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This is a copy of a post made to afp.
Okay. I am now plunging (one toe at a time) into the world of online journal/blogging and social networks. Hmmm.
Here's the question:
I'd be interested in hearing from people who have tried more than one of these interface/portal/thingies, and who
have chosen one over the other(s), and why their choice settled where it did.
Here's the blather:
So, everyone (you know - they and them) has an online thingie, and I want one too. I think I can use it for my own purposes, but I am not sure I will be able to take advantage of the community aspects offered by some.
There is a lot of starry-eyed optimism about FaceBook, that it will be the place to help the hapless slog through the mass of the internet. It seems from an aged vantage point to have all the fun of a clique (when you belong), and no opportunity to learn new things, unlike reading a newsgroup of people who start with a common interest and then bring along all their other fascinating features to share as well.
On the other hand, reading my favorite newsgroup of late has not presented many new things to me - but when it does, they are prime samples of very interesting things from people who think a lot differently from me - well worth the wait, IYKWIM.
So. FaceBook seems to be fairly simplistic yet - you can be linked by your school or your work, but not both, and not by the fact that you are a rabid weaver in your spare time - but it promises to be the Next Big Thing, and one doesn't want to be completely unable to understand the world, so one had better get on board. Meh.
And. LiveJournal seems to offer the opportunity to meet like-minded people, but trying to find them seems like a lot
of work, and it appears that many people make their communities up out of people they have met elsewhere, like a newsgroup.
BlogSpot seems to be mostly about soapboxing, which I think is a good thing, but again, finding the soapboxers you
find intriguing seems like a lot of work - much easier to cruise a newsgroup and get tidbits.
So, then. I've found the newsgroup forum style to be good since one gets a variety, and one gets to have one's yap. But. I see that people have moved away from newsgroups to one of the new interface/portal/thingie thingies, and there must be a reason beyond avoiding annoying posters.
So. I'm intrigued. Why do people choose the one they choose? What makes them work?
Okay. I am now plunging (one toe at a time) into the world of online journal/blogging and social networks. Hmmm.
Here's the question:
I'd be interested in hearing from people who have tried more than one of these interface/portal/thingies, and who
have chosen one over the other(s), and why their choice settled where it did.
Here's the blather:
So, everyone (you know - they and them) has an online thingie, and I want one too. I think I can use it for my own purposes, but I am not sure I will be able to take advantage of the community aspects offered by some.
There is a lot of starry-eyed optimism about FaceBook, that it will be the place to help the hapless slog through the mass of the internet. It seems from an aged vantage point to have all the fun of a clique (when you belong), and no opportunity to learn new things, unlike reading a newsgroup of people who start with a common interest and then bring along all their other fascinating features to share as well.
On the other hand, reading my favorite newsgroup of late has not presented many new things to me - but when it does, they are prime samples of very interesting things from people who think a lot differently from me - well worth the wait, IYKWIM.
So. FaceBook seems to be fairly simplistic yet - you can be linked by your school or your work, but not both, and not by the fact that you are a rabid weaver in your spare time - but it promises to be the Next Big Thing, and one doesn't want to be completely unable to understand the world, so one had better get on board. Meh.
And. LiveJournal seems to offer the opportunity to meet like-minded people, but trying to find them seems like a lot
of work, and it appears that many people make their communities up out of people they have met elsewhere, like a newsgroup.
BlogSpot seems to be mostly about soapboxing, which I think is a good thing, but again, finding the soapboxers you
find intriguing seems like a lot of work - much easier to cruise a newsgroup and get tidbits.
So, then. I've found the newsgroup forum style to be good since one gets a variety, and one gets to have one's yap. But. I see that people have moved away from newsgroups to one of the new interface/portal/thingie thingies, and there must be a reason beyond avoiding annoying posters.
So. I'm intrigued. Why do people choose the one they choose? What makes them work?
