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Some random LJ musings.
The other day I was wandering around LJ (yeah, big shock) and I happened upon a friend of a friend's LJ. Then I was looking at the LJ of someone I've seen on FicAlley before.
They had this common theme. They've both had their LJs for a year or so. They've posted lots of entries (one has 760 entries in one year). And they both have almost no comments at all in their journals, and under ten friends.
It really made me think about the varying depths of the LJ experience. Some of us have giant flists, and are almost a community; some of us have medium flists; some of us have massively disproportionate friends/friends of lists. We all develop a strategy while we are chronicling our entries.
I was also just reading a really interesting entry on![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
gmth's journal, where she mentioned that someone had friended her once who had absolutely no entries, and never commented (an empty journal), and that it was a bit creepy. LJ is such a fascinating social experiment to me.
I didn't know anything at all about LJ when I started. The main reason I started, actually, was so that I could post comments onpottersues. Then I went off on a trip, and while I was away I began to ponder writing an entry about the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, and when I returned I posted it.
At first I was very, very lucky, because a few of my RL friends have journals, and they friended me right away. Otherwise I might have given up quickly...but they were so fun and helpful that I really started off on the right foot. I eventually started to friend people right and left, not really knowing what I was looking for, and basically just choosing people whose comments I liked. Eventually I figured out how to use LJ more efficiently, and I found the friends page, which made it really easy to keep up with everyone. As I progressed I began to see that some people did not automatically friend me back, and that some people had such enormous flists that they didn't read my journal in return. I became much more familiar with the different types of LJers.
I monitor about 100 LJs. There are some LJs that are simply "updates"; that is, they are repositories for some sort of continual stream of information, like the aforementioned pottersues. There are some LJs that I read simply because the LJers are artists/writers whose work I like to see/read. There are LJers that have some sort of unique background that is fascinating (they're Cuban, or they're Australian, etc.). There are LJers that are incredibly funny and make me laugh. There are LJers that are fandom "centers" who influence fandom/fans and disseminate information. There are LJers that I know in real life. There are LJers that have a similar background or similar interests who share their lives and their daily experiences.
Sometimes you can guess a lot about a LJer simply from looking at their flists; sometimes that tells you nothing. Over the year I've become what I call a "low-to-medium format LJer". I have 100 friends of/79 friends. I can just about keep up with that number, especially because some of the 'friends of' are information-only journals. Unless I am friending simply to see art or read fic, I now like to friend the journals of LJers that like to share the communal experience. Meaning they are posting entries and commenting and that we have things in common (generally, that they're part of a fandom I enjoy, though that isn't always a prerequisite).
So it was really amazing to me to find two people in one day who obviously are into LJ for something else entirely, who have the strength of purpose to keep posting entries, sometimes multiple entries in one day, even though nearly no one is commenting on them. I'm certainly not saying anything is wrong with that; on the contrary, I'm impressed with their fortitude. See, I've never been able to keep a journal for more than a few days, myself. I get bored very quickly. LJ changes that because you keep a journal where lots of people can add their own scribbles. I love that.
If I were posting entries and no one was commenting, it would feel, to me, like I was throwing my words out into a void, and I'd get all frustrated and stop within a few days. Obviously I am a ham and need far more social approval than those two. More power to them.
LJ is quite the change in my life. I appreciate it very much. And thank you, flist, for being so continuously interesting.
If you're bored and feel like being communal, let me know why you started a LJ, your thoughts on friending/defriending, how the size of your friendslist impacts you, etc...
They had this common theme. They've both had their LJs for a year or so. They've posted lots of entries (one has 760 entries in one year). And they both have almost no comments at all in their journals, and under ten friends.
It really made me think about the varying depths of the LJ experience. Some of us have giant flists, and are almost a community; some of us have medium flists; some of us have massively disproportionate friends/friends of lists. We all develop a strategy while we are chronicling our entries.
