Giant non-fandom friending meme

[liv]

Here's the thing: a lot of people are about ready to leave LJ over the latest shenanigans. But they don't want to make the leap to Dreamwidth because, frankly, there isn't enough going on here. The site is smaller, so there are fewer posts, and fewer cool people to meet. And all their friends are on LJ, which is of course a self-perpetuating situation: if "everybody" is still on LJ, then there's a huge disincentive against moving, which means that everybody continues to be on LJ.

Lots of people have realized that the best way to address this issue is, well, creating content. Some people are organizing collective efforts to create more content. This is a great idea, except for one small problem: the people who are really good at organizing and creating content are mainly fandom. I have nothing at all against fandom, but I'm not really part of it, and I think that a lot of other people who feel similarly are being put off because they see DW as yet another clubhouse for the cool fandom kids.

But I am going to take a leaf from fandom's book: I'm going to cease sitting around complaining about how DW is too quiet. Instead I'm going to participate in creating content and drawing attention to the cool stuff that already exists. So, I propose a giant non-fandom friending meme (thanks, delight). If you would like find some new, interesting people to read, or make new friends, or just help highlight how much cool stuff there is on DW, please comment to this post.

You're welcome to say whatever you like, but here's a suggested template:
Your identity: doesn't have to be A/S/L, but anything that you think people should know about you to be able to decide whether they're likely to be interested in getting to know you.
What you are passionate about
How you use Dreamwidth
A link to a recent post of yours that is characteristic of your journal or writing style.
A link to a journal on Dreamwidth you think people might enjoy reading, even if they don't know the writer personally.

Footnote 1: Some people have moral or technical objections to Dreamwidth, or actively prefer LJ. That's totally cool with me – this post isn't addressed to you. I'm looking to involve people who would like to make the move, but are put off because there isn't enough to read or enough people to meet here. I am not at all proselytizing, in other words, just doing my bit to fix what I see as the biggest glaring problem with DW. Other people may see other problems, and I am not trying to fix those.

Footnote 2: If you are involved in fandom, you're extremely welcome to participate. Perhaps you'd like to meet someone who shares some of your less fannish interests. Or you are welcome to go and join in some of the more explicitly fandom-related activities going on instead.

I am going to post this now, rather than waiting until the official three-week fest, because I think now is while the iron is hot and people are motivated to move to a new site. But I'll link it again when the fest starts up on 26^th April, around the one-year anniversary of Dreamwidth entering Open Beta. I don't have any strong opinions about the DW-only content thing, and you don't have to be participating in that to participate in this meme.

So, go forth and friend!

ETA: And if you like the idea, please link this post all over the place. Or make your own version, or whatever, but mainly spread the word as much as possible

Comments

[pj]

Added. :-)

[annotated_em]

Ooh, looks like you're interested in similar sorts of things! May I subscribe? (Would you like access? My post here.)

[darchildre]

Sure. 8)

[ajnabieh]

Your identity: I'm Emily; I'm a PhD candidate in political science, writing my dissertation on the Arab community in New York. I've been living in NYC for six or seven years now, depending on how you count it. I teach political theory and comparative politics at my school. I'm married to a woman, and we have a toddler, who takes up a great deal of my time and mental energy. I'm fannish, but not on this journal. (White, [basically] cisgendered, queer, feminist, Quaker, progressive, unclear about whether I'm disabled or not...but most of those things will rarely be the topics of my writing as ajnabieh, with the likely exception of being white and a feminist.)
What you are passionate about: social justice; contemporary political theory; the Middle East; also cats, my kid and wife, snarking at the TV, and food.
How you use Dreamwidth: I use it like a blog, for writing about my research and things that are connected to it--basically anything to do with Arabs or Muslims in the US or elsewhere in the West, or other academicy things that spark my fancy. Some book reviews, some photo analysis, some linky business, some eyerolling.
A link to a recent post of yours that is characteristic of your journal or writing style. This post is a critique of the use of language in a popular mystery novel set in Palestine; it gives you a sense of what I'm like, even if it is a little wonky.
A link to a journal on Dreamwidth you think people might enjoy reading, even if they don't know the writer personally. Dude, I don't know anyone. Oh, azurelunatic is awesome, and I've know her like a million years, so there's that.

