Oh hai, we has a Dreamwidth

[amorpha]

We occasionally uses it, even

...errr, in all seriousness, we've actually been neglecting it pretty badly since getting a Tumblr, which we're not entirely happy with. There are a LOT of things the LJ/DW format does better, in our opinion. I think part of the problem is... if a discussion gets started on Tumblr, it tends to stay on Tumblr, even if it gets reduced to hurling angry "NO U" soundbites and insults at each other. And if someone is pouring an avalanche of misinformation into the discussion (which happens A LOT when plurality in any of its forms gets discussed on Tumblr), it doesn't really... seem possible to enter the discussion to say "No, look, you're wrong about this and this and this" without being on Tumblr yourself. It seems like a lot of what keeps some discussions afloat in Tumblr is being Righteously Ragey (tm), even if a lot of that Righteous Rage is basically tilting at windmills.

It just gets really hard sometimes for us to process the sheer amount of information that tends to go through Tumblr. Like there are days where we just want to skip all the picture and link posts entirely, because our brain can't keep up with it.

And Tumblr is also prone to... someone grabbing something you've said and running around quoting it out of context, and if your brain can't handle constantly checking the latest social drama, you may find yourself being targeted by a lot of trolls, or the misplaced rage of various windmill crusaders, before you can even say "No, look, you took that out of context to make me look bad."

So we still want to use this for... stuff. If it's useful to anyone, we're glad, even if there's no "like" button.

Comments

[milkymoon]

It's good to see you guys updating here again. I feel as though it's easier to lay your thoughts out and have readable discussions on your posts on journalling sites like LJ and DW. Tumblr's more like an echo chamber. I don't see too many non-Tumblr blogs linking to Tumblr discussions, and it just seems like an infinite chain of reblogs sometimes. We've been avoiding getting too involved in plurality discussions on Tumblr (except the odd reblog) because we just don't have the energy, time or patience to deal with the 'NO U' and constant trolling that occurs. (And, of course, the Windmill Crusaders/Social Justice Warriors.) It's like, there are often really great ideas that people mention, but they often feel a bit...unpolished and sometimes hard to respond to because the environment on Tumblr seems to reward quick responses and jumping to conclusions. I like reblogging, but sometimes...yeah, Tumblr, wtf.

[chordatesrock]

I'm interested in reading your future journal entries.

[feliscorvus]

Wow, I had a lot of these same thoughts recently re. tumblr and DW, and actually just posted my first entry in ages here (due to having something I felt like writing about but didn' t feel comfortable posting in public, even pseudonymously). Tumblr does have its good points...I kind of like the way it makes me feel like I can just post whatever (even just a picture) and not have to worry about editing or keeping up any sort of long-form language ability when I want to communicate but can't write in a "bloggable" manner. But it's definitely a very different arena than the DW/LJ-type sites and I am glad you lot plan on continuing to use DW a bit, at least.

[urocyon]

I haven't been around DW for roughly forever, either, to the point that I had to look up the password. Mostly because I've had trouble keeping up with multiple sites, besides wrapping words around things. (Have mostly been hanging around G+ lately, actually.)

Tumblr has been appealing to me for some of the same reasons, including being able to just concentrate on photos when I need to and try to skip most other content. But, yeah, I agree that it definitely has lot of the drawbacks already mentioned. I also dislike feeling like I have to closely watch how I phrase things, all the time, when I'm having trouble anyway. Thus mostly photos and reblogs recently.

But, good to see y'all posting again, and hopefully I can at least keep up better with reading over here. (Sorry the responding has been trickier lately!)