Fandom stuff

[sumbitch]

For those of you who are not primarily fan-oriented, there is both hue and cry at the moment over LJ's recent summary execution of several fan journals.

Comments

[traveller]

if either of you would like journalfen accounts, I'll be happy to arrange that. just say the word.

[sumbitch]

Thank you! I do appreciate your point that JF is the logical place for people who are primarily motivated out of fear of the Grim Censor. But when I think "Journalfen" I think of three things
1) FW
2) RPGs
3) Servers that go down like Dom Monaghan on prom night.

Of course if all of my bestest friends moved there then I might eventually generate other associations to layer on top of 1-3, but right now I just can't imagine setting up a happy home.

I know you like it, though, which gives it points. I dunno, I'm going to wait and see how things shake out.

[traveller]

welllll, like i said to someone else that broached those same objections, it's the people who provide the content, not the server, right? there are rpgs and nasty comms on LJ too (i spent three headsplitting hours the other night trying to convince someone who was involved in a mockery comm that userinfo that says "omg let's trash these people up and down behind a lock but remember they're people too!" is an all new height of absurdity). also, if one is taking a principled stand on freedom of expression, then the service which hosts a community that the owners personally abhor is the one for me. they DO find f_w disgusting, but it's a matter of principle. and the mods pay. which dovetails into point the third -- you SHOULD get what you pay for, and right now LJ isn't doing a very good job of it. but if enough people invested in JF then the funds would be there to upgrade their software (i have it from robin that it's the software, actually, not the servers, but what do i know, i connect to the internets with dental floss and dixie

[sumbitch]

I do get that, and agree that it's a logical place to go for people who are concerned that their fandom activities might be borderline. But I'm not sure that I, personally, am primarily concerned with freedom of expression -- which I actually think is in very little danger on the internet right now. I'm more concerned with crappy customer service/lack of transparency.

Apart from that, there is for me a difficult-to-define social dimension of services that's outside of any given user's content. It's the reason Myspace feels like Claire's Accessories, and Wikipedia feels like a giant middle-school science fair, and Livejournal like a college cafeteria, and Journalfen like the college cafeteria where mostly people you don't like go to eat. It's just hard to imagine being at ease there.

[traveller]

the way i look at it is, jf has not got that many members right now. its feel can be made into whatever we want it to be. we would have to try, though. *hands*

[spillingvelvet]

i have a journalfen account, but i got it with a code way back when. i'll gladly use it, but i'd rather be where the rest of my pals are so that i can interact with them on the same journaling platform.

you know? we should friend each other, though. <3

[traveller]

i am both cee and traveller there, and i have been crossposting. plis to add!

i understand what you both are saying! i do. i suppose that when i support something, i throw myself after it like. i don't even know. similes are too weak for my single-mindedness!

[talesinbloom]

Servers that go down like Dom Monaghan on prom night

♥

[kissing_athelas]

Ditto the delight.

[peachy_penumbra]

Re #3: So glad I didn't have any liquids in my mouth at that moment (unlike Dom) for I would have spat them out.

As for IJ, I don't know. I wasn't all that impressed by it, and a lot of my friendslist has a GreatestJournal, so I made a mirror account there. I was lured by the 2000 userpics. And the free style customizing. If you and AQ are both there though I may at least set up an account to read flist.

I've heard some negative things about JF and the people who set it up, but that's neither here nor there because I don't know the people nor do I have a lot of specifics. I think my concern about a completely fan-run server is that I like being somewhere that is professional and run like a business, therefore not vulnerable to the typical fannish wanky environment, cliques and what have you. I want to know that if I do something with my journal I can do it without being approved by a fickle human being. That said, LJ has obviously failed the professionalism test, so it may be a lesser of many evils situation.

traveller, I know I don'