So for those of you with Facebook & LJ, which do you prefer? Or if not a matter or decided preference, which do you use more? Do you find yourself using both with the same frequency
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In my opinion, LJ and fbook are completely different kinds of internet social networking sites. I've always been averse to the fbook obsession (it became popular just as I entered college in 2005, so my year has really "grown up" alongside its development). I think that what it replaces is real communication -- phonecalls, postcards, and even email. You don't call to say happy birthday, you say one line on someone's fbook wall when you're reminded to do so.
In all honesty, I probably see about 20-30 facebook "friends" in real life on a daily basis, but I probably only say hi to half that, if even.
LJ, on the other hand, hasn't replaced anything. There was never some kind of real life version of journal sharing, so I find the interactions on a blogging website much more genuine, even if hidden behind a veil of language and words. You're more likely to have a meaningful conversation in your LJ than on a Wall-to-Wall discussion on facebook.
I use fbook because it's pretty much how everyone at college plans events now and how we share photos; it's a good, all-inclusive site. The tech is improving so that there is more quasi-human interaction (leaving video messages on someone's fbook wall, for instance), but I guess we have to be careful about it.
I started college in 2005 too, and it's been really interesting to watch all the stages of Facebook morphing into what it is today.
And I agree that facebook interaction is less meaningful (at least in my case) and there's something much more personal about the journal aspect of LJ. Plus facebook is for people you know in real life (mostly) but aren't really good friends with most of the time, but on LJ you meet people from all over the world who you have things in a common with and a lot of whom could become your really close personal friends in everyday life if they lived next door, you know?
Yeah, definitely. I do like the fact that's it's become more all-inclusive (before, it was sort of the elitist internet club where you could flaunt what university you were at), but it needs a lot more work if it's to become a legitimate method of communication (to overtake email, for instance).
And completely agreed on the second point. The idea of anonymity was always fascinating to me -- how we become personal with people we don't know, but distance ourselves in cryptic entries. I've made a rule not to facebook-friend my LJ friends, but my LJ is open to my real-life friends ... and my mom.
I think, for me, it's because I use the two similarly that I wonder about the modes of communication they allow me. Both are utilities I use to get updates on people's lives. Since I've been in a period of not much LJ-writing, both Facebook & LJ are places I go to read bits of information about others, with minimal reciprocal interaction from me, just the occasional comment.
I do agree with you about the quality of conversation on these two sites. LJ offers one kind: often-thoughtful, longer commentary, and Facebook offers another: little blasts of what the writer in the article was calling "ambiant information."
In all honesty, I probably see about 20-30 facebook "friends" in real life on a daily basis, but I probably only say hi to half that, if even.
LJ, on the other hand, hasn't replaced anything. There was never some kind of real life version of journal sharing, so I find the interactions on a blogging website much more genuine, even if hidden behind a veil of language and words. You're more likely to have a meaningful conversation in your LJ than on a Wall-to-Wall discussion on facebook.
I use fbook because it's pretty much how everyone at college plans events now and how we share photos; it's a good, all-inclusive site. The tech is improving so that there is more quasi-human interaction (leaving video messages on someone's fbook wall, for instance), but I guess we have to be careful about it.
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And I agree that facebook interaction is less meaningful (at least in my case) and there's something much more personal about the journal aspect of LJ. Plus facebook is for people you know in real life (mostly) but aren't really good friends with most of the time, but on LJ you meet people from all over the world who you have things in a common with and a lot of whom could become your really close personal friends in everyday life if they lived next door, you know?
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And completely agreed on the second point. The idea of anonymity was always fascinating to me -- how we become personal with people we don't know, but distance ourselves in cryptic entries. I've made a rule not to facebook-friend my LJ friends, but my LJ is open to my real-life friends ... and my mom.
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So I'll just say "ditto."
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I think, for me, it's because I use the two similarly that I wonder about the modes of communication they allow me. Both are utilities I use to get updates on people's lives. Since I've been in a period of not much LJ-writing, both Facebook & LJ are places I go to read bits of information about others, with minimal reciprocal interaction from me, just the occasional comment.
I do agree with you about the quality of conversation on these two sites. LJ offers one kind: often-thoughtful, longer commentary, and Facebook offers another: little blasts of what the writer in the article was calling "ambiant information."
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