That DW meme.
May. 24th, 2023 04:07 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rogueslayer45201. How did you find Dreamwidth? What attracted you to this platform? Why did you start blogging?
Many years ago when the Great LJ Exodus was happening and people were looking elsewhere to relocate. I created this account in 2012 as a potential backup and to keep an eye on those from my flist who would migrate there, but I never did anything with it since I was stubborn and kept holding onto LJ as long as it could. It wouldn't have been until last year (2022) when I finally decided to make the move to DW permanently. Obviously the thing that attracted me here was how it's essentially a journaling platform like LJ, which seems to be rare these days and I like writing and communicating with people longform.
02. How long have you been blogging on Dreamwidth? What has changed here, or in your life, over that timespan?
Since 2022 when I transferred everything over from LJ.
03. What are your favorite things about Dreamwidth? What do you dislike about it? What do you wish it had, or had more of?
I really like how Dreamwidth has a bit more of a community, and how it resembles a lot of what I loved about LJ back in the day. I do wish that it was slightly more bigger, and it does suck that DW didn't take off as much as it should have as an LJ alternative during the exodus. However, with that being said, I do like that it is a bit smaller and more intimate since while it would be nice to get more people to join and be active I would rather keep away whatever fandom/online drama that comes with that. I also like that DW has remained ad-free and hasn't attempted to change much of its features, unlike LJ where it tried to be like other social media sites and has since become so unrecognizable from its former self. DW is a journaling/blogging site, and should remain that way.
I also really like how attentive the main moderators of the site are regarding issues and keeps their users updated on things.
What I don't like, well, aesthetically? It's not entirely pleasing, at least in comparison to how LJ used to look like, that is. Unless you know how to customize, most of the journal layouts you can choose from are very similar to one another.
04. Do you think people should crosspost the same or similar things in more than one place on Dreamwidth? Why or why not? Are there conditions that influence whether or not it's a good idea?
If that's what they want to do, then fine? I mean, it's their journal.
05. Do you have a free account or a paid account on Dreamwidth? What features or other factors made you choose that option? Would you recommend your option to other bloggers? Why or why not?
I have a paid account, mainly for the icon space. :) And it's up to someone to choose for themselves whether they want to get a paid account or not. I will say, though, I do like that you could edit comments with a basic account, something you could only do with a paid account on LJ.
06. What is your blog metaphor? Where are you, when you are in your blog?
I don't know what this means.
07. What tools do you use for blogging? Laptop, desktop computer, or other device? Paper notebook for jotting down ideas? Color palettes, accessibility gauges, or other guides for making it look good?
Laptop, 100%, as I do with most things to be honest. I will use a word document to sometimes write out thoughts or ideas for possible future posts, especially reviews and things like that.
08. How often do you post in your blog? Do you like reading blogs that are high or low in traffic?
I try to post at least once or twice a week, if I can. Sometimes I can have a lull due to lack of motivation or not quite knowing how to write a post, particularly one that takes a lot of time to get written (reviews, recommendations, memes, etc). And while I do enjoy seeing people post consistently, I don't mind if people are sporadic in their posting schedule. I mean, I'm not one to judge. People have their own lives, and whether or not they are consistently posting daily or a couple times a week or every other week, it doesn't matter.
09. What are the top ten topics in your blog? You can use the Manage Tags function to sort by usage and see which ones you use most often, or just think about what you consider important subjects.
Fandom and memes it seems, along with some particular fandoms. But yeah, those, for sure.
10. What types or topics of posts get the most enthusiastic responses from your readership? What do you think makes those so engaging?
Honestly, I'm not quite sure. It fluctuates depending on when I post something. It's often quite a mixed bag.
11. Do you use any recurring posts, and if so, what kinds? Do you enjoy reading those in other people's blogs? Why or why not?
The end of the year fandom meme, always. :) Aside from that, I would say the Snowflake Fandom Challenge, although that can depend on whether or not I like the prompts for that year in order to participate. I do like reading other people's posts for both.
12. Do you ever go back to reread older entries on your blog, or other blogs? Do you get or give comments on older entries? What kind of posts do you put in your Memories?
