I kind of take a different stance than many of the posters here. I prefer websites and forums to LiveJournal. I like fic archives where you can go to a person's profile and find a list of all their fics, then click on a fic title and read it.
For discussions of various topics, I like organized forums so that you can read based on one very specific subject, then leave that thread and go to another thread to read about another topic.
That's the main reason I've stuck with MediaMiner.org all of these years. The format is easy to follow, and batshit is at a minimum.
LiveJournal gives me just the opposite. I find myself jumping all over the place; for Pirates of the Caribbean fandom alone I have a buttlong list of comms to scroll through every time I want to post a fic, and each comm has different rules for posting. This can be in the header, this HAS to be in the header, none of this type of feedback, put some out of the LJ cut, put only the header out of the LJ cut...it's a pain in the butt to keep track of.
With a website, feedback is what it is. If someone wants to be wanky because they got constructive criticism, and the feedback was within site rules, not much they can do about it. With LJ, again, the comms all have different rules. Some have Thumper Rules, some have Oreo Cookie Rules, some have ambiguous rules, some have no rules.
With a forum, only mods lock or delete posts. If you're an idiot, it's usually there indefinitely for the world to see. On LJ, people can delete their posts, or FLock posts, or delete their LJ or whatever reaction they think they have to take to make it look like they weren't being batshit.
For a long time, I wondered - due to these reasons - why people claimed to prefer LJ over websites and forums. Then I realized - these WERE the reasons people prefer LJ over other sites. They have near-complete control over their own posts, but can wank enough to be protected from criticism in other posts.
Someone's picking on you? Get a bunch of your friends to run in and post in your defense. Got ridiculed for your fic? Delete it from your LJ and pretend it never happened. No one standing up for you? Make some socks and create your own real-life drama - there's no mod around to lock your thread. Few rules, little structure, and not having to take bruising of the pwetty widdle ego from anybody.
no subject
For discussions of various topics, I like organized forums so that you can read based on one very specific subject, then leave that thread and go to another thread to read about another topic.
That's the main reason I've stuck with MediaMiner.org all of these years. The format is easy to follow, and batshit is at a minimum.
LiveJournal gives me just the opposite. I find myself jumping all over the place; for Pirates of the Caribbean fandom alone I have a buttlong list of comms to scroll through every time I want to post a fic, and each comm has different rules for posting. This can be in the header, this HAS to be in the header, none of this type of feedback, put some out of the LJ cut, put only the header out of the LJ cut...it's a pain in the butt to keep track of.
With a website, feedback is what it is. If someone wants to be wanky because they got constructive criticism, and the feedback was within site rules, not much they can do about it. With LJ, again, the comms all have different rules. Some have Thumper Rules, some have Oreo Cookie Rules, some have ambiguous rules, some have no rules.
With a forum, only mods lock or delete posts. If you're an idiot, it's usually there indefinitely for the world to see. On LJ, people can delete their posts, or FLock posts, or delete their LJ or whatever reaction they think they have to take to make it look like they weren't being batshit.
For a long time, I wondered - due to these reasons - why people claimed to prefer LJ over websites and forums. Then I realized - these WERE the reasons people prefer LJ over other sites. They have near-complete control over their own posts, but can wank enough to be protected from criticism in other posts.
Someone's picking on you? Get a bunch of your friends to run in and post in your defense. Got ridiculed for your fic? Delete it from your LJ and pretend it never happened. No one standing up for you? Make some socks and create your own real-life drama - there's no mod around to lock your thread. Few rules, little structure, and not having to take bruising of the pwetty widdle ego from anybody.
No wonder LJ grew so fast. :/