In which the merits of the fake LJ-cut are debated

[kalimyre]

So I've noticed a lot of fake lj-cutting on my flist lately. You know, when you write a post and put a link in it, but through the clever use of coding make the link look like a cut tag. I have to admit, this is something I've never quite understood. So I turn to you, O Wise Flist, to explain it to me. Also to click the happy buttons in my poll

Comments

[trobadora]

Hi, I just saw your post on friendsfriends. I hope you don't mind me commenting here, but your post inspired me to think about why I myself sometimes use the fake cut, and I just realised the reason. I use it indicate it's an LJ-internal, not an external link - that the it goes to another LJ and not for example to a website. Huh. Thanks for making me think about this!

[kalimyre]

Hi, and welcome. You make an interesting point there--a cut clearly indicates that the content is still on LJ, while a link could be anything. I suppose for people who mistrust anonymous websites or have limited access to things, LJ would be better. Personally, I rarely use links and stick to basic cuts, but I suppose you could solve this by stating in the text of the link "This goes to my journal" or something else straightforward.

[trobadora]

For me, it's not a question of trust or access - it's that LJ is for communication, and external stuff usually isn't. So I usually read LJ posts first, and then the comments on the post, and then I comment myself if I have something to say. Other websites I tend to save for later reading because they're usually not a conversation, so it doesn't matter if I go in now or a few days later, if that makes any sense.

(The funny thing is, I actually agree with you that fake cuts are a pretty silly thing to do. They don't do anything you can't also achieve with a normal link and appropriate link text. So I'm doing something I know is silly when I use fake cuts (even if I always make sure the text tells people it's fake)... It's fun to think about my own irrational reactions, trying to figure them out!)

[roga]

I agree with what you said about the distinction between reading a fic on LJ and on external website.

I'll also add my slightly irrational reason: if I post a regular link to a story in a community post, it feels like I'm self-pimping - like I'm saying "come, read this, and then read all the rest of my stuff!", while a simple LJ cut says "here's a story I wrote that's relevant to this community - enjoy".

I do want to link to one place, though - both because it concentrates comments in one place (which, let's face it, does encourage others to read the story), and because if I want to make any edits later on I only have to do so once. So fake cutting is a sort of middle ground between LJ-cutting and that psychological self-pimping.

If I see a story with no comments I assume it's either a link, was posted very very recently, or was posted in multiple places and the comments are somewhere else. Very, very rarely have I seen stories with no comments at all.

[kalimyre]

Ah, the self-pimping angle, interesting. But, if you disguise a link to your journal as an lj cut, aren't you still self pimping, just more sneakily?

I agree with the convenience of having your post consolidated to one place. I try to avoid cross posting to many communities partly for that reason (especially since I always seem to find something I want to edit later).

I've seen stories with no comments at all, even ones not posted recently, and this is mostly because they deal with something people don't like to read (like character death) or because there were five typos in the author's notes and people didn't bother.

[roga]

Actually, I think I misunderstood your definition of fake cut. I was talking about a regular link placed between parentheses, so it looks like a cut - which I've seen referred to as a fake-cut. I now realize you were talking about a real cut that you open, and only then you get a regular link. Am I right?

But, if you disguise a link to your journal as an lj cut, aren't you still self pimping, just more sneakily?

Yeah, but you're admitting it by calling it a fake cut, so it... neutralized the pimpage somehow? It's just a gut feeling I have.

[kalimyre]

No, you understood what I meant by fake cut correctly. It's a link disguised to look like an lj cut. Also, when you make a fake cut, you admit in the text of it that it's fake? On the one hand yes, it's more honest, and if you say that it's a fake cut to your journal, people know it's still on LJ and are more likely to go with it. On the other hand, it seems like a contradiction. It's like, I'm going to disguise this thing and pretend it's something else, but then I'm going to put a big sign on it saying it's a disguise.

The whole thing is not rational, though, so it's silly of me to try and apply logic. Something about cuts makes them more appealing than links. It's not tangible, it just is.

[roga]

Something about cuts makes them more appealing than links.

True. And yes, when I fake-cut I call it a fake cut. Also, if you write the words "fake cut" enough times they start sounding like a strange pair of syllables.

[dzurlady]

'll also add my slightly irrational reason: if I post a regular link to a story in a community post, it feels like I'm self-pimping - like I'm saying "come, read this, and then read all the rest of my stuff!", while a simple LJ cut says "here's a story I wrote that's relevant to this community - enjoy".

See, to me sort of deciteful - I think I'm going to be staying in the comm, which is a shared space, and suddenly I'm a guest in someone's lj. Well, it's less dramatic than that, but I dislike being taken out of the comm if I wasn't expecting it.