I might as well hop on this bandwagon all the way, right? My why is actually pretty simple.
I got started being interested (admittedly not that long ago) because a lot of a very specific group of people on my Friends list are involved with DW and busy squeeing over it. This is a group of people whom I tend to consider to be responsible and trustworthy, and whose opinions I tend to respect... and when you think that a lot of them are Support, or ex-Support, that goes double. I expect they have some idea what they're doing, which is why LJ hasn't imploded under the weight of zillions of people asking - but wait, I'm getting ahead of myself a little.
And you know, I like the diversity statement and the guiding principles, but it's easy to say these things. So I was interested, but I didn't want to run headlong into the love just yet. Wait and see how it turns out, maybe hold my name for a while.
But, you know, I'm interested.
And then I got that invite code, and you know I put it to good use, and while I was there I started poking around. (I'm still in the "read everything" stage. No use talking to me until you have more links to read.)
And it's the littlest thing, but this is what convinced me:
They've divided up the "Friends" page. There's a "watch" list and a "trust" list, and you can put people on either list or both of them at once.
And you're thinking "That's nifty, but is it that big of a deal?", right?
Yeah. Think back. Think on how many years users have been begging for this. When I think about the times, all the times, when I had to explain to somebody on the support board (and I don't even do Support anymore!) that people can have you friended without reading your Friends-only posts, or that you can Friend somebody without being their friend, or that just because their username is on your profile under "Friend of" that doesn't mean there's a relationship... omg!
Of course, a lot of Support is answering the same three questions over and over again, and isn't that always the way? But this! This was something fixable! And it never. got. fixed.
And sure, there's ways around it, with custom filters and all, but it's such a hassle! It is! Oh, when I think of the years and years asking for this, and answering the endless questions on the subject...! OMG!
Of course, it's not about the system (amusingly referred to as "WTF", for "Watch, Trust, Friend"). I mean, it is, because that's a much-needed fix, but it's not. It's about what fixing that little detail that we've only all been begging for forever means.
And I'm not sure what it does mean, or if I could say it adequately. But I know it means something good. If it doesn't last, or catch on - well, I'll be suitably pissed when that happens. But until then...!
(Also? Just like I'm trying to convince all my friends-of-young-kids to send their kids to Ana's school so I have somebody to talk to, I wish to convince all my LJ friends to move over there, even if only halfway, for the same reason. Think about it. Even without an invite code $3 for a paid account isn't likely to break many banks.)
I got started being interested (admittedly not that long ago) because a lot of a very specific group of people on my Friends list are involved with DW and busy squeeing over it. This is a group of people whom I tend to consider to be responsible and trustworthy, and whose opinions I tend to respect... and when you think that a lot of them are Support, or ex-Support, that goes double. I expect they have some idea what they're doing, which is why LJ hasn't imploded under the weight of zillions of people asking - but wait, I'm getting ahead of myself a little.
And you know, I like the diversity statement and the guiding principles, but it's easy to say these things. So I was interested, but I didn't want to run headlong into the love just yet. Wait and see how it turns out, maybe hold my name for a while.
But, you know, I'm interested.
And then I got that invite code, and you know I put it to good use, and while I was there I started poking around. (I'm still in the "read everything" stage. No use talking to me until you have more links to read.)
And it's the littlest thing, but this is what convinced me:
They've divided up the "Friends" page. There's a "watch" list and a "trust" list, and you can put people on either list or both of them at once.
And you're thinking "That's nifty, but is it that big of a deal?", right?
Yeah. Think back. Think on how many years users have been begging for this. When I think about the times, all the times, when I had to explain to somebody on the support board (and I don't even do Support anymore!) that people can have you friended without reading your Friends-only posts, or that you can Friend somebody without being their friend, or that just because their username is on your profile under "Friend of" that doesn't mean there's a relationship... omg!
Of course, a lot of Support is answering the same three questions over and over again, and isn't that always the way? But this! This was something fixable! And it never. got. fixed.
And sure, there's ways around it, with custom filters and all, but it's such a hassle! It is! Oh, when I think of the years and years asking for this, and answering the endless questions on the subject...! OMG!
Of course, it's not about the system (amusingly referred to as "WTF", for "Watch, Trust, Friend"). I mean, it is, because that's a much-needed fix, but it's not. It's about what fixing that little detail that we've only all been begging for forever means.
And I'm not sure what it does mean, or if I could say it adequately. But I know it means something good. If it doesn't last, or catch on - well, I'll be suitably pissed when that happens. But until then...!
(Also? Just like I'm trying to convince all my friends-of-young-kids to send their kids to Ana's school so I have somebody to talk to, I wish to convince all my LJ friends to move over there, even if only halfway, for the same reason. Think about it. Even without an invite code $3 for a paid account isn't likely to break many banks.)
no subject
Date: 2009-04-12 05:29 pm (UTC)You ready to find out who on your flist isn't reciprocating your friendship?
You ready to tell people who have opened their lives to you that you haven't had them on your filters all along?
You ready to find out a bunch of strangers who feel strongly enough that they're not your friends that they wouldn't follow you on lj because they wouldn't want to be called your friend are now watching every (public) word you say?
no subject
Date: 2009-04-12 08:22 pm (UTC)Besides, if people are watching me they could've been doing it the whole time just by refreshing my journal every day properly. Any thoughts otherwise are illusions.
As far as reciprocating my friendship goes, well, I've got a lot of people on my FList, and many of them have a lot of people on THEIR FLists. I can't feel personally close to all of them (up to and including the group of highly-respected friends I mentioned here) and I'd be shocked if they all felt personally close to me. So long as my sister still is my friend I guess I'm okay!
no subject
Date: 2009-04-12 08:39 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-04-12 09:00 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-04-12 09:03 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-04-12 09:04 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-04-12 08:43 pm (UTC)I'd rather know. Sure, it hurt when some friends defriended me when I still wanted to be a small part of their lives, but in most cases, I understand why they did it. And I'd rather know. It's much less of a nightmare image than trusting someone and then learning they don't really care about you. Better to learn sooner.
no subject
Date: 2009-04-12 09:02 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-04-12 06:03 pm (UTC)WTF lawl
I use custom friends filters to their maximum and never really thought of them to be a hassel. I'm really accustomed to LJ and know most the tricks now...and learning a new format wouldn't be all bad, but I am lazy.
Besides, I have a legacy on LJ, and I did see that you can transfer entries onto DW, but I guess it's something to think about.
Will you still be cross posting here? D: It would be lonely without the Ulyff's posts!
no subject
Date: 2009-04-12 08:18 pm (UTC)And yes. Given the proportion of my FList who'll nevah evah move I can't see how I could *stop* crossposting here.
At the moment, in fact, I'm still thinking in terms of posting here and crossposting there.
no subject
Date: 2009-04-12 06:30 pm (UTC)I mostly read comms nowadays, so I'm not sure being an early adopter would be good for me. I do like that division, though
no subject
Date: 2009-04-12 08:24 pm (UTC)