Test and Also a Master Plan!

[arcanelegacy]

Okay, so here's how I think things are going to work for me:

I'm too stubborn and attached to simply up and leave Livejournal. Frankly, come hell or high water, I like the site too much. So I'll still be checking LJ daily, commenting as often as possible, and continuing to maintain whatever fandom life I can on that site, design permitting. (I am also morbidly curious to see if the staff figures out that emulating Facebook isn't really the way to go if you'd like to keep your user base.

However, I will also be active on Dreamwidth. I have the account set up and several of my good friends are up and leaving Livejournal. I don't want to lose them over the site's design.

Most - if not all - of my posts will probably be crossposted from here on out. I might make exceptions here and there, but I don't imagine they'll happen all that often.

I will probably start posting some of my fanfic and other writings here - both as backup and because maybe I'll be able to start a coherent tags system here now that I'm starting from scratch. I'll keep it slow and probably date them out of order if I can, simply to avoid a huge influx of posts.

You are welcome to add me still and to comment on either site!

Comments

*peeking over the fence, Home Improvement style*

[obscuritan.livejournal.com]

Hey, just found out about all this "abandon ship" stuff (that's what I get for not reading LJ in a few days). So what's it like over here in Dreamwidth land?

Re: *peeking over the fence, Home Improvement style*

[shipwreck_light]

Do you remember LJ circa 2002?

But, the mods actually pay attention and are not goats.

In other words, it's totally sweet.

Re: *peeking over the fence, Home Improvement style*

[obscuritan.livejournal.com]

*embarassed* That's a little before my time :$ Sounds nice, though. I take it you're a veteran here?

And what is it with Social networking sites and livestock? The goats at LJ, Deviantart have the Llamas - personally I'll really start to worry when LJ mods are represented by shepherds, and all our Icons are sheep.

Re: *peeking over the fence, Home Improvement style*

[shipwreck_light]

I've been on LJ since 2000, actually. So much crashing and burning! It seems like Strikethrough was only yesterday.

I wish I knew. I think the programmers start thinking of lunch which leads to thinking about animals which leads to mascots.

*is pretty sure some of the LJ mods think we're sheep already- they just need to make it official*

Re: *peeking over the fence, Home Improvement style*

[arcanelegacy]

I've always wondered where Frank came from. A goat seemed like such an unusual mascot.

Lol I was on LJ for Strikethrough, but wasn't active enough to know what the hell was going on until way after the fact. How times change.

Re: *peeking over the fence, Home Improvement style*

[arcanelegacy]

You've gotten a few other comments explaining, but the LJ, uh, debacle basically boils down to this:

LJ rolled out a terrible update that is both ugly and lacks a lot of the functionality (including the ability to preview comments, add subject lines to comments, and a keyword based system for choosing icons, among many other things) of the previous version.

When the user base responded (to the tune of several thousand comments), LJ ignored most of the complaints, suggestions, and explanations for why the update was going over so poorly. When it finally did respond, it changed small details (giving everyone the ability to edit their comments regardless of paid account status) but ignored much of the details the users wanted back the most.

The outdated, gross design coupled with the staff blithely ignoring the response and offering the barest minimum as an olive branch upset a lot of people. Many of them were upset enough to haul ass to other sites, including this one.

I....currently have a love-hate relationship with Dreamwidth. It's very, very similar in format, layout, and functionality as LJ was before the update, and is still small enough that the staff have names and faces, listen and respond to feedback, and seem to be much more attentive to the needs and wants of their user base.

But it's not my LJ. ;_;

Re: *peeking over the fence, Home Improvement style*

[obscuritan.livejournal.com]

Well, I think you've convinced me to give it a go, since evidently you can cross-post back to your old LJ account anyway until if/when the hoo-hah dies down. ITS A CHRISTMAS MIRACLE I TELL YOU!

Re: *peeking over the fence, Home Improvement style*

[arcanelegacy]

Oh, indeed! That's one of the upsides I'm really fond of here - I can move without completely abandoning the old place. Plus the posting format is near-identical to LJ, so there's not a huge learning curve involved with making the jump.

I also still hold out hope LJ will learn, or maybe the next update will actually be worth something. It's a feeble hope, but it exists anyway.

I also get more icons on a free account here. Which is fabulous, because using my six back on LJ was getting tedious.

Re: *peeking over the fence, Home Improvement style*

[obscuritan]

I see what you mean, this is pretty cool (once I realized I needed to make an actual account, rather than use an OpenID). Consider yourself added, or friended or whathaveyou :D

[shipwreck_light]

OHAI I LIKE YOUR PLAN.

It is a good plan.

And LJ is SUCH a butt. Taglove!

[arcanelegacy]

It's the best I've got! And it'll let me keep up with everything still, while also letting me see if LJ ever learns that Facebook isn't a site users want other sites to emulate. (You'd think the regular, vocal outcry any time Facebook rolls out another update would be enough warning, but apparently not.)