Do not go gentle

[salinea]

Lately it feels like more and more people are leaving LJ. It's been getting to me a lot. I really hate this. I hate people saying they're leaving and deleting their journals, I hate realising that people have just vanished out and not updated their journals for months or years, too. It feels like most of the life out of LJ (or DW for that matter) has been extinguished, I don't think I see enthusiasm much anymore elsewhere than in kink memes and other forms of anonymous memes (which frankly, I was never very fond of). I think a big part of it is, fandom has spread itself in other places, across different dimensions. Tumblr is great for fanart, gifs and more stream of consciousness squeeing (despite how much I hate the tumblr interface as well as the way people socialize on it and that is A WHOLE FUCKING LOT, and the more I use tumblr - I made an account a couple of months ago - the more I hate it :p); more in depth text based meta, reviews etc. are on various blogs, I guess. Fics are more simple to post on archives. Recs are handled via delicious (yes, despite the last debacle). And - what I miss most - the networking and befriending people based upon fandom, I guess maybe it's happening elsewhere too, on facebook or twitter or somewhere else I don't know about. But, and it's funny, that was one thing I used to criticise LJ for - the way it was mixing a whole lot of different things in the same place, the way it made us have to jungle all those things at the same time, the intersection of those spheres - which was sometimes unwieldy - but in retrospect feels like it was very productive in social interaction. Conversations bouncing from one journal to another, filled with ideas and joy and depth and silliness and resonance - when's the last I've seen that?

These days it doesn't feel like we get much into great conversations anymore. I dunno, maybe it happens elsewhere that what I pay attention to. I've been through a lot of fandoms - maybe too many - and at the same time I've always refused to follow the bandwagon of the next Big Fandom everyone else was following unless I was, you know, genuinely interesting in that big fandom (and most often I wasn't so much, instead I was more into skipping to another media/genre altogether!), which doesn't help keeping ties. And the biggest problem, I've really sucked about keeping my journal lively either, and I've deeply sucked at keeping lively conversation with others on their journals as well. Oh, I've done a lot of perfunctionary updating, so to speak, quick, shallow comments; and silly memes and I've tried to keep talking about fannish stuff - but... I haven't put in it a lot of myself into it. Big part of that was just depression, and not knowing how to deal with situation in life. I don't want to talk about this much. I don't like talking about it. It feels too shameful, and too vulnerable, and too embarrassing all at the same time. And as far as commenting, I have felt way too out of my depth as well as too numb often enough to have anything to say to people. And I always try to escape spirals of self loathing the same way, with avoidance and escapism; which hasn't ended very profitable for social interaction.

But I still treasure all those things. The friendships I have here - brittle and narrow though some of them may be - and the potential for fannish interactions. I depend on it so much. Maybe that is where I err wrong. Of course, things fall apart. Of course, people drift apart - that's not even a specifically fannish thing. Of course, people jump into the newest thing, and sometimes the newest thing isn't the newest fandom, or the newest kind of fanwork exchange, or the newest meme - sometimes it's the newest platform. What do you gonna do. Heh, it's not like I'm unlikely to jump onto the newest thing when it is to my taste, either.

Not sure where I am going with that. I guess I'd just like to have a reason to be hopeful about fannish networking, here or elsewhere, in a way that isn't just about clinging after past glories. Tell me there is some?

Comments

[werthead.livejournal.com]

Agreed. Tumblr doesn't interest me at all. Facebook is good primarily as a way of staying in touch with friends who otherwise don't 'do' the Internet (people who don't understand LJ at all, for example). Twitter is great for 1) telling Kevin J. Anderson to his face (or as near as) that he's a grave-robbing twat and 2) business networking, but personal interactions suck due to the character limit.

My problem with LJ is that I find it takes more effort to write a post updating everyone about my life, and my time management totally sucks since I got my new job in September. The related problem is that a lot of my friends on LJ have either left or are posting only extremely rarely, and I find it depressing (silly, I know) to spend half an hour doing an entry and only get 2 replies or something. Daft, really :-)

"I dunno, there's blogging too, for longer posts, but it's very impersonal, you don't really get to become friends with people from those. You barely comment to one another, in my experience."

