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Kitchen Table Kibitzing: Jan. 27 [1]

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Date: 2023-01-26

The future of online communities

Well, looks like Twitter finally got around to processing that I quit. For a month or so, I was still able to see trending topics and jump around the platform, but for the past week, all I get is a screen asking me to sign in before I can see anything. I’ve never been a Facebook fan and I’ve really had a hard time with Mastodon so I’m kind of hanging out here in social media limbo, and upset about Kos’ diary about the upcoming layoff of 20% of staff.

The whole topic came up in a few diaries by the guild I read over the past week. Folks in the comments were adamant about that not happening and there was some conjecture about how the DK community could help out. Someone suggested DK could go the way of paid subscribers and it really got me worrying about all the virtual communities which have found a home here and what would happen to us if that were to occur.

After all, there are people on this site who truly could not afford a subscription. Last week in KTK someone asked if people had noticed the use of AP stories as content. Is the plan to replace some of the writers with wire copy?

I’m not really as active as I once was on DK. I scroll through the stories once a day, rarely comment, and write an occasional Climate Brief and weekly here for KTK. But there are people here and across the site with whom I have communicated for years. I hate to think of that being in any way jeopardized. Daily Kos has been a part of my daily routine since 2006.

Covid Woes

I wrote about a month ago about getting together with a friend I hadn’t seen in 37 years. Well, now a joint friend of ours is visiting San Francisco next month and wants the three of us to get together. I'm kind of nervous. He’ll be flying in from North Carolina and I’m worried about his exposure to Covid and where we could meet where we could be outside. I’m thinking of meeting at the Warming Hut at Crissy Field or Lovejoy’s Teahouse in outer Noe Valley. Or possibly the Ferry Building at the foot of Market Street in San Francisco.

A friend stopped by bearing two orders of fish and chips for us yesterday afternoon and all she could talk about was how Covid has really impacted her life. She runs a dog walking/sitting business in one of the richest towns in Marin County and said many of her clients have just never returned to work and are walking their own dogs. She, like me, remains really concerned about getting ill. She suggested we take in a movie together because the theaters are never crowded now, but she warned that you really have to bundle up because they keep the air conditioning on to circulate the air.

Lately, with all the colds and flu and Covid going around, it’s really difficult to feel safe in public places. The other day I was at the hairdresser and could overhear all the other women talking about how sick they’d ben or how sick members of their families had been and I didn’t have a mask with me and was just terrified and couldn’t wait to get out of there. My daughter, who works for the CDC, has become very laissez-faire about wearing her mask. Twice now she has flown to Atlanta for CDC meetings and said no one wore a mask during the meetings or when they went out to restaurants. So far, she hasn’t gotten sick.

Well, folks, that’s about all I have to report. I started this week writing and editing pro bono for a nonprofit that works with African women and children. The work is really challenging because they use Workplace, Salesforce, and google drive. Yesterday, the CEO spent about an hour helping me navigate my way through the platforms. I felt like such an idiot. I’m hoping things get easier as the weeks go by. I’m still familiarizing myself with their projects and that in itself is a tad overwhelming.

As usual, this is an open thread. What’s happening in your world today?

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[1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/1/26/2149405/-Kitchen-Table-Kibitzing-Jan-27

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