A thought.

[hackthis_archive]

My issue with The Great Dreamwidth Migration Or Something Like It, is not that people are going, or not going. If you go, have at it, i've got an OpenID, I'll stop by -- if you stay, I'll see you around. It's not that I've been offered a code or haven't been offered a code. I do think there is something a little Supply and Demandish about it, in that the fewer codes there are the more people want them and the more it becomes almost a status symbol, and then other people want them because they see other people wanting them. But that's not my point either. I am neither pro-Dreamwidth nor picking up the pitchforks. I haven't done the homework, I haven't tested the application. It could be the best thing since the Notes App on my IPhone, I dunno. I am not making any call or pissing in somebody's sandbox.

The issue I have is that there seems to be this immense pressure, not from one person or even one direction, but just a overall press that 'Everyone Must Go!' like the house is going to burn down around us if we don't get out now. Like if you don't get out of LJ now you're going to be left behind, and that, to me, that's just not cool. That, to me, takes a lot of fun out of something that indeed might be great. But, you know, that's just my opinion.




And on a wholy unrelated Southland note: HOLY FUCKING COW, JOHN COOPER + REGINA KING FOR THE MOTHERFUCKING WIN. *\o/*

Comments

[zoniduck.livejournal.com]

You're not the first person I've seen who feels this way about the whole thing, but I haven't gotten that sense about it from the people who have posted about it on my Flist. In my experience, most people seem to be excited about having a viable choice other than LJ, and they're letting people know about their Dreamwidth accounts, but I haven't noticed any demands that everyone move. Is it overt pressure you're seeing, or is it more subtle?

[hackthis.livejournal.com]

I've very much gotten a two pronged vibe from my reading list.

Prong 1 Seems to be: HAH, I GOT ONE! I DON'T GOTS ONE, WHY DON'T I GOTS ONE? DOES NOBODY LOVE ME? I IZ SAD

Prong 2 seems to be: Sometimes subtle sometimes not so much so tinge that this is where everybody has to go because LJ is the devil.

I, uh, you know, LJ is a business, it runs like a business. It has it's problems, I do not deny that at all, but I've been working on this account for a good long while. I've invested. I'm not interested in relocating at this moment.

[lazulus]

On an utterly shallow note... YOUR ICON OMG!

[hackthis.livejournal.com]

I know, right?

[wolkendunst.livejournal.com]

HOLY FUCKING COW, JOHN COOPER + REGINA KING FOR THE MOTHERFUCKING WIN.

God, yes! I loved how Lydia was fighting to get mother and son reunited. And John Cooper! He was actually hitting on his new partner. I wonder where TPTB will take this.

[hackthis.livejournal.com]

He was actually hitting on his new partner. I wonder where TPTB will take this.

You think so? I dunno that he was hitting on Ben, but I think Ben was hitting on that girl officer. If I am wrong, hopefully it goes somewhere that ends with SEXXOR. I'm just saying.

[inkandchocolate.livejournal.com]

I kind of agree, though it does remind me of the Great LJ Migration of Ought When The Hell Ever. Which is not to say I don't want a code, because I do. I hate to miss the train, hate to be out of the circle, whatever you want to fill in that particular blank.

I don't think everyone will haul ass out of LJ completely for two simple reasons:

1. It's too hard to start over again somewhere new and retain the hardcore warm and fuzzy they have established here in LJ-land.

2. DW is still an unknown and some folks are just not willing to pick up and go somewhere that hasn't got history. LJ might have massively bad spots on their record but they do have a well established record to rely on.

In conclusion, it's Friday, sunny and warm. I do not want to be at work. Hence LJ reading. Also? HI! Miss you!

[hackthis.livejournal.com]

I kind of agree, though it does remind me of the Great LJ Migration of Ought When The Hell Ever.

Oh my god, we've been doing this too long. I remember when it was all mailing lists and you gave me my first blog. *is old*

I do think a lot of it has to do with the 'fandom mentality.' Like people think of fandom as one whole, but fandom isn't a whole, it's made up of lost of little itty bitty fandoms with their shows and their wank and their peeps, you know? And everyone's worried that their fandom is going to be the one to leave them behind if they don't get on the train. That... that's not healthy.

