DW, Facebook, Tumblr and more - wondering where everyone has ended up over the years.

[shaddyr]

As everyone has probably noticed in the last 3 - 5 years, LJ traffic has gone waaaay down. Remember when trying to keep up with the Flist was well nigh impossible, and people would regularly purge because there was just too much traffic? Yeah, I bet no one has needed to do that in a while

Comments

[gelbes_gilatier]

I totally agree. I miss the traffic back in the old LJ days and those kids on tumblr are making me insane (every once in a while, there's some drama about someone linking posts tagged as personal to someone who wasn't supposed to see them and all I want to do is shake the person in question and tell them that there is this wonderful feature called friends-locked on LJ and OMG, just stop posting personal stuff where everyone can read it) with their drama and their teenage belief that they are the ones who invented fandom and that they are the only ones fighting oppression the right way and whatnot. I love tumblr for the pretty graphics and the funny things but I still love LJ for the company and I keep fearing that even the most die hard LJ users will disappear one by one :(

Like, tumblr is the bar where I go after work and sometimes get stuck for a little while, but LJ is home (has been for, OMG, eight years now). And it's sad that so many people are leaving home :(

[shaddyr]

all I want to do is shake the person in question and tell them that there is this wonderful feature called friends-locked on LJ and OMG, just stop posting personal stuff where everyone can read it

I KNOW, RIGHT?! What the actual hell is wrong with people?

I like the whole Tumblr=bar. heh. I kind of think of it as that crazy place the young kids hang out, with lots of flash and glitter and very little substance. Cotton Candy content. And I agree; I think of LJ as home.

[sgamadison]

And no one on tumblr believes in spoilers or putting things behind a cut, either. I frequently am weeks to years behind watching certain shows. Everything on tumblr seems to be geared toward instant live reaction--and I have to avoid it for weeks on end if I'm behind on my shows...

[shaddyr]

YES, EXACTLY. The girl complains of the same thing, getting spoiled on Tumblr all the time.

I do like that, at least on LJ, you can cut tag things so to hide spoilers.

[peteralway]

I'm still reading LJ for stuff that actually matters. And it's better for posting pictures. I do follow Facebook, and post the best of my photos, but it feels too public, and too many of the people who used to *say* things on LJ now post links on FB. On LJ if you want to post a political rant that might offend someone, you have to write it yourself. On FB, people just link to someone else's political rants, making it a lazy, easy way to fill up my screen with non-illuminating drama. I prefer the personal hand-made drama we used to have on LJ that would illuminate people's lives.

[shaddyr]

I agree with you very much about the too public part. I really dislike that. I LIKE the idea of having an open LJ with the option to F-lock posts, and that because I use a pseudo, it's not nearly as easy for people I might not want associating the work me with the fannish me to connect the dots.

Also, yes, you are completely right about the lazy part. Why bother writing your own thoughtful analysis of something if you can just "me too" with the click of a button?

BTW, I do enjoy your photo posts, even though I rarely comment. I often don't know what to say, so I just don't say anything. I supposed that's the only good thing about a "like" button.

[cindergal]

I really could have written this exact post. I feel the same about it all. I miss the busier days of LJ, I have a tumblr but find it completely unsuited to conversation, and FB is for RL, not fannish stuff, for the most part. There is really no other platform better for having deeper discussions than LJ that I know of, but I guess people have less time/shorter attention spans these days? I'm really not sure why traffic has gone down other than that, because none of those other social media sites are really a replacement, they're all a totally different way of communicating.

[shaddyr]

I am right there with you on the bandwagon - I think LJ is a fantastic forum for discussion and interaction. I remember when everyone from the Gutter and BAPs started migrating over to LJ from yahoo, and wondering if the discussions would go away; I was so pleased when it turned out to be such a user friendly platform.

I'm really not sure why traffic has gone down other than that, because none of those other social media sites are really a replacement, they're all a totally different way of communicating.

I think that most of the folks in our general demographic (age, fannish interests, children, etc) have many demands on our time, so the amount we have to dedicate to something LJ can be suboptimal. It's a lot easier to catch up on FB people & like a few things then cruise Tumblr for funny photos and memes, all with the intent to post something real later. I know that I'm guilty of the same; while I may not FB a lot, I'll read a few things, follow a few links and next thing I know, I'm ready for bed.

[cindergal]

Well, I for had more demands on my time back in the day because my kids were little then, but things like FB, tumblr, etc. weren't really around then either, so there wasn't the easy option. And yes, they are certainly easier, but not conducive to conversation, really. It seems like lots of people say they miss LJ, but if everyone who said that started posting to LJ more they wouldn't have anything to miss (myself included!). ;-)

See, you could never have a great discussion like this on tumblr. *g*

[shaddyr]

See, you could never have a great discussion like this on tumblr. *g*

YES! I am so pleased to see all the people who weighed in on this; clearly, I am not alone in how I feel about LJ vs Tumblr. Tumblr is not inherently BAD... it's just not a platform that is designed for what I really want, which is INTERACTING in a meaningful way with people I have common interests with.

YAY DIALOGUE and DISCUSSION! \O/

[sgteam14283]

I'm addicted to Tumblr as well and yeah, at first the layout is a bit confusing but you figure it out eventually. And I've made some really good friends over there through shared interests and people.

That being said, it's also a place where there's a lot of hate/anger in certain circles and there are times where I just need to take a day off from it in order to chill out and "de-tox." But overall I'm glad that I made the move.

[shaddyr]

Yeah, my daughter is on Tumblr all the time. She often shows or sends me things she finds there, and it seems there are a lot of interesting things there, but she also says the same thing you've mentioned here - much wank can be found. The same was certainly true of LJ at times; I think it's true anywhere you go online.

[sgteam14283]

oh I completely agree, the internet is filled with a lot of angry people; some of them rightly so, others...not so much IMO. I was showing my sister so much stuff from there she just RSS my blog so she can see the funny stuff.

[petzipellepingo]

I do miss the busy days of LJ but I have no desire to take up either Facebook or Tumblr or Twitter or anything along those lines. Over the ten years I've been on LJ I've made friends that are dear to me and some have even entered my actual life. I look forward every morning to log in and see what's new with everyone, even if that group is much smaller than it used to be.

[shaddyr]

I have no desire to take up either Facebook or Tumblr or Twitter or anything along those lines.

I hear that! I did try twitter for a while, but that was before I had a mobile phone and didn't really get the appeal, since I could post more efficiently on LJ and have more characters to work with! Now, I have a work phone, and have no interest in having Twitter post trackable by my workplace.

Just so you know, I am always glad to see your posts. I know I rarely comment, but I almost always click through your links because you post such interesting things, stuff I might not see or hear of otherwise. Like that recent post about Detroit; living in Canada, it's something that I don't really know a lot about or pay a lot of attention to, but it was very interesting to learn.

[petzipellepingo]

Glad to hear you enjoy them.