Dear Diary,

I just wanted to waste time and server space to vent about a small issue I have with this whole diary thing.

I feel the diary issue here is confusing.   There are unwritten rules here regarding what's appropriate and what isn't.  This unofficial rules catch many off-guard.   This is evidenced by the multiple times a diary goes up and is quickly questioned as to whether it contains content legitimate enough to warrant a diary.

The problem, I believe, is in the name.   "Diary" is misleading.   New users register and are given links to create their own "diary".   What does one do in a traditional diary?   Write anything and everything that comes to mind, personal things, or WTF they feel like.    Parents encourage children to do this.   College professors encourage english and journalism students to do this.   What happens when you take "Diary" to it's literal sense here?   You get blasted!

As I have been taught never to complain without offering suggestions for solution, here are a couple...

      1)  Change the name.   Don't call it a diary.   Call it something more term-appropriate like "Side-bar Article"  or "Discussion Point".   I am not aware if that is possible through the blog program.  Or,

      2)  Make the blog's unwritten social rules written.   Make Diary Guidelines and post them in the Community Guidelines or give it it's own guideline category.

Update [2007-11-16 12:35:1 by lboros]: lboros here; i've read the comments, and obviously this issue merits some discussion. crappy diaries annoy me as much as they annoy ev'yone else. like you, i cringe at the vapid "cards talk"-like threads --- although i don't think they're as prevalent as some of you do. my general approach has been to ignore the stupid dairies and pay attention to the good ones, because weeding out the bad takes a lot of time and effort --- and i'm already expending more of those on the site than i can comfortably afford. so if we're gonna police the diaries more vigilantly, i will need some help.

Athletics Nation has a diary guideline which says, in essence: "Diary entries are not for short or glib comments; they need to deal with something of substance." the problem i see with this guideline is that "substance" is in the eye of the beholder. i can't come up w/ fair, objective, consistent criteria that clearly explain the difference between "substance" and "message-board junk." it's not merely a matter of length -- some quick-hit diaries are totally appropriate and effective and spark good discussions, while others suck; likewise, some longer diaries are nothing more than rambling, empty ruminations. and i can't see fit to issue a blanket prohibition on "trade rumor" diaries, because some of those call attention to good information, and others contain creative thinking about the roster --- but many of them are annoying and full of ridiculously unrealistic ideas. some off-beat or humorous diaries work; others grate like fingers on the chalkboard.

in the end, the quality of a diary has nothing to do w/ objective criteria like length or type of subject matter; it's all about the execution. if a poster is insightful and thoughtful, he/she will write a good diary; if not, the diary will suck to one degree or another. so i'm at a loss to come up w / fair guidelines, but i'm very much opening to hearing your ideas. if you have suggestions for how to distinguish legit diaries from junk diaries, post 'em here.

if we do come up with good criteria, the other issue is enforcement. i already spend more of my time policing the site than i'd like, and that subtracts from the time i have available to think (and write) about the organization itself. so if this is going to be policed more vigiliantly, i'll need some help. if anybody has any ideas re an enforcement mechanism and/or wants to help enforce the guidelines and decide whether or not each diary passes muster, let me know.