I was also just reading a really interesting entry on
gmth's journal, where she mentioned that someone had friended her once who had absolutely no entries, and never commented (an empty journal), and that it was a bit creepy. LJ is such a fascinating social experiment to me.I didn't know anything at all about LJ when I started. The main reason I started, actually, was so that I could post comments on
pottersues. Then I went off on a trip, and while I was away I began to ponder writing an entry about the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, and when I returned I posted it.At first I was very, very lucky, because a few of my RL friends have journals, and they friended me right away. Otherwise I might have given up quickly...but they were so fun and helpful that I really started off on the right foot. I eventually started to friend people right and left, not really knowing what I was looking for, and basically just choosing people whose comments I liked. Eventually I figured out how to use LJ more efficiently, and I found the friends page, which made it really easy to keep up with everyone. As I progressed I began to see that some people did not automatically friend me back, and that some people had such enormous flists that they didn't read my journal in return. I became much more familiar with the different types of LJers.
I monitor about 100 LJs. There are some LJs that are simply "updates"; that is, they are repositories for some sort of continual stream of information, like the aforementioned pottersues. There are some LJs that I read simply because the LJers are artists/writers whose work I like to see/read. There are LJers that have some sort of unique background that is fascinating (they're Cuban, or they're Australian, etc.). There are LJers that are incredibly funny and make me laugh. There are LJers that are fandom "centers" who influence fandom/fans and disseminate information. There are LJers that I know in real life. There are LJers that have a similar background or similar interests who share their lives and their daily experiences.
Sometimes you can guess a lot about a LJer simply from looking at their flists; sometimes that tells you nothing. Over the year I've become what I call a "low-to-medium format LJer". I have 100 friends of/79 friends. I can just about keep up with that number, especially because some of the 'friends of' are information-only journals. Unless I am friending simply to see art or read fic, I now like to friend the journals of LJers that like to share the communal experience. Meaning they are posting entries and commenting and that we have things in common (generally, that they're part of a fandom I enjoy, though that isn't always a prerequisite).
So it was really amazing to me to find two people in one day who obviously are into LJ for something else entirely, who have the strength of purpose to keep posting entries, sometimes multiple entries in one day, even though nearly no one is commenting on them. I'm certainly not saying anything is wrong with that; on the contrary, I'm impressed with their fortitude. See, I've never been able to keep a journal for more than a few days, myself. I get bored very quickly. LJ changes that because you keep a journal where lots of people can add their own scribbles. I love that.
If I were posting entries and no one was commenting, it would feel, to me, like I was throwing my words out into a void, and I'd get all frustrated and stop within a few days. Obviously I am a ham and need far more social approval than those two. More power to them.
LJ is quite the change in my life. I appreciate it very much. And thank you, flist, for being so continuously interesting.
If you're bored and feel like being communal, let me know why you started a LJ, your thoughts on friending/defriending, how the size of your friendslist impacts you, etc...
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Ok, here goes -
Around 1998 I got a computer. I started reading Skinner/Scully fan fic. My 2nd fandom was Buffy/Spike. I knew not a single soul in the fandom. I didn't know about Yahoo groups, Live Journal or anything of that sort. I did (and still do) belong to a romance novel discussion bulletin board (been there 6 years now) so I was aware those things were out there...but not for fandoms.
I stumbled upon
Around this time, I discovered Harry Potter fan fic. I'd read a few stories and emailed
So my list grew and as I got to know these nice ladies, I got to know their friends.
I haven't had anyone friend me at random in a while, then boom! Last week I had maybe 3 people do it. It comes in spurts, it seems. I always friend back (after checking them out for a bit) but have recently done a wee bit of de-friending on people that haven't posted in their journals for months or never reply to mine. I don't require people to respond to everything I post - that's ridiculous. However, if I read their entries and I just have no connection with them, or whatever...well, I'm too lazy to filter.
I didn't make any sort of defriending announcement...I didn't defriend anyone I think I've actually ever spoken to at length.
Live Journal has become such a haven for me. I'm still with my romance girls but a lot of them have migrated over here to talk about more personal things under flock etc. I lead an entirely seperate life on LJ and I like it here. I'm met some amazing people and don't ever plan on leaving.
