First let me get the positive out there:
Dreamwidth (heretofore referred to as DW) is a promising service. There are a number of improvements to the LJ code, the people running it seem to have their shit straight, and I think it has a very good chance of being a successful alternative to LJ.
Okay, now the not-so-positive thoughts and conclusion:
In order to crosspost to both journals, I have to post from DW because LJ doesn't have a crosspost option. This, by all accounts, would seem to make DW my primary journal so that I can have duplicate posts on the two sites.
And as I was fiddling with my account here, I stopped and wondered "Why?"
I have a bit over 100 peeps on my flist on LJ. There's nobody here on DW that isn't on LJ. Why am I bothering to crosspost? Isn't this an exercise in redundancy?
Also, one of the most important things for me is allowing people to discuss different topics. The comments section is of primary importance in that regard. I have two options if crossposting from DW:
1. Split the comments. People can comment either on the DW entry or the LJ entry. This is not ideal. People inevitably won't check both entries. I'll have to keep track of two separate conversations going on (And checking comments isn't very easy on DW). This will be extra time-consuming for me and ultimately detrimental to you guys.
2. Make it so only the DW entry can be commented on. This is, quite frankly, also not ideal. This requires people to sign up with an OpenID account to comment if they don't have a DW account (Which is most of the people on my flist). And that is counter-intuitive to me as it goes against my philosophy of making it as easy as possible for people to share their thoughts. Some people probably won't bother, and I wouldn't blame them.
I admit I'm a bit torn on this one. I want to maintain a DW account in preparation for the future if DW does manage to stand independently of LJ. However, now, it's just like an enclave of LJ fan folks here. There's nobody on my DW reading/subscriber list that isn't on LJ. And, in all honesty, I don't think there's likely to be any DW-only people for a while.
So...why am I doing this? I'm genuinely asking. My journal thrives because the community is so wonderful about sharing their opinions. Without you guys, this journal wouldn't be half as interesting as it is. So I'm asking you that read and comment on my journal, what advantages are there for you for me to be on DW? Are there any advantages?
Because...well...I'm not seeing many advantages for me. Yes, there are some improvements upon LJ, but nothing so important to me that I have to have it. My account on LJ is paid. My DW account is not. My account on LJ is customized and set up to my liking. My DW account is not. I have a number of friends on LJ, some who comment consistently, some who just lurk. I don't have any friends on DW that aren't active on LJ.
So for me, this is rather pointless, and I'm leaning towards just importing my entries from time to time (assuming I can do that more than once) rather than crossposting every entry.
But I want to know what you guys think. Please let me know if there are any reasons why you'd prefer me to remain posting to DW.
And even though I'm crossposting from DW, I'd really prefer comments to be on my LJ. It's easier for me to track comments there, and I check it more often.
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Or maybe not. Either way, it took several years for FB to get really popular, and for folks to forget they even have a myspace page. Same with Twitter--I have one, but I forget that I have it. Mostly, I'm just holding my "name spot" in case one day I decide to really give a damn. The same may hold true for DW. If I get one, fine; if I don't, also fine. I think there are...like five people on my f-list who even have one, but most people seem to not care, and are perfectly happy with LJ. Maybe it'll take off a few years from now...But yeah--hold your name space for the "what if?" scenario in which a bunch of people leave LJ entirely, even if you don't use the account too much.
I do think a couple years down the road, DW might have enough of a separate community to where it'd be worth it to crosspost. At this point, though, the DW users are just an extension of the LJ community.
It feels as if I joined an LJ comm that has a few people from my flist signed up for it, yet I have to post to both my journal and the comm everytime I put something up. I'm left wondering what the point is.
So I'm happy to have my name grabbed, and I do like to have a mirror or back-up for my journal. But I can't see much of any advantage to being active on DW.
First it was diary-x, then deadjournal, then journalfen, then insanejournal. And I know there was one more in there that I am forgetting. Some insertnameherejournal. Oh, blogger, and blogspot, can't forget those ones. LJ still stands, is still active.
I'd just keep it as a name holder and not really bother to cross post in case, and this is a big IF, LJ ever dies. I don't see that happening though. It's survived so much more, you know?
