An interesting meme

[valis2]

Stolen from todayiamadaisy...

How did you come to start your LJ?

Well, when I bought my computer in October 2003, I spent a lot of time going through Mummy fanfiction online, which I was introduced to by my RL friend bookwench2096. Then I found Snape fanfiction, and I spent a few months reading, skimming, or checking out the summary for every single Snape fanfic on ff.net at the time (I am serious). When I was done with that, I started doing more searches, and somehow I landed at pottersues. Honestly, I got a LJ account just so I could join in the fun there.

Once I had the account, I decided to start posting. Keep in mind that I've never had a diary or journal that lasted more than three pages, so this was pretty cool. I got memey for a while, and then started posting personal stuff and fandom stuff. Because people were interacting with me, it made it so much more interesting and fun, and I kept it up (clearly).

How did you find your first friends?

Well, I found a LJ comm devoted to h/c Snape (unfortunately, it no longer exists), and I was fascinated by the different people in the comm. I started watching deepforestowl's journal, but didn't really understand the friending thing. I emailed a few people to tell them about my LJ, and it turns out that my (now) sister-in-law gypsyjolie had a journal, as well as my dear friend kitschicat, and there were other RL friends, too, like bob_the_mighty. Anyway, they friended me, and I figured out the friends page. After that I started friending people I interacted with on pottersues like luvboromir24601. It just snowballed from there.

Are those first friends still on your FL?

Yeah, everyone I just mentioned is. There were a couple from that first batch whom I ended up defriending.

How long have you been on LJ?

April 20th, 2004, so nearly five years. This is entry #1641, I believe.

Do you have more friends or communities on your FL? Do you do a lot of friends cuts? What would make you un-friend someone immediately?

300 friends (exactly, wow), and 119 comms. I do very infrequent defriendings. Usually because the journal's been purged. Once in a while I'm just not compatible with someone, or they've drifted to another fandom and we're just not connected anymore. Usually, even if they've changed fandoms I'm still interested in the person, but sometimes if the connection's not there, then it's probably best to go away. I can't imagine what would make me defriend "immediately" except for offensive content that bothered me personally.

What do you like in an LJ friend? What do you dislike? Have you been caught up in a lot of LJ drama?

I love LJ friends who are interesting. I love reading the journals of people who live in other countries; it's fascinating and broadening. I like reading about just about anything, everyday life to meeting the Pope, as long as it's funny, absorbing, or smart. I really don't like memes with crazy pictures and "What kind of owl fairy HP character should you date with your favorite color" themes. I am beginning to really dislike Twitter entries. I also do not like reading about politics or religion unless it's unlikely to raise my blood pressure. As far as drama, hmm...it depends on how you define it. Have I been on f_w? Well, no. But I'm sure I've caused drama that I don't even know about--and a little that I do. It's that social awkwardness I have. Sometimes I really put my foot in my mouth, and don't realize it at all.

Do RL friends and family members know you have a journal on LJ?

Yep. Some of them have journals of their own. Some, however, don't. This is why I don't flock anything--makes it easier for them to navigate my journal. Because LJ has never caught on to having a link that allows you to bypass the protected entry and go to the next. Instead, it stops you dead. I don't like that at all.

Do you also have Facebook and if so, what do you prefer – LJ or FB? What about Twitter? Do you blog on any other sites?

I am afraid of Facebook. I have so many people in my life already that I haven't seen and barely have time to talk to on the phone--I don't need to find more. And Twitter? 140 characters does not make for meaningful entries. I am all about the communication, the back and forth of it, the giving and receiving. Twitter does not seem to be much on anything except giving--giving tiny little unrelated blips. I'm not certain that it's possible to continually deliver amazing insight in 140 characters or less.

I do have another blog on Blogger, but it's for business, so I can't give the name here. I find that I kind of detest Blogger, too. LJ is pretty much my favorite place. Texty, wordy, big on communication, and the biggest reason: threaded comments. I really like it, and the people who dwell here.

How often do you check in on LJ?

If it's a day where I go into the day job, then I get up at 5:45 am, take my bath, and then sit in front of the computer from 6:15 to about 7:10 and eat my breakfast and go through my flists (LJ, IJ, JF). Then, when I come home, I go through the flist again, periodically refreshing through the night.

If it's a home day, then I get up around 9:30 am, take my bath, and go through my flists in the morning, periodically refreshing through the day.

What do you rarely or never post about? Why don’t you post about that?

Religion and politics. I don't talk about them in RL, either. Just leads to heartache. Um, sex, too. Er, not that religion and politics leads to sex, just that I don't talk about sex on LJ, either. I also don't talk about the exact nature of my business, because that would lead people easily to figure out about my friends and the nature of their business, and it could get very messy. It's not just me I'm protecting, it's my friends, too. Remember, I never flock anything.

Have you ever thought about deleting your journal?