How's that for a ramble? ~g~
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Oh yes, and thank you.
It's interesting that your LJ experience followed your mailing list experience. From what I've read, some of the fandoms have undergone a massive shift from ML to LJ. Of the two, I much prefer LJ; it has such a personal quality to it.
Defriending really is a hot topic. Some people don't care; some people care a lot. I remember reading one LJ entry where the LJer defriended someone, and the defriended person wailed on and on both in their own LJ and the defriender's LJ and made it sound like a calamity.
Just like everything else in life, everyone reacts to external stimuli in unique ways...
What's your favorite LJ community? Just curious...
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It has been a very long time since I wrote any fiction but there are several stories in my head at present hammering to get out. The journal would be a place where I could write out my thoughts (not necessarily about the stories) as practice. I don't really imagine that anything I write would be of interest to anyone else but if someone likes it, good for us both.
I don't have any RL friends with LJ. At least, I don't think I do. In fact some of the things I read or talk about on LJ are the things I wouldn't necessarily talk about with my RL friends. As far as friending people, I was unsure about the etiquette. I got the impression from several journals that I looked at early on that one should ask permission before friending someone. I have been hesitant to do that unless I 'know' the person through some means other than the fact that I just like to read what they write.
I have a few friends and that's OK although I wouldn't be opposed to a few more. Most of my friends page tends to be entries from the communities I belong to or monitor. These are largely for information or humor. I guess in LJ, like in life, I am shy enough to keep to the back of the room unless I'm sure I'll fit in. TMI, I'm sure but hey... you asked.
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I used to friend and not say anything, but now when I friend (infrequently at this point) I usually leave a comment to their latest entry with a mention that I friended them. Having now had a few people randomly friend me means I realized how nice it is to get a bit of a 'Hello' from them.
I understand about the shy thing, really...and it's always good to be a bit cautious about things.
Oh, and thank you so much for the vein/artery correction. I was going to put in "artery" as my first choice, and then I thought, but isn't there a lot of blather about the jugular vein, and so I went for 'vein', but then I thought it didn't make sense, and I did worry about it a little. It's good to know that my first choice was correct, thank you!
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I have about 70 friends and I can honestly say that is enough and I do know them all. My LJ is locked because of past wankage and I have been very particular who I friend.
About 80% of my friends are from the HP fandom and the rest from RL. I would agree if i had little feedback from my posts i would not bother even though I enjoy reading back at my forgotten posts from long ago.
The best enjoyment I have got from LJ is reading back at Moisie's LJ. She has now gone but our words remain and that soothes my souls.
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I enjoy reading the entries I made too...funny how little details are preserved that way.
I wonder how long Moisie's LJ will stay up? I have heard that with the new purchase of LJ that they will be deleting journals with no activity for six months or longer, and I'm wondering what will happen. I hope that you can back it up somehow so that you can preserve her words.
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Reading my flist has become quite time-consuming, so I had to defriend quite a lot of communities and I often just filter communities out, especially the photography and linguistics communities. They're really fun and interesting, but I don't have the time to read them all. I give priority to people.
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I missed
I'm thinking about dewatching some communities, but I don't know...it's just become so time-consuming, but I would hate to miss out on something.
The one that's really making me sad is
I keep thinking about dewatching this photo community, but then again the photos are such nice markers in the friends list, I can remember where I left off because of them...
I'm always interested in the ration of friends/friends of. Most people have a larger friends of than friends, it seems, except for some people who have really made a splash in fandom with their writing/art/opinions, it seems.
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especially for those of us who like to witter on, like me...Heh. As
I kept a written diary for over 20 years, but had stopped about 8 years ago...so starting an LJ was sort of a 21st century continuation of a life's habit. I like the communication, the supportiveness of LJ. I've always worn my heart on my sleeve to an extent, and in LJ I have found a nice environment. I'd probably not bother if I never had any feedback from friends, though, like you would.