Myself, I have an LJ perm account so I'm not going anywhere. I will be like a stubborn cockroach, the last person using this service after so many I have jumped shipped. (Shoot, I still use Friendster on occasion. LOL)
I do think DW has a better chance at succeeding than JF or IJ or any of the other LJ clones. It has better backing and structure.
But I'm afraid we're either gonna see fandom die out on LJ (unlikely), get a split in fandom between DW and LJ (cause, really, what's the point of crossposting if the audience is the same on both sites?), or have fandom remain on LJ with a different culture springing up on DW.
Hard to say. In any case, it won't happen for another couple years and, well, I'm a follower not a trend-setter. So I'll wait and see.
That's actually what I think is going to happen, at least in the short run. It's like JF versus IJ - JF has a strong culture of its own, thanks to few communities, whereas IJ is more of a back-up service for most people. From what I've seen of DW so far, the migration has been more community-driven than the last few ones in that people are actually participating in the communities that they have created instead of just reserving names.
I think what happens in the long run will depend a lot of LJ. If LJ behaves itself, majority of people will soon move their things back to LJ, but every major mistake that LJ does will drive people away, and this time the migration will not be divided between IJ, GJ, and JF - it will mostly be directed towards DW. So something like Strikethrough happening again could very easily shift the balance to DW's advantage (especially if by that time they've already moved out of beta).
Me, I'm not leaving LJ yet. I'll probably end up using my DW as a reading journal like I do with JF with the difference that if I get subscribers who do not have me friended on LJ, I'm going to start posting links to my fic and other fannish posts there the same way I would post to a community.
greatestjournal! (RIP)
I always found this icon particularly apt:
or you can do [cut text="text here"] [/cut]
<> obviously.
Honestly, if it's going to take a couple years for DW to become as thriving as LJ, I probably won't be around to see it. I don't tend to stick in fandoms very long.
:( But we'll miss you!
Most people seem to be saying "I'll go if the fandom goes." We should all get together and say, "I'm a part of the fandom and I like it right here," LOL. And hey, DW is fine if someone does want to move, but I hope people don't move because it's the thing and everyone's doing it. I got an account because I was curious, and to back up my journal (which I didn't have a way to do when the last LJ mini-panic occurred). I don't rule out LJ doing something stupid and making people leave sometime in the future, but I'm fine on here right now. (Really, LJ is the first and only blogging site I've ever used, personal or fandom. I've gotten used to it and don't want to figure out something new, even if it is more or less a clone.)
lol. Yep. It really is very much dependent on the community. I don't have a problem with LJ so I really have no reason to switch. I'd only do so if everybody else did.
Agreed with it seeming like the crossposting is almost an insidious way to get people to make DW their main journal. I noticed someone doing a crosspost and it saying at the bottom of the message that to comment I had to go to their DW account. And I thought "meh" and moved on. It completely discouraged me from commenting by having to go over there.
Agreed with it seeming like the crossposting is almost an insidious way to get people to make DW their main journal.
Hee, well I think that's more on LJ's end than DW's. LJ doesn't have the ability to crosspost and DW does so, by default, if you're crossposting you have to do it from DW. If I could do it from LJ, I wouldn't have any problems with it (I'd still want all comments on my LJ entry, though. I don't want to split up discussion like that).
I'll fully admit that I got a DW because I wanted to see what it was about, and to keep track of anyone who does actually move. And possibly to back up my journal. But I have no intention of maintaining two sets of journals. But I've seen many people who are talking about importing and crossposting, etc, and it's just going to be like mirror sites. Why?
There's nothing on DW that isn't on LJ. Though I will admit that I was sort of afraid that people who go to DW will stop using LJ, and so I thought that maybe I should get an account there if I want to be read. But you know what? If someone wants to read me, I bet they'll continue to read me no matter where I am. If they don't really care, me following them over to DW to get a casual reader or two is pointless.
And like I said, I have no problems with LJ as a service. I know some people do. Maybe I will someday in the future. Who knows? But I don't see why everyone is rushing to make a duplicate LJ community. And hey, what happens when the next cool thing comes along? Move again? I like the history that LJ has. There are Buffy communities with entries going back 5 years, not to mention all the personal journals. And yeah, you can import, but still.
But I don't mind LJ. I think a lot of the people getting worked up about DW do have issues with LJ. Eh, I'll wait and see what happens. I'm not even bothering to crosspost right now. Too much hassle.