First Think, THEN Ink.

Well, LiveJournal is now perfectly safe. A couple years back, we weren't so sure about that, when the people of SixApart were doing whatever it was they were doing and people were scrambling to archive their LJs. Remember that? We all were in a state of borderline panic about losing all of our writings and comments.

But now, it seems, the threat has taken a new form. People just don't read or write here the way they used to do. It seems as if Twitter has taken over the World Wide Web in a way that LJ never could have done, and of course Facebook has exploded in the time since those 6A days occurred. What really happened?

Twitter is easy. 140 characters and you can "make a post." For people who don't consider themselves "writers," it's a handy way to do something like LJ, without needing to say much. Not that you couldn't have just written your hundred forty right in your journal here! But maybe people would have found it odd to have adopted a "self-censored" approach to LJ.

Facebook has that "What's On Your Mind" headline, which is pretty much like the tweet posts, so there's that attraction. And suddenly, everyone you know from everywhere in the world has a Facebook account, so there's the lure of finding people you haven't spoken to in years, all right there. People that I never want to see or hear from again? Right there.

Twitter has the illusion of celebrity. When I interviewed marta for talk_show back in October of last year, she noted that the Яussian version of LiveJournal was laden with celebrities in their country, and that their journals were often used as source material for stories on their newscasts!

Apparently, that's what Twitter has become, here.

I mean, I guess people are really starved for star interaction, but the truth is you aren't getting any on twitter. When you see someone like Demi Moore... who has well over 1.5 Million people following her every tweet, yet she follows less than 100 people back... that's not going to bring you the entertainment jolt you really want... unless you think that yelling at the celebs on the red carpet, while you're across the street and facing away from them will get you their attention.

Recently popstar all but announced that she was going to give up her LJ to just use Facebook and Twitter and that she wasn't really sure how people were using LiveJournal anymore. My response to her (in part) was:

I have a perm account, so I will be here permanently, or until they dismantle the internet or LiveJournal, whichever comes first.

I see twitter as eroding LJ. Ultimately, as a writer, twitter leaves me feeling a bit depressed, like coming down from a junk food high. Yeah, it felt great at the time, but later, it's sorta empty. The substance, the nutrients and vitamins I seek are still (potentially) on LJ. The people I selected for my friendslist are the people who are inspiring and worthwhile. They're the people I want to read and hear about, because they have something to say!

And that's what I wanted to say to you. You are on my list because you are interesting to me. I may not always comment to what you say. I may not always see every entry when you post it and I may not always write something that you find worthwhile, but the point is, LJ is what we make it, and if everyone leaves, then it's just an empty place.

I'm not sure where twitter will go. The guys who founded it have made it clear they haven't made any money from it so how will this proceed? Will they get all their celeb users to pony up some cash? Because, really, that's why many of the twitter users joined!

But the question now is, will LJ be a dinosaur, or will it continue to be a vibrant and viable place to interact with people, to follow life stories, to share the triumphs and tragedies... It doesn't seem as imminent as when 6A was manipulating everything in their efforts to commercialize LJ for its own purposes, but in a way, isn't this at least as big a threat as that?