Sigh

[yendi]

I made my Amazon Deals post over twenty minutes ago. And it's still the top post on my LJ friends page. In many ways, that speaks volumes about the way LJ usage has dropped; even last year, there's probably be at least one new LJ post every five minutes during the daytime.

A lot of folks have talked about moving to other services, but I haven't seen one that even comes close to offering what I need. For straight-up blogging, of course, there are plenty of great options, but even those that have communities developing are doing so in silos (note: Nothing wrong with that, just not what I want). Twitter is inherently ephemeral (and small, and with no degrees of locking/control over posts), and Facebook's timeline is so mangled that it's simply impossible to navigate. Plus just isn't ready for prime time, although it seems to at least get more right than Facebook outside of identity issues (then again, at this point Myspace has a better UI team than Facebook). Obviously, Dreamwidth is tempting, but seems to have some of the same critical mass issues LJ does (that said, once I get the time, I'll probably do the mirror thing just to make folks who prefer that service have that as an option), and also some of the same attrition issues

I'm on all of those services and more, and will probably do a big "where I am, digitally" post at some point, but this is still where I feel at home online. And even when I suck at commenting, I do love reading my friends' posts here. I'm still here, and this is where I'll be posting for the foreseeable future.

Comments

[hippie-mamabear.livejournal.com]

I feel like the major advantage to livejournal is all the stubborn old bastards that refuse to stop using livejournal :D

[yendi]

:-) Yeah, that pretty much describes me perfectly.

[zeyr.livejournal.com]

I'm a reader more than a poster, but yeah...stubborn old bastard. :)

[martinhesselius.livejournal.com]

You've said much the same as I feel.

[yendi]

Glad to see others feel that way.

[galdrin.livejournal.com]

I don't mind the slowness. It gives me more time to really read what my friends are writing/reading/living. I have to stick around LJ - this is where all my closest friends are.

[yendi]

That's a good point, and it is an advantage; in many ways, LJ now is like LJ was back in 2002, with a small handful of folks using it regularly.

[aiela.livejournal.com]

Every time I click back in my journal to figure out exactly when an event happened, I remind myself that even if there aren't that many people reading, it's good for me to keep journaling just for me, if nothing else.

But I do love reading others' posts.

[yendi]

That's my take on it, too.

[zeldakitty.livejournal.com]

I feel the same way about everything you said!

[elsewhereangel.livejournal.com]

I was surfing through my friends of friends page when I came across your entry. I liked what I read and the style in which it was written.

Today also happens to be the day I decided my journal lacks that critical mass you are talking about and to go searching for new friends.

Do you accept adds?

[yendi]

Absolutely! Welcome aboard!

[elsewhereangel.livejournal.com]

Yay!

[bonnie-rocks.livejournal.com]

I used to post a lot more but then I just... stopped. I don't have a real reason why. However, since I am participating in LJ Idol, I've at least been making posts for that :)

~*::Meow::*~

[yendi]

While I'm not always a fan of LJ Idol, I do like some of the great content in helps create.

[sdaisyk.livejournal.com]

Life means I haven't been posting as much but I do read every day and the people I really follow/care about are still around so so am I.

[yendi]

Yeah, that pretty much sums it up for me, too.

[aedifica]

I'm with so many others in the "posting less these days, still reading." Which doesn't help the whole "having there be new content for others to read," I admit--but work + school take up a lot more of my post-writing brain than they used to.

[yendi]

Yeah, there's a point where it's a matter of having to choose, and in fairness, being busy at work is not a bad thing (it's what we're paid for, after all).

[p-m-cryan.livejournal.com]

I appreciate the fact that you are still around, and still blogging, very, very much.

And knowing that you still read me is comforting.

[yendi]

Back at you, on both points.

[enderfem.livejournal.com]

Yeah. For a long time I tried to deny the dearth of LJ posting. And then it got very slim. And then I stopped posting. I want to get back to it, because this was/is my community, dammit.

Anyway, you've summed this up wonderfully for me.

[yendi]

*nod* And I know I'm at fault, too, since I haven't had the energy to make a substantial post in ages, but it used to be that there was enough churn that those of us who were dealing with burnout/business weren't as noticeably, because everyone else was posting.

[lurkerwithout.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I think I'm down to maybe a 10th of my mutual f-list being around with any regularity...

[yendi]

That's about my ratio, too.

[swashbucklr]

I've found that I have less of an urge to blog, of late.

Quick bursts on Twitter or Facebook are fine, but my attention is such that LJ seems a hassle. I still read it, however.

[yendi]

Yeah, I sometimes wonder if the easy opportunity to link/post on Twitter prevents me from letting a substantial post build up.

