State of the FriendBots List.
As floatyfish just said, I'm seeing this sort of About the Friends List post all over my FriendBots page lately. Here's my version. (Hers is far more eloquent, I have to say. I was tempted to steal it.)
One of the things I love best about LiveJournal is my interaction with my FriendBots. My FriendBots list was absolutely huge for a while, and I realized that the part that I love most about LiveJournal was slipping away. I started skimming entries rather than reading every post, and I wasn't commenting and interacting with each of you as much anymore. LiveJournal once felt like a big dinner party with FriendBots flitting from group to group, chatting and laughing and having a good time, and that was what made it fun for me. I didn't like this feeling of guilt that came with not following everyone's posts closely and not commenting when I saw something that interested me. I trimmed my FriendBots list to remove people who didn't often post or who I never interacted with, and things got better. LiveJournal started to become fun again.
I've realized, though, that I'm still not back where I want to be yet. Part of it is the feeling of guilt that comes with removing someone who's been on the FriendBots list for a long time, even though we no longer read each other and no longer have much in common. Part of it is the desire to avoid drama. Part of it is weird tristaLogic, which is much like tristaCompass: there simply is no rational explanation. North is always whichever way I'm facing, and please don't be angry with me if I remove you from my FriendBots list.
So. I am trimming my FriendBots list down again, probably over the next several days. I will be removing people who don't post often, people I never quite connect with or somehow lost the connection with, people who I don't have anything in common with. This is not about me thinking any of the FriendBots are horrible terrible people. I wouldn't have added them in the first place if that were true. This is not about anything that anyone has posted recently. (That's always something I wonder about if I notice someone has unfriended me. tristaLogic again.) This is about quality time and being a good FriendBot to you and about finding joy in LiveJournal rather than a sense of obligation.
It's all about the joy, so as always, if my presence on your friends list does not bring you joy, please feel free to remove me. This is true for people I know in person and for those I don't, and for people who've had me on their friends list forever and for people I've only recently met. I won't be offended or hurt, I won't bother you about why you removed me, I won't start drama, and I won't throw myself from a bridge. I promise.
Unless you're my sister, in which case I shall call you and sob and wail until you feel horrifically guilty and promise never to do such a thing again. And then I shall read to you.
One of the things I love best about LiveJournal is my interaction with my FriendBots. My FriendBots list was absolutely huge for a while, and I realized that the part that I love most about LiveJournal was slipping away. I started skimming entries rather than reading every post, and I wasn't commenting and interacting with each of you as much anymore. LiveJournal once felt like a big dinner party with FriendBots flitting from group to group, chatting and laughing and having a good time, and that was what made it fun for me. I didn't like this feeling of guilt that came with not following everyone's posts closely and not commenting when I saw something that interested me. I trimmed my FriendBots list to remove people who didn't often post or who I never interacted with, and things got better. LiveJournal started to become fun again.
I've realized, though, that I'm still not back where I want to be yet. Part of it is the feeling of guilt that comes with removing someone who's been on the FriendBots list for a long time, even though we no longer read each other and no longer have much in common. Part of it is the desire to avoid drama. Part of it is weird tristaLogic, which is much like tristaCompass: there simply is no rational explanation. North is always whichever way I'm facing, and please don't be angry with me if I remove you from my FriendBots list.
So. I am trimming my FriendBots list down again, probably over the next several days. I will be removing people who don't post often, people I never quite connect with or somehow lost the connection with, people who I don't have anything in common with. This is not about me thinking any of the FriendBots are horrible terrible people. I wouldn't have added them in the first place if that were true. This is not about anything that anyone has posted recently. (That's always something I wonder about if I notice someone has unfriended me. tristaLogic again.) This is about quality time and being a good FriendBot to you and about finding joy in LiveJournal rather than a sense of obligation.
It's all about the joy, so as always, if my presence on your friends list does not bring you joy, please feel free to remove me. This is true for people I know in person and for those I don't, and for people who've had me on their friends list forever and for people I've only recently met. I won't be offended or hurt, I won't bother you about why you removed me, I won't start drama, and I won't throw myself from a bridge. I promise.
Unless you're my sister, in which case I shall call you and sob and wail until you feel horrifically guilty and promise never to do such a thing again. And then I shall read to you.