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

[feuille]

Yeah, it's the fish-and-pond size thing - they're the biggest fish where they are, whereas a year later at my school they're the smallest fish in a much bigger pond. I'm in my initial teacher training year and I do occasionally wonder or worry if I should be teaching a younger age group.

[velvetpage]

I had to fiddle with it a bit. My first few years were in middle school - ages twelve to fourteen, basically - and they were sheer hell. Part of that was my own fault, and part of it was just bad bunches of kids, and part of it was that I'm not cut out for teaching middle school. I transfered to grade 5 and have been doing either straight grade five or a 4/5 split class (about half of my class in each grade) for the last six years. It's much, much better, but by this point in the year the grade fives are always getting hormonal and nasty and I'm ready for the year to end.

[amadi]

Greetings from inside the city of Pittsburgh. You look interesting and I do appreciate folks on the older end of the age spectrum here, so I do believe I shall subscribe. Oh, and invite you to join pittsburgh too.

[runawayskellum]

I don't know much about art, but I loved your review of Alice in Wonderland (which I still haven't seen). Friending! :D

[feuille]

Glad you switched to something you're so much happier with! It can be a shock to see how different one batch of kids are to another.

In England, we don't split up the middle and high schools - so mine range from 11-16, and they can range from 11-18. It's a bit crazy!

[runawayskellum]

Tamora Pierce! A:TLA! I can relate to having fallen out of fandom to a large extent - I think it's this strange post-HP world we live in. Friends?

[pj]

folks on the older end of the age spectrum

*cries* OMGs! I am on "the older end"! I did notice so many of the entries on this meme were from people who "OH! The age of my children!" Ha! Please to meet you and will add you back. :-)

[amadi]

We have a lot of folks in common, I should like to get to know you too!

Re: Let's start with me

[lexicalcrow]

Not long after I joined DW, someone rec'd you as an awesome and interesting person, but I was too shy to add you then. This meme is a good enough excuse to add you at last, I think. :)

[saekhwa]

Ummmm. So hi! I've added you to my circle because you mod anime_manga (which I love) and now you're running the animanga_news newsletter, and you seem really cool in comments and stuff, so!

[sinatra]

Subscribing!

[velvetpage]

I can see some advantages to that, and really, we need to do something to unify elementary and secondary in Ontario. The gulf between grades eight and nine is massive, because the teachers are in two different unions and there's very little crossover between them. So the elementary teachers are gradually becoming more and more constructivist, but the high schools are not keeping up and kids are getting lost in grade nine.

[amadi]

Poly, check. Sapiosexuality, check. Fat/body acceptance, check. Mental health, check. Kids, check. Writing/words, check. Relationships, sex, fluidity of sex and gender, check. I think you sound like my kinda person.

[orbitaldiamonds]

Likewise! :)

[falcongrrl]

Awesome. :-) Thank you.

[dancing_serpent]

*blush* So many compliments! Welcome to my journal. Added you back, too.

[feuille]

And even in the UK version there's still such a downward pattern as the kids get older - attainment gaps widen, aspirations go down. They're getting lost here so I can't imagine how much worse it would be when there's no unifying scheme. Different unions, as well? Sheesh!

We used to have more schools - middle schools, which actually had ages 9/10 through 12/13, and then high schools which were ages 13 to 16. But they're pretty extinct now.

[falcongrrl]

Oh, I sing, too! I forgot to mention that.

And while my private personal path is very paganish and earth-centered, my husband is Jewish and my kids are raised Jewish.

Looking forward to reading you.

[lexicalcrow]

I am intrigued by your thoughts on magic systems. Adding you.

[feuille]

I love that brown/red noise generator! So soothing! And you had me at Alexander Siddig. I'm a klutz so this may be me, but I'm having trouble commenting on your journal entries. Hopefully it will go away!

[sinatra]

Welcome to Dth!

I'm subscribin'.

[twtd]

I'm 26 and I'm trying to figure out what to do with my life (or at least the next few years of it). My partner and I have been together for 5 and a half years and right now we're in northern Ohio but we're going to be moving this summer (wherever she decides to go to law school)

Right now my journal looks like it's really fanish and/or full of random links, but I do post about my real life and non-fanish things. I'm passionate about feminism and lgbtq issues and pop culture in a non-fanish way, so my posts do tend to talk a lot about tv and movies and books and very occasionally music. I'm also passionate about good drinks and good food, though mainly going out for it, not cooking it. I bake more than I cook. I'm also way to into the Lego video games, which I've never talked about on DW, but I think that might give you some insight into my personality, which at times can resemble the good parts of a eight year old's. I also tend to overuse parentheses and superlatives.

DW has become a catch all for anything I feel like writing about/sharing with people, from what happened on tv last night to national politics to really random youtube vids I've enjoyed.

This is a post about a recent trip to Atlanta that my partner and I took and it's pretty indicative of how I write and what I write about when I'm not writing about tv.

More people should come play with havocthecat and shes_awesome always needs new members.

[amadi]

Erm, I've been awake for many hours without sleep. I didn't mean "older end" in a bad way. :D

[sinatra]

Hi! Subscribing to both this and your fandom account. :D

[lonesome_george]

Still on the north-east coast, Scarborough way :) I have to admit I love the seagulls though, there were some chicks on the roof of the house I was in last year and I thought they were really cute :3