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

[rustnroses]

'allo.
I'm a 28yr old straight-ish California girl living in DC and working for the man.
I don't post as often as a should and usually go in fits and spurts with that. Topics are all over the place, mostly about life, sometimes about interests.
I'm a liberal, Christian, international security politics geek who spent a number of years studying the EU and likes the fact that my job has me traveling to places that come with a bullet-proof vest. I worked on the Obama campaign on veterans issues but never served in uniform as I, in the words of my mother, "don't take orders worth a damn."
I write like I talk, with too many clauses and run-on sentences. I have a twisted sense of humor and am incredibly protective of my friends - which means I'll be the first to pick you up when you trip and fall down the stairs but will be laughing the entire time. I'm commitment-phobic and sexual-philic regardless of gender; I believe that every argument has at least five sides and if you can't articulate at least three of them you need to pay better attention. I hang out with friends and dance in my free time. I'm a generalist who loves to embrace the random and tries to accept that men are dumb, women are crazy, and people are stupid.
My default out-of-spoons safe space is synecdochic and sarah's living room which makes me one of the luckiest people ever.
EDIT:
Oh yeah, everyone just calls me H.

[pj]

>>>which means I'll be the first to pick you up when you trip and fall down the stairs but will be laughing the entire time.<<<

Bwah! Adding you for that line alone though the rest of that paragraph is great, too.

[dancing_serpent]

Awesome introduction!

[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...

[viklikesfic]

Your job sounds fabulous, even if it is working for the man ;-) I live in Baltimore and have been searching for a DC job for a year or so, mostly-unemployed. I'm more on the international human rights side, but I studied all that with grand hopes of going into government or NGOs or nonprofits and it turns out... no one hires people with law degrees for anything that isn't the practice of law. Eep. Still, I'm optimistic that eventually something will come :-)

[ce_jour_la]

...which means I'll be the first to pick you up when you trip and fall down the stairs but will be laughing the entire time.

Ha. Well said.

Bulletproof vests, in my experience, are better than either corsets or being shot, once you get past feeling awkward and unwieldy. :P Your comment here intrigues me--if you don't mind a bit of a temporarily quiet journal, friends?

[silveradept]

I'm thinking you're going to be an invaluable source of great things. Thus, +1 Subscription. I hope we have many fruitful comments.