General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsActually, I appreciate when people announce their departures . . .
. . . particularly if it is someone whose postings I make a point to read. I see it as a courtesy, so folks don't have to wonder whether someone is ill or has died.
It was claimed that folks who feel the need to announce their departure from this group have developed an "unhealthy relationship with ... a discussion board of mostly anonymous people," my own experience with discussion boards, and in the early days of the internet, with email discussion groups, has led me to believe that when you read what someone writes over an extended period of time, when you read about the things they care passionately and deeply about, as well as about the things they dislike or don't care about, in fact you really do get to know a person rather well, even if the name attached to those writings is just an email handle.
Beginning in about 1989, for a period of close to 10 years, I participated in a email discussion list called The Anglican Mailing List (devoted to matters of Anglican theology, spirituality and liturgy). It consisted of maybe 300-400 members, but about 150 of which were regular correspondents. In due course, many of us had occasion to meet in the flesh. We even organized some intentional reunions (in New York, Washington, DC, Phoenix and a few other locales). Although some folks, as it turned out, looked rather different than I had envisioned them, when it came to their personalities, in not a single instance did I find that their real-time personalities were at all different from their virtual personalities. Even though that list is now defunct, I have remained friends (in BOTH real and virtual time, thank you) with a great many of those folks to this day, and I still see many of them when the occasion permits.
I think it all depends on how you choose to approach a discussion group such as this one. If you approach it as a mere random collection of anonymous screen names, well, that's exactly what it will be. On the other hand, if you approach it as a community, and actually try to begin to understand the real, flesh-and-blood people behind the screen names and their postings, then it can be that, too. But hey, if that's not your thing, that's cool. But is it really necessary to armchair psychoanalyze those who view it differently from you?
leftstreet
(36,111 posts)I appreciate it, too
I also notice people aren't accused of 'unhealthy relationships' and/or other snarky shit until AFTER they're gone
Xipe Totec
(43,890 posts)I want to die as the day declines,
at high sea and facing the sky,
while agony seems like a dream
and my soul like a bird that can fly.
To hear not, at this last moment,
once alone with sky and sea,
any more voices nor weeping prayers
than the majestic beating of the waves.
To die when the sad light retires
its golden network from the green waves
to be like the sun that slowly expires;
something very luminous that fades.
To die, and die young, before
fleeting time removes the gentle crown,
while life still says: "I'm yours"
though we know with our hearts that she lies.
JI7
(89,262 posts)asking others if they had heard from them.
there are still a few regulars that haven't posted in years but people wonder what happened to them.
dionysus
(26,467 posts)one in question, are very different.
Politicalboi
(15,189 posts)To announce I'm leaving a site.
steve2470
(37,457 posts)I will PM a few people who I'd like to stay in touch with. Otherwise, my screenname vanishes into the void.
Logical
(22,457 posts)DemocratSinceBirth
(99,711 posts)There's a lot of stuff on this board that I disagree with. But there's nothing the Republicans can fix.
rurallib
(62,444 posts)that were not revealed.
demmiblue
(36,875 posts)Nasty stuff.
irisblue
(33,020 posts)I am glad I missed that
Tuesday Afternoon
(56,912 posts)cwydro
(51,308 posts)if you find it.
I'm at the farm and useless on the stupid "smartphone"
DemocratSinceBirth
(99,711 posts)Tuesday Afternoon
(56,912 posts)*rhymes with trick* was going to save her from a hide?
trumad
(41,692 posts)And I truly wanted to quit.
But I'm an addict. I had a relapse.
Xipe Totec
(43,890 posts)Truly.
nolabear
(41,991 posts)FailureToCommunicate
(14,020 posts)"My name is F2C... and it's been only 8 hours since I've clicked on DU"
LittleGirl
(8,291 posts)peace out.
LuvNewcastle
(16,855 posts)we leave the site. Those who have a large presence on the board would arouse a lot of concern if they stopped posting all of a sudden. People would wonder if they had died.
I take breaks from DU from time to time, but I don't think I'll leave for good. I know how some people feel; it gets to be too much sometimes. I hope those who have left voluntarily will eventually come back after they're ready to engage again. If not, I wish them the best.
Spitfire of ATJ
(32,723 posts)That way you can be disappointed to see I'm back.
nolabear
(41,991 posts)We're people, for Chrissake. We count on one another for survival and identity and all the things that make life worth living. We want to be cared about and missed when we're gone. We want to mean something in this world. The people I'd worry about are the ones who think that relationships, even online ones, are devoid of meaning and can be disposed of without a look back.
rurallib
(62,444 posts)when they were upset about something. It was a very good thing.
Auntie Bush
(17,528 posts)I left without saying a thing. I sometimes wondered if anyone ever noticed...so I felt silly saying, "I'm back." I didn't really mean to leave but I had actually wanted to break the habit of "living" on DU.
I ended up getting very ill and didn't post for weeks. When I was better I realized I had broken my habit and hesitated getting back. Then I soon resorted to lurking...but felt frustrated many times as I wanted to post. However if I posted once I was afraid I'd start posting again and get nothing positive accomplished.
Sooooo, it looks like I'm back...I hope I don't get addicted again!
malaise
(269,157 posts)BobbyBoring
(1,965 posts)N/t
Gormy Cuss
(30,884 posts)That behavior makes DU suck.
If someone I loathe announces their departure, I may say nothing. I may also wish the person well because even though the DU persona vexes me, I recognize that there is a PERSON behind the online persona and except for a few instances that person is a valued member of the community IMHO.
YMMV.
LittleGirl
(8,291 posts)cleduc
(653 posts)but that's fairly minor to me.
I'm much more sorry to see a couple of voices go.
I wish them the best
The_Commonist
(2,518 posts)And, that would have been the Well.
I lived in a hippie commune that sold Macintosh computers in San Francisco.
We had a Well account, and that was my first tussling on "the internet."
I still say, as much as it annoys me sometimes, that Democratic Underground is "the best news aggregator on the internet, for the kind of news and format, that I'm attracted to." I said that shortly after I got here through Conservative Idiots #1, using a different screen name but I forgot the password, and I'll say it again today. You people piss me of sometimes, but I can't imagine being better informed, than I am by coming to this place. Even if you don't hear from me very often...
SixString
(1,057 posts)Sad.
Vattel
(9,289 posts)Lint Head
(15,064 posts)folks unhappy with an opinion, a fact or a joke.
onyourleft
(726 posts)...this post.