Re: Set up LiveJournal community?

In article <1hcap3w.177bbu3dzgkowN%spam@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>, Jonathan
L Cunningham <spam@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> writes

Jonathan L Cunningham <spam@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

It's just what it means! Sort of a Heisenberg uncertainty principle: you
can't "get to know" someone without interacting with them.

If you prefer a metaphor, it's like the difference between a still
photograph and a movie clip, or between a silhouette and a photo. The
silhouette will only tell you the *shape* but it lacks essential
information. But <shrug> YMMV.

I sort of see what you mean, though I don't entirely agree with you. I
would feel that I had "got to know" a person more than I did previously
if I, for instance, read their diary or a biography about them.

But there is some interaction on LJ via the comments. As others have
said, it's not a good place for debate, but it does allow for some
exchange of ideas.

My incomprehension (if any) is at a different level, which is curiously
parallel to the explanation I just gave above. I already knew or
guessed *why* people do it, but couldn't (or can't) at a different
level, see why.

People write, and read, LJs because they feel it brings them together.
What I fail to understand, is why they feel it brings them together. And
that is because it would not make *me* feel closer to someone: I'm
more demanding. I don't want to listen to a broadcast, I want to have
a conversation.

I find LJs much more personal. This is why I went with LiveJournal
rather than Blogger, which I see as much more of a soapbox. This may not
be totally true, but it's true of the sample of LJs and Blogger blogs
I've read. Many blogs are one-to-many broadcasts, like doing a talk on
the radio. (e.g. I have read this annoying article in the paper and I
want to rant about it.) Some people do that in their LJ, but I avoid
those people or skip that kind of post in an LJ I'm following. The posts
I enjoy are the little glimpses into someone's life. And I like reading
about the ups and downs of the creative life.

And, I suspect, a lot of the interaction is much more like a
conversation than like watching a soap on TV, and but where it isn't,
it's serving the purpose of a soap. (Or, perhaps, soaps are a weak
substitute for the real feelings of intimacy achieved by LJ users.)

A lot of the people on my "friends" list are people I see face-to-face
once or twice a year. It's a convenient way of keeping in touch.
Otherwise they're personal friends of people I see face-to-face once or
twice a year, or people I've met here. A few people I have met via LJ,
usually by seeing them say interesting things in a mutual friend's
journal.

All of which is by-the-by(sp?). As I said first time, I have no
criticism of it or people who use it: it seems a positive and beneficial
thing. But it's not for me.

I thought it wasn't for me at first, but I got sucked in, so beware!
Another time sink looms. :-) I have to admit that I don't have time to
read all my "friends" journals all the time. A paid account gives one
the very useful ability to create custom lists and I whilst I try to at
least skim my closest friends journals daily, I can dip in an out of
others as and when I have time.

As far as writing in my LJ, I write mainly for me. Having said that,
don't expect great revelations. I don't often do "friends locked" posts
and when I lock things as personal, it's usually to hide their dullness,
not because they're in any way confidential.

Helen
--
Helen, Gwynedd, Wales *** http://www.baradel.demon.co.uk

.

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