Blogs I find are meant to be fired out to the general public and you must prepare for anyone to read them and reply, they're less for talking to friends. Though I have made friends through the blog, they've generally come about mainly through attending social events I've been invited to as a result of the blog.

[etrangere.livejournal.com]

Twitter is great for 1) telling Kevin J. Anderson to his face (or as near as) that he's a grave-robbing twat
XDDDDDDD that's awesome

Yes, there's a lot of great uses for facebook & tumblr that are just... not really fandom focussed.

My problem with LJ is that I find it takes more effort to write a post updating everyone about my life, and my time management totally sucks since I got my new job in September. The related problem is that a lot of my friends on LJ have either left or are posting only extremely rarely, and I find it depressing (silly, I know) to spend half an hour doing an entry and only get 2 replies or something. Daft, really :-)
Not daft at all. I think it's one of the thing I struggle the most, myself (and obviously I keep a much more active flist than you do, and I have more free time), the anxiety about spending time on something for it to be mostly ignored. I kind of really hate that feeling.


Blogs I find are meant to be fired out to the general public and you must prepare for anyone to read them and reply, they're less for talking to friends. Though I have made friends through the blog, they've generally come about mainly through attending social events I've been invited to as a result of the blog.
Interesting. And yes, that makes sense.

[silver-sandals.livejournal.com]

I know I've vanished from LJ lately but I do want to tell you I'll be back, probably pretty soon. Tumblr's just been my medium of choice lately because it indulges my short attention span and lately it's been easier to deal with on days when I don't feel like getting out of bed. I guess because of that impersonal aspect- my social anxiety gets worse when I'm depressed.

So I don't know about fandom in general but I for one will be back! *hugs*

[etrangere.livejournal.com]

I'm glad that you'll be back, you've definitely someone I've been enjoying talking to and getting to know!!!


I understand issues with social anxiety & depression. I'm glad at least you still enjoy tumblr despite those :)

*hugs*

[imadra-blue.livejournal.com]

I've been off fandom radar for what seems like years now, spending the majority of my time with school. I have a real life Facebook I largely ignore (and people largely ignore me on it even when I post). I don't have a Twitter or Tumblr. I don't even know wtf Tumblr is, and only vaguely know what Twitter is. I've never been into shallow networking sites, and I only got into LJ because I was dragged, kicking and screaming, and wound up liking how you could actually have conversations and stuff here. I like this format best. I'm likely not leaving, but the caveat is that I'm not always around since school comes first for me. I wondered why my f-lis twas so quiet lately, and now I know why.

[etrangere.livejournal.com]

Heh, yeah, it seems you've been quite busy in the last few years XD but you weren't so bad about updating regularly, I've never felt like you've abandoned us or anything.
Yeah, I don't know why. I don't think people are leaving lj because of tumblr. I think they are leaving lj, and one of the place some of them are going instead is tumblr, but why they're leaving in the first place, I think it's more complicated than that.
Anyway, always glad to see you around ♥

[kamitra.livejournal.com]

So I've barely ever commented on your journal. Uh, that's okay, I guess?

Anyway, I've been on LJ for a long time. I usually test out journals, but I'm not online as much anymore due to whatever, so I'm not interested in moving to DW, no matter that they may ban me for whatever reason. When that happens, it happens.

I've never been good with actually watching fandom content on LJ. I've mostly been in it for the journaling that I still see some of my friend's list do still. More and more I'm afraid to speak my mind as I did before... and I'm not certain why. I'm uncertain of annoying with my lame posts (thank goodness for lj cuts), but I'm also too long-winded for Facebook.

I'm unable to really get into Tumblr because I've gotten in trouble before for linking without permission in a different language and this is just a mass-method of doing so.

[etrangere.livejournal.com]

Hi! Err, yes, it's okay. I'm just not really sure who you are, sorry ^^;; but that doesn't mean it's not okay ^_^

More and more I'm afraid to speak my mind as I did before... and I'm not certain why.
That is very unfortunate :( I think I'm a bit in the same case, and I'm not sure why either - pretty weird. *sighs*

err, wow that's weird of tumblr x_x oh well, LJ is so much better for talking anyway ^^