Visit
Brian is visiting in just 2 weeks. That's Drunkensailor, for those who follow LJ way back. Also the same Brian I named my car after.
As I anxiously anticipate this visit, I look at my friends list and realize that every person I have met on LJ is special in a very personal way that Myspace and Facebook friends are not. (with a few exceptions) I think it's because LJ came first, so it didn't have all the glamour, glitz and laziness of its followers. The only picture you get is a tiny little avatar. To be friends with someone on LJ, you have to genuinely care about their life and/or like their writing. Myspace made social networking all about pictures, and Facebook, while I do really enjoy a lot of its features, is pretty lazy with the whole "like" thing. If you want to look interested in someone's status update, link, etc. but you don't feel like typing, you can just "like" it. Both sites have the potential to be awesome in that they have blogs in addition to pictures, but nobody uses them. I am subscribed to every single friend's blog on Myspace, so I get an email when they post something. Out of 166 friends, the only emails I ever get are when bands post tour dates. It's easy to get wrapped up in physical appearance, especially in an age of instant gratification, but it amazes me that people don't blog at all.
As much as I worry that social networking sites destroy interpersonal relationships and turn people into recluses, LJ is the exception. LJ is to Myspace/Facebook/Twitter as the landline is to the cell phone... the letter to the email... the home-cooked meal to the Big Mac... It is that rare piece of technology that holds together old values. I have met some of my best friends on here. Everyone I've met here first and then in person has held some significance in my life. I believe this is true because when you're cruising the internet to get laid you go to the sites with pictures. When you're the type of person who would get a girl's phone number and then text "wut u up 2" instead of calling, this is not the site for you. LJ establishes and strengthens personal relationships by focusing on thoughts, ideas and feelings rather than superficial bullshit.
Even those LJ friends I have not met in person, I feel a connection to that I do not feel toward random people who have added me on other networking sites. Why? Because adding me and then never writing a damn thing doesn't tell me anything about you. I feel like I have grown up with my small group of LJ friends. Anyone who says internet friends aren't "real people" is full of shit.
When I first met Brian, it was like I'd known him a long time. That's because I had. Others as well. I would love to someday have the pleasure of meeting everyone I've grown up with on here. A big party with all my LJ friends.. now that would be great.
As I anxiously anticipate this visit, I look at my friends list and realize that every person I have met on LJ is special in a very personal way that Myspace and Facebook friends are not. (with a few exceptions) I think it's because LJ came first, so it didn't have all the glamour, glitz and laziness of its followers. The only picture you get is a tiny little avatar. To be friends with someone on LJ, you have to genuinely care about their life and/or like their writing. Myspace made social networking all about pictures, and Facebook, while I do really enjoy a lot of its features, is pretty lazy with the whole "like" thing. If you want to look interested in someone's status update, link, etc. but you don't feel like typing, you can just "like" it. Both sites have the potential to be awesome in that they have blogs in addition to pictures, but nobody uses them. I am subscribed to every single friend's blog on Myspace, so I get an email when they post something. Out of 166 friends, the only emails I ever get are when bands post tour dates. It's easy to get wrapped up in physical appearance, especially in an age of instant gratification, but it amazes me that people don't blog at all.
As much as I worry that social networking sites destroy interpersonal relationships and turn people into recluses, LJ is the exception. LJ is to Myspace/Facebook/Twitter as the landline is to the cell phone... the letter to the email... the home-cooked meal to the Big Mac... It is that rare piece of technology that holds together old values. I have met some of my best friends on here. Everyone I've met here first and then in person has held some significance in my life. I believe this is true because when you're cruising the internet to get laid you go to the sites with pictures. When you're the type of person who would get a girl's phone number and then text "wut u up 2" instead of calling, this is not the site for you. LJ establishes and strengthens personal relationships by focusing on thoughts, ideas and feelings rather than superficial bullshit.
Even those LJ friends I have not met in person, I feel a connection to that I do not feel toward random people who have added me on other networking sites. Why? Because adding me and then never writing a damn thing doesn't tell me anything about you. I feel like I have grown up with my small group of LJ friends. Anyone who says internet friends aren't "real people" is full of shit.
When I first met Brian, it was like I'd known him a long time. That's because I had. Others as well. I would love to someday have the pleasure of meeting everyone I've grown up with on here. A big party with all my LJ friends.. now that would be great.