How I killed my blog

[substitute]

You aren’t reading this. Once, you did. Here’s why.

In 2001 I started a LiveJournal entirely as a social networking tool. My friends were all signing up. We had a lot of fun sharing a circle of friends on LJ, and most of us ended up at least reading if not posting every day.

The social network expanded rapidly, and I made new connections. And I

Comments

[kineticfactory]

I too wish LJ or something like it would come back. But Facebook has usurped most people's social-connection energy, to the point where investing time in keeping up on other networks is a losing proposition, and spending time writing multiple paragraphs of prose in case one of the few radioactive mutants who still read LJ should stumble across it quadruply so.

I recently went back to posting things to LJ and Dreamwidth (same codebase but not run by oligarchs in Moscow), though to be honest, I'm not feeling much motivation, namely due to the fact that it feels a little too much like talking to myself.

Having said that, it doesn't look like many people read my blog either these days. I suspect the forwarding of links has moved entirely to Facebook, Twitter and Tumblr.

One thing LJ/DW could do that would make it more compelling would be to provide a Soundcloud-style “secret link” functionality, for sharing private posts to private access lists on other social networks.

[mallorys_camera]

I think you're wrong about LJ. Checking Alexa ratings ain't my thang ("blablablah.com captures 1.4 percent of the global Internet audience!") but my private take is that it's an underground phenomenon, rather like Deadheads once were and the whole BDSM thing is now. There's a strong readership.

Could you use it to leverage a professional media career? Not at this point. FB is better for self promotion.
But there's an increasingly strong interest in online "communities," and FB is not an online community. It's Venn diagram friendship circles, most of whom know each other in what's laughingly known as "real life."

I kept you on my flist even after months of activity because you wrote a few things way back that spoke to me. You don't know me. It's unlikely you will ever know me. And yet, our... penumbra if you will, rub shoulders. That's something.

[pigglet27]

I've always read LJ and whatever your crosspost from your blog. but I'm not much of a commenter in general.

I like LJ because I know I can filter posts and I trust the circle of people that are here with very personal things. FB makes things far too complicated to try and filter on a regular basis and there is always the fear that you forgot to filter and people will see something they shouldn't.

Also to your point, I feel no sense of community on FB. Mostly it is people posting picture crap about current topics (Obama, gun control, abortion, etc) and very little real discussion.

[microbie]

Echoing this person's comments. Also I never did find you on FB, so LJ remains my only connection to you. It is hard to venture out to a bunch of individual sites to read people who used to be in one place. I'm bad at following LJers' independent blogs.

[sachmet]

This.

[sp0rk0]

I miss LJ. I never was able to get much past my phobic fear of writing more than comments, but I really enjoyed reading the more meaningful thoughts of people I think are awesome.

Facebook makes me mostly depressed and kinda sick to my stomach, and I never have gotten the hang of twitter.

If there's a next thing, I hope it's much more like here than out there.

[robertainnc]

Hey you!

[sp0rk0]

Bert! I miss you!

[robertainnc]

I feel you. I randomly decided to look at LJ today, even though I haven't in ages. And not because of Facebook--I rarely look at that either, and it never fit the niche LJ did. Too many people drifted away from LJ though, and when I pop back over, it does have that late night radio shift feel, indeed. Just wanted to share my sympathy, as it is a real loss.