I make forays outside my flist, to spectate, and find it very entertaining in a voyeuristic way...but I don't friend those, I prefer to watch from a safe distance!
Some people on my flist didn't update in months, so when I flocked I omitted them...others I felt obliged to friend, but they rarely, if ever, comment and I have limited interest in what they post. I wouldn't want to risk ruffling feathers by defriending, though.
I have 76 friends, mostly mutual. Since not all of them post frequently, it's manageable...bearing in mind I hop on and off LJ all day! It can be a bit much when I'm off for a couple of days. :-/
I don't filter; what if I were to miss something important that warranted a comment, and unwittingly caused offence? That said, I don't feel the need to comment on everyone's LJs all the time. I think that's a given, really.
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Oh yes! I do the same thing sometimes. I have a few people bookmarked, and occasionally I check on them. I usually don't have anything to say, but they seem interesting, just not interesting enough to do the friending dance with.
I don't filter either for the exact same reason. I just don't see the point of omitting them from my flist reading. If something big happens, then they're going to figure out that I don't read it, and I don't want to upset people like that...I'd rather just defriend entirely and avoid it. I read every single entry on my flist that is from a user and not a community, and I would like to keep it that way.
Oh, yes, I don't always think to comment on everything...I feel enough of my comments are the boring "I hope you feel better soon" variety and I don't want to drive people nuts.
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And now I have just a bit over 50 friends, so I feel like it was a success. I will friend someone if we seem to share several interests, or if I really like what they say and how they say it. I ask first if I can friend them, but if someone friends me, I usually friend them back.
The whole blogging thing is so facinating to me. I've kept journals all my life, and now when I whine about things I can actually get opinions, advice and sympathy. It's pretty cool.
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It is awesome to keep a "private" journal and have people be able to interact with it. I can't get enough.
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Random LJ Musings
Nice post by the way. I originally got my LJ so i could read fanfic and leave comments. i figured I would hardly ever post since i didn't think i had much to say. But surprise! I find i'm posting to my journal way more than i thought i would. I have also met a ton of cool people [yourself included ]that have made the LJ world really fun. The Alanists come to mind. *G* I have friended 25 people and 24 of them have friended me back. i have trouble keeping up with just the 25 so i can't even imagine having a flist of over 300 people! Most of the stuff i post is silly, i waver back and forth over whether or not to post the stuff that is just dripping with angst or spare the poor people reading me.
Sometimes i feel sad that more people don't comment on my posts but then i figure most of the folks i have friended have huge flists. So i content myself with the fact that i can go to their LJ and post comments or read their fic. Then I'll write that book about my journal ala' Wil Wheaton and make a bajillion dollars. Bwahahahahahah! Psyche!
And i agree with you on the two people who keep posting and get no comments, Teh Pudge bless them. That takes fortitude.
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I agree with you about the amazing people who have such enormous flists...
I keep hearing about Wil Wheaton...I've met him before, seemed like a nice guy...one day I'll check out his blog.
Yes, the people who post and get no comments...wow. Then again, I recently read about a LJ user who has a "sekrit" journal with all of the entries set to "private" so that no one but her can read it. And I thought, yeah! An easy way to keep a journal. Makes sense. Thing is, without other people to entertain, I can't stay focused, so a private journal is right out for me.
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I do admire people who keep posting when they hardly get any comments. One person on my f-list posted entry after entry on any number of topics, before anyone commented. And when they did comment, it was on a fandom post, which very soon turned into a flame war and ended up on fandom_wank! After that belew over, he went back to posting heaps of entries, and getting maybe 1-2 comments. He still has a very short f-list, and some of his entries go by quite unnoticed, though he obviously puts a lot of effort into them. (They just tend to be on topics that don't really interest his f-list.) But I dunno, sometimes I post things, such as book reviews, which I like writing for my own sake. They often go by unnoticed, but I still do them.