Sometimes. When it comes to my own journal, it'll be because I'm trying to relocate something I had written down, and other times it's for the nostalgia of the time. When it comes to other people's journals, I'll read the most recent posts if I haven't caught up yet, or if it's someone new that I've just friended I'll go back and look through their journal just to get the general idea of what they've posted in the past. As for Memories, well, I used to have a lot organized on my LJ but since those cannot be transferred over to DW I lost pretty much everything, granted a lot of them were most likely deleted or purged anyway.
13. Where do you find ideas for blog posts? What inspires you?
Memes, questionnaires, and writing prompts, usually, either newer ones or I go searching for some older ones to resurrect. I can also be inspired spontaneously through something that's been happening, or an interest that I've been hyperfixating about, or something that's been on my mind.
14. Do you use your blog for personal, hobby, or professional purposes? Do you mix those or keep them separate, and why? Do you like to talk about yourself in your blog, or do you prefer to post about other people and events instead?
Mainly hobby (fandom). I rarely, if ever, make personal posts because my life is boring and uninteresting. The only exceptions are ones that I feel are more life-changing or that I need advice for, but again those are very rare. I prefer talking about my interests more and getting to connect with others who like those same interests. That's the whole reason why I created an online journal in the first place.
15. Do you follow any blogging guidelines? What do you make a point of doing, or not doing, in your blog?
I make sure to use cuts for longer posts and for anything containing potential spoilers. I've also developed this habit of linking to specific things I'm talking about, whether it be articles or video links, which is something I've done since, like, the beginning of my blogging experience, really. Because if I'm making a post about something, I want others to be able to see what I'm talking about so they can join in the discussion, if they want.
16. What are some things that you haven't tried in your blog, but would like to try? What cool things have you seen in other blogs that you haven't done yourself? What things have you tried that totally flopped? Try something new today!
I've wanted to do some picspams, or do something equivalent of that while discussing particular characters/pairings/shows/fiction that I enjoy, mainly because it gives those who read it a visual reference to what I'm talking about, and also the pretty. I used to post images back in the day, but then, y'know, Photobucket and Tinypic became obsolete in their stupidity.
17. What do you consider the traits of a successful blog? What are the traits of an unsuccessful blog?
First and foremost, the concept of "successful" in this case is rather subjective. People have different needs and expecations for their journaling experience on their own blogs.
Now, with that being said, in my opinion, I think mutual engagement is needed. You can't expect people to continue friending and commenting on your blog if you're not commenting and engaging with them right back. Comment to their replies, engage in conversation, go on endless long comment threads, comment on their journals, interact with others in communities. If you're here to just vibe and vent in your own space, not really caring about that kind of stuff, that's totally cool. You do you. However, if you're someone who is trying to get to know people, you can't just friend someone and expect that to be the end of it. You have to make the effort of meeting your online friends halfway by communicating. It shows that you're interested in what they have to say, instead of just merely being a number added to your flist.
18. Which blogs or communities do you read most often? What makes these your favorites?
![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
c_ent and sid_guardian are the communities I frequently visit, since it's among the more active communities for Asian dramas and I like seeing what gets recommended, reviews and discussions and whatnot. And obviously all those on my flist.
This took way longer to finish than it should have, both to answer and post it, but it's finally done.
Many years ago when the Great LJ Exodus was happening and people were looking elsewhere to relocate. I created this account in 2012 as a potential backup and to keep an eye on those from my flist who would migrate there, but I never did anything with it since I was stubborn and kept holding onto LJ as long as it could. It wouldn't have been until last year (2022) when I finally decided to make the move to DW permanently. Obviously the thing that attracted me here was how it's essentially a journaling platform like LJ, which seems to be rare these days and I like writing and communicating with people longform.
02. How long have you been blogging on Dreamwidth? What has changed here, or in your life, over that timespan?
Since 2022 when I transferred everything over from LJ.
03. What are your favorite things about Dreamwidth? What do you dislike about it? What do you wish it had, or had more of?