Nope.

Why did you choose your current username? Have you ever changed your username?

I had to take valis2 because valis was taken. It's either from a Philip K Dick novel or Japanese video games. Take your pick. Haven't ever changed it. I picked it in 1990 when I first logged onto a BBS. It's short, and easy to remember. Sadly enough, I think sometimes people mistake it for valise. hee! I'm not luggage.

If you’re looking for new friends, how do you find them? Are you taking new people on to your Friends List just now?

I'm always looking for new friends. If I interact with someone in a positive way in a comm, or I read a fic by them and I like it, then I investigate their journal. If I see all memes, I back away quickly. But if there are entries of interest, or an intriguing POV, then I add them. And the second question is amusing. Like I'm going to take applications or something.

Finally, tell us the reasons why you keep an online journal.

The people on my flist, number one. The interaction. Also, I am finding that having five years' worth of entries (and having them tagged) is pretty damned cool. I can find anecdotes I've forgotten, and some of the stuff I've put out there has been hellafun to write (think Barbie Pantheon). I was afraid that Blogger would steal me away, but I find that I'm actually more interested in LJ now than I was before, strangely enough.

Comments

[pennswoods.livejournal.com]

This is such a cool meme. I love it when people reflect on their LJ history and habits.

[valis2.livejournal.com]

It is fun, isn't it? I'm always intrigued by how people journal and why. ;)

[glockgal.livejournal.com]

This was super-interesting! I love reading your LJ habits, I'm always fascinated with this sort of stuff!

[valis2.livejournal.com]

I'm always interested in the hows and whys of journaling. It's fascinating to see why people choose the blogging services they do, too. :) *hugs*

[sistermagpie.livejournal.com]

This is really fun to read!

[valis2.livejournal.com]

Isn't it, though? I love reading about how people interact with LJ, y'know?

[gypsyjolie.livejournal.com]

This was fun. I miss when I was so active on LJ. I just don't have many readers since I'm not active in hardly any comms since the end of LOTR fandom. But I love (as you do I am sure) going back and looking at old entries and seeing old thoughts.

[valis2.livejournal.com]

I'm such a navel-gazer--I love picking years at random and reading entries. Sometimes they're a little scary because I say the same things over again, like, "I'm sick, woe," or "I hate eBay customers, woe," but sometimes I find a little gem here or there and laugh my head off.

I'm missing being part of a big, fun fandom, and being part of the fic writers, and having lots of comments and seeing lots of fanwork and stuff--but sometimes little fandoms are interesting, too.

I miss you lots! I'm so geeked about seeing you both. *giant hugs*

[seraphina_snape]

Interesting entry.

Because LJ has never caught on to having a link that allows you to bypass the protected entry and go to the next. Instead, it stops you dead. I don't like that at all.

That is so true. When you go through entries day by day and there's no entry for a particular date, you have the option of clicking "next day". But when you go from one entry to the next and it's f-locked, you just get that stupid "sorry, not allowed to view protected entry" page and you have to jump through hoops to bypass that and find the next unlocked entry. It's a pain if you're familiar with the working of LJ and it's pretty much the end of the road if you're new and confused.

~ sera

[valis2.livejournal.com]

That is so true. When you go through entries day by day and there's no entry for a particular date, you have the option of clicking "next day". But when you go from one entry to the next and it's f-locked, you just get that stupid "sorry, not allowed to view protected entry" page and you have to jump through hoops to bypass that and find the next unlocked entry.

YES YES OMG YES. I absolutely do NOT understand this at all. I mean, seriously, this cannot be that hard. Or maybe it is, and that's why it does it that way.

It's a pain if you're familiar with the working of LJ and it's pretty much the end of the road if you're new and confused.

Yes!! Which part of the reason why I never flock anything, or the couple of RL friends who watch my journal will be completely fed up. *nodnod*

[bronze-ribbons.livejournal.com]

I have so many people in my life already that I haven't seen and barely have time to talk to on the phone

Yes. This is me. Although touching a telephone automatically makes my IQ drop seventy points, so it's more the fact that there are more than a dozen people right here in town with whom I really need to schedule lunch or coffee sooner rather than later. :-/

And yes to the friendslock issue as well. To be fair, now that I think about it, I can guess how messy it could be to code a solution to it; on the other hand, one of my personal rules is that if I haven't invited someone to a discussion or gathering, I should avoid broadcasting that the discussion or gathering is taking place (no matter how legitimate my reasons for not including them) -- so I really don't like how the non-feature essentially tells the whole world a private entry exists at all.

[valis2.livejournal.com]

Yes. This is me. Although touching a telephone automatically makes my IQ drop seventy points, so it's more the fact that there are more than a dozen people right here in town with whom I really need to schedule lunch or coffee sooner rather than later. :-/

Hells yes. I have so many people right now that I should be calling, and I have a handful that I should be inviting over or going to see. And I know how I am--if I got on Facebook, and people found me, I'd feel like I have to talk to them, and then I would have even less time...ugh.