What creeped me out a bit was discovering I had anonymous lurkers. One of them made him/herself known when I was involved in another argument. I was defending someone, and some anonymouse pops up and says, "Hey, I've been lurking on you LJ for a while, and I thought you were smart, but obviously you're not if you're defending this arsehole!" (It got nastyer after that.) That really got me to thinking who else might be lurking.
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It really amazes me, people who friend and then never say anything. I'm such a comment freak that I can't imagine reading someone's journal every day and never making a peep. I certainly lurked a little bit in the beginning, but now I'm pretty committed to the journals I read, and I try to comment whenever I think I have something relative to say.
You once posted an entry that talked about people friending you and never commenting after you posted a few entries that ended up on the HP newsletters...I was a little afraid that after the Fandom Mistakes entry was advertised, that people were going to do the same thing...but wasn't friended by anyone afterwards, which I thought was surprising.
You're right about the lurkers. Imagine my surprise when the father of a friend mentioned something I had said in one of my entries. I turned red. Thankfully it wasn't anything naughty, but it really made me stop and think. It seems that after awhile LJ feels fairly insular; I think that everyone involved in my LJ is on my flist, and I forget that it's totally public unless you make it not-public.
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Urr, LJ. October 2004, I think it was. Primordial ooze, yadda yadda. I originally started it to be able to comment on
Enter HP. I did
Then, at some vague point in the not-so-distant past, the "friend of" list decided to go on a OMGSPLOOGEMUSTPROCREATE!!!! frenzy worthy of bonobo monkeys and it shot to somewhere around 200+. I wasn't paying attention to it at that point so I really don't know WTF prompted it, but I swear it happened overnight. And now I get a regular stream of people friendling me daily, so it'll touch 300 sometime in the near future if the trend continues.
The heck?
I still don't know why and how these people find me and friend me, but there they are. I friend back random people, usually names I recognise from comments, and keep them friended if they post stuff I find interesting -- fandom-related or not, I don't care. I de-friend those whose entries I never comment on, or people who talk about stuff that just doesn't happen to interest me. I don't get the "OMG you de-friended me you h0r" railing... and I think the term "to friend" is very poorly chosen in the first place. Friends are not made with the push of a button, s'all.
Anyway. I don't post very often, every couple of days or so, and it's 95% fandom (HP or Alan Rickman) stuff. I probably would post more personal stuff if it was in any way interesting, but it isn't, honestly (though I've been thinking of doing a series of posts entitled The Memoirs of Your Friendly Neighbourhood Dominatrix ;P). The odd meme, that's about it.
I've found the LJ experience to be interesting. I've had similar fandom experiences in my past fannish obsessions on mailing lists -- met many people who are now real-life friends and have been for many, many years, etc. LJ is somewhere between the inchoate anonymousness of the Internet and the insular community of a closed fandom mailing list: anyone can enter the foray and participating is easy, but to get attention (i.e. friends), you need to participate and be smart about it.
(I also blame LJ and especially
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I did see the explosion on your flist...but it is quite understandable, considering how witty and interesting you are, how wonderful and professional the icons/wallpaper/graphics you create are, and how well-written your fic is. As you say, anyone can enter the foray and participating is easy, but to get attention (i.e. friends), you need to participate and be smart about it. I absolutely agree. The people with the largest flists all seem to be mega-authors/artists, or mega-commentary people. They put out quality work, they take the time to respond to others, and they involve the HP newsletters as well.
and I think the term "to friend" is very poorly chosen in the first place. Friends are not made with the push of a button, s'all.
Absolutely...I've talked before about how it might be nice to have "acquaintances" and "friends", though it probably wouldn't solve any problems, and might lead to more. Still, friending/defriending is a loaded issue, and I'm always sorry when it leads to controversy.
I remember reading an entry someone wrote where everyone talked about the largest number of friends on their list that they could still comfortably read. Everyone has a different number. I am at 100 right now, and I'm still wondering if it's too much...when I go away for a few days the friends page is just overwhelmed, and it takes a while to get back into it.
Thank you for a fascinating topic, BTW.
Heh...my pleasure...social interaction on LJ is totally interesting to me.
