Perils of the Interwebs, or, why I still love LJ

[aeditimi]

Alright, so I'm venturing out in greater circles of (non anonymous) virtual communications, and I have to say I find a lot of these other interfaces to be less than stellar

Comments

[anonymous]

Quickly, because the portion of the internet that I control is ready to blow up at any second:

LJ is a prototype of a social network that relies on user-created content (same stuff from which blogs are made) to hook people together. Because of the user-generated requirement, it masquerades pretty well as a blogging service -- which are what trap the olks like me, looking for an actual blog service, into thinking its the bomb. Until, you know, we figure it out in one fell swoop and have our pretty dreams spoilt because the Social Networking components (pretty much everything BUT the user-generated content) are at odds with some of the blog-style features that are more necessary.

7villages... I can't speak to from experience, but it sounds like a variation on intermingled Yahoo! Groups -- standard discussion board fare -- with a stronger frame of reference for wanting to join in.

Twitter is a think tank. It's not about connecting with people so much as connecting, momentarily, with ideas. Or, conversely, sending ideas out into the environment to be found and siezed upon. (Which is why I suggested it to you and other progressive religious types, since what is glaringly absent from general public discourse is progressive theology.)

Facebook isn't about the stupid little games (looking at my profile, the two foolish apps are because I was sick of the nudges of others) -- it's about connecting outside of the network (i.e. the people who you thought [or wished] fell off the face of the earth). The Groups and Events applications are useful, particularly when trying to reach a wide public audience as an organizer or leader. For other apps -- try 'e out and see which ones you like. I can't live without chat now, since it's faster and cleaner than our internal options, and let's me have simultaneous conversations with team members in Phoenix, Framingham, and Honolulu multiple times per day. Personally, I like the photo App, as I can control who sees which photos without needing a separate service or separate passwords, and the organization of them is straightforward and simple while allowing comments. *shrug* It's finding what works for you.

And it's perfectly alright to hate half of what's out there, or half of a tool you otherwise adore. If you make them work for you, though, they can make your life easier. Just don't get caught up with the junk.

<3,
Lissa

[anonymous]

Also, as for embedding google reader into a blog, security of the feeds can probably be circumnavigated, but it would be messy and ugly.

Friends page is an SN-style construct peculiar to LJ. It's less appropriate for a purely blogging world, where the blogroll/sidebar is the pretty, public list and feed readers let you keep tabs on the stuff you don't necessarily want to broadcast that you're reading. Such as a pastor who doesn't want to broadcast to her congregation the idea that she reads rated Remus/Sirius fanfiction. :o)

[aeditimi]

Hey, with some people in my church, that last bit may make me that much cooler! But I know what you mean.

[aeditimi]

that's a helpful addition to what I know about it so far. Thanks.