And yes to the friendslock issue as well. To be fair, now that I think about it, I can guess how messy it could be to code a solution to it; on the other hand, one of my personal rules is that if I haven't invited someone to a discussion or gathering, I should avoid broadcasting that the discussion or gathering is taking place (no matter how legitimate my reasons for not including them) -- so I really don't like how the non-feature essentially tells the whole world a private entry exists at all.

OMG YES. OMG. I mean, they finally fixed the fact that your LJ calendar would show everyone how many entries you'd made every day, regardless of public, private, or flocked. I wish they'd fix this one, too! Once in a great while I end up browsing through someone's journal this way, and it's always kind of an "aww" moment when I come across that block.

[dbassassin.livejournal.com]

And Twitter? 140 characters does not make for meaningful entries. I am all about the communication, the back and forth of it, the giving and receiving.

Word to this. I really dislike Twitter and I'm annoyed that some people on my flist don't post any more because they're spending all their time twittering away. The absence of interaction means Twitter has no appeal at all. And so much of it just seems so vacuous.

[valis2.livejournal.com]

Oh, thank goodness someone else feels this way! I was lamenting about Twitter to Husband, and I mentioned that the whole thing I like about LJ is the commenting back and forth via threaded comments.

Those Twitter entries? Does anyone even comment on those? Does the Twitterer come back and reply? I mean, seriously? It seems crazy to respond to any of the Twitterings. And because they're pulled from the whole day, they're all so totally random together, like "I washed my dog!" "Someone cut me off on the freeway!" "I hate cantelopes!"

Bah, humbug. *grins*

[tjwritter.livejournal.com]

You are soooo cool!

I am the same way about not having a real life diary that is more then a few pages filled in...which sucks because I have a MILLION of them!

[valis2.livejournal.com]

hahaha!! Seriously, unless it was required by school, I could never manage more than a few days. But LJ? Irresistible! Where else can I get German translations, directions, reviews of any sort of movie/book/etc I can imagine, and teh funny on a regular basis? *grins* *hugs*

[todayiamadaisy]

I've been here 20 days longer than you! That really surprises me - I always had the impression that you'd been here forever.

I'm kind of drawn to Twitter. I think there's the potential there for something really interesting; I'm just not sure what. Maybe a novel, sentence by sentence? But definitely the way I see most people use it isn't my cup of tea at all.

[valis2.livejournal.com]

I've been here 20 days longer than you! That really surprises me - I always had the impression that you'd been here forever.

*snorts* Sometimes it seems like I have been forever. ha! But no, you preceded me in LJdom.

In fact, I think my first entry was probably much later than that. I think I spent some time wanderering around pottersues before I ever posted. It took a really awful movie to force me to post, lol. Yep--June 4th, 2004, League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (http://valis2.livejournal.com/400.html).

I'm kind of drawn to Twitter. I think there's the potential there for something really interesting; I'm just not sure what. Maybe a novel, sentence by sentence? But definitely the way I see most people use it isn't my cup of tea at all.

Well, any medium can be used to create art--even Popsicle sticks, I suppose. But unfortunately, the vast majority of what's created is...annoying. lol!

Have I mentioned recently that you are one of my very favorite LJers? Because you are, you know. You rock.

[todayiamadaisy]

Oh, thank you! And it's a mutual admiration society we've got going, because I love your LJ too.

[verdenia.livejournal.com]

Cool. I have a twitter account that I started to keep up with my married sister. I've had mixed feelings about it, but it IS possible to have conversations, and I've actually met a few really cool people through it.

As with LJ, blogger, any medium -- unless you have a community to read and respond, you're just broadcasting into a vacuum.
The comment threading is definitely not as easy, though!

A lot of those people will use it to announce their latest blog post, link to a recipe, share a photo... so. It CAN be cool.
But it can also be...not-cool. ;p

Agreed about the 'awww' feeling of running into a protected entry here! I just click on the date of the entry I'd been on to find out where to go next...but it is not really intuitive. ;/

*hugs*

[valis2.livejournal.com]

Cool. I have a twitter account that I started to keep up with my married sister. I've had mixed feelings about it, but it IS possible to have conversations, and I've actually met a few really cool people through it.

Oh yeah, I'm sure people have great convos and find whole new communities--but I am long-winded and I don't think it'll work for me, lol.

Agreed about the 'awww' feeling of running into a protected entry here! I just click on the date of the entry I'd been on to find out where to go next...but it is not really intuitive. ;/

LJ people know where to proceed, but non-LJ people--a few of my friends and family--would not know where to go next, y'know? And that makes me crazy. It's really too bad that they can't provide a link to the next unprotected entry. *grumbles*

*hugs back*