The cycles of LJ.

[valis2]

So I'm just about caught up on the flist, which kind of surprised me, I must admit. I did what I've been doing all year long; I open up all 150+ friends' LJs in new tabs, and read each journal backwards individually, until the date I left off at. Then I do the same with comms.

Well, part of the reason it didn't take so long is that it's summer here in the Northern Hemisphere, so most LJers aren't as active, it seems. And there aren't any seasonal challenges happening right now, either, so the comms aren't too overflowing, as well.

There is one thing I noticed, though. LJ has cycles, just like everything in life, and I'm noticing that despite having such a large flist, a lot of the friends on it aren't exactly active any longer. Some people jump into LJ and just go bananas for awhile, and then disappear into the night. Some people start fandom-intense journals and then, as their interest wanes, their journal turns into more of a personal journal, or they jump into another fandom altogether. Some people only update occasionally. It seems like I have a lot of not-as-active journals on the flist right now. I've been wondering for awhile what the average activity span is for new LJers; I've been thinking it's a year or two for most people.

I used to think that iibnf's list was gargantuan, but now I'm really starting to understand the nature of LJ. We're not all active at once, and whole segments of our flist rotate. I keep thinking that there's no way that I can fit more friends into the mix, and I cut back sometimes, but then I do end up friending new people and finding new interesting conversations, which, for me, is what it's all about. When whole segments of the flist are quiet, I feel no problem about adding new voices. Sometimes flisters come back and start posting again (yay, scarah2! yay,chocolate_limes!), and sometimes promising flisters fall off the face of the internet relatively quickly (ozymannedias? elddonnemar?). But in the end, there are always new people to talk to, and new conversations to explore.

Yeah, I still love LJ.

Comments

[valis2.livejournal.com]

Sadly, defriending is a part of the LJ experience. Though when it comes down to it, LJ really is just aggregating a reading list, so all you are doing, in theory, is not compiling her entries.

I always hope people don't take it personally, but you never know. I try not to take it personally as well.

[imafarmgirl.livejournal.com]

Her entries involve her drinking, the two men she is sleeping with, the tanning bed, and her lack of money and how to pay bills. They are written in horrible English or some excuse for it. hahahahahahaha. I will be honest with her if she asks why I dumped her off the flist. Nothing she writes interests me and I feel compelled to say things that are cruel back and may hurt her so say nothing.

Why I am telling you this I have no clue. I think I'm off to unfriend her since I need to go add someone else anyway.