(no subject)

[dragonimp]

Last post mostly stemmed from how disconnected I feel and not liking it. LJ's pretty much all I use right now but it's obviously not all there is, I hardly see some of you on LJ. But the one chatroom I knew about seems to have died. Specifically on my mind was not having a way to talk out writing problems, when other people seem to be doing so, somewhere, but mostly I just don't like feeling so isolated.

Comments

[beautifulfic]

Wah, crap. Sorry huyn, I've been offline a heap lately. I tend to select a couple of trusted people to discuss my writing and use instant messaging. I talk to pandora culpa and fritz 42, one on yahoo and the other by daily (ish) email.

Email's better, really, especially if you can't get online sometimes.

B xxx

[dragonimp]

Maybe my problem is that I don't have any people selected. I think email would work better for me than IM, but either way the kind of response my last few writing posts got wasn't very encouraging. It left me wondering if it was the way/what I posted, in which case the venue probably isn't going to make a difference.

[greedy-lover.livejournal.com]

Do you have YIM or MSN? (I'm usually on yim more though) If so, I'm willing to listen and try to help if you would like :D

[dragonimp.livejournal.com]

I don't; I only have AIM, and I'm never on it. Which I'm beginning to think might be part of the problem. I pop up and down from the computer a lot when I'm not actively writing, though, so things like LJ generally work better for me, but I may be rethinking IMs.

[greedy-lover.livejournal.com]

you could create a yim account and then get rid of yim. because there's meebo which letss you log on to yim, msn, aim and others so you could always chat if you're interested :D

[dragonimp.livejournal.com]

That's a thought. My other big hesitation was having to track who's on what IM, there's just too many of them now.

[nochick-fics.livejournal.com]

Yeah, the chat room was awesome before it went to shit. I'd assumed another one would be made, debated doing it myself but didn't know how many people would be interested anymore.

I'm on AIM if you ever want to talk about random craps. <3

[dragonimp.livejournal.com]

I'm wondering if the chat room needs more pimpage, or scheduled chats, or - something. I worry that a new room would follow the same pattern of activity and then deadness. But I really liked being able to chat with several people at once.

Thinking about this, I realized I've been shying away from IMs. I think it's partly because I pop up and down from the computer so much, especially in the evening. But it seems that that's where most people are, so I may have to rethink things. I do have AIM, I just never have it on (it's also the same handle I had back in high school ooold old fandom name ^^;)

[priestess-grrrl.livejournal.com]

yeah, I kinda miss the chat, too, but it's hard to keep something like that going long term without problems.

And I feel the same way about IMing... I don't like it because I get attacked every time I get on, and then I feel obligated to talk to all these people, and I end up spending twice as much time as I wanted to online. I liked chat because I could just pop in and pop out whenever, and I didn't end up talking to someone till 3AM about their puppy dying or whatever.

It's hard to find a good balance between isolation and community, in RL and online. I often feel like the littlest bear in the bed going, "I'm lonely" after telling everyone to roll over. ^_~

[dragonimp.livejournal.com]

Heh, that's a good metaphor. It does feel like being caught somewhere between "need headspace" and "where'd everybody go?"

Chat was also good because it usually meant talking to several people at once, instead of having multiple one-on-one conversations to keep track of. But I'm guessing the room suffered from lack of structure?

[lost-variable.livejournal.com]

And I feel the same way about IMing... I don't like it because I get attacked every time I get on, and then I feel obligated to talk to all these people, and I end up spending twice as much time as I wanted to online.

*butts in*

That's why I like Yahoo Instant Messenger, because you can pick and choose who sees you online and who doesn't. :) That way you don't get attacked when you don't want to.

[lost-variable.livejournal.com]

I would hang out in it regularly if you made it. Maybe just share the link with people who you know are sane?

Edit: Or I could make it if you're worried about fail coming your way.

[lost-variable.livejournal.com]

*reads the comments*

Yeah IM is good, but it's different when you have a lot of people to talk to. I have AIM. If you ever decide to get on more let me know.

[dragonimp.livejournal.com]

A chat room would probably be ideal for me because of being able to talk to several people at once, but I'm starting to seriously consider getting back on AIM or somewhere - though not until after Thanksgiving, of course.

It sounds like the chat room suffered from lack of structure, or was it more like lack of moderation? All I saw was that it up and went dead.

[lost-variable.livejournal.com]

There was some major fail that happened. I won't go into it all here, but there were a lot of isolated and not so isolated incidents that happened. Perhaps if we talk on an IM sometime I'll tell you more.

[dragonimp.livejournal.com]

I was beginning to think it might have been something like that ^^;;. I'm curious, of course, but I suppose it doesn't really matter.

[greedy-lover.livejournal.com]

I'll pm you some (well at least ones I know about) The one I know you were there for was when we were suppose to stop talking about uh, being gay and God still loving that person I think or something, and that person asked us to stop then said she would leave so we could finish talking then getting mad when we still talked about it..

[actionranger.livejournal.com]

Ugh, I feel like the only place I communicate with people is on live journal.

[dragonimp.livejournal.com]

LJ/DW is pretty much my only social outlet, yeah. Especially now that I effectively don't have a job, thanks to budget cuts.

[(Anonymous)]

Do you like Cataloging? We might have a position opening up for a cataloging librarian.

[dragonimp.livejournal.com]

I'd be interested, but I have no experience.

[eve_n_furter]

I usually shy away from chat rooms because of esl issues. It sometimes makes me feel disconnected too, but it's better than being badgered :)

[dragonimp.livejournal.com]

I can imagine - chatting can get difficult enough in one's native language.

[eve_n_furter]

"It does feel like being caught somewhere between "need headspace" and "where'd everybody go?"" - This is a very valid point too, and applies to any kind of limited interface communication between strangers, I think. It's a fine line between too little and too much.
The few net communities I have been into for more than a few weeks, have all had strong moderation: by stated rules and/or implied ones. (The fanficrants community is a good example of the latter. Besides the usual wank, the discussions on rating, what should be warned for etc., is pure social training.)
I lurked around LJ for months before taking the risk of making a journal, and haven't regretted it yet. Maybe I have gotten thicker skin over the years, but there's also a lot of kind, patient, funny and skilled posters in this corner of the net ;)

[fullmetalrose.livejournal.com]

I get you. I am NEVER on myspace or facebook infact I have a myspace I NEVER use ... chat eh, never really cared for it much really but yeah I have only stayed here on LJ totally forgetting about DW as well!

[dragonimp.livejournal.com]

Yeah, that's why I've never gotten on Myspace or Facebook - Dreamwidth makes cross-posting easy, but anything more would feel too redundant. But at the same time, I don't like feeling disconnected from people, especially when this is pretty much my only social outlet.