In my November 17 post, I deliberated whether to renew my paid account or take a temporary or permanent leave of absence from blogging on Dreamwidth. Well, I'm still here, folks, at least for now. My paid account lapsed on December 11 but a week later, a kind-hearted Secret Santa renewed it for another year.

This crisis of faith was sparked by an upsetting comment I received from another Dreamwidth member. I have successfully banned this person from commenting directly on any of my posts but they are still out there, woven into the warp and the woof and the meow of our dysfunctional Dreamwidth family. Well, it's a truism that you can't choose your family, nor can you help it if you're a bastard. And if you tug on a loose thread and oust it from the fabric of a family or a community, there's always the risk that the family or community could eventually unravel completely.

OK, enough of that dreadful extended metaphor. In addition to banning the person from commenting on my blog, I also asked a Dreamwidth administrator to investigate what I believed to be a violation of the Member Code of Conduct. The administrator informed me that Dreamwidth encourages expression of a wide variety of views and that derogatory comments are not considered a violation of the Code even if they are rude, aggressive and insulting. To their credit, they did also say that if I was dissatisfied with their services or felt there were certain things they could be doing better, I could send my suggestions to their Feedback mailbox. I'm considering doing just that.

So there it stands. I'll probably continue mostly as I have for the past 13 years, except that I may be a little more circumspect when it comes to posting on hot-button issues.

That concludes my end-of-year update.
Over the next few weeks, I have a decision to make. I've been a member of the Dreamwidth community for nearly thirteen years now. My paid account will be up for renewal in December. I'm wondering if I should renew it and dream on, or drop off into a dreamless, and more importantly nightmareless slumber.

Perhaps I should count myself lucky that in all these years, this is the first time I have seriously considered taking this step. I don't do social media. I'm fortunate that my life and career did not make it a virtual necessity to be on Facebook or Twitter or their successors, as I know how brutal they can be. Unlike a lot of other Dreamwidth members, I never even had a Livejournal account.

I would definitely have some regrets about leaving Dreamwidth, as I genuinely believe in the values they stand for. I love their Guiding Principles and their Diversity Statement. I support their Terms of Service too, though I'm now skeptical of the extent to which they're willing or able to implement and enforce them.

I've had some fascinating and stimulating discussions with so many of my fellow Dreamwidth members. Certainly these interactions could get heated at times but they were generally respectful and often presented me with a new perspective I hadn't considered. I hope I offered the same to some others as well. But recently, I was the target of a very crude, abusive, misinformed tirade from another member. I'm frankly baffled at what this relatively harmless suburban grandmother might have done to deserve such harassment and vitriol. I haven't minded the sporadic rises in heat over the past 13 years but perhaps it is now time to get out of the kitchen, at least for a while.

I still hold out some hope that this problem can be resolved. Maybe by some adjustment to my privacy settings, maybe by enlisting the help of an administrator. Who knows? Constructive suggestions welcomed.
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