***NOTE*** If you respond to this, be prepared for a long drawn out conversation. Know that I will respond with fervor and gusto. If at some point you resort to flaming me, you will be blocked, I have a zero tolerance policy for immature behavior.
I comment on secrets because sometimes people read the comments, be it the Secret Tellers or just the people who stop by and read the secrets. DAS is nothing more than a tool, a means to an end for some. The catalyst through which to receive advice and sometimes comfort or validation. DAS itself is not the important part, it is the STs and those who read and respond to their secrets that have the true power to make a difference. The fact that DAS has so many rules, makes it hard to believe that they are actually trying to help people. Then again, with or without DAS, people will find a way to satisfy their communicative needs. The cause to affect change is a great one that many people try to take on. Most get in over their heads and have to create boundaries in order to survive. In the end, there will always be people who slip through the cracks. One day, some troubled person's secret cry for help will get denied on a technicality, and that will be the final thing that validates their self loathing and pushes them over the edge. It is inevitable, and it is life. It is neither acceptable, nor is it avoidable.
People are always going on the defensive, trying to defend a ST or defend DAS... Really, in the end, it is pointless. Humanity will always be the sliver in it's own toe that causes infection and ultimately, death. I've been known to speak my mind and I don't tend to sugar coat things. Trying to make something more palatable with a little dose of sunshine is NOT going to help anyone in the long run. So I am going to say this the only way I know how.
DAS, some of your rules are just plain ridiculous. How do you get off telling someone what their secret can and cannot contain or how long or short it has to be? I get that there are rules and policies at dA that must be followed and adhered to... but rejecting a secret because it is too long or too complicated... that is not your choice to make. It is not your job to decide what people should and and shouldn't read. People will choose that on their own. You claim that these rules are in place so that each secret gets the attention it deserves, but in reality, the secrets you reject get no attention at all. If DAS truly is there to help the Secret Tellers, then size and content do not matter. If only one person reads a secret because it is very long or complicated, then so be it. DAS is supposedly meant to be a "release, a way for Secret Tellers to share their feelings in a safe and anonymous way." *Quoted from a note I received from DAS about a year ago.* Well, I'm calling you on it. It is a load of crap. If that was truly what you were trying to do, your rules would NOT read... *and I quote* "...and in English. We cannot accept non English secrets with an English translation in the artists comments. Secrets should be short and to the point - we do not need to know everything that led up to the secret, or what happened after. Just the secret itself. On very rare occasions, DAS may submit longer secrets if DAS thinks it necessary. If your secret is too long you will get an email telling you it has been rejected." who are you to tell people what they do and do not need to share with someone? Who are you to tell people what they are and are not allowed to get off their chests? Who died and made you ruler of all things personal and secret? Get off your proverbial high horse. You aren't helping anyone by policing what they get to share and what they don't.