I really like how Dreamwidth has a bit more of a community, and how it resembles a lot of what I loved about LJ back in the day. I do wish that it was slightly more bigger, and it does suck that DW didn't take off as much as it should have as an LJ alternative during the exodus. However, with that being said, I do like that it is a bit smaller and more intimate since while it would be nice to get more people to join and be active I would rather keep away whatever fandom/online drama that comes with that. I also like that DW has remained ad-free and hasn't attempted to change much of its features, unlike LJ where it tried to be like other social media sites and has since become so unrecognizable from its former self. DW is a journaling/blogging site, and should remain that way.
I also really like how attentive the main moderators of the site are regarding issues and keeps their users updated on things.
What I don't like, well, aesthetically? It's not entirely pleasing, at least in comparison to how LJ used to look like, that is. Unless you know how to customize, most of the journal layouts you can choose from are very similar to one another.
04. Do you think people should crosspost the same or similar things in more than one place on Dreamwidth? Why or why not? Are there conditions that influence whether or not it's a good idea?
If that's what they want to do, then fine? I mean, it's their journal.
05. Do you have a free account or a paid account on Dreamwidth? What features or other factors made you choose that option? Would you recommend your option to other bloggers? Why or why not?
I have a paid account, mainly for the icon space. :) And it's up to someone to choose for themselves whether they want to get a paid account or not. I will say, though, I do like that you could edit comments with a basic account, something you could only do with a paid account on LJ.
06. What is your blog metaphor? Where are you, when you are in your blog?
I don't know what this means.
07. What tools do you use for blogging? Laptop, desktop computer, or other device? Paper notebook for jotting down ideas? Color palettes, accessibility gauges, or other guides for making it look good?
Laptop, 100%, as I do with most things to be honest. I will use a word document to sometimes write out thoughts or ideas for possible future posts, especially reviews and things like that.
08. How often do you post in your blog? Do you like reading blogs that are high or low in traffic?
I try to post at least once or twice a week, if I can. Sometimes I can have a lull due to lack of motivation or not quite knowing how to write a post, particularly one that takes a lot of time to get written (reviews, recommendations, memes, etc). And while I do enjoy seeing people post consistently, I don't mind if people are sporadic in their posting schedule. I mean, I'm not one to judge. People have their own lives, and whether or not they are consistently posting daily or a couple times a week or every other week, it doesn't matter.
09. What are the top ten topics in your blog? You can use the Manage Tags function to sort by usage and see which ones you use most often, or just think about what you consider important subjects.
Fandom and memes it seems, along with some particular fandoms. But yeah, those, for sure.
10. What types or topics of posts get the most enthusiastic responses from your readership? What do you think makes those so engaging?
Honestly, I'm not quite sure. It fluctuates depending on when I post something. It's often quite a mixed bag.
11. Do you use any recurring posts, and if so, what kinds? Do you enjoy reading those in other people's blogs? Why or why not?
The end of the year fandom meme, always. :) Aside from that, I would say the Snowflake Fandom Challenge, although that can depend on whether or not I like the prompts for that year in order to participate. I do like reading other people's posts for both.
12. Do you ever go back to reread older entries on your blog, or other blogs? Do you get or give comments on older entries? What kind of posts do you put in your Memories?
Sometimes. When it comes to my own journal, it'll be because I'm trying to relocate something I had written down, and other times it's for the nostalgia of the time. When it comes to other people's journals, I'll read the most recent posts if I haven't caught up yet, or if it's someone new that I've just friended I'll go back and look through their journal just to get the general idea of what they've posted in the past. As for Memories, well, I used to have a lot organized on my LJ but since those cannot be transferred over to DW I lost pretty much everything, granted a lot of them were most likely deleted or purged anyway.
13. Where do you find ideas for blog posts? What inspires you?
Memes, questionnaires, and writing prompts, usually, either newer ones or I go searching for some older ones to resurrect. I can also be inspired spontaneously through something that's been happening, or an interest that I've been hyperfixating about, or something that's been on my mind.
14. Do you use your blog for personal, hobby, or professional purposes? Do you mix those or keep them separate, and why? Do you like to talk about yourself in your blog, or do you prefer to post about other people and events instead?
