So, Tumblr have kicked out adult content - maybe we'll see a resurgence of users on Dreamwidth?
Despite my recent posting hiatus (chronic illness blah blah) I'm interested in re-engaging with Dreamwidth. Not for adult content, for the most part, but as an alternative to Facebook. I've cut my Facebook usage back to the bare minimum: I've never installed the app on my phone, my stock reply on Messenger is to ask people to contact me on Signal or Whatsapp instead, I've disabled my feed in Chrome and Firefox on my laptop and PC, and (in theory) I only Facebook for events now - the one feature which is hard to replace.
In practice, I haven't figured out how to turn off my feed on my phone, so I do still find myself scrolling there - although I have got into the habit of using mbasic.facebook.com rather than m.facebook.com, so it only shows me a handful of posts at a time, and I have to actively quick a link to fetch more - which is more disruptive than the infinity scroll and, after a few clicks, reminds me to stop and do something else.
Anyway, my intention is to pretty much not post original content on FB at all and post it here instead. But I do still find myself sharing interesting links on FB which crop up in my feed, when I come across them while scrolling on my phone.
I recently found this recipe by![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
siderea on how to build a virtual community on LJ/DW. To build engagement, she advises posting as many blegs (questions, asking for recommendations) as diary posts, and more pointers (links to interesting things online) than either. This kinda makes sense - diary posts can be hard to comment on, and pointers are likely to be shorter and feel lower-pressure, as well as being safe topics for small talk, and easier for people who don't know each other well to pitch in on.
Personally I like the way that LJ/DW encourage relative strangers to read and comment on each other's personal stuff, but I can see the wisdom of posting more quick link type posts. So far I've mostly used Dreamwidth for diary-type posts, and used Facebook for link sharing. Moving the links here would serve two purposes: it would cut down my engagement on Facebook by another degree, and it would maybe increase engagement here.
It's going to be tricky to make the switch - I only scroll my FB feed on my phone, and I haven't got the hang of DW posting from my phone yet. But I think it would keep me coming back to DW regularly enough that hopefully I'd avoid another hiatus like the ten week one that just happened.
--
The main issue I'm having with Dreamwidth is finding friends on here. When I created this account I wanted to start fresh, without a backlink to my previous DW/LJ identities. I posted a link friends-only on Facebook, but I don't know how many people saw it. At present, I'm pretty sure most of the people who follow my previous accounts, and who would still be interested in following me, don't know I'm here. Perhaps the answer is a friends-locked post on my old account, letting people know about this one - it would help old friends find me without linking new contacts back to my old accounts.
Anyway, if there are people you know I know who are on DW, but I'm not following them, please link us up!
Despite my recent posting hiatus (chronic illness blah blah) I'm interested in re-engaging with Dreamwidth. Not for adult content, for the most part, but as an alternative to Facebook. I've cut my Facebook usage back to the bare minimum: I've never installed the app on my phone, my stock reply on Messenger is to ask people to contact me on Signal or Whatsapp instead, I've disabled my feed in Chrome and Firefox on my laptop and PC, and (in theory) I only Facebook for events now - the one feature which is hard to replace.
In practice, I haven't figured out how to turn off my feed on my phone, so I do still find myself scrolling there - although I have got into the habit of using mbasic.facebook.com rather than m.facebook.com, so it only shows me a handful of posts at a time, and I have to actively quick a link to fetch more - which is more disruptive than the infinity scroll and, after a few clicks, reminds me to stop and do something else.
Anyway, my intention is to pretty much not post original content on FB at all and post it here instead. But I do still find myself sharing interesting links on FB which crop up in my feed, when I come across them while scrolling on my phone.
I recently found this recipe by
siderea on how to build a virtual community on LJ/DW. To build engagement, she advises posting as many blegs (questions, asking for recommendations) as diary posts, and more pointers (links to interesting things online) than either. This kinda makes sense - diary posts can be hard to comment on, and pointers are likely to be shorter and feel lower-pressure, as well as being safe topics for small talk, and easier for people who don't know each other well to pitch in on.Personally I like the way that LJ/DW encourage relative strangers to read and comment on each other's personal stuff, but I can see the wisdom of posting more quick link type posts. So far I've mostly used Dreamwidth for diary-type posts, and used Facebook for link sharing. Moving the links here would serve two purposes: it would cut down my engagement on Facebook by another degree, and it would maybe increase engagement here.
It's going to be tricky to make the switch - I only scroll my FB feed on my phone, and I haven't got the hang of DW posting from my phone yet. But I think it would keep me coming back to DW regularly enough that hopefully I'd avoid another hiatus like the ten week one that just happened.
--
The main issue I'm having with Dreamwidth is finding friends on here. When I created this account I wanted to start fresh, without a backlink to my previous DW/LJ identities. I posted a link friends-only on Facebook, but I don't know how many people saw it. At present, I'm pretty sure most of the people who follow my previous accounts, and who would still be interested in following me, don't know I'm here. Perhaps the answer is a friends-locked post on my old account, letting people know about this one - it would help old friends find me without linking new contacts back to my old accounts.
Anyway, if there are people you know I know who are on DW, but I'm not following them, please link us up!