In Praise of LJ
I know there's been talk recently about how blogs and LJs lead to the destruction of mailing lists, but I really love LJ. It's changed how I view fandom, how I interact with it. While most mailing lists discourage personal interaction, forcing us into fannish boxes, LJs let us be both fannish and human. I also find this brings greater respect and interest in the people with whom I'm conversing. We're talking about slash, but I know that you like medieval music, or cook crappy pot roast, or itch to move, or prefer not to live in Atlanta, and it creates greater freedom of expression by turning down the anonymity.
At the same time, there's a vaguely performative quality to LJ, more so than there is with private email, so it doesn't become, or doesn't have to become, simply a forum to recount quotidian stuff. People, at least the people around me, still use their brains and talk about interesting public issues, fannish or otherwise. I can protect myself from the excrutiating teenies who can clog some mailing lists, and hang only with the people I choose.
There's also this wonderfully supportive quality to it: you can talk about what's pissing you off or upsetting you, and people will respond and encourage. I'll pause here for a little plug: Merri-Todd (
mommybird) has a discussion in her journal on slash and why we like it, and her subject really shows all of the points that I've been making.
As a locus for discussion, I can't think of anywhere better than here.
At the same time, there's a vaguely performative quality to LJ, more so than there is with private email, so it doesn't become, or doesn't have to become, simply a forum to recount quotidian stuff. People, at least the people around me, still use their brains and talk about interesting public issues, fannish or otherwise. I can protect myself from the excrutiating teenies who can clog some mailing lists, and hang only with the people I choose.
There's also this wonderfully supportive quality to it: you can talk about what's pissing you off or upsetting you, and people will respond and encourage. I'll pause here for a little plug: Merri-Todd (
mommybird) has a discussion in her journal on slash and why we like it, and her subject really shows all of the points that I've been making. As a locus for discussion, I can't think of anywhere better than here.