User demand is lacking

[koganbot]

Has anyone ever asked the livejournal people why they don't have a "new comments"/"updated thread" feature? Nested threads and the lack of an update/new comments feature are the two problems that make lj a worse format than ilX for ongoing discussion.

Of course, if people want a discussion they'll have one, and I'm here basically because

Comments

[katstevens]

I assume the updated-thread thing isn't a feature of LJ because the initial focus was on diary-style blogging, but on a platform where you could collect all your mates' diary blogs in one feed. However I don't know why they didn't at least think about it when they introduced communities, where discussion is surely the whole point?

[katstevens]

The closest thing they have is the comment tracking feature which is opt-in on a post-by-post basis (rather than say, a user-by-user basis). I tend to use this on large threads that I don't start but want to follow - not sure if this is just a paid-user account feature tho.

[koganbot]

"Comment tracking" doesn't jump to mind as something I've seen on my lj homepage, but then I'm not always the quickest to notice what's available. But still, even if I give myself comment tracking, that doesn't alert anyone else.

[dubdobdee]

is it possible to collate RSS feeds* for communities? This is an opt-in rather than an opt-out procedure, but -- if it's doable -- then you could also make a point of noting it to potential contributors.

*ie they request the RSS for a community and then all updates pop into their email inboxes? The arrival of RSS as a social habit for many (not in fact me) might be why LJ haven't bothered installing their own version...

[koganbot]

From the RSS I've seen, it informs you of new posts but not new comments.

[petronia]

It's a paid-user feature, and works on thread level as well as post level. (Right now, I see an icon of a push pin next to the date stamp on your comment, and if I click that it will take me to a page where I can set how I want to be notified if this thread is updated. I can also ask to be notified if you make a new post, or if you make a post with a specific tag (eg. "thomas kuhn").)

And since it's a paid user feature, that's why there isn't a notify-all-participants-in-thread option - it's a convenience each user decides whether or not they want to pay for.

[koganbot]

Ah ha! I've got push pins too, though I've never tried them. You see, I told you I wasn't quick to notice what's available! (But this still doesn't make lj user-friendly for conversations in the way that ilX is.)