A Serious DW Try

[penpusher]

If you follow me on the old blogging site, or if you glanced at any entries here, where I'm writing this, you'll know I've been pounding the Dreamwidth drum pretty loudly this year. The time has come for me to convert.

For the moment, I'm continuing to cross-post to the other journal, but I suspect that when the new year starts, I'll be exclusively on DW. I haven't decided if I will delete my original journal, private lock it all, or possibly use the nuclear option yet. Not sure what will influence my choice. Could be an event that hasn't happened yet. Or it could be the nostalgia.

At any rate, I'm starting to comment on DW entries. Seeing how it feels, "reading" as it's called here. It's not a mirror, not a perfect parallel. But it is more like the olden days of the original site and without the specter of all of the stuff I suggested in previous entries.

So, yeah... it's still a "house." But the more I move in, the more I think it'll become a home.

Comments

[antiparticle]

*friendly wave*

I left LJ behind and didn't look back. It's quieter here, since I haven't built a wide friend circle or found active communities like LJ circa 2k2, but I'm looking forward to participating in the "slow internet" movement and finding like-minded new & old friends.

[penpusher]

It is a bit of a reboot, as they say, but I think ultimately it will be good because it's going to be the people that really want to be here, minus the other stuff from the other place.

I think the issue is that people don't want to leave the other place because those that remained are still there. Maybe we'll get some movement when we get some movement!

[staxxy]

I am feeling much the same. It is still a house full of boxes where I sometimes sleep on a pile of cushions on the floor.

[penpusher]

And the light switches are in different places and the refrigerator opens the other way. Minor details! I'm making a go of this, somewhat as if the other place was gone.

The one drawback is no email notification about comments so you have to check back manually. That makes this feel a lot less modern, but maybe that's something coming eventually?

[kizzy]

I don't like having to check back manually either. The other thing -- which I believe is one of DW's downfalls -- is that, unlike LJ, they have no mobile app. Other than checking LJ/here and other places via laptop in the morning, I'm exclusively on my phone otherwise. Other people are exclusively on tablets. I have no idea if DW's Powers That Be plan on a mobile app, but it might not be a bad idea in terms of their sustainability.

[penpusher]

They do have that DW "inbox," which I'm starting to use as a de facto email notification. It's working better as I remind myself to look there first!

As for the mobile app, I had the old place's one installed on my android but it was never really satisfactory for me. If DW attempts it, it needs to be more streamlined and functional and just plain user friendly to make it worthwhile.

[kizzy]

LOL, I didn't know DW sent out email notifications until I looked in my spam folder!

I use the El Jay (as opposed to the site's) app, which is very streamlined and user-friendly. I've never had issues with it.

[penpusher]

Oh. I guess I never saw that app.

[jazzy_dave]

Well i am still am an LJ user but it is so quiet there now.

[penpusher]

It's interesting. There are people, especially people from that LJ Idol contest I was involved with, that have circles of friends that are still actively posting. Because of that, they are perfectly content remaining right where they are. It's interesting that it really is a case by case basis.

But that's also why it's difficult or impossible to get those that have active friendslists to pick up and go.

[kizzy]

Remember, too, that a lot of those Idolers do no other social media other than LJ, so those of us who've been friends with them for awhile are loathe to lose contact with them.

I've been dipping my toe into the crossposting here. So far you're the only person who's ever replied to one of my posts here.

[penpusher]

Re: Idolers with no other social media - It's a fair point, but not one that can't be overcome. It will also depend on what Gary thinks and decides on the if and when of another season.

And I'm now exclusively responding to posts and comments HERE, not there. It's just my way of offering another bit of encouragement...

[kizzy]

Yeah...I'm not sure what Gary's thinking or planning. I think (and this is a long shot) that he'd like to move it over here just because it's the same interface, but it's the issue of actual traffic coming here to read entries that's his big *thing*. We've been having that issue on LJ for awhile too. We had the conversation in the GR a few times, remember?

The other issue is that people who already know Idol will automatically go to LJ because it's been there for so long. How do you get them to change the carbon paper in their mind enough to go here rather than there?

He did, however, reserve "DW Idol" as a community name just in case.

[penpusher]

Any number of Idolers told me that if Gary moved, they would move, so he definitely has some clout when it comes to this. But Gary raised some pretty big issues about the construction and execution of a DW season of Idol and I think it really makes it a coin flip, slightly leaning back to staying put.

Unless and until the DW peeps decide to make participating in polls as easy as logging in using Facebook, Twitter, GooglePlus, moving to DW is going to reduce the potential for people who don't have an account on the social media site to participate in voting. And that will automatically be a severely negative factor for reading.

I know that OpenID is similar, but it's clunky and many people don't know how it works, yet another step to set up.

I think finding the Idol community would be as simple as a link on the current journal directing people to the new place. But, like I said, this may not be the answer that will help to increase the size of the community, which is, I'm sure, the top priority.

[kizzy]

I think finding the Idol community would be as simple as a link on the current journal directing people to the new place. But, like I said, this may not be the answer that will help to increase the size of the community, which is, I'm sure, the top priority.

There were Idolers who did just that not this last time around, but during the previous LJ Brouhaha. I crossposted that season, and nobody ever came here to read my entries. Ditto for others. If we wanted them read, we HAD to crosspost to our LJs. Initially my DW here was earmarked for "Idol Only" entries, but if I were to take the crossposting seriously I would've made a separate "Idol Only" LJ account like so many others have.

I think (again, a long shot) Gary wants to make the xperience as easy as possible to garner new people, so "taking the easiest path", so to speak, is also a factor. A lot of people have been turned off by the crossposting in recent seasons. Open ID is very clunky, as you said -- if anything, it's discouraged people from commenting, not to mention playing.

[penpusher]

I know that making this easier is a huge part of the story. I have a feeling that in the end, DW will make life much more complex if Idol were to switch, so my general feeling right now is that Gary isn't going to move and more that he probably shouldn't move.

Unless DW does several things to get up to speed with the other place, like the vote in polls/comment with twitter, facebook, google plus and the service itself and about the mobile app, and making things work at like at least at a 2008 level, rather than the 2002ish level we're currently at here, then I could see that being useful and maybe the change would be warranted.

The trouble is the short term and the long term. I'm getting out of the other place for the previously stated reasons but also because I have already lost some of my friendslist to deletions related to those previously stated reasons, and I don't have a really active community to keep me anchored there. It makes sense for me to go.

I also see why, based on the comfort zone and the fact that other people have their circle of friends intact, more or less, that they are very resistant to change and are shouting down the concept of moving.

I still feel that for the longer haul, everyone would be better served to leave the other place as soon as possible and migrate to another site. Maybe it's not DW. The whole stigma of Dreamwidth being "The Attic" for your previous journal entries might have something to do with it all. Maybe it's a case of opening a brand new DW journal and beginning again from Day One? Or maybe it's going to one of the other blog sites. DW still makes sense because it is aligned with the old structures and methodology of the old place.

But I think eventually we are all going to want to get out of that place for all of those reasons. Again, as more people get active on DW, the more their programmers will be able to tell what the community needs and wants and those changes will start happening. That's especially true for people paying for their blogs. They have to have a say because they are putting their money into the experience.

I think, over time, things are going to get better, but that will rely on the community and people giving feedback. If no one is here, there will be less voices for the changes we need. Who knows? Maybe by the time another Idol season rolls around, maybe a year from now? Maybe DW will have come through with the changes that make it work. We'll just have to wait and see, together!