I... do not want to relocate. At least not now. My relationship with LJ is a business relationship, my relationship with fandom... a bit more undefinable, but, you know it is what it is.

[runpunkrun]

Sigh. I kind of feel like that, too. The site isn't even in open beta yet, and it's like I've already missed the boat because I'm not over there. That's not fun at all.

[hackthis.livejournal.com]

Exactly. And to me that's not conducive of a good fannish experience.

[parthenia14.livejournal.com]

I know I'm grumpy, but from what I can see, it feels like being on Dreamwidth right now would be a lot of work. I can't be arsed to hunt down an account and work out how to copy over my LJ when, I know it's nice people and everything, it's basically just another version of LJ. But much much smaller.

But I know there's a group of people who are fundamentally unhappy with LJ after 6 Apart, and they actively do want to move. Maybe. Everyone else, I don't know. I don't feel like that; I don't feel that I have any particularly good reasons to want an alternative or even a backup to LJ, but folk are indeed flocking to get invite codes and there is some weird anxiety about missing out, to the point where I have to take myself firmly in hand. I think my f-list is about one-quarter yay!, another quarter grabbing the invites and the rest going bzuh?

[hackthis.livejournal.com]

Exactly, I undestand that there are people who are unhappy with LJ and that they've been seeking alternatives... Greatest Journal... Insane Journal... shit I don't even remember. And that is their right, more power to them, because that's what you do when you're unhappy, you move on. And you know, if I was unhappy I'd actively be looking to move too, none of this is my issue. My issue is the way it's turned into this almost snowball of 'I have one! I don't have one! Am I going to be left behind? Will I be the last one? I don't want to be last!' That sense of anxiety makes ME anxious and I don't want to be anxious, I have enough shit to deal with.

[musesfool.livejournal.com]

I agree that the OMG YOU MUST DO THIS vibe is off-putting, and we'll see how the whole thing shakes out, but I saw someone on my flist compare it to someone pimping out a new fandom to everyone, except that the first three episodes are only available from some supersekrit source so only people who have the password have seen them, but they're super-excited and are already writing fic and making icons and setting up communities for their OMG SO AWESOME new fandom, and everybody else is like, "WTF?"

So I think looking at it in terms of it being some people's new fandom makes it slightly more palatable.

I have tried not to be a proselytizer, mostly because I hate when people do it to me, and I have no plans to leave LJ completely, despite my unease with them, mostly because I don't want to lose anybody who chooses to stay. And also because dreamwidth *is* really new and still in closed beta and who knows if it will even live up to 50% of the hype?

[hackthis.livejournal.com]

I agree that the OMG YOU MUST DO THIS vibe is off-putting, and we'll see how the whole thing shakes out, but I saw someone on my flist compare it to someone pimping out a new fandom to everyone, except that the first three episodes are only available from some supersekrit source so only people who have the password have seen them, but they're super-excited and are already writing fic and making icons and setting up communities for their OMG SO AWESOME new fandom, and everybody else is like, "WTF?"

YES. This is a very good way of putting it. And to me it's snowballed (to use your comparison) so that it's not even about the show anymore, but about having the password to see the bloody show or just pointing out I saw the show! or that the show is clearly better than all the other shows combined. My issue is it getting tainted so that you can't make up your mind on your own, because all the fuss has made you predisposed to love it or hate it automatically.

[thisisbone.livejournal.com]

Hey, doll.

The main reason I wanted to get on DW wagon early was so I could get my name. I came to LJ too late to get plain old "bone", and I've been twitching in vague discomfort here the entire time, trying to fit into "thisisbone" and not really feeling it, you know?

I may have to go see if Hulu has Southland...you haven't been wrong yet. ;)

[hackthis.livejournal.com]

I know what it's like to not feel like you fit your name, yes.

SOUTHLAND is like... oh, baby. It is the BOMB. It's bad fucking ass. Or as bad ass as you can get on network TV. If it were on HBO, it'd be GK in Copland. *sighs moonily* Go on, get to Hulu.

