I'm just curious.

[in_the_blue]

One of you mentioned yesterday about LJ friends lists being a popularity thing: how many of you have journals just to see how many people friend you? What was the reason you started your livejournal?

I started mine because sff_corgi badgered me into it. I didn't want to do it and I didn't care that much about it. I was always a pretty private person and didn't really feel that a public journal was going to be the least bit interesting; people who knew me knew me and those who didn't... well, didn't, and I'm pretty cut-and-dried and I don't care.

But now I like it. Part of it is because of the networking and meeting people with similar interests. Part of it is because of the beta-reading work I do. Part of it is just for fun. Part of it is so I can bitch to whomever wants to listen. Part of it is because I like to write. Part of it is just another obsession.

So, why did you start your journal? What do you like best about it? What pieces of it bug the shit out of you? If you read my journal, why do you read it? Do you read random journals just for fun? I guess some enterprising soul could turn this into a meme if they wanted.

Comments

[perceval.livejournal.com]

I started it as a way of staying in touch with people. New Year's resolution not to be so aloof anymore.

It worked a treat - I got to know my online friends on a whole new level. What scares me though is the wanking. After having been wanked just once, I still sort of shudder when I see that somebody I don't know has replied to a post or a comment of mine.

I read your journal because you're interesting to read and you're my massage mentor.

And no, random journals don't interest me. I do surf off people's F-lists, though.

[chrysantza.livejournal.com]

I started the LJ partly because so many of the lovely ladies in the SQ workshop had one and I wanted to read theirs, and partly so I could comment on community journals not as an "anon." I didn't plan to do a lot of commenting or writing in it originally but I found myself doing just that.

What I hate? "Fandom wank." 'Nuff said.

Like perceval I don't surf random journals, but I do surf friends-of-friends and occasionally wind up friending them. I also surf journals of those who make intelligent comments in community sites.

[chrysantza.livejournal.com]

Oh, and arrgh...sorry to spam but I forgot to add why I read your journal. You were one of the "FOAF's" I friended, because your journal is fun to read and you like a lot of the same characters I do. And you're a cat purrson! (How is Cap'n Jack, by the way?)

[themorningstarr.livejournal.com]

I've actually asked people why they read my LJ too. It's something you just wanna know, ya know?

Anyway, I started mine after reading... Moey's I believe and wanting one. And then Percival gave me a code. At first I just loved the quizzes and memes, but now I like it because I can tell everyone at once what's going on with me and I don't have to repeat myself. :P And I like reading my friends's LJs because they're interesting.

I read yours because you're interesting and you write about things that strike my fancy. Oh, and because I like you. :P Duh. What's not to like?

[shellebelle93.livejournal.com]

Actually, I got a LJ because I wanted to keep up with my rec.arts.tv.mst3k.misc crowd. All the "oldbies" had gotten Live Journals and I missed them on the newsgroup.

The HP fandom stuff was gravy. :-) And then of course, pimping my fanfiction.

What bugs me about LJ is the same thing that bugs me about online life in general: the faceless people that feel they can heap abuse on you because they will never meet you in real life.

Generally, I stick to my friends-list, occasionally straying off to read a link to someone else's. My f-list is prolific enough, thank you!

:-)

[h311ybean]

1. So, why did you start your journal?
I started mine because I needed a place to write down all the stuff that was happening to me. It was better than e-mailing my friends everyday telling them stories they might not be interested in

[Error: Irreparable invalid markup ('<_<>') in entry. Owner must fix manually. Raw contents below.]

1. So, why did you start your journal?
I started mine because I needed a place to write down all the stuff that was happening to me. It was better than e-mailing my friends everyday telling them stories they might not be interested in <_<

2. What do you like best about it?
It's an outlet for my rants and it helps me keep in touch with friends, both OL and RL.

3. What pieces of it bug the shit out of you?
Like <lj site="livejournal.com" user="chrysantza">, I don't like fandom wankers.

4. If you read my journal, why do you read it?
Because I know you and want to know what's going on in your life :)

5. Do you read random journals just for fun?
I read FriendsFriends, but that's it.

[sff-corgi.livejournal.com]

So, why did you start your journal?

