Livejournal Versus Websites
Jan. 3rd, 2008 08:51 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
author_by_night(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?
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Surfed in through newsletters
Date: 2008-01-04 11:02 am (UTC)Forums are fun as long as they are small and you know everyone who comes there and discusses frequently. I always liked the possibility to structure a forum, to offer different sections for canon discussion, off topic, fun stuff, fanfic, you name it. But maintaining a forum costs both, a lot of money and a lot of work, and if you see that people either feel entitled to direct the way your forum goes because they donated for its upkeep, or leave because people aren't nice enough/are too sappy... it's not such fun any longer. All forums have to deal with trolls sooner or later, and if you're not careful and react too paranoid, you'll soon have a very restrictive structure which may attract the opposite type of people you actually want to have there. Mods who seem to see the moderator job as a way to enhance their self-worth and start acting up as mini-dictators don't make things smoother either.
Blogs are different. Everyone gets their own journal, has their own friends. Even if you're active on communities, write meta, fanfics: you don't really need them to have a voice. If you disagree with my moderating and bitching about the way you post, you go to your own journal and post it there, complain, and get replies and sympathy. If the stupid archive x doesn't accept your fanfic, you go to your own journal and post it there. You'll have the say, you have a voice and are seemingly independent. It doesn't even cost money, and you get a decent look and functionality for free, or with the plus account, too. I think that felt independence, together with easy use, keeps people moving from forums to blogs. The lj kerfuffles from last year show us the limits of how independent we are, though. It's much easier to maintain a forum or archive than writing your own blogging software, so you're stuck with the ones who do, and they usually want to make money with it, something fandom forum owners seldom want. At least in the sleepy little fandom corner I used to hang out.
Re: Surfed in through newsletters
Date: 2008-01-04 01:34 pm (UTC)