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I don't indiscriminately friend. If I think someone that I see a lot of in one place or another is consistantly funny or smart, I'll friend them. I don't mind if they don't friend back, that's not why I add them to my list, I add them because I want to read what they wrote, not to force them to read my drivel. I almost never look at the f'list on my info page, so unless someone says something I don't know I've been friended or unfriended. Looking at it just now, I notice 2 people I see around here and there but didn't know they'd friended me. Hello! Wave from the back there!
Communities are fun--I've joined a few communities but had to unjoin (is that a word?) due to f'page overcrowding, I visit from time to time. My fav community right now is
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I add them because I want to read what they wrote, not to force them to read my drivel.
Absolutely. I totally agree. The very first people I friended that didn't friend me back made me consider what friending was all about...then I decided that there was friendship, and there was watching, just like communities, and there are lots of people I like to interact with, and they shouldn't have to read my stuff if they don't want to. After all, I do babble about squid poetry and advertisements.
Oh yes, I love the snarkery, especially
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I love your writing style, and I'm so impressed that you can keep up with such a huge flist. Even with just a bare hundred I confuse people. You somehow keep track of 500, and you find time to comment and write fic...
Funny that you thought it was private, yet people were reading about your rats...
I've always wondered what your filters look like.
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Still finding my way....
Then, of course, I began posting, first in
But I'm still finding my way on postings. I'm not a diary kind of guy. But then so much of what I do, as a psychotherapist, is absolutely confidential, and can't be the subject of an entry. And anyway, when I'm done with work, I tend to want to leave it. So I'm experimenting. I've always liked to write about nature, what I see in the Rockies, which are beautiful. That hasn't collected a great following, but maybe, giving it time, I'll get more. Mostly, though, I'm finding my general essays on fanfic topics are what interests folks. So I'm drifting in that direction.
Still not sure. It's a balance between what I like to write and what folks like to read.
It's a fun community, though my lj will only be 2 mos old on April Fools.
But I haven't found the Grand Response that the towering epic of Love, "Hermione and the Giant Squid", in limerick form, should have found. Which is my greatest sadness.
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Oh, absolutely. Sometimes I write entries that I think will get a great reaction...and not a peep. Sometimes I write a throw-away entry...and get twenty responses. I never know what people will want to read or not. And I always worry about being too whiny.
But I haven't found the Grand Response that the towering epic of Love, "Hermione and the Giant Squid", in limerick form, should have found. Which is my greatest sadness.
Hee! Perhaps if it gets rec'd in another forum or two...if you could find a few squid communities you could drum up support there...*giggles*
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I discovered LJ by seeing all these links attached to the end of messages at TPMM. I had a look at a few of them and decided it might be fun to start one! The first friend I put on my list was
I've got a small flist - 16 friends to date - but to be honest that's enough for me. I'd never be able to keep up if I had 100+ friends like many LJ users have. All those on my list are from the Snape fandom; most are also TPMM members/SH authors. None of my RL friends have journals (at least to my knowledge) and none of them know about mine. Nor do they know about my fic, which is probably just as well ;)
I like receiving comments on my entries too, and commenting in other people's LJs. I'm not sure I'd really keep up with it either if no one was commenting on what I wrote. Maybe some people just use their LJs to write for therapeutic reasons, i.e. to make them feel better, and are not bothered whether anyone is commenting or not. I sometimes write for this reason too, but always on paper, which I then usually throw away, never in LJ. But I'm glad I started my journal - it's great fun!
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Yes, I think you're right...some people must start LJs just for the "therapeutic" process.
Gina is lots of fun...I like her a lot.
Not quite as random LJ comments
I talked to MusIgneus a bit after signing in, and got my first LJ friend. I didn't even know how to friend anyone, but she pointed me in the correct direction.
I'm only just discovering ways of using my LJ--I'm reading a few things and finding people whose stories and comments are interesting to me. I know no one in RL with an online journal and I never had any intenstion of keeping up with RL friends that way.