[gweneiriol.livejournal.com]

And on a wholy unrelated Southland note: HOLY FUCKING COW, JOHN COOPER + REGINA KING FOR THE MOTHERFUCKING WIN. *\o/*

I totally Quadruple this! Did you see last night's ep? So good!

[hackthis.livejournal.com]

It was so good I kind of almost wet myself. Cooper in that black shirt at the bar nearly had me whimpering. He's just so manly and so like... you know... not like all the feeble, scrawny guys you normally see on telly who'd break a wrist if they tried to shovel the driveway or are so boring that you're just like AS IF!.

dw

[laceymcbain.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I'm not sure about the whole migration thing. LJ works fine for me, and I do understand some people have had considerable issues with LJ, but I really haven't. It's a place to hang out, be fannish, check in with people. I do feel a certain pressure to get over to Dreamwidth and see what the fuss is about, but I honestly don't have the time or the inclination to get too wrapped up in it at the moment. Time will tell, I guess. There was a small exodus to Greatest Journal when that came up, and many people came back, so I suppose I'll wait and see. And as long as there's open ID access, that's something.

Re: dw

[hackthis.livejournal.com]

Yes, exactly.

[hollyxu.livejournal.com]

If enough of my flist migrates over, I might have to get an account at DW anyway. The community is the whole reason I joined Lj and came out of lurkerdom in the first place. From what I hear, people are just really excited about the whole thing, and we'll figure something out once the dust settles.

I remember when Lj/Gmail used to be on invite-only status. That was sort of the same vibe.

[hackthis.livejournal.com]

I remember when Lj/Gmail used to be on invite-only status. That was sort of the same vibe.

Excellent point.

[chinawolf.livejournal.com]

Hmm. Weird. I don't see pressure going on at all. Of course that might be because I can't wait to open up shop over there, and thus the many "I'm soandso on Dreamwidth" don't have any peer pressure effect at all on me.

Here's what I think will happen: some people will migrate. Lots of people will crosspost and crossread. Some people will stay on LJ. And depending on where the new communities get opened, it might eventually happen that fandom will grow bigger on DW than it is on LJ.

With that in mind, I think that I'll crosspost for as long as there are people on both platforms I want to follow. This is because despite still loving LJ architecture, I really hate the people in charge. I don't trust them at all, and have been very uncomfortable giving them my credit card number once a year, and putting my life as well as my fannish activities onto their servers. But I did, because there was no alternative. But I don't for a second think that everybody else should mistrust them, too, and thus hurry away to DW.

Even for me, it's going to be hard to leave LJ behind even a little bit, I've been here for seven years, posted 5000+ entries here, a lot of my own personal history is in my comments. But I will move, in the very least with full crossposting. I'll also be around here, though, because some of my best friends won't move, and that's okay.

As I said before, I didn't see any pressuring going on at all. Is the pressure you're talking about merely people posting their account names, or have people actually been saying that they're moving to DW and anybody who doesn't move along will be left behind? Or worse?

[hackthis.livejournal.com]

My issue is not with people migrating for whatever reason: unhappiness with LJ, the desire for something new, what have you. If this is indeed what people have been waiting for after Insane Journal or Greatest Journal, then great. More power to them, If this is the second coming, bring it on. But I am not the first person to comment on this snowballing sense of "If you don't get on the train now, you'll be left at the station" and I doubt I'll be the last. If you're not sensing the same thing, it may simply be down to a different POV or a different reading list.

[ionaonie.livejournal.com]

I'm going to check out Southland. You've got me curious.

I might use DW as a back up for this journal, just in case, but I'll not leave LJ. I'm not great at using these things and I'm still working out how to use LJ. I don't want to have to have to work out another journal *g*

It does seem slightly bizare to me that DW is such a craze and it's not even up and running yet.

[hackthis.livejournal.com]

South! Land! South! Land! Ahem, wot now?

[kismeteve.livejournal.com]

Word on all of this. People seem to think that 1) Fandom is a monolithic entity and 2) that DW is manna from heaven. *shrugs*

(Regina King is awesomer than awesome.)

[hackthis.livejournal.com]

High five.

