Well, this is going to be my first official (non-writing journal) post on Dreamwidth. With any luck, this will mirror itself onto my LJ account as well. Exciting!
It seems to be at least in part a death spiral thing. Any social networking site is only as good as the number of people in it. People were reluctant to move over to dreamwidth because all their stuff is here - and there really weren't that many people over there. But a mass migration makes later migration easier, and more likely. The more people leave livejournal, the more attractive it is for others to leave as well.
I'm actually less affected by the frufurrah than you are, but someone I know who is very big in the fandom is migrating less because of the changes than because of the management's response to complaints about the changes. That is to say, none.
But yeah, it's a big enough shift that I'm actually considering getting an account, if only to more easily watch the people who have already moved. And, as you say, really really interesting dynamics. I think we may have just hit the tipping point.
From what I understand, SUP wants to change livejournal into something that better fits their Russian users needs. Which makes sense, since that's where most of their users are from. But it would probably ease tensions quite a bit if the management took the time to actually respond to their users worries.
The fact that Dreamwidth has allowed account creation without invite codes for the last few weeks is really useful, especially if you're interested in moving a bunch of journals over, like I was.
I was thinking if anything I'd make a single journal there just to facilitate following the people I'm interested in following.
Ah yes, I had forgotten about all the to-do in Russia. That does make sense.
Oh - and about Post #2 - both versions of it showed up on livejournal as separate posts. So it looks like if you edit an entry on dreamwidth, it just posts a second entry over here.
(I didn't really read it because I haven't read either of the two books you mentioned, and I don't want spoilers, especially for Snuff - although skimming through I saw that it was really all about the other one).
I have two non-RP ones - my writing journal and the mirror of my regular journal. But I doubt anyone outside of RP would need more than one or two.
One of the cool things I ran into while researching this whole thing is the "blogshoping" phenomena, which is apparently their other big source of revenue. The whole idea of using LJ as a forum for 3rd party commerce is just neat, even if it does mean that regular users don't generate as much revenue.
Ah - that was actually my sleep-deprivation at fault. My computer crashed and I wasn't sure if I had reached the "post" button before it died...and then I assumed the worst and didn't check if it had actually posted after it revived. Since I was mostly in the fixing-HTML-stage the posts didn't look all that different.
But you should read Snuff! Just because I was squeeing about Abarat and never got to Snuff doesn't mean that I didn't like it. Its just that I read it first, and despite it being a Vimes book, it wasn't quite as highly anticipated as the book I've been waiting for for seven
( ... )
At the risk of sounding like an entitled bitch myself, I think it's kind of funny (in a sad sense) how entitled the roleplay community is acting with this. "How DARE they take away our subject lines!" I can understand the difficulty dealing with the site's makeup - the Flash can be a definite strain on the eyes - but all the other bells and whistles? Really? Although another big (and definitely understandable) factor is the atrocious customer service; to have the people running the place blatantly laughing at other peoples' problems rather than take them into at least some sort of consideration is disgusting.
Granted, I've at least made a DW for Ban so I can keep tabs on their dear_mun and see if there's any games to get into there; I love the hobby, but I wouldn't mind staying OR going. Since the majority of games are going though...:\
And yeah, in the long run a lot of the complaints seem kind of minor. The customer service and eyestrain less so, but in the end we as a group don't really provide much income from the company, nor are we involved in Russian politics. I can't really complain about my hobby changing when it makes it easier for other people to plan revolutions...can I?
But DW offers a lot of new possibilities for characters, and that's encouraging. Unfortunately, I don't think I'm going to make a Himiko account. She's a great character and all, but I've had her so long, and her CR has shifted so much, that the switch to a new format might be a good opportunity to let her go.
Exactly. Even with the players with the paid accounts - the advertisements bring in much more, and there's loads more free accounts than paid.
It does! Aw - yeah, I'm not 100% certain on Ban, but it was pretty much "let's make a DW - oops I accidentally a Ban account," lol. I'll miss your Himiko, ♥
And if the vast majority of users are Russian, then their opinions are probably the ones being heard. But I'm not actually sure whether SUP is listening to them either.
Two of my three different Karakael-themed accounts showed up like that. XD
I just want to stop by and point out that there is actually a group of people who need subject lines- people who rely on them to know that there's potentially triggering material in a comment before they look at the comment itself.