I would welcome advice (I know I'm asking for it) on things I can do with my LJ. Looking through the friends will obviously take longer when I've got more than two, and there seems to be so much that I don't know. All the communities are very overwhelming to newbies. So far, I have been welcomed in the Harry Potter fandom, which is a new experience. I've been around fandom for a while, even if the online aspects are new to me. I behave the same as I ever did, although I've never really read or written slash before. (I'd read some written by writers I knew.) Maybe it's the group of people--but it's refreshing to be welcomed somewhere for once. (Aw, hell, I know I can get bitter. I'm a Snape fan, too.)
I'm not looking to blindly follow anyone's advice on "This is how to use your LJ, dammit", but a poke in the right direction would be appreciated. (passive voice, naughty me)
friending/defriending: see, I didn't even know there was a controversy. If I friended someone and found I never read what they'd written, I wouldn't hesitate to defriend. If that person went off on me for it, I'd be confused as anything.
Having more than two friends is proving to be very interesting. Since I have added a few more, and they're people whose journal entries/stories/comments I read and liked, I really am interested in reading what they've written (like this entry, I only friended valis2 this morning) and the comments on what they've written. I've actually had to think and make intelligent (I hope) commentary. The rust might even begin to wear off my brain if this keeps up.
Of course, I'll never be able to read and comment on everything I'd like. In RL, I can't say I'm shy anymore, but I have no 'presence'. People ignore me or don't notice I'm there. It has always been so, and I've been told I'd make a good spy. People come up to me on the street and ask the time, or for directions. I am innocuous and safe-looking. (Although I haven't yet been mugged, so I apparently look approachable without giving off the 'victim' vibe. Looking poor is also advantageous at times.) Online I can say stuff, and that lack of aura (or whatever) doesn't keep people from listening. I find it difficult to shut up.
Incidentally, the best way to tell me to get lost or shut up is to say something like--thank you for friending me, but my friends list is already completely unmanagable. 'Get lost' is blunt, but I believe in direct communication. That says what you feel and there's nothing to misinterpret.
Re: Not quite as random LJ comments
So in the interest of sharing, I will instead write a big entry about Things I've Learned about LJ. It will be up in a day or two, and I'll comment again to your comment with a link so that you can check it out.
I hope you don't think that I'm being rude; I just think it might be of interest to a few people, and this way some of the people on my list who have been with LJ longer can add their own hints and tips, and we'll both have something to chew on.
Cheers!
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I also started an LJ pretty much to comment on
Basically, I am a shameless livejournal attention whore, so I friend pretty much anyone who friends me, although I might not add them to my filters unless they actually comment. Right now, I think I have 116 people on my friends list and 90-some friend ofs. I took a couple communities off my flist (teh_music and deleterius, because I just wasn't commenting anymore) because it was just too much to scroll through all of the entires. I really don't think I've defriended anyone yet, and I'm not really sure why. I guess I'm mostly just lazy. ;D Probably why I'm like the worst mod ever.
I do like the community feeling, especially now that I've gotten to know more people through various communities and especially through my RPGs. The gift exchange over the holidays was very cool, and I'm looking forward to visiting some of my Europe-based LJ friends when I'm abroad next year.
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The "gifting" phenom is fairly interesting. I've seen "gift cliques" where the members basically continually send each other presents all year long.
I am looking forward to meeting some of my Australian LJ friends when I visit New Zealand next year...I will most likely stay in Sydney for a few days near the end.
Originally, I was going to have a RL journal and a fandom journal, but that was too much work, so I just use filters now.
I keep thinking about doing a RL/fandom journal. After all, my parents/sister sometimes read this one. I think what would happen, though, is that I would just forget to update the RL journal and it would fade into oblivion.
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I recalled that you kept a journal, so just stopping by to say hi. Hmmm, I am afraid that I am one of those "friendless" folks. Though even I find my journal fairly dull. I suspect that I spend so much timing writing about people in a fictional world because my own existence is so bloody boring. :-P
LadyBranwyn from ff.net
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