[lamardeuse.livejournal.com]

I kind of worried when it seemed like one day last week my flist exploded with people extolling the virtues of DW. I had heard about it, but that was some time ago, and of course they've been developing it since then. I thought, well, what the hell, it looks like I might as well at least set up a free account (like I did with IJ) so that if things go south I have someplace to go. Now that I've figured out how to xpost to IJ and DW I probably will most of the time, but LJ is still my primary home, and I don't see that changing unless everybody leaves (and the vibe I'm getting from my flist now is that they're not leaving - even many of the ones who've gotten accounts aren't moving). So yeah, I get what you mean about the panic, but I'm hoping it's calmed down. I'm mainly interested in what's going to happen with the OTW journaling service - that I might move for, but again, it would have to be after a mass migration of most of my flist.

[hackthis.livejournal.com]

I'd been hearing bits and pieces about it, like you do, but then suddenly there was like a mass proliferation of:

'I GOTZ ONE!'
'I DON'T GOTZ ONE AND NOBODY LOVES ME'
'YOU ARE GOING TO BE LEFT BEHIND IN SODOM AND TURN TO DUST IF YOU DON'T GET ON THE TRAIN'

And that... that's off putting.

[romancandles.livejournal.com]

The best part about the notes app is going through them like MONTHS later and looking at all the notes you wrote in bizarre insensible shorthand. When you were drunk.

[hackthis.livejournal.com]

HAHAHAHAHAHA!

[boji.livejournal.com]

My opinion on dreamwidth - after I got an open ID code - was that all the cool kids (who knew each other in the fandom way back when) were moving house. And I hadn't decided what the hell I was going to do - never having been a cool kid in any fandom.

Then, tonight I got an invite code. And yes, I did migrate my LJ entries, comments and user icons (mind you, despite the gorgeous and damn easy to use migrate interface there are still a few beta-glitches) BUT I'm currently thinking of it as the fallback position to my IJ.

That account I got during strikethrough. Paid £30.00 for it and it's permanent. But I don't have objections to killing it if fandom jumps between here and dreamwidth. Instead of having an IJ & an LJ I'd have a DW & an LJ.

At least that's how I see it at the moment. Mind you, style coding still not where I want it and damn if I don't have to recode/url fix my fic-header post - for the third time.

What I really want is the archive of our own to come out of beta and become the primary home for my fanfic.

[mydocuments.livejournal.com]

I kind of maybe feel like a crochity old lady, but I've had my LJ for going on 7 years now. As much as LJ has pissed me off in the past, it's still my home. I've got an IJ, solely for backup (and the fact that they give you 100 freaking free userpics!) and I'll probably get a DW once I can haggle the code from someone on my flist. But unless DW absolutely explodes as the new place to be fannishly (and by that, I mean only GK and BoB fandoms,) then LJ is going to stay as my main home.

[nebt-het.livejournal.com]

I agree with you but I think, like most things, the reaction says more about the individual then the software. I am not that interested in going over to something that isn't even officially open yet whereas others just see the new shiny and have to have it now, especially when only some are able to go early. As for DW in general, I like the concept of it but I am not convinced it is needed. However I do like that there are multiple options. I have seen the big "leave LJ"- migration supposedly happen at least three times now and as far as I know most of the people are still here.

[issaro.livejournal.com]

Like you, I don't really have any deep feelings for/against DW. I'm not sure that in a year it'll matter either way. Being fandom run/open source/etc doesn't pitfallproof make, I suppose. I'd rather just wait and see. The only thought I've really given to the whole thing is to randomly wonder if a year from now when I might want to move, if my familiar and loved usernames will be available still.

[stripedpetunia.livejournal.com]

The thing that intrigues me most about DW at this juncture (besides being friendly to OpenID so I do meander over there now and then to read things) is their pickier flist setup, with the subscribing and the access--something I have wished for inarticulately, in the back of my head, to appear on LJ.

That said, I ease my twitches about my flist's collective DW boner with mental reminders that it's not even in open beta for like another week and a half or something. There is plenty of time to take a wait-and-see approach as to whether this sticks or falls in with all the other LJ clones made popular by fandom wank in the past couple years.

Why yes hello I do sometimes lurk on your journal. :D