10-21-02 @ 7:34 am EDT

Not that it matters much since Stories.com and Diaryland are the sites I like better! No offense to OD...but when a site is so unreliable, I can't like it very much. I know it is free...but so is Diaryland, and Stories.com to an extent...and they do not have that many errors. Yet. Plus, they both have support you can contact--and actually get replies from! At...um, FOD, I should be saying, NOT OD (OD is the pay site now), you pretty much can't expect any help anymore...sad, that a website with such potential should be so abandoned.

Anyway this entry is devoted to my FOD diary and I hope I don't regret it, but this has gotten irksome.

The ONLY benefit I've seen to the site so far is that I tend to get more notes there than anywhere else. At DeadJournal, NOBODY ever noted me, except for somebody who visited me...from Diaryland! So I quit there and moved back to FOD. At Stories.com, my journal's restricted from the public (only members may read it) but it occasionally gets comments and ratings. (If you're wondering about that, just go check out the site. You can have fifteen items in your port for free; after that, you have to pay.) At Diaryland, I'm not much noticed either...but at least there aren't errors. At FOD, on the other hand, total strangers have left notes showing they noticed my diary, and that's nice. It's good to be noticed; I wish I were noticed more elsewhere! Oh, one other good thing. The Most Recent Entries list, which is probably the REASON why I've gotten notes. There is no such thing at Diaryland, hence probably why I'm overlooked. Or maybe I'm just boring; who knows.

BUT I came here to complain about something I've seen frequently, and just don't understand.

Now, I won't try to figure out the reasoning behind this as I have no idea what it is. But...I really can't understand random notes. The ones where the user just signs their name, and that's it. Why do people do this? If it's an attempt to show they read my diary and let me know so, it fails. Because by leaving just your name, I have no idea whether you actually read anything I wrote or not. I could click Random and pop into anybody's diary and leave my name and it would mean nothing. I might not even notice their gender or age or location. All I'd notice is the general style of their diary, and that they had entries that allowed me to leave notes.

I wouldn't have to pay attention to a single word they typed!

Or maybe the leaving of just the name link is a sort of Spamming..."Here is my link. Click me! Click me!" If so, that's even worse...it's rude. Just like Spamming; you don't tailor your note to suit the diary, you just plug your own and split. Why do that? There are better ways to get readers.

Drat, I just did what I said I wouldn't, tried to figure out the reasoning. Sorry, but I guess I really wish I understood this tendency. I don't see it elsewhere, on other diary sites. It probably happens, but not with such frequency. Why is it done? I'm really just not flattered when somebody leaves an empty note on my diary. Rather I'm annoyed, because I have to assume they didn't read anything, hence they can't comment. So they just left their name and hoped I would click on it.

Am I wrong? Maybe. But I can't tell by the notes, can I?

I won't go randomly leaving my link on people's diaries just to get them to visit me (and I would like visitors!). If I'm going to leave a note on somebody's diary, I will at least read ONE entry first, and leave the note on that entry, with a little bit to show I read it. OR, I will go and post in response to someone's note on MY diary, and include the acronym "RYN" (regarding your note) to clarify. Both methods show I at least read what the author had to say. These little signature notes, or whatever they're called...I'm sure they must have a name I'm unaware of...seem to serve no purpose. I'm honestly not flattered that somebody randomly came across my diary and decided to leave their name. If you click Random, can you not read an entry and comment before you go? Not all of them (God knows there are too many!!)...just one. This lets the writer know, "Hey, somebody checked out my journal! They cared enough to read something and leave me a REAL note. How thoughtful!"

And yes, that IS what I'll be thinking...if they don't leave me a note flaming me for this entry. Which I fully expect, hence my quick posting and then running. I may not check my notes for days now as I hate confrontation and I truly meant no offense with this entry. But these empty notes are just irksome and I had to say it!

Just in case I will put THIS entry and this entry only on Safe Notes, so no anonymous peoples can rant like that moron who said, "Here's a note for you, stop complaining you little bitch." (Yes, I did get a note that said that.) Not that THIS entry will even be noticed, but who knows?

Tar...