InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "You did it. Did what?"

Willow (the_willow) wrote,
@ 2008-05-22 15:16:00

Current mood:	confused
Entry tags:	fuckwittery07 - livejournal, online: journaling systems, online: life, scribblet now inksome

Something's Missing. What is it?
There was a flurry of posts over on LJ in APRIL (I will look for more links later) all about whether or not iJay was viable for the long haul. squeaky actually went and replied to Synecdochic's entry, detailing his expertise, work and programming history and that he is indeed thinking ahead.

A few days later, Scribblit got transferred to Staff_Kit and then became Inksome.

I was a bit teed-off at the pokes to Insanejournal. It felt to me like people on LJ, who aren't here and aren't interacting daily and weekly with squeaky and had decided not to move, had no business spreading doubt about the service. I realize that's my personal opinion and that it was very much a reaction of "But you don't even live in my neighbourhood! Stop talking crap about it!".

But now I'm on the other side. The moment Inksome became Inksome, it felt to me more like a hobbysite than a current or future business. And I realize part of that is, once I got my early contributor account, things kept messing up over there, so I never uploaded icons and I stopped crossposting and haven't done much of anything with the account. I was waiting for things to settle. I haven't made a home there, and suddenly the community organizer / development planning company changed hands and I was left all 'WTF?'

The people who have put down roots in that neighbourhood no doubt feel comfortable there and don't have the questions I do about whether or not Inksome will be able to handle things in the long haul. They've developed relationships with each other and with the people who'll become the new staff.

I understand that.

And yet it does squat all for making me feel better about using the journal. All the changing hands reminds me of LJ. The fact that the original organizer/creator loss interest and enthusiasm, reminds me of Brad. And the possibility of another Greatestjournal - something invested in that then goes belly up a few years later, LOOMS like a fricking GIANT.

I know that GJ gave what it could while it could and that's not something to turn my nose up at. I made friends on GJ. I met people on GJ that either led me to people, or on their own have ended up becoming integral parts of my life. But Livejournal's FUCKWITTERY cost me a home. I had my LJ longer than I had and maintained my website. I had my lj longer and consistently than any other part of my online life since I came online in 1996. I know what a home online feels like. And now suddenly, LJ's asshattedness means that I need to have a city-home and country-home and a beach-home, so no matter what, there's a place for me to rest my head and breathe online.

So I understand my need to have a strong sense of stability before I commit content.

What I don't understand is what integral bit do I think is missing from Inksome that I don't feel comfortable making it one of my homes. Cause if I knew, I'd send email to the person in charge and suggest they do something so others who feel like I do would feel more welcome/soothed/SOMETHING.

But I don't know what's missing. I just feel like something is. And it's frustrating.

(Post a new comment)

yonmei
2008-05-22 07:16 pm UTC (link)

Word.

I had my LJ longer than I had and maintained my website. I had my lj longer and consistently than any other part of my online life since I came online in 1996. I know what a home online feels like. And now suddenly, LJ's asshattedness means that I need to have a city-home and country-home and a beach-home, so no matter what, there's a place for me to rest my head and breathe online.

Wordy mcword.

(Reply to this)

witchqueen.livejournal.com
2008-05-22 10:54 pm UTC (link)

What I don't understand is what integral bit do I think is missing from Inksome that I don't feel comfortable making it one of my homes. Cause if I knew, I'd send email to the person in charge and suggest they do something so others who feel like I do would feel more welcome/soothed/SOMETHING.

you don't trust the guy who runs the place now. has staff_kit done anything to earn your trust? Squeaky has said ILU fandom and given updates when things were down and other things that indicated to you he was trustworthy.

(Reply to this) (Thread)

the_willow
2008-05-23 12:38 am UTC (link)

I don't know Staff_Kit. At first he was just some enthusiastic husband of one of the beta testers. I never friended his personal journal. I was looking for info from the original creator.

And when I did peruse his staff journal, more than half the stuff was about the site going down or technobabble.

That's why I think the original beta testers have a community they feel comfortable with. It was a rule in the beginning that every beta tester friend every other beta tester. And when the beta testing was over and the first early contributors came on, the beta testers had their own comm. Right now they STILL have their own community that's just for those who were once test 1, test 52, etc.

Kit's the husband of one of those. So I guess he's inner circle or something by association and then he was staff and now he runs the thing.

I never realized that a simple news community and constant updates there and via Twitter by

squeaky could do so much to foster community.

Maybe you're right and I can't trust someone I feel no personal connection to. Staff_Kit is a heck of a lot more distancing than

squeaky and

insane.

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	(Anonymous) 2008-06-25 04:03 pm UTC (link)
	How can I make myself less distancing? staff_kit kpeters@inksome.com (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

the_willow
2008-06-27 01:21 am UTC (link)

I do not know if you're checking this. I just found it. I'll think about what's possible.

Truthfully I think what I've been feeling has a lot to do with the original switch to the beta server, which shook me from involving myself in community and a feeling of cliquishness among the prior Beta-testers. And there's nothing that can be done about that, cause it is what it is and no one's fault.

(Reply to this) (Parent)

	witchqueen.livejournal.com 2008-05-23 03:24 am UTC (link)
	You're not obligated to love staff_kit or use the new service, you know. It's not a moral failing or you being unnecessarily cautious or anything. There are a lot of services you don't patronize because their TOS or their service isn't up to your standards. (Reply to this)