Mainly hobby (fandom). I rarely, if ever, make personal posts because my life is boring and uninteresting. The only exceptions are ones that I feel are more life-changing or that I need advice for, but again those are very rare. I prefer talking about my interests more and getting to connect with others who like those same interests. That's the whole reason why I created an online journal in the first place.
15. Do you follow any blogging guidelines? What do you make a point of doing, or not doing, in your blog?
I make sure to use cuts for longer posts and for anything containing potential spoilers. I've also developed this habit of linking to specific things I'm talking about, whether it be articles or video links, which is something I've done since, like, the beginning of my blogging experience, really. Because if I'm making a post about something, I want others to be able to see what I'm talking about so they can join in the discussion, if they want.
16. What are some things that you haven't tried in your blog, but would like to try? What cool things have you seen in other blogs that you haven't done yourself? What things have you tried that totally flopped? Try something new today!
I've wanted to do some picspams, or do something equivalent of that while discussing particular characters/pairings/shows/fiction that I enjoy, mainly because it gives those who read it a visual reference to what I'm talking about, and also the pretty. I used to post images back in the day, but then, y'know, Photobucket and Tinypic became obsolete in their stupidity.
17. What do you consider the traits of a successful blog? What are the traits of an unsuccessful blog?
First and foremost, the concept of "successful" in this case is rather subjective. People have different needs and expecations for their journaling experience on their own blogs.
Now, with that being said, in my opinion, I think mutual engagement is needed. You can't expect people to continue friending and commenting on your blog if you're not commenting and engaging with them right back. Comment to their replies, engage in conversation, go on endless long comment threads, comment on their journals, interact with others in communities. If you're here to just vibe and vent in your own space, not really caring about that kind of stuff, that's totally cool. You do you. However, if you're someone who is trying to get to know people, you can't just friend someone and expect that to be the end of it. You have to make the effort of meeting your online friends halfway by communicating. It shows that you're interested in what they have to say, instead of just merely being a number added to your flist.
18. Which blogs or communities do you read most often? What makes these your favorites?
c_ent and sid_guardian are the communities I frequently visit, since it's among the more active communities for Asian dramas and I like seeing what gets recommended, reviews and discussions and whatnot. And obviously all those on my flist.This took way longer to finish than it should have, both to answer and post it, but it's finally done.
no subject
Date: 2023-05-24 01:40 pm (UTC). I do wish that it was slightly more bigger, and it does suck that DW didn't take off as much as it should have as an LJ alternative during the exodus. However, with that being said, I do like that it is a bit smaller and more intimate since while it would be nice to get more people to join and be active I would rather keep away whatever fandom/online drama that comes with that.
Agreed. I'm going to be honest, while I actually like a lot of things about tumblr, in some ways I miss living in the oblivious bubble where I was just posting fics to Ao3. But that's the thing with a large interactive platform, you get more drama.
Though I'm really not sure why DW didn't take off as an LJ alternative. I know people talk about images, but I don't think that's all of it, just not sure what else. I know there were a few more fandom-specific alternatives people used, so maybe that's it. And being able to share videos and images WAS a big part of LJ, even if the text posts were also important. But being able to respond to comments was also huge, and for years no one had that option.
That said, people were also getting used to the concept of resharing posts, so maybe that was it as well.
I also really like how attentive the main moderators of the site are regarding issues and keeps their users updated on things.
It's honestly really refreshing to me, as you don't have that very often anymore. They know who their users are (on some level) and seem to genuinely care about fostering a safe, productive online community. I wish all platforms were like that. Particularly the ones young people use - TikTok should have a moderation team. I actually don't think there's any excuse, other than not wanting to pay people for it.
Now, with that being said, in my opinion, I think mutual engagement is needed. You can't expect people to continue friending and commenting on your blog if you're not commenting and engaging with them right back. Comment to their replies, engage in conversation, go on endless long comment threads, comment on their journals, interact with others in communities. If you're here to just vibe and vent in your own space, not really caring about that kind of stuff, that's totally cool. You do you. However, if you're someone who is trying to get to know people, you can't just friend someone and expect that to be the end of it. You have to make the effort of meeting your online friends halfway by communicating. It shows that you're interested in what they have to say, instead of just merely being a number added to your flist.
