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

[sandoz-iscariot.livejournal.com]

They'll take my livejournal when they pry it from my cold, dead hands! It's definitely been the biggest influence on how I approach fandom and the internet (communities! friends-lock! LJ notes!) and I met one of my very best friends through LJ, so I can't imagine ever leaving.

I think social media's general shift away from "journaling" to micro-blogging has had negative effects on fandom; there seems to be a lot less meta and in-depth conversations these days, maybe because so many of us now are used to reblogs and 140 characters and bite-size status updates? I don't mean to sound like "GET OFF MY LAWN" because this is The Way of the Internet, but it's always a bit sad when people and communities drift away.

[williamjm.livejournal.com]

I think one of the disadvantages of Facebook, Twitter and Tumblr, is that the way social interaction works on those platforms is driven by how the technology works (most obviously by the 140-character limit) - it should really be the other way around, the technology should be shaped by how we want to interact.

[etrangere.livejournal.com]

hehe, glad you're here to stay ^^

(Lj-note?)

micro-blogging has its place, but I really don't want it to replace more in depth discussions. I don't think it can :(


It's more, "you! Get on my lawn and play there, young one!"

[sandoz-iscariot.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I like twitter and tumblr for certain things, but I've definitely had conversations where I was like, "Crap, this conversation is way too complex to express myself well in 140 characters. :|"

LJ Notes are a feature (maybe paid account-only, I think) where you can add little private notes beside someone's user name. I mainly use them as reminders of who to avoid on LJ >_>

[etrangere.livejournal.com]

Oh right! we do have this feature on LJ. I should get around to using it, it sounds like it could be useful XD

I agree with this comment

[jazzypom.livejournal.com]

I think social media's general shift away from "journaling" to micro-blogging has had negative effects on fandom; there seems to be a lot less meta and in-depth conversations these days, maybe because so many of us now are used to reblogs and 140 characters and bite-size status updates? I don't mean to sound like "GET OFF MY LAWN" because this is The Way of the Internet, but it's always a bit sad when people and communities drift away.

That is so true. Up to even earlier this year you had meta fandom with the odd links - even if it was to insane journal. Not now, though.

Re: I agree with this comment

[sandoz-iscariot.livejournal.com]

Yeah. I think the "death" of metafandom was a blow to LJ/DW fandom.

Re: I agree with this comment

[jazzypom.livejournal.com]

Yeah, the only meta discussion is now in failanon or whatever the anon fandom is. I've pretty much stayed away from anything anon after a poster expressed a desire to do me bodily harm. I mean, I get the insults and the differences of opinion because that's how it is - but the anon memes what with the insults and then the posting of people's flocked entries.... I can't go for that. Noooo.

Re: I agree with this comment

[etrangere.livejournal.com]

I agree, and it really saddens me. I'm kind of bitter that they never did a closing post, something that would have given people at least the opportunity to take over the comm or make another along the same pattern. Not that they owed it to us, but... :(

Re: I agree with this comment

[modillian.livejournal.com]

Man, I forgot about metafandom going off. I had absconded from fandom for six months as rl took over, and when I came back metafandom had gone and I couldn't find any explanation. Did they ever announce anything?

Re: I agree with this comment

[jazzypom.livejournal.com]

No, not as far as I know. I do know that people were asking about various meta comms (for a while there, insane journal was a hotbed of activity), and the editors just got fatigued, I guess.