs. And there weren't many questions I deigned to answer. So.. mostly I chatted.
And also I used c-c as a personal journal, in a way I wasn't using livejournal. I'd tend to get more comments and I felt safer talking about family garbage there. And [livejournal.com profile] ecwoodburn wasn't.. happy about that. I know she wanted me to post on LJ more, felt my journal had gotten too quiet.

So... anyways.
Thanksgiving comes and thanksgiving goes and I'm already quite uptight about.. stuff (public post. Leaving it there.)
And then I hop on C-C and I see... more drama. Downright nasty drama.
And I see the site maintainer saying that they were really trying to push out code and didn't have the time to play policeman on the journals and...

And... I left. Well, first I went back and made all of my entries private (which was a real pain, let me tell you!)
You can say I overreacted. Maybe I did. Maybe it was the rash actions of someone who was already upset about a weekend, but..
.. well, now it's a couple of days later, and despite the fact that my friends want me to come back and despite the fact that the site maintainers have implemented a new stronger block code which doesn't stop the bully from existing, but does make it so I no longer need to interact with that bully, not on the boards, not in other's journals, not in my own journal.
(Which, my mind suggests, means nothing as a truly dedicated troll just gets some new acounts, the way another troll on the site has.)
And... I'm not sure I really WANT to go back. I miss my friends, and I sort of miss the active community, though, really, I wasn't doing very much with it.
Mostly, I think, I miss the people who were special to me.
And.. I've directed them here, to my livejournal. Some of them have gotten livejournals. Some think I'll be drawn back to c-c like a moth to a flame.

I'm not sure there's a point here. Mostly, I'm just talking.

Maybe the point is... I know my friends want me to come back. I'm not sure I want to. That's why.
I want you all to be a part of my life, to not vanish, but I'm not sure I really want to go back there.
Besides, if we get enough of you here, we can do some neat things. Create an online group where we can all chat and cheer each other on? That's easy. Post in each other's journals. Yep, that too. Not so much with the forums, but... hey, that's OK by me. I wasn't using them anyways.
*shrugs again*

That's about all I gotta say.

...

*posts*

[identity profile] lite.livejournal.com 2006-12-01 02:20 pm (UTC)(link)
I'm trying to figure out for myself if I agree with the statement that C-C hasn't changed.
Is it that C-C hasn't changed? Well, obviously it has. People have come on board. People have left. New tools. Not to mention the deal with about.com and everything that brings with it.
The site *HAS* changed.
But also, and perhaps more importantly, my relationship with the site changed. I first came in looking for a clue and support. I found both and more. My relationship with the site has changed from when I first logged in in April and started taking over any thread I liked by playing with saroful.

Dysfunction and Drama. Hell, I get enough of that in my personal life. You (as someone I've friended) can actually go back and see the rest of my livejournal now. Want to talk Drama and Dysfunction, just check out my family (http://lite.livejournal.com/tag/family). Plenty enough Drama and Dysfunction there, especially lately with OMG Wedding Plans going on. I don't need to deal with someone else's Dysfunctions.

And, if you need help with this joint, I can help. I know a few tricks :)

[identity profile] watergrrrl.livejournal.com 2006-12-01 05:14 pm (UTC)(link)
ok. yeah...the site has changed. but when i keep hearing the same jaded cynicism repeatedly in the js, well, i think that speaks more to the personal relationship with c-c and fellow c-cers. and thats what im talking about for the most part. and i have to wonder if thats more reflective of the age of the relationship...no matter. it is what it is.

hmm...janelle and ix are kissing and making up. somehow, i cant get all happy dappy bout that. im kinda scared for janelle...they have friended. hmmm... ima gonna keep my peace on that one. scary.

wow, you do journal much here... probably a good thing my work pc is not acting too compatable with this site. i really am going to have to invoke some self-discipline re cc at work. its bad. and thats just not me.

but a friend who also lost his teenage son said my lack of focus is not unusual, and it took him about a year to move past that particular er...phenomena. so theres that.

i got to get lots done today. me and kelli and berney are working the tree farm this weekend.

observation: this place is very...GUI. i look forward to having time to play with all the customizations. fun fun fun

ttfn!

[identity profile] lite.livejournal.com 2006-12-01 06:34 pm (UTC)(link)
Jaded Cynicism is easy.
If you start caring about people, people you don't know who call for help, whether they really want what you have to offer or not, than.. you get burned. Repeatedly. Because not everyone will agree with you, believe what you say, want what you offer, and there isn't a damn thing you can do to change their mind.
Jaded Cynicism is EASY.
Getting past it and being a better person is not.

Good luck to Janelle. I hope that she can find that befriending Ix makes things better.
I know that, before the July kerfuffle, I thought Ix and I were friends. We watched each other's journals and responded, but then she started going after people on the boards and I didn't really like or approve of it, and then she went after Slappy, Obs and I. And then I definitely disliked her.

*hugs about kyle*

Enjoy the Tree farm! Have fun!

And, yes, Livejournal IS very GUI...