Yes, and your comments don't even need to be long (that's coming from me). I know I forget sometimes it's also to just say "you know what, I never thought about that" or "I haven't gotten around to seeing Movie, but it looks good, is it on Hulu or Netflix?" I'm working on that, though I'll admit I do worry I sometimes seem like I'm commenting just to comment, when I'm trying to show I did read it.
no subject
Date: 2023-05-24 05:39 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2023-05-24 08:41 pm (UTC)Yeah, 100% agreed. It being small and niche definitely helps us on that front.
It took me ages to fully move, too. For the longest time, most of my fannish communities were still on LJ, so I wasn't about to move away from them. But by the time LJ fuckery (when they made crossposting no longer work) got me to give up on LJ entirely, almost all my interactions had entirely shifted to DW. I'm really glad there's such an active c-ent community here!
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Date: 2023-05-24 09:22 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2023-05-24 11:46 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2023-05-25 07:14 am (UTC)I guess what it comes down to is the right place at the right time for many fannish folks. Because I know the main places people migrated to where between Twitter, Tumblr, or DW, but ironically it was the former two that became more popular than the latter. Probably because this is where the height of social media really truly began for many people. Resharing posts was easier than writing up a post yourself, resharing not just picspams but also fanart, gifsets, fanfiction, fanworks as a whole, people were drawn more to the visual aspect of fan creations than fan interaction. Which I get, it just sucks that long form posts like reviews and meta and just good old discussions fell away because of it.
And what's funny, is that while metas and things still do exist over there, I'd argue that they existed even in the beginnings of fandom's migration to Tumblr. I remember seeing them. They just sort of....faded away.
I wish all platforms were like that.
Same here. I know that the bigger and more traffic a platform has, the harder it may be to maintain, but still.
I'll admit I do worry I sometimes seem like I'm commenting just to comment, when I'm trying to show I did read it.
Yeah, I've read into that problem myself, as well. I try to at least find something in someone's post to write at least a few sentences worth if it's something I want to touch on, but there are times that I do feel guilty about not commenting on everything, especially personal stuff because I want to show them that yes, I did read your post about your life. I just....don't know how to comment on it, y'know? But overall, while I may not comment on every single post someone makes I do make the attempt when I can.
no subject
Date: 2023-05-25 01:26 pm (UTC)o feel guilty about not commenting on everything, especially personal stuff because I want to show them that yes, I did read your post about your life. I just....don't know how to comment on it, y'know?
Exactly. Especially because I feel like a lot of the personal posts are mostly people talking to themselves, in a way? So you really CAN'T add to it beyond something as neutral as possible. Which in some cases is still fine, if they went somewhere you can say "oh, sounds fun" or whatever, but if they're just like "I made rice and went to bed early", I don't... know what on Earth I'm supposed to say to that. I COULD talk about how I'm trying to find ways to make stir fry more exciting when I make it for company, but if they're not interested, then I feel like I have to stick to "I also like rice." (Or I DO say "I make it for company" and they'll go "I was saying I made it for myself." Le sigh.)
no subject
Date: 2023-05-25 02:06 pm (UTC)I agree about the aesthetic of the site, though. The general layouts aren't that inspiring; I've played with some of them, because they are more mobile-friendly, but they stay rather ugly in bold ways...
And I appreciate your including links in your posts. I'll do that too, because it just makes sense. Why make more work for people when you're trying to easily share something you're interested in? Just throw it out on a plate. 👍
=^..^=~
no subject
Date: 2023-05-25 08:44 pm (UTC)I've seen some people do a little customizing of their theme layouts, which is impressive, but I'm not nearly as knowledgeable or talented enough to do that unless I spend a lot of time tinkering around.
no subject
Date: 2023-05-26 07:41 am (UTC)Yeah, and of course reblog chains are not the same as comment threads. Reblog chains just kind of....clog things up, if you will. At least with comment threads there is a way of collapsing the conversation, but reblogging there's no option for that.
but if they're just like "I made rice and went to bed early", I don't... know what on Earth I'm supposed to say to that.