[ajnabieh]

Hey--you seem cool, and I'm interested in your work, so, subscribing!

Also, my wife went to Smith, so I'm always down to say nice things about the 5 colleges...

[finch]

Sure, add away! Nice to meet you!

[zarhooie]

Oh, you had me at "My major problem with Ohio is that it isn’t Massachusetts."

There is not enough <3 in the world to adequately describe my complete and utter adoration for my home state.

[velvetpage]

May I add you?

[velvetpage]

Warhammer. Sold. *subscribes*

My biggest tag at the moment is for my Warhammer tabletop character, Altriona. She's a lady elf turned pirate when her sister-in-law accidentally transformed her brother into a beastman.

[once_whimsical]

Hi! I'm new here and I was wondering I could add you?

[darchildre]

Certainly - feel free.

[velvetpage]

May I add you?

As an aside, I grew up in the Salvation Army and have done a few papers over the years on the intersection of the Sally Ann with the suffrage movement in Britain. My great-grandmother was a Hallelujah Girl in Nottingham, and my great-grandfather was of the generation when brass banding was still done for protection of Hallelujah Girls.

[ktnb]

I'm adding you because I need more teachers to read. :)

[dearjohn]

I keep meaning to add you, and then chickening out. *L* And now here is my perfect excuse! Added. :)

Treed Turkeys and the Shetland Buss

[ranunculus]

I'm Ranunculus a person in her mid-50's. I live in San Francisco, work at the War Memorial Opera House, garden in my sunny backyard and care for the family ranch in Ukiah. Ukiah is 115 miles north of my house. I run a small horse boarding business there and am in the process of building a big arena for riders who prefer to go in circles rather than ride on the 1,500 acres of very hilly ranch land.
I care for the land where ever I am as a steward rather than an owner, and am actively doing riparian restoration with the streams on the ranch. In my SF garden I don't quite garden organically, but close. I read a SF & SF but rarely comment on it, prefering to mention the latest book on soil, cooking or biography that has caught my attention.

Here is a post from a recent ranch trip:
http://ranunculus.dreamwidth.org/298130.html

Here is a historical note of interest about the Shetland Islands where we go to vacation when time and funds permit:
http://ranunculus.dreamwidth.org/296976.html

A tour of the top of the Opera House:
http://ranunculus.dreamwidth.org/281503.html

[forthwritten]

Of course, nice to meet you.

Your background sounds really interesting! And one of the things I like about the suffrage movement was how extensive its intersections were and the range of concerns of people involved in the movement.

[dulcinbradbury]

Your identity: Female, cisgendered, agnostic/pagan, heterosexual, married, librarian from Upstate NY.

What you are passionate about: As another SCA member, I'm passionate about performing, handicrafts, and Early Medieval Ireland. I'm also passionate about writing. I've a few publications under my belt, though no professional level fiction publications. Yet. :) I'm also a fairly passionate feminist.

How you use Dreamwidth: Personal musings, original fiction & poetry, and the occasional soapbox.

A link to a recent post of yours that is characteristic of your journal or writing style.: Daily Life post. Feminist Musings. Poetry

[dar]

May you might!

[teigh_corvus]

Very much interested! May I add?

[velvetpage]

Fine by me!

[marina]

Not at all :)

[marina]

Of course!

[marina]

Thank you for letting me know! :)

[teigh_corvus]

You beat me to the punch. I was trying to gather up the courage to friend you!

[psyche29]

You've said succinctly a bit of what I'm trying to edit down for my own post here. Be watching for my subscription! :)