preserving the LJ emergency network

[rm]

Can we talk about something?

I don't want to be all, "LJ is dying" but it's certainly slowing down/transmuting/something.

There's the splintering/relocating/mirroring to Dreamwidth and other services; the increased popularity of Twitter and FB amongst LJ people who used to say they didn't care for such; the fandom focus on Tumblr and A03; and people like me fleeing for their own domains.

Yet, one thing LJ has been remarkable for is the people helping people thing, because it engenders (and has engendered over time) relationships that make need and veracity somewhat easier to verify.

So how and how much we use LJ is changing. In the face of that, how do we preserve the "help solve a scary problem" factor in a way that's meaningful, decentralized, participatory, and based on networks of trust and expertise?

Comments

[ursamajor]

I think a lot of it is that in these new places, communities are being newly formed and re-formed from prior communities. I definitely see the same kinds of calls-for-action/help on Dreamwidth that I used to see on LJ, but not to quite the same degree yet. (Then again, DW's only been around for a couple of years, and its social growth strategy is vastly different from that of Twitter and Facebook - more along the lines of how LJ grew between 2000 and 2003, when invite codes were still in effect here.)

I do see calls for action via Twitter, though they usually link to LJ/DW/other blog pages with more detail. I haven't seen this nearly so much on Facebook, though, and I think some of it is linked to Facebook's "real name" policy. At least on LJ/DW, the community is supportive and doesn't as a whole demand realname details before sharing what they can - the web of trust mostly just works. (The kinds of fundraisers I see on FB are more like, "I'm running this 5k for charity." I ... honestly can't think of a time I've seen somebody post something to their FB along the lines of "I have a friend with $issue who wishes to remain anonymous; if you can, please help?")

[atrophying]

Oh man, I remember invite codes! I even remember the furor when they were implemented. That really takes me back.

[azurelunatic]

These days I think my DW reading page is more active than my LJ flist. A little less jumping on couches though.

There have been a couple calls-for-action/help that I've seen on DW too.