Also, this isn't even primarily for the sake of Russian users, which I would understand more. A lot of them are unhappy with the site changes as well, according to hearsay, and they aren't getting decent customer service either.
That is a good point. And isn't that one of the ones that's most frustrating to hear management talk about? Complaining RP communities is one thing, but they should have at least been polite when addressing concerns of that group. From what I've heard, they totally wrote off that problem.
I wish we had more translations of the Russian complaints. Its hard to believe that SUP wouldn't listen to their primary userbase and treat them like they've treated the RP communities...but again, spars translations.
Comments 10
I'm actually less affected by the frufurrah than you are, but someone I know who is very big in the fandom is migrating less because of the changes than because of the management's response to complaints about the changes. That is to say, none.
But yeah, it's a big enough shift that I'm actually considering getting an account, if only to more easily watch the people who have already moved. And, as you say, really really interesting dynamics. I think we may have just hit the tipping point.
Also, happy new year!
Reply
The fact that Dreamwidth has allowed account creation without invite codes for the last few weeks is really useful, especially if you're interested in moving a bunch of journals over, like I was.
And Happy New Year to you as well~
Reply
Ah yes, I had forgotten about all the to-do in Russia. That does make sense.
Oh - and about Post #2 - both versions of it showed up on livejournal as separate posts. So it looks like if you edit an entry on dreamwidth, it just posts a second entry over here.
(I didn't really read it because I haven't read either of the two books you mentioned, and I don't want spoilers, especially for Snuff - although skimming through I saw that it was really all about the other one).
Reply
One of the cool things I ran into while researching this whole thing is the "blogshoping" phenomena, which is apparently their other big source of revenue. The whole idea of using LJ as a forum for 3rd party commerce is just neat, even if it does mean that regular users don't generate as much revenue.
Ah - that was actually my sleep-deprivation at fault. My computer crashed and I wasn't sure if I had reached the "post" button before it died...and then I assumed the worst and didn't check if it had actually posted after it revived. Since I was mostly in the fixing-HTML-stage the posts didn't look all that different.
But you should read Snuff! Just because I was squeeing about Abarat and never got to Snuff doesn't mean that I didn't like it. Its just that I read it first, and despite it being a Vimes book, it wasn't quite as highly anticipated as the book I've been waiting for for seven ( ... )
Reply
At the risk of sounding like an entitled bitch myself, I think it's kind of funny (in a sad sense) how entitled the roleplay community is acting with this. "How DARE they take away our subject lines!" I can understand the difficulty dealing with the site's makeup - the Flash can be a definite strain on the eyes - but all the other bells and whistles? Really? Although another big (and definitely understandable) factor is the atrocious customer service; to have the people running the place blatantly laughing at other peoples' problems rather than take them into at least some sort of consideration is disgusting.
Granted, I've at least made a DW for Ban so I can keep tabs on their dear_mun and see if there's any games to get into there; I love the hobby, but I wouldn't mind staying OR going. Since the majority of games are going though...:\
Also, happy new year! :]
Reply
And yeah, in the long run a lot of the complaints seem kind of minor. The customer service and eyestrain less so, but in the end we as a group don't really provide much income from the company, nor are we involved in Russian politics. I can't really complain about my hobby changing when it makes it easier for other people to plan revolutions...can I?
But DW offers a lot of new possibilities for characters, and that's encouraging. Unfortunately, I don't think I'm going to make a Himiko account. She's a great character and all, but I've had her so long, and her CR has shifted so much, that the switch to a new format might be a good opportunity to let her go.
Reply
It does! Aw - yeah, I'm not 100% certain on Ban, but it was pretty much "let's make a DW - oops I accidentally a Ban account," lol. I'll miss your Himiko, ♥
Reply
Two of my three different Karakael-themed accounts showed up like that. XD
Reply
Also, this isn't even primarily for the sake of Russian users, which I would understand more. A lot of them are unhappy with the site changes as well, according to hearsay, and they aren't getting decent customer service either.
Reply
I wish we had more translations of the Russian complaints. Its hard to believe that SUP wouldn't listen to their primary userbase and treat them like they've treated the RP communities...but again, spars translations.
Reply
Leave a comment