Because perceval and greatwideleap and mkholmquist and... oh, drat, I always forget someone. Probably hellcatjelybean! (Maybe even soupytwist.) Because they said I had to have an LJ once I started weblishing Canis Mutatem. I didn't think I was going to use mine, either, but I was wrong.

What do you like best about it?

People seem to be listening to me. Mostly. ^_^

What pieces of it bug the shit out of you?

Wankers. Smug wankers. And idiots who ramble on in a way that makes you wonder if English is their native language... what happened? Thankfully and deliberately, none of those are on my Flist.

If you read my journal, why do you read it?

Because you're you.

Do you read random journals just for fun?

Sometimes I'll browse my FriendsFriends, but that rarely needs to be done. It's usually when I've run out of anything else to do with my mind that can be interrupted by people who don't listen to simple instructions [glares at customers].

Hmmm... my icon list is black-on-black. Somehow that's appropriate here.

P.S.

[sff-corgi.livejournal.com]

When I started getting the hang of the Flist, I did go interest-searching -- like, for Stargate, the SCA, Celt stuff. I picked an interesting-looking name and checked them out, so I could keep in touch with that mindset. Or I'd browse my Friends' Friends' LJs. After a while, things just expand on their own.

[in-the-blue.livejournal.com]

The black-on-black icon list should be fixed now. Didn't like that, no no no. It would be appropriate in Mr Black's journal (http://www.livejournal.com/users/sosirius) but not mine.

[queen-nerd06.livejournal.com]

Very interesting question. :) I love questions like that because I can actually answer them, ya know?

Anyway, the thing that made me read this particular journal entry of yours was the icon. I thought it was the cutest thing! But as to my journal...

Well, let me think. I got a LJ because my friend, snuzzie convinced me. At first I was really into it at all. I barely updated, and when I did...it was book-long entries that no one had the slightest interest in reading. Then I remeber one entry I complained about how I spent like an hour updating my journal, and how no one ever read it or commented on it. Then I got replies from some p/o'd people who apparently were reading my journal.

Thus, I discovered the "friends" feature. And thus, discovered that the smaller and more interesting your entry was...the more likely you were to get comments on it. Finally, I discovered people love getting comments on their LJ. Its like someone actually being interested in your life. So, excusing the fact I've been dead from the LJ universe for the past few weeks, I try to comment on almost ALL my LJ buddies entries...even the pointless ones. :)

And that is a long reply, and I know you're a busy woman. So I'll end here. Another thing though...I try to keep my comments to you or Katinka to a minimun. I know you two hardly have time for the ramblings of a 16 year old would-be writer. :)

[in-the-blue.livejournal.com]

G'wan. Don't you know variety is the spice of life? Sometimes, the ramblings of a 16-year-old would-be writer are far more fascinating than anyone else's.

[queen-nerd06.livejournal.com]

heh. Have you ever read a really really really bad fanfic that had to have been written by a poorly advised six year old?

I imagine that some times I must sound like that to adults. Though thats not neccessarily a bad thing. Kind of...reminiscent, ya know? :D

[in-the-blue.livejournal.com]

More than one, my dear, more than one. And none of them were yours, and they usually come with disclaimers that say '7 people I know have already betaed this and loved it, so you just have to give it a quick once-over.'

P.S. Glad you liked the avatar.

[queen-nerd06.livejournal.com]

Uh....avatar?

[in-the-blue.livejournal.com]

avatar. An image representing a user in a multi-user virtual reality space.

In other words, this icon.

[queen-nerd06.livejournal.com]

Would you believe me if I said I did suspect that's what you meant since I first said, "I like your icon". On my last comment, I noticed the "Greetings from Azkaban - Wish you were here" and thought it was hilarious. :D

[in-the-blue.livejournal.com]

Yes, I would believe you, because you're smart.

'Greetings from Azkaban - Wish You Were Here' is an occupational hazard of roleplaying the most notorious escaped convict in the wizarding world. [grin] It's also in preparation for the movie opener on Friday.

