I'm back - well, maybe.

[sam_t]

I'm in two minds about what to do about LJ. I'm just about getting my life back after over three months of not really being able to do anything much apart from work and necessary tasks to keep me and my cat from starving, which is why I haven't been around much. I'm almost better, apart from lingering aches and the frustration of not being able to do everything at once. The thing is, though, I've been out of touch for a while and I'm not really sure I've got anything to say at the moment. I don't want to lose touch with the people I've met here, but communication is a two-way process, and if I'm not contributing anything I may as well stop altogether. Then there's the move to Dreamwidth, and the fact that some of my flist have already gone, and it all starts feeling a bit too much like an uphill struggle.

Comments

[lapin-agile.livejournal.com]

I'm glad to see your post and to know you are doing better.

I think you'll find that most folks who have opened DW accounts are really still keeping the door open at LJ--DW makes crossposting very easy, so many folks are doing that in order to keep from losing touch with people who aren't making the move. (I'm both places, but I'm not a great example because I've never been and likely never will be a frequent poster.)

I hope that you continue to feel better.

[sam-t.livejournal.com]

Thankyou! I've noticed people crossposting and had assumed that they weren't reading LJ flists any more, but I suppose that may not be the case. I don't know whether Dreamwidth makes it easier or harder to be in both places at once, so to speak. How are you finding it?

[lapin-agile.livejournal.com]

It undoubtedly adds time to read both reading lists, but at the moment that's a novelty and I'm willing to be flexible while folks sort out which place they plan to be.

[halfmoon-mollie.livejournal.com]

I'm glad to see you back. I am at dreamwidth under this name, but don't plan to migrate there unless it becomes necessary!

Don't fash yourself...take it as it comes, we'll understand.

[sam-t.livejournal.com]

Thank you. It's odd - I used to have half-formed posts in my head even if I never got round to writing them, but that's stopped. I suppose I just lost the sense of people listening.

[lsugaralmond.livejournal.com]

Pleased to see you! I was wondering where you had gone. And I'm glad you're doing better.

I for one have no intention of bogging off to Dreamwidth (pah!) and don't mind if you want to read but not post for a while. I hope you find a way of using LJ that feels right.

[sam-t.livejournal.com]

I wasn't sure people would notice - the format of the flist makes it much easier to notice who is there than who isn't. I'm glad I'm doing better, too! Sciatica is no fun: don't do it. There, that's my public health warning for the day.

Thanks!

[forthwritten.livejournal.com]

I was wondering where you'd gone - I was actually thinking about you and Cleo for some reason the other day. Sorry to hear about the time and health issues and hope that life is less sucky now.

I have a Dreamwidth account but am reading my LJ flist and will do so for as long as there are interesting people on it.
You can log into DW with an OpenID account (such as your LJ one) and set up a reading list there, which will also let people give you access to their locked entries if you wanted; alternatively, I have a code which I'm happy to send should you want it (but no pressure if you don't).

[serrana.livejournal.com]

Ditto to all this, and now that I know you're around, I'll make sure I've got the permissions set up right over there.

And good to see you again.

[sam-t.livejournal.com]

Thank you. It's distinctly odd seeing all these entries with no comments - it gives the impression of a much patchier community. I'll probably wander over to Dreamwidth at some point this week and have a look around.

[serrana.livejournal.com]

Yeah -- I think I'm mostly reading there these days, but (obviously) checking in here, too.

It's kind of a weird transition time, but I think things will settle out in the next few months.

[sam-t.livejournal.com]

Thanks! (For thinking of me, and for the offer of the DW code)

I'm still thinking about Dreamwidth - I haven't really looked into it at all yet (feel free to try to persuade me), and it'll probably depend on how much I feel I'll use LJ/equivalent in the near future.

The combination of RaceFail + health/effective social isolation etc. at the same time rather put me off any sort of public journalling, but I'm feeling slightly less hermitty now. We'll see.

[forthwritten.livejournal.com]

Well, the invite code's yours if you want it - email or pm me if you do.

I like Dreamwidth because they actually let me write userdocs for it! In all seriousness, it's open source, transparent, advertising-free, pays attention to accessibility issues, makes sensible, thought-out changes to the LJ codebase, has clear aims, has a clear business plan and is female led (something like 73% of code contributors are female [source]). There are little things, like the well-organised menus, that make it a much more pleasant environment for me.
The owners have experience in LJ support, abuse and development and are very aware of what's involved in running a site like LJ or DW. It's the first code fork of LJ I've seen that actually has a plan behind it, rather than "hey, let's get the LJ open source code and throw it up on a server".

I like the atmosphere there, but that's secondary to the code changes. I'm not saying the site is perfect - it's in open beta so some stuff doesn't work and it occasionally breaks - but I do like it a lot.

[elettaria.livejournal.com]

The DW thing is a hassle, isn't it. I'm planning to set up a reading list over there, though I haven't got around to it yet. I'm certainly going to remain on LJ. Don't feel as if you have to give up if you're not contributing enough: you can participate at whatever level you want to, whether it's having 6-month gaps or only skimming your friends list once in a while. Your life sounds exhausting right now, don't worry about internet stuff on top of it!

[sam-t.livejournal.com]

I think it sounds like not too much hassle, just a bit over my current hassle-quota, if that makes sense.

[white_hart]

I'm pleased to see you back, glad to hear you are feeling better, and would be very sorry to see you go for good.

[sam-t.livejournal.com]

Thank you!

[oursin.livejournal.com]

I'm still reading my lj flist as well as crossposting to Dreamwidth and have no plans to leave LJ at present. I imported all my flist (bar a few people who have been absent for much longer than you have) to DW under their OpenIDs so that they have the same levels of access over there. I'm currently out of invite codes but I think some people still have a few left.

[lil-shepherd.livejournal.com]

I don't think there is anyone on my flist who has gone to DW who is not crossposting to their LJ accounts, and a larger number who opened DW accounts as backups (cos its easy) and 'just in case' - which is what I did. However, there are things I dislike about it, and I'm not using it enough to be bothered with a paid account.

I've missed you, and am glad to see you back.

[sam-t.livejournal.com]

Thank you. What is it that you dislike about DW?

[whatho.livejournal.com]

I'm glad to hear you're feeling better - what a rough two months. But I really don't think you should worry about 'owing' people a conversation: if you're happy to keep track of people via LJ without actually making posts yourself, well, I'm completely fine with that.