Using LJ

[cos]

One day last year, a friend asked me if I were going to her party that weekend. What party, I asked? It seems she'd posted about it on her LJ, twice. I read her LJ regularly, but had missed both of those posts, and she hadn't sent out email invitations, but was surprised I didn't know about the party.

Another person on my friends list (several, actually) sometimes posts on LJ to call a Dim Sum outing. He just wants some people to come, not any specific individuals, and expects to sometimes be surprised by people he wouldn't have expected to respond. LJ is the perfect tool for that.

People write on LJ for a mostly consistent readership they expect to know, so unlike with most blogs, LJ writers often don't think about newcomers or casual surfers when they write. This can fail, too, because even the people you know haven't been there for every post since the beginning, usually. There are some people on my friendslist who sometimes talk about "BPAL". Presumably, at some point, this abbreviation was defined, but I've never seen it in the year or so since I've seen it being used. On most non-LJ blogs, an abbreviation like that would be explained in each post it's used in, but on LJ, how long do you go before filling your new readers in?

barmaidblog is a well-done hybrid: she writes in LJ style, but with a "typical" blog audience in mind. One of her adaptations for that audience is that every reference to a person or event she expects her readers to be familiar with, is a link the first time it appears in a post. Links lead back to earlier posts so new readers can drill back as far as they need to build up as much context as they want at the time.

( ... and then there's the classic case of "breakup via LJ" - I've seen a few of those ...)

What are some ways people you read use LiveJournal that don't quite work? Or that do work, in LJ-specific and interesting ways?

Comments

[fidgetmonster.livejournal.com]

the party invite-via-lj thing doesn't work so well, but it's useful in tandem with email. i'd post about a party in LJ as more of an announcement, or to reach a wider audience than people I have email addresses for.

the other way in which LJ 'doesn't work' is through the use of filters: I've seen a lot of "oops, some of you weren't meant to see that" or "that was meant to be private". or worse, complete lack of context about some juicy bit of information because the poster has used their filters inconsistently. if the latter isn't a case of filter misuse, then it could be just random posting, which seems unblog-like. LJ can be a place for venting and brain dumping, or inside jokes. I imagine a blog writer wouldn't want to risk alienating their readership like that.

ways in which LJ IS working: I know a lot more about the daily lives of many of my friends, even the ones i see less than once a year. this gives me warm fuzzies because i know without some easy/popular online medium we'd fall out of touch over time. i've gotten *closer* to people because LJ allowed us to interact more.

[cos]

inconsistent filters: How do you feel about posters making clear to their readers how filtered the post they're reading is, and who's on it? What are circumstances when that's important, vs. when that's just distracting or not useful?

getting closer: Have you ever met anyone new because of LJ? How'd it happen?

[feuervogel]

I have, but it hasn't led to too many IRL encounters.

[lightcastle.livejournal.com]

I have met a few people IRL due to LJ.

[cos]

The "how'd it happen?" part is more interesting, if you wanna answer

[feuervogel]

Not very interesting, really

1 - met through a fandom interest & had been a fan of her art for a while; found out through an LJ comm she had one. Met in person at a con.
2 - met through the above person and her art group at a con
3 - met through a fandom comm, met in RL at a con, and we've met for lunch/hanging out a couple times since
4 - left a comment on my LJ once; found out he was lj friends of the above person. Met in person at a restaurant while I was visiting my mom and going stir-crazy
5 - is local but is through more a FOAF thing; met in person at a con once or twice

So, really, not that interesting.

[fidgetmonster.livejournal.com]

re filters: I generally don't like the requests to opt in or out of a filter, but I haven't nailed that one down yet. Whether or not I think I would want to read the content, I usually pass on opting. I think it is useful to post that certain content is filtered--it's a reminder that I'm being told a confidence on a deeper level than just friends-only. for instance, if someone posts that they're having a baby and in the subject it says 'filtered' i am going to assume that it's not general public knowledge yet, and that even if my SO is on their friends list, that they may not have been on that filter, so I shouldn't ask them 'what do you think about Joe having a baby?'. On the other hand, I think filters get used to filter people OUT so the awkwardness of unfriending someone doesn't have to occur, yet you can still maintain privacy or distance. There's someone on my list who, inexplicably, I no longer see a single post for: they should just unfriend me if they don't want me to read anything they post. I can't imagine how it would be useful to keep someone on the list but jump through hoops to block out content. (I'm not talking about filtering a reading list because you have 700 friends, and only enough time in the day :). i'm sure LJ-as-popularity-contest is a different topic.

what is your definition of meeting someone new? I can't recall forming a relationship (in any scope) with someone because of LJ and then had it transfer into real life as well. I do however "know of" more people within my social circle because of LJ. I have also had a million instances of meeting someone at a party or function and upon being told their LJ name I will recognise their online presence. sometimes this leads to a quicker friendship because there is a little more commonality. the converse is true as well: I've seen someone on LJ (who i've never met) and said 'hey, i saw you in the square today'.

[leora.livejournal.com]

Well, that would make sense if the person were still interested in reading your posts, but didn't trust you with theirs. In the case of a personal friendship though, and not just reading some interesting LJer's entries where you don't know the person, that seems a little icky.

I've met a few people through LJ. Support/Abuse/Userdoc/etc. will do that. You get to know a lot of the people who volunteer for LiveJournal and some of the employees. I don't see most people I met through LJ very often though, but some of the meetups have been fun. Had an LJer visit for a few days last summer, which was lovely as she's a wonderful person. Various other meetups. I do feel a little bad that I've never made it to an Abusefest though (meetup and retreat for current and former members of the LJ Abuse Team, I haven't been part of it for a long time, but I did consider going to last year's Abusefest, but then decided not to), maybe this year, especially as they're combining it with Adminfest (Support admins), and there are a lot of people in those two groups that I'd enjoy seeing or seeing again.

[tshuma]

Have you ever met anyone new because of LJ? How'd it happen?

I have met someone because of LJ. I've taken care of someone's plants, in their apartment home, whom I'd never met (and didn't even know via LJ well). I happened to be reading friendsfriends, saw a plea for plant watering in the heat of the summer, and offered help. She left her key out for me with instructions in an email where to find it. I didn't meet her in person for more than a year later, at my housewarming. (This was before my flist got over 100 people on it.)

Usually what I find happens with new people and LJ is I first meet someone IRL, exchange LJ information, and start reading as a way getting to know them better before we ever get around to scheduling any time to hang out together. LJ gives us a little bit more of a chance to know something about each other before investing one-on-one time.