musings on the meta

[the_siobhan]

I've been having an onging discussion with the_axel over the last few weeks about the design of LJ and how I think it often serves to encourage really bad behaviour. Or maybe "encourage" is the wrong word. I think it creates a climate where certain kinds of bad behaviour are really easy to do and so people tend to stumble into them without maybe even realizing what they are doing.

If I understood the debate correctly (it usually happens over several beers) Axel's stance is that it's not the fault of the tool when somebody uses it badly. Whereas I think that by configuring tools in a certain way, you encourage certain kinds of use. Kind of a "if the only tool you have is a hammer, pretty soon every problem starts to look like a nail" kind of situation.

And I think LJ is a particular kind of hammer.

I've seen friends behave in ways that made me squirm with embarrassment for them, at how high-school and immature they were being. And I know they are doing it because they think they can't be seen, that invisibility makes it ok or at the very least harmless. I've seen people manipulate the facts or just flat-out lie to make themselves look like the victim and the good-guy. And I knew that they were doing it because it's really easy to get stroked and have people outraged on their behalf if they bend the facts just a little bit.

There are entire communities who exist solely as a forum for people to be assholes. And the people who post there encourage and applaud each other for their assholishness until everybody starts to think that such behaviour is normal and acceptable. And then they start tracking it out into the rest of their interactions with the world like dogshit on a sneaker. The entire childfree community is a prime example of that particular flavour of bullshit.

And it's not that I think that people don't do shitty things in person, or through other types of communication. It's the LJ seems to be ideally suited for that particular kind of nonsense, with all the filters that let me choose who reads what I write. Or I could just slag people off in public and ban them from being able to defend themselves. And it's tempting sometimes. I hate that shit, it makes me break out in rants and still sometimes it's tempting when something has happened that has pissed me off. I could do it by email but it's so much more effort that it just doesn't occur to me. On LJ it's just a point-and-click away.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not on a LJ suxOrs kick and I'm not about to delete mine. I love the fact that I can have a little rantlet like this and get discussion and feedback from all kinds of people. But I'm occasionally tempted to leave LJ for some other kind of blog format, just because I don't like how high-school it can be at times.

And calling the reading lists "friends"? Dumbest idea ever.

Comments

[missjanette.livejournal.com]

Seriously.

I've unfriended ppl bc it became painful for me to read their delusional bullshit. Maybe that's craptactular of me, but self-preservation is not a bad thing. I've been privy to information that made me incredibly uncomfortable, I've been treated to slagfests of ppl I like or at least don't feel deserve the slagging. LJ definitely makes it easy to be a dick and think you're being clandestine about it. Not so.

I like what reddragdiva has (had?) on his page - "subscribers" rather than friends. that's really what it is - you're reading what you like regardless of your relationship with said writer.

meh.

[reddragdiva]

I certainly don't post anything close to the whole truth in its unvarnished glory to my LJ. It's a combination of me babbling because I can and social bonding.

(I just wrote a long rant saying exactly what I thought of all manner of people who don't rate it. See what LJ does?)

[the-siobhan.livejournal.com]

I just poked my head into your LJ and saw the news! Congrats!