The pitfalls of friendslists

[wiseheart]

Sometimes I wish I knew how to set up filters properly. There is stuff I would like to get off my chest sometimes but cannot, not even in a flocked entry, because some people would feel attacked and get all defensive or insulted or whatnot. Just recently, someone made a text comment that I felt hurtful but cannot talk about it because the person is on my flist, and I don't want to hurt them. It was a fairly innocent thing to say; it is not their fault that my interpretation of frienship is a bit peculiar and I was hurt.

Of course, I could make private entries to went a bit, or disable comments entirely, but then it wouldn't make much sense to have a journal in the first place right? I could return to the handwritten version and let all the hurts and neglects fester...

Comments

[lhun-dweller.livejournal.com]

I am often guilty of feeling that I should jump in and try to fix things or say something to make the person feel better, in LJ and RL. As you've noted, that's not always what the person who is venting wants. So, another friend of mine has developed a way of letting me know she just wants to vent. Before she starts, she'll say, "I'm NOT looking for analysis or solutions. I just want to vent/tell you about this." That cues me to just shut up and listen.

I don't know if that would work with everyone on LJ, but feel free to use her "introduction" at the start of any LJ entry. Once you've made it clear what you want, you'll know that anyone who ignores it isn't really listening anyway, so you can, in turn, ignore whatever they post. (And yes, I note the irony that I am suggesting a solution!)