Going back in time

[thefurygodmother]

I asked Google, "Is there a website today that is like livejournal?" It said Dreamwidth.

It's been over a decade since I wrote something somewhere. Well I tried blogger but nobody reads it.

Some crazy sh!t has gone down and I need to debrief!

Comments

Welcome!

[ysabetwordsmith]

>> I asked Google, "Is there a website today that is like livejournal?" It said Dreamwidth. <<

Yes, that's a good description of it. :D

newcomers has lots of resources about how to use Dreamwidth and where to find things you'll enjoy here. If you're coming from Tumblr, soc_puppet is posting tutorials for that angle. Find your Tumblr friends here.

The Follow Friday Master Post has lists of active communities by topic where you can look for some based on your interests. Many bloggers use recurring posts to pin down their key interests and maintain activity, which is also a good source of inspiration if you aren't sure what you want to post yet.

There are some communities that offer daily or weekly check-ins that help people keep in touch. awesomeers has one for accomplishments and get_knitted does one for crafts. Some individual bloggers have a social connection post too.

Thanks!

[thefurygodmother]

Did you used to be on livejournal too? How long have you been on dreamwidth?

I can't figure out how to find communities

Re: Thanks!

[ysabetwordsmith]

>> Did you used to be on livejournal too? <<

Yes, same username, and it's still active.

>> How long have you been on dreamwidth? <<

I think almost 20 years.

>> I can't figure out how to find communities <<

Use the Interests search box and click "communities only" to narrow the responses. Or use the Masterlist link I included to find thematic lists.

Re: Thanks!

[thefurygodmother]

That is impressive! I deleted the majority of my LJ content years and years ago, which of course I now regret but back then it felt like reinventing myself I guess

Re: Thanks!

[ysabetwordsmith]

I learned a long time ago to save things I've written, but then I'm a writer. Some other folks prefer to erase the past.

You can always start over here.

Re: Thanks!

[thefurygodmother]

Also thanks so much for the tips!

Re: Thanks!

[ysabetwordsmith]

I'm happy I could help! I want people to find things they'll like here, in hopes they'll want to stick around.

Re: Thanks!

[thefurygodmother]

It does not seem as lively and engaged as LiveJournal was, I remember there used to be relationships communities and other things but I haven't found any active communities here yet. Although maybe my search terms are too narrow - parenting, relationships.

Re: Thanks!

[ysabetwordsmith]

>> It does not seem as lively and engaged as LiveJournal was, <<

Dreamwidth does not have as many people as LJ used to. There are some very active communities but they aren't all easy to find and there are many dormant or dead ones. That's why I started making lists of the active ones, because it's easier to go down a list and see if you like any of the active ones than try and guess what might be active.

If you're into any fandoms, that activity is organized through fandomcalendar.

>> I remember there used to be relationships communities and other things but I haven't found any active communities here yet.<<

Searching relationships brings up fandomsecrets, ships20in20, ground_hogging, openhearts_openminds, and 100quadrantedships.

Be aware that the DW search engine is dumb. "Fan fiction," "fan fic," "fanfic," and "fanfiction" are all different terms that won't cross-reference in a search. 0_o Also not all community moderators bother to fill in the Interests list, or have more than a few words if they do. So if the first thing you try doesn't work, try riffing different synonyms and versions.

>> Although maybe my search terms are too narrow - parenting, relationships.<<

I couldn't find any active parenting communities.

What other kinds of things do you enjoy?

In case you're curious, the ones I run are:

allbingo -- active, hosts a different creative bingo fest each month.

birdfeeding -- highly active, daily posts about birds and nature.

crowdfunding -- active with a mid-month Creative Jam, about crowdfunded creative activities like writing or art.

goals_on_dw -- active with a monthly check-in posts for goal progress; this one gets much more lively in December-January.

newcomers -- active with resources about how to use Dreamwidth and find things here.

Also thefreaksclub has multiple communities on different themes and I'm an extra moderator for some of those. Activity level varies.