If it ain't broke, don't fix it....

First of all, a short note: Over the past three days, I have lost the ability to ping Technorati to update content here. I've done all the pleading with Technorati that can be done and they simply will not fix the problem.

Basically this means that those of you who get updates through Technorati will no longer be getting them. If you see old content when you check Technorati, it is probably not valid. I don't let content get old here... so.... please don't depend on Technorati for accurate information.

I'm totally disgusted with their lack of responsiveness to this problem. The help forum is filled with others having the same problem and Technorati apparently has no interest in solving it. The endless waiting and lack of response has convinced me that pinging is no longer an option for me.

~*

Following up a bit more on the previous thread (which is still active, by the way), I gave this some more thought last night.

I'm basically a "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" kind of person. I can't help but wonder what would shift and change if we were all to meet each other. The idea of meeting individually isn't quite so intimidating ~ but meeting in a group would be entirely overwhelming. At least for me.

Naturally, me being me, I wanted to think about why that's so. Why would one way be inherently non-threatening and the other nearly paralyzing?

I believe there is the potential for relationships, regardless of their nature but especially virtual ones, can change when group dynamics are introduced.

I just finished reading a book last night called "Please Stop Laughing At Me". It was a bit hard to get through it because it was a brutal examination of group dynamics, how things can happen when it goes south.

Maybe I'm just too overly protective or too cautious, but honestly speaking ~ I like things the way they are here. I like the honesty and the respectful discussions we have with each other. I like the different personalities who gather at this virtual roundtable. I like the ideas that flow like a breeze through this space. It's difficult to imagine that anonymity doesn't play some part in that.

I will never be crawling inside any of your private lives. I will not be knowing things you don't want me to know. There is no opportunity for the "Blink" (reference to the book) dynamic to take place.

I'm finding it hard to see how the quality of what we do here is diminished by the fact that I will not be meeting any of you in a group setting.

It's hard to predict what choices might be made if the opportunity presents itself to meet any of you privately, one-on-one. Chances are... I'd probably do it.

So... taking this from the strictly personal to a broader perspective, how do you think the group dynamic could affect the openness and honesty that most of us give and receive when communicating in each other's comment templates?


Peace,


~Chani