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

[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.

[eumelia]

Adding you!

I'm dying to read that book :)

[ajnabieh]

Nice icon! You know, despite how crazy it drove me, I think the novel is actually kind of fun for people who already know something about Palestinian politics. I did read all three of them in like two days...

[redroanchronicles]

My goodness, you appear to be quite fascinating. Now I feel inadequate. :D Just kidding. Am adding you so I can follow all these thinky posts... very cool!

[ajnabieh]

LOL, it's all smoke and mirrors. if I act like a competant adult, maybe no one will notice... *g*

[zhelana]

yay phd students!

[ajnabieh]

Whoo! it's a strange life o' crazy we've signed up for...

[zhelana]

indeed and I often stop and wonder what on earth I was thinking.