Signs you might not be from LJ originally (some of LJ's rules, both social and not-so-social)

[azurelunatic]

• People in LJ tend to cluster into the same sorts of social groups that people face-to-face do, with the same kind of evolved social standards.

Comments

[lady_angelina]

I'm rather groggy right now and am not able to post much of an intelligent commentary on this at the moment. I may come back to this comment later, but for the moment, I'll just say this: You have written a valuable guide to LJ etiquette that really ought to be posted somewhere publicly, and at least made available to LJ newbies.

And yes, I completely agree with your comparison between an individual journal and a living room. I treat my own journal as such, and I do everything I can to make everyone who visits it feel comfortable. This includes treating everyone as equally as possible, and making sure that neither I nor third parties commenting in my journal cause awkwardness to anyone.

Again, I may come back to this when I'm more awake. Thanks so much for this, Azz. ^__^

EDIT (7:35 AM PST): Okay, not really any more awake now than I was last night, but eh. Anyway

Continuation of original comment

[lady_angelina]

As for replying to the original post instead of the comment thread that someone meant to reply to, this is a phenomenon that does bother me a bit because it means that the one for whom the reply was meant probably will never get notified of it. If I find that I have accidentally replied to the original post instead of the thread (and it does happen because of browser and/or temporary LJ issues), I just immediately delete the comment and repost it to the thread

Proper use of a cut.

[azurelunatic]

I think the

Re: Proper use of a cut.

[lady_angelina]

Oh yeah. ;) I'm like you with regards to "teasers"... an lj-cut text that is creatively written is definitely going to get my attention. I try to make mine sound clever whenever possible, although more often than not, I can't think of anything better than, "Cut for length/NSFW/HTML/whatever." But it's still far more descriptive than that boring old "read more." ;)

Formatting/Markup

[dglenn]

"I occasionally use HTML to change the formatting of my text (usually just single words or phrases), but I try not to do it in an obnoxious manner. Most of the time, for the reasons you gave, I try to keep the formatting as plain and as simple as possible."

There are right ways and wrong ways to do this, not just in relation to LJ culture, but with regard to the design of HTML in general as well. (That said, I'm bending one of those guidelines in this very comment.) The attitude you expressed here is pretty much the main idea behind the right ways to do it.

Using "what am I trying to convey" markup, such as , , , and (and even ) is generally better than "how it should look" markup like , , , etc., and that in turn is nearly always better than "control freak" markup like . (That last rule applies more strongly in a place like LJ than out on your own web site, but it's a good rule to follow elsewhere anyhow. The point is not so much plainness (though that certainly is a virtue as well!) as it is a matter of delaying choosing the

Re: Formatting/Markup

[azurelunatic]

There's ; were you thinking of that?

Just the other day I took a call at work (I work for a local hosting/email/domains/bells/whistles shop) where the customer, who taught web design classes, and wanted me to confirm that his plan of using .pdf files for the whole website was the best way to do it, so it would look exactly the same for everyone.

I gaped for a while, and then (as politely as possible) told him that I couldn't find language strong enough to express how very bad that would be.

About the only time I use serious markup in comments is if I'm making a mockup of how I think a particular bit of LJ-vaporware should look. I've also colored text red, but that was in a flamewar where I was correcting the spelling and grammar of the other combatant before responding to his incoherent flames, and I think the rudeness inherent in the markup was far overshadowed by the rest of the flamewar.

[azurelunatic]

On friending... yes, I know some folks put in their profiles "go ahead and friend me if you want," etc., but whenever possible, I always like to "warn" them first before adding them, even if we already know each other. This is one of the reasons that my own Friends list has been relatively small, compared with others'. I'm just too shy and too self-conscious to add someone without getting their direct permission.

You may actually want to stop doing asking for direct permission (as opposed to telling them that you are doing so, so that if they have a problem you can remove them), if you have a habit of asking for permission. People who have those notices in their profiles have them there for the very specific reason of having people stop asking themIn my head, "Hi, I'm adding you, hope you don't mind!" is very different from the "Hi, I'd like to add you, may I please?" One is "If there is a problem, let me know, but I'm going by your posted instructions unless you specify something different." The other is "Hi, I know you posted

[lady_angelina]

Erk. Sorry. ^^;;

I usually do acknowledge that they have that in their profile, if it's there, but I still don't feel comfortable adding them without some kind of warning. It's like when I ride on the bus, I always ask if it's okay if I sit next to a stranger who may possibly not want to sit next to me. Guess in my case, it's a self-esteem issue. ^^;;

EDIT: Bunnehed by your edit! XD No worries, no offense taken, either. =)

I do try not to be presumptuous, but I do often come across that way anyway. ^^;; Usually not so much with friending, but with other things... elsewhere. Certain social rules tend to be lost upon me, which is why I'm very grateful you posted this guide. It's helped bring to light certain things that I didn't even realize were good etiquette.

[nike_victory]

Hi, I found this through