[emerald-ibis.livejournal.com]

I do not like Facebook. I use it almost in self-defense, because all of my coworkers and a chunk of my former acquaintances from Florida use it. I don't like the setup or the random, at-will changes that they throw at you, and I'm very close to getting rid of it. I can't get integrated into DW for some reason. I don't know, I think I'm with you on feeling at home on LiveJournal. I'm happy to see that people who actually write are still around, while the ones who didn't really do much in the way of actual writing have sort of faded into the background. Twitter's good for some people, because it requires no thought.

I miss the huge feed of updates on LJ. I find myself habitually reloading every so often, until I remember that there isn't as much use these days. Oh well. I'll be here when they turn the lights off, I suppose.

[yendi]

That's exactly how and why I use FB, too! And yeah, here until it ends, also.

[malinaldarose.livejournal.com]

My posting is down a bit from where it was because I can't post from work anymore. I used to pop on several times a day -- pretty much whenever something funny or annoying happened -- but I can't do that anymore. I still post a lot, but not quite as much as I used to. Darn that day job! Darn it to heck!

[yendi]

*nod* I suspect that's a factor for a lot of us.

[haikujaguar.livejournal.com]

It's not just posting. Responses are down too. Since one of LJ's big draws for me was the ease of conversations (and threaded conversations in particular, with notifications), the lack of people responding to posts makes it a lot less attractive to bother making them.

[yendi]

*nod* I cannot tell you how many times I open a bunch of posts in tabs planning to comment, and then those get lost for two days (at which points the comments seem moot). I sometimes wonder if the tabbed browser is the biggest problem; when I started on LJ, I was using IE 4.5 on MacOS 9, and opened everything in a new window. I rarely let anything languish.

And yeah, a lack of comments makes the effort of writing a post seem frustrating (this is actually one of the big things that led to my giving up on the horror reviews a few years back). Along with posting more, I'm trying to be better about commenting, too, since that's half the point of LJ as a community.

[phantom_wolfboy]

I've been doing my best to post more, and more regularly, but I never really seem to have much to say.

Of course, everything you read on my LJ is a copy of the same post on Dreamwidth, so it's obvious where I'm putting my money.

As far as Twitter goes, I have two problems with it: first, the character limit. I can't even say hello in under 140 characters! Second, the lack of commenting.

[yendi]

Yeah, Twitter's more of a pro tool for me than a community thing. The character limit can be problematic for saying anything significant.

[roomette.livejournal.com]

You know I wonder if we just need to branch out and find more writers who are writing prolifically. I realize mine is locked under too much lock and key. I write almost daily but I don't public-post or even friends post and I think I will change that. I certainly do appreciate that you and Shadesong write and I am sure there are others out there still writing.

Though did you notice in the last week or so it's been picking up?

I'm on tumblr, it's fun but kind of boring. I found a tag for long reads and I think I'm pretty much one of four people who use it.

I did notice that certain communities, like Trashy Eats and the Self Portrait community are still pretty active.

I say let's kick it up a bit. I'll commit to posting daily for a month if other people do too. :)

[yendi]

I find Tumblr to be almost as frustrating as Facebook for actual interaction and responses, given the weirdness with both quoting and commenting. I love it for links and pictures, but hate it for community purposes. They need a serious interface overhaul.

I'm all in favor of lots of folks committing to posting (and have been trying to do some more of that myself, of course). Here's hoping for lots of good reads!

[fiddledragon]

I'm here, even if I'm too busy to post lately :P

[yendi]

:-)

[rosefox]

Dunno about you, but I've been here nearly 11 years. In that time, I've gone from being an aimless twentysomething to a settled thirtysomething. Many of my friends have similarly grown up. We all have a lot less time and attention for blogging now, because we have all these spouses and jobs and kids that come first.

I wouldn't blame Twitter and Facebook. They're just filling a need for quick soundbites that LJ very specifically isn't designed for.

[yendi]

Oh, I'm not blaming Twitter and Facebook, just saying that neither really presents something I find appealing (for community-oriented blogging purposes; I adore Twitter as a professional tool). I'm fully aware of how life changes affect my use of LJ, and that of others, but I still miss some of what's being lost here.

[alumiere.livejournal.com]

Yeah, and thank you. I don't comment much, but the amazon round-ups are fun to drool over.

[yendi]

I know! Only a lack of money prevents me from going crazy and buying everything as I assemble the posts. :-)

[elizabear.livejournal.com]

I read everything here, several times a day. I've become lame at posting, and I wish to do better so I need to try harder.

[yendi]

Yeah, I think most of us are in that boat, alas.