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

[vriddy]

I really liked "Social media used to feel like being in a crowded hallway at a convention; now it feels like being on a stage." in that newsletter you link to. It really spoke to me because I used to really enjoy Twitter (not for fandom) and had difficulty articulating how it changed. It's not just the content shared that evolved. This quote encapsulates a lot of the feelings, too.

I utterly love your challenge and how gently phrased it is :) I'll do my best to try and continue to make this space into a comfortable spot for myself and hopefully others, too!

[tellshannon815]

Sounds like a good one to me, good luck!

[goodbyebird]

But I'm saying that if you want to spend more time on slower-moving platforms, make a conscious decision to do so.

I think that's the important bit right there ♥

[senmut]

A good challenge

[oracne]

I also love Amal's newsletter.

[corvidology]

This is a continual WIP (*g*) for me anyway. This is part of my downtime enjoyment in a stupidly busy work filled life so I need it to be asynchronous so I'm not feeling pressure from this direction as well.

[enemytosleep]

This is a better written version of my own personal challenge! I miss when this sort of social space was more active, but as you say, I have to do my part to participate and create spaces for dialogue and activity here. I hope everyone who feels the same way can carry some momentum into 2022 and keep things busier here on DW.

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

[spikedluv]

Yes! I had this realization after my first Snowflake. If I wanted LJ/DW to be busier, I had to have a hand in that instead of waiting for someone else to do it, and if I wanted a closer connection to my f-list, I needed to stop scrolling and start interacting.

[author_by_night]

. 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.

ESPECIALLY this. So many people, myself very much included, have given up because we write posts - only for there to be crickets. I'm not going to waste my time on a post no one's going to read.

To play the devil's advocate to my own point, I do understand that sometimes people's fandoms are just very different. Or their interests within a fandom are. Still, I think even just leaving a short "don't have much to add, but I enjoyed this" never hurts if you can say it genuinely.


Also, engage with the comments you do get. Respond to comments. Even if the comments come a bit late. I'll admit I can be bad at responding to comments left on slightly older posts - but that's a fault of mine and I'm working on it.

There is truly no one on my flist who's in my current fandom, so I don't see the point in sharing fic, but maybe I will start sharing fest info publicly. (I'm actually surprised no one on my flist is in the fandom, as it's a sizeable fandom and a VERY popular TV show - Schitt's Creek. However, no one in the SC fandom is on LJ/DW, so there you go.)

[svgurl]

I like these 'be the change' challenges, and how you emphasized that it doesn't have to one big one, but small tiny ones that can be done be done over a longer span of time.

But I'm saying that if you want to spend more time on slower-moving platforms, make a conscious decision to do so.
Well said. :D

[waterfall8484]

This is pretty much the challenge I gave myself back in December when I realised how much I'd missed DW and that I now had the energy to return to journalling. You put it really well here, it really is the many small steps each individual makes that creates the community.

[merit]

There definitely was a change when the internet, or even social media, hit critical point and then it was mainstream for so many people. So many more eyes on people...

[silveradept]

We do our best for this (I like the slow-moving environment). Hope that others also do the same.

[chestnut_pod]

Thank you so much for this wonderful month of prompts and community! It's been a delight to think through the questions alongside you.