[queen-nerd06.livejournal.com]

Oh yes, I've been anticipating this movie for a while...but because of softball and work...I can't see it until Sunday. :\

[anony-ms.livejournal.com]

Don't read random stuff - cruised around by subject once (zzz). Like your LJ because it's good & shows your kind regard for animals, your mom-ness & your radiating authenticity.

Came over here first time because I got a friendliness beam from your presence at corgi's.

Started mine because of repeated proddings from the paw of aforementioned corgi. Enjoy muchly when I get around to actually writing something.

Nothing bugs me to the "shitless" point about LJ experience - though I =am= consistently (if mildly) bugged by not knowing anything about obviously basic stuff like: meme, wank, friending, beta-reading. Like what they =are= ?! :P

[in-the-blue.livejournal.com]

- memes are those quizzes and sets of questions that everyone steals ("gacks") from one another.

- wank means to make fun of another person or their postings or their writings or their ideas in public, often done in a very mean-spirited way and for no good reason other than to cause pain.

- friending is when you add another LJ user to your friends list (which you can do by going to that user's info page and clicking the little icon with the plus sign on it).

-beta-reading is a fancy term for editing. It's almost more of a fanfic thing than anything else. For instance, I officially beta-read for nine authors at the Sugar Quill, which means I have to see (and edit) their work before they submit it. Unofficially, Corgi is my beta-reader (because I bludger her into doing it for me).

[anony-ms.livejournal.com]

Bless you!

I was planning to just learn eventually & accidentally but this is way better. :)

I am friending you right now. . . !

[anony-ms.livejournal.com]

Done.
(beam)

[in-the-blue.livejournal.com]

Most excellent. See how easy?

[erised1810.livejournal.com]

Wow. how coudl I forgeet this one completel yafter savign it for "hmmm..interesting"?
I found LJ years ago while Iread afew of mybeatels friends. I onl ygot intersted inbloggi nfr myself when everyoe nstarted puttign their usernames intheir sigs and all that. THe nI First got oen ofthos efree ones at blurty.com. Adn then hafl ayear later oen of m ybest friends gave me an lj code (which was or perhaps sitl lis a ay to get apermanent free journal) adn that's when the fun started. so I was happily moving into my new "home of thoughts"and erm...in the midst of readign ootp still.



I found you...I don't know how exactl yanymore. either I aded thigns t o my interests and foudn you through het!Sirius. or i had subscribed to quickquote where the whole buckwah started about sirisu being a sociopath or erm...well the whoel tralala of "how to watch sirisu thorugh Snape's eyes whie tryig nnotto soudn like Severus himself". adn t somewher inal the linsk it mentioned yoru rant on sirius adn I absolutely...I mean this woman siriusstar I'd been havign daily logn emails with about all that kidn of stuff and when yorus popped i nI was liek "She shairs her mind!"it was almsot her talking, really.
And then I wento yoru site.adn then to sff_corgi adn then I went "Hey...corgi'*thinkthink* hah! marauder fics on sugar quill!
SO..erm...it's thorugh you and her I foud na wohel stack of others. I jsut realized days ago that I have about *counts* five? six? SQ-eers in my lj adn I believe most of them I didn't even added BECAUSE they came from there. it's more like "hey, she soundds nice"and then after reading miles away I check their sitesand its'"Oh.she's inthe professor's bookshelf!
And you? I'mreading yo ubecause it's ben insightful, fun and well, als obecause..you know..Sirius!
ahem. That said, I'm loving this place even if it's sometims gloomy and dar kand somewhat tense.
As of friendding. whe nI come across osmethign new I have this pre-friending habit of jsut bookmarkign them in the same fodler as all m yother lj-related stuffand readign along for a while. It's jsut a way of real ygeting to know someoen. I started that afte I've had TWO whoel experiences of simy addign someoen and finding outthey were SO not what I'd liek to read on a dail ybasis.
Phiew. That was all I think. (http://www.livejournal.com/users/erised1810/2003/09/12.html)