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

Another Late Entry

[crystalpyramid]

Your identity: Twenty-something, female, currently transplanted to New York City. Middle/high school physics/math teacher at an independent school. In a long-distance stable monogamous relationship with a boy. Vaguely interested in things pagan, but my main religious commitment for the last couple of years has been Unitarian Universalist church, and I have a lot of respect for the wisdom of established religions. Grew up poor but on scholarship; have some knee-jerk class issues that I'm trying to work with/on/through. Non-evangelical vegetarian with few qualms about squishing invertebrates. Did two years as the president of my college's science fiction club, but have mostly recovered.

What you are passionate about: Teaching and educational philosophy. Organic spirituality. Participatory music, especially vocal. Feminist science fiction, such as Octavia Butler and Ursula Le Guin. (More detailed list of formative literature here. Armchair linguistics.

How you use Dreamwidth: As a braindump, record of the bits of my life that seem worth recording and communicating, try to make them beautiful and memorable. To gather viewpoints and perspectives from other people about things I don't know enough about, or don't trust my biases on. Largely, to communicate with people I already know and post life updates, but discussion is also important.

A link to a recent post of yours that is characteristic of your journal or writing style. Walking Lightly. Giornata della Memoria. Critical Mass. Much of the really good recent long stuff is locked, though.

A link to a journal on Dreamwidth you think people might enjoy reading, even if they don't know the writer personally. commodorified I found randomly through an interests search, and have been hooked since.

Re: Another Late Entry

[surpassingly]

Physics and math! ♥ And... this entry of yours made me want to laugh and cry and hit my head against the nearest hard surface. I'm subscribing, I hope you don't mind!

Re: Another Late Entry

[crystalpyramid]

I'm glad you enjoyed(?) it!

Re: Another Late Entry

[surpassingly]

I did, really. It reminds me of a discussion I once had with an economics professor about "physics envy" -- a very funny and enlightening talk, although I had to comfort myself with a lot of coffee afterwards.

Re: Another Late Entry

[crystalpyramid]

Heehee. What ended up making you switch to economics? I've warmed up to it very slowly and gradually, mostly under my boyfriend's influence — when I started college, economics seemed like something you did if you wanted to make money, and I was very much opposed to making money.

Re: Another Late Entry

[surpassingly]

Well... it's a long story (I'll probably write about it sometime when I manage to find the words) but the summary is, I wanted to make a difference, and I couldn't do that in physics. Outside academia, there was very little room for the sort of physics I wanted to do here in the Philippines. So I think if I'd stayed there I'd just have felt helpless and increasingly embittered, because it would be like... finally living the "be a scientist! uplift your country!" ideal (which has been pounded in my brain since I was eleven -- I went to a science high school) and finding that once you get there you couldn't do anything anyway. That if you wanted to do cutting-edge stuff, if you wanted to be in a place where people valued your work, it just wasn't... here. Science here isn't exactly dead, it's just widely regarded as irrelevant (because we have more fundamental issues to fix, and also because science education here is-- really, really bad) and slowly being asphyxiated, and as it is I don't think it can get out of that stranglehold by itself.

First the fundamental flaws in the way the Philippines handles education and research in the sciences have to change. The thing is, if you want to influence policy in this country you don't stay in the sciences; you either go into economics or law. So for me going into economics was a choice to make the most of what I had so I could, well, do things. Be listened to. Help the sciences here in my own way, but from the outside, so I wouldn't be quite as limited. It took me over four years to really get into econ, to be honest, and until now I still have to swallow hard every time someone seriously refers to me as an economist, but there it is. I'm beginning to discover I might actually be more suited for this than for physics. I am not sure whether to be disquieted or pleased.

AUGH, I'm sorry about the tl;dr, I can just go on and on and on about this.

Re: Another Late Entry

[rivenwanderer]

Hi! I'm re-reading this meme and saw your beautifully-written post about the Mojave desert (I spent 3 very formative years of childhood living in that part of the world) and your other interests seem nifty to me :) *adds*

Re: Another Late Entry

[crystalpyramid]

Thank you! Your jewelry looks beautiful — I've recently been caving in to my desire to buy earrings appropriate to a physics/math teacher, and some of your stuff looks right up my alley. I'll be curious what you think of Wiscon when you go — I've been trying to convince my sister to let me take her, but I think we're not doing it this year. ::adding you back::

Re: Another Late Entry

[madelienegrey]

Hi, I realize this post is ancient, but we have a lot in common. I'm subscribing, if you don't mind.

Re: Another Late Entry

[crystalpyramid]

Sounds good to me. I'm going to reciprocate, if you don't mind! I should possibly update the above to say that I'm in Philly right now, with a new job teaching HS Physics at a Catholic school, which turns out to be all kinds of fun!