By the potted plant with the weird artsy couches

[dolorosa_12]

I've mentioned a couple of times that I'm subscribed to Amal El-Mohtar's newsletter, and her most recent post viewable online here is a perfect encapsulation of why. It reminds me of the things I miss about the old internet: the lack of urgency, the lack of immediacy, and the sense that posts can be public and personal, but only on the writer's own terms, with each writer feeling comfortable in setting their own boundaries, letting longform posts come only when thoughts are fully considered and developed, rather than feeling an expectation to think all thoughts out loud, in real time, in public. Back when most of professional (and aspiring professional) publishing was on LJ, I remember Amal's LJ having this same quality, so I'm glad she's bringing it back to her newsletters.



This leads nicely into my final snowflake_challenge post for 2022:

In your own space, create your own challenge.

My challenge is not something that can be completed in a single post or a single day, and it's sparked in part by Amal's newsletter, and in part by comments and posts I've seen during the whole snowflake_challenge lamenting the decline in longform blogging, and the general lack of fannish activity in spaces like Dreamwidth. The challenge is: be the change you want to see. I'm not asking people to post or comment here every day, or to write 1000-word posts when all you feel like writing is 100. But I'm saying that if you want to spend more time on slower-moving platforms, make a conscious decision to do so. Comment on a post every so often rather than scrolling on by. If you created a new fanwork, share a link on Dreamwidth as well as on Twitter. Do whatever tiny things you need to make building a community here something habitual. I don't need you to tell me you've done it, and I don't need this to involve daily wordcounts, frequency of posting, or any other measurable statistic — do what feels best for you.

I will certainly be sticking to this!

Comments

Yay!

[ysabetwordsmith]

This overlaps my "write the change" and "improve community" challenges. \o/

One of the things I've done is reactivate dormant communities. It'll be interesting to see if anyone else posts in those.

three_weeks_for_dw has a lively discussion about reviving that one now. :D

Re: Yay!

[dolorosa_12]

I've seen a lot of people talking about reviving Dreamwidth comms, and I think if that could be achieved, Dreamwidth would be an absolutely wonderful place!

Re: Yay!

[ysabetwordsmith]

>> I've seen a lot of people talking about reviving Dreamwidth comms, and I think if that could be achieved, <<

In most cases, this is easy to do. If a community has open posting, then all you have to do to revive it is post in it, as I've done with several. This alone makes it pop to the top of the search lists, which increases the chance of new people subscribing and posting there. Ideally, get some other people to post also, for more interaction.

In some cases, revival is harder. If the posting is moderated and the Administrator is no longer approving posts, then nothing will appear no matter how many people try to post there. This can be addressed by first attempting to contact the Administrator, and if that doesn't work, you can petition Dreamwidth to appoint a new Administrator.

Among the best ways to keep a community going is to create a pattern of activity. This can be a set of recurring posts, a schedule of volunteer activities, or an event that happens periodically. Variations include:
* allbingo has a new fest each month with a different them hosted by a member. It also has a monthly post summarizing activities.
* crowdfunding has a mid-month Creative Jam for people to prompt and create works on a theme. It also has a monthly post summarizing activities.
* Rec communities usually do one of two things: assign timespans to volunteers, or set a theme per timespan that anyone can post about.
* Motivational communities or events typically have challenge or summary posts at regular intervals.
* Q&A or prompt memes are great because they present a list of things that get posted one at a time. My current Coping Skills and Philosophical Questions features use this format too.

>> Dreamwidth would be an absolutely wonderful place! <<

I agree. It's good now. It can be better if more people choose to invest in it. This year, I've seen numerous folks setting plans to make their blog or communities more active. I hope that pans out. The most frustrating thing about Snowflake is that the vast majority of its members are dormant except during January. :/