This is a hard post to write. Saying that, I guess it’s been driving towards inevitable for a while now, too.
The reality is this: I came onto the Internet in 2001 looking for a community. I have always felt a bit like the odd duck in most rooms, and I was wondering/hoping that there would be other odd ducks out there in the world, who, when teamed with other ducks, would form a happy community of odd ducks, celebrating and marveling at each others quirks.
At the time, the Internet as a community was still very much in it’s early stages, and there was still a great deal of fear that anyone you met virtually stood an equal chance of being a pervert or a liver-stealer as a normal human being.
Times change. The Internet is now a place of commerce, community, research and common usage. In richer countries, like mine, it’s highly unusual for anyone (including our parents’ generation) to be computer-less.
As with anything, the proliferation of voices has had both positive and negative impacts. The positive? It’s been recognized as a marketable, legitimate media and is even changing the face of the odious 24-hour a day disaster broadcasting, which pays no attention to whether or not there is actually a disaster taking place.
The negative? The dilution of community, of course. In the blogosphere, it appears as though there’s so much fear about keeping or owning your own market share, that it becomes impossible for a true community to maintain itself.
Do you know where I find that sense of community? Oddly, the answer is the same as it was in 2001 - I find it on livejournal. Oh, I know - it’s the bastard stepchild of the blogging industry. It started out as a member’s only site, and then became this crazy open source, closed conversation kind of joint that you either belonged to or openly mocked.
Livejournal isn’t set up the same way as other venues. It’s not intended for standalone use. You’re meant to read about people and be read by the same people. In short: it’s designed to be a fully functioning community, where people know about and care for each other. This has certainly been my experience. When life slaps me upside the head, it’s those folks who see all of the angst and support me as I work through it.
And you know what? That’s what I want out of my blogging experience. I want the sense of community. It’s just not the same experience without it.
So I’m going to return to livejournal. Truth is, I never left. However, I was putting my best energies into this place, and it’s time to redirect them to my roots - to the place where I am most comfortable. To where (yes, I’m going to do it) everyone knows my name.
For those of you who’ve read me and supported me here - I can’t thank you enough. I wish that this platform was set up the way livejournal was, so that we could talk back and forth more easily. I suspect I’ve missed out on some fairly awesome friendships here. Still and all, I appreciate your readership, and hope that you find this experience to be what you wanted it to be.
If you want to keep in touch with me, you can still find me on livejournal. I am, as I always was - Wyliekat.
Heck, if you’re disenchanted with what you’re doing now, I’d encourage you to do more than just read me over there - join up yourself!
