author_by_night (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
author_by_night) wrote2008-01-03 08:51 am
author_by_night) wrote2008-01-03 08:51 am
Entry tags:
Livejournal Versus Websites
(This public post mostly refers to Harry Potter fandom, but can apply to others. I just don't know how it works in other fandoms in terms of websites over LJ. But if it's like that in other fandoms, or just the opposite, I'd still love to know.)
When I first came into fandom, messageboards were huge. But now, I've noticed a decline. Messageboards (and websites overall), old and new and revamped, seem to get far less traffic.
My question is - what's the cause? Obviously there are many reasons. Without naming names, some boards over time became so big that it got confusing for the members. Then suddenly, many members left, and it eclined from there. There's also the fact that members who had time to run the sites and messageboards and/or be active in keeping things going there had less time.
But could Livejournal have an impact as well? I wonder if people aren't choosing Livejournal over messageboards and websites, and that's what I'm asking. I know with me, I do certainly find it's sometimes easier to post on Livejournal. For one, LJ doesn't have the "newbie stage" - the newbie stage being the stage wherein new members are more or less ignored on the basis of being new. For another, I myself am a very elaborative person; at a board, half of what I'd want to say would probably be considered "tl;dr" ("too long, don't read"), so I have to shorten it. But when I shorten things, I'm often too vague and make no sense. On many occasions, discussions at messageboards have prompted Livejournal responses, because I'd rather not write a full page reply. ) However, on a website, I do know what I'm going to see and discuss; it's harder to have a firm idea of that with Livejournal, because even LJ communities change.
Thoughts?
When I first came into fandom, messageboards were huge. But now, I've noticed a decline. Messageboards (and websites overall), old and new and revamped, seem to get far less traffic.
My question is - what's the cause? Obviously there are many reasons. Without naming names, some boards over time became so big that it got confusing for the members. Then suddenly, many members left, and it eclined from there. There's also the fact that members who had time to run the sites and messageboards and/or be active in keeping things going there had less time.
But could Livejournal have an impact as well? I wonder if people aren't choosing Livejournal over messageboards and websites, and that's what I'm asking. I know with me, I do certainly find it's sometimes easier to post on Livejournal. For one, LJ doesn't have the "newbie stage" - the newbie stage being the stage wherein new members are more or less ignored on the basis of being new. For another, I myself am a very elaborative person; at a board, half of what I'd want to say would probably be considered "tl;dr" ("too long, don't read"), so I have to shorten it. But when I shorten things, I'm often too vague and make no sense. On many occasions, discussions at messageboards have prompted Livejournal responses, because I'd rather not write a full page reply. ) However, on a website, I do know what I'm going to see and discuss; it's harder to have a firm idea of that with Livejournal, because even LJ communities change.
Thoughts?
no subject
Originally, when I discovered LJ, which was admittedly rather late, I thought that it was a great idea, becuase I regarded it as a kind of network. I always thought that the point was that - at least in theory - everyone would be able to read everyone else's posts, comment and maybe become friends.
But lately I've seen more and more people f-lock their LJs. It's their prerogative, and I can see their point if they post a lot of personal stuff, but I've even seen people f-lock their LJ who only post fandom stuff. In my opinion that's completely counterproductive to the idea of LJ, though. On top of that many of these people manage to give no hint about what their posts might be about. Let's say I read a fic somewhere and like it a lot. Therefore, I want to check out that person's LJ, expecting to find more fics and other fandom stuff etc. But if the LJ is f-locked and I'm given no information about the owner, why should I even friend it? Who knows if all the posts aren't about the writer's sick puppy and adulterous husband?
Therefore, LJ seems less and less like a community to me, but rather like a myriad of small entities, many of which clearly meant to be closed and cut-off from the rest of the world.