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Arthur D. Hlavaty
From the Oval Throne of Pope Guilty I
29 January 2016 @ 07:30 am
It’s still there
6 comments —
When I read stuff like this, I want to holler "I'm still here!" :)
Me, too. And I always want to ask, "Why did you leave?" The article doesn't really say, exactly. It sounded more like a drifting, than anything else.
I know why I left Usenet. It became more and more unusable. Partly, there was an infestation of trolls, and partly portals became more and more unwieldy. I still miss r.a.s.f.f. of yore with a fiery passion. Watching gentiles explain to observant Jews how to kosher was my favorite spectator sport, followed by watching atheists explain to Roman Catholics how to Catholic. But then it would devolve to chocolate and cats. Oh, I also desperately miss my kill-file and threaded comments. Nothing Web-based has ever had the simple functionality of a good Newsreader.
I stay on LJ because it doesn't deprecate long-form. And when I tell a story, it tends to be long. Which is why Twitter and I are a bad fit. There are other reasons. It's too bad, because so many of my friends are on Twitter.
The problem with pretty much any social media (and I'm including Usenet for the nonce) is that its value is dependent upon a sufficient number of users. If all your friends migrate to The Book of Faces (cursed be its name), eventually, you will too, because friends trump platforms. I miss the LJ of yore, I miss the Usenet of yore. If I were older, there would be BBSs I miss.
This getting older thing...problematic.
Edited at 2016-01-29 03:03 pm (UTC)
I know why I left Usenet. It became more and more unusable. Partly, there was an infestation of trolls, and partly portals became more and more unwieldy. I still miss r.a.s.f.f. of yore with a fiery passion. Watching gentiles explain to observant Jews how to kosher was my favorite spectator sport, followed by watching atheists explain to Roman Catholics how to Catholic. But then it would devolve to chocolate and cats. Oh, I also desperately miss my kill-file and threaded comments. Nothing Web-based has ever had the simple functionality of a good Newsreader.
I stay on LJ because it doesn't deprecate long-form. And when I tell a story, it tends to be long. Which is why Twitter and I are a bad fit. There are other reasons. It's too bad, because so many of my friends are on Twitter.
The problem with pretty much any social media (and I'm including Usenet for the nonce) is that its value is dependent upon a sufficient number of users. If all your friends migrate to The Book of Faces (cursed be its name), eventually, you will too, because friends trump platforms. I miss the LJ of yore, I miss the Usenet of yore. If I were older, there would be BBSs I miss.
This getting older thing...problematic.
Edited at 2016-01-29 03:03 pm (UTC)
I love your long stories.
"I stay on LJ because it doesn't deprecate long-form."
My primary reason also. Long before I discovered any privacy reasons to avoid FB, I looked at friends' FB feeds and reaized that I had no interest in reading so many tiny items.
With people drifting off LJ, I'm looking for new interesting ones to read, so after noting
supergee's endorsement, I'm adding you. I too write occasional cat's-eye posts I call "World according to cat".
My primary reason also. Long before I discovered any privacy reasons to avoid FB, I looked at friends' FB feeds and reaized that I had no interest in reading so many tiny items.
With people drifting off LJ, I'm looking for new interesting ones to read, so after noting
supergee's endorsement, I'm adding you. I too write occasional cat's-eye posts I call "World according to cat".For me, much of the reason I'm so quiet here now is because I've turned inward. Due to various things, I no longer find it so easy to write in the long form about my personal stuff. The superficiality of Facebook appeals because I'm not forced to share. What I do share here is quite intensely personal and long-form, but often feel a bit limited by it, particularly since it's such an echo chamber now.