Exactly. I'm not entirely certain what the etiquette would be to comment on a post that's just someone posting about what they did that day. It's one thing if they're telling a story about what happened, it's another to just make a list of what you did. But as you said, it could just be them posting for themselves and less for others. Which is fine if that's what they want to use their journal for. It's just rather difficult to find something to talk with them about if that's all there is, y'know? I like to maintain at least some kind of communication, and not just them commenting on my posts and me not doing the same.
no subject
Date: 2023-05-28 10:07 am (UTC)Oh, I don't think I realized you'd only really moved over to DW last year! It's interesting how many of us went ahead and got accounts here years ago but then didn't actually start posting here until recently. (I got mine in 2009 but didn't start using it until 2019... so, just like you, a ten year interval!)
A lot of my answers to this meme would be similar to yours, I think. Though I was surprised at your comment about the layouts being less pleasing on DW -- despite the fact that that was initially one of my main reasons for staying with LJ, because I really disliked the layout options here at first. By the time I actually started using my DW account, though, I felt like they'd improved a lot and were pretty much as good as LJ layouts. I guess that could be either because I like simple layouts and wasn't hoping for anything especially fancy, or because I've always customized my layouts anyway, so all I really wanted were some decent bases to start from. It did take them a while to even have any good bases! And there still aren't that many that are very distinct from each other, compared to all the options LJ had. Which is to say, I probably agree with you about the layouts too -- it's just something I hadn't thought about in a while.
I have a paid account, mainly for the icon space. :)
Hah, I suspect that's most of us. :D
no subject
Date: 2023-05-29 02:22 am (UTC)That is so interesting!
And there still aren't that many that are very distinct from each other, compared to all the options LJ had. Which is to say, I probably agree with you about the layouts too -- it's just something I hadn't thought about in a while.
I think that's one of the other reasons why I didn't immediately start using DW once I got an account, because it seemed so basic in comparison to LJ and it just didn't look appealing to me that I think I was waiting to see if they upgraded. I can't say I remember what it used to look like in its beginnings, so I'll take your word in that they've improved somewhat. But it's still not as varied as LJ used to be, which is a shame but I suppose simplicity is a sacrifice for having the site not be too much of a hassle.
Hah, I suspect that's most of us. :D
It was one of my hangups of leaving LJ, to be quite honest, because I had a paid account there and had cultivated a large amount of icon space and I was afraid of losing that. But thankfully it was very easy to get one here, so I'm utterly grateful. :)
no subject
Date: 2023-05-29 12:35 pm (UTC)Yep, same. And I didn't want to pay for accounts plus icons on both sites, so it wasn't worth moving to DW until I was committed to switch over completely and stop paying for LJ.
Luckily I think it's actually even easier to have more icons here. On LJ I had maxed out the number of icons you could even pay for with my account level. XD Here if you pay for the "extra icons" package (which I think gives you more icons than LJ's did), you get a certain number automatically, but you can also just keep adding more at will. (I found this out by accidentally adding five extra icons one time, not realizing what I was doing, and now I forever have five more icon slots than what I'm technically paying for. And I haven't even ever used them yet...)
no subject
Date: 2023-05-29 03:44 pm (UTC)There are a couple of things I miss from LJ. For example, tagging posts work much better on LJ for me and the spoiler cuts are simpler to add.
no subject
Date: 2023-05-29 10:30 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2023-05-31 03:19 pm (UTC)I saw other people interpret the blog metaphor question as "is your blog a bedroom, a salon, a town hall, a soapbox, etc.", and I can see that, but also in the end my blog is a blog. xD
"Laptop, 100%, as I do with most things to be honest. I will use a word document to sometimes write out thoughts or ideas for possible future posts, especially reviews and things like that."
Same! Well, I use a notepad file, not a word one, but otherwise 100% same. :D
no subject
Date: 2023-05-31 07:06 pm (UTC)I saw other people interpret the blog metaphor question as "is your blog a bedroom, a salon, a town hall, a soapbox, etc.", and I can see that, but also in the end my blog is a blog. xD
Interesting. It's just such a strange question to add into everything else, because there's little context for understanding what the original poster of these questions actually meant by this. Because at the end of the day, this is just my blog, my personal little space to write and rant and squee and all of that. Just as it's always been, idk.