8 years

[franceslievens]

Has it really been that long? More than eight years ago I took my pseudonym from one message board to a blog service and here I am, still. Not really going strong these days. I don't think I've got the readership I used to have – if I ever had any to take seriously. Those of you that stayed with me, have seen a life unfold: changing jobs, starting to sing, buying an apartment, having two daughters. In between there have been rants on teaching, politics, the internet. Sometimes I write often. Sometimes there's hardly anything worthwhile to mention. Recently I've come to miss this place.

In eight years I've seen the internet change. I haven't quite figured out yet what it's become, but its appeal has broadened. I find my colleagues and old school mates where previously there was just me and my fellow geeks. I've started out in an age of pseudonyms, happily camouflaging my online life for co-workers and students alike. These days it's all about presence. So I live on Facebook with my real name, mingling with real life acquaintances. After a couple of years of zealously trying to guard my privacy, I've come to miss the ease of the pseudonym. It gives me the ability to speak freely without being caught out – especially now that the Big Boss has decreed we can't criticise our work conditions.

I also miss taking time for writing. It's all become reading at all times. In the past decade the internet has become larger and bigger and there's even more to read. There exists an information black hole that sucks up humans looking for simple things to write about. Once caught in the net of instant conversation, there is hardly any going back to the long thoughtful post. Facebook is instant gratification, where a blog post that requires some thought from both writer and reader, can sit without any replies. Why would you reply when you can't simply click "like"? Do blog posts need agree-buttons?

Information overload needs insightful posts. It balances the immediacy of current social networks. Blogging is a delayed conversation. You can think before you talk. Thats why I like it, and have never ceased to like it – sometimes I simply preferred not to think. I want to hit that ten-year-mark with stories, anecdotes, readers. There's a new house we'll move into in Autumn. I've got a new toy to write more, currently used to read more. I do hope you'll be here too.

Comments

[frenchani.livejournal.com]

Time seems to have sped up. The new house is exciting news! You're so settled in life now.

I was thinking of our LJ failure, Le Salon des Internautes the other day. I know, I know...

The more I hear about Facebook through the media or the users' experience, the less I want to join.

[frances-lievens.livejournal.com]

I like Facebook as a way to keep in touch with certain people. It's also fun to see what my ex-pupils are up to. Facebook is a quick messaging board: everyone is on there, so I know I can reach them quickly and can reach everyone I need to reach at once. According to Facebook standards I hardly have any friends though.

The conversations are the same as what I'd talk about during school hours. So everyone uses it in the same way: to put themselves in the footlight. Look what a beautiful house, kids, pets I've got! It's why I didn't want to sign up on twitter with my real name. I prefer staying pseudonymous and keeping the geeky fan-part of me hidden from public view. (Even though Joss is going mainstream now.)

I do believe LJ wasn't the best place to start the Salon. People are still starting up blogs and finding an audience, but they hardly initiate discussion. Insightful discussions are usually held between blogs with links. Still. Some high profile blogs have been able to get a good discussion going on their sites, but that's it really. That said, might we be able to start up a high profile European education blog? Is something like that around? ;-)

[comava.livejournal.com]

LJ has been a home for me for a long time as well, and there's a lot of history in the journals... I certainly don't plan on leaving, even if it's become more quiet. I still read my flist daily but in the past few years life has gotten so hectic that there's simply less time for posting, and when there is, I don't even now where to start. Often I think I've reverted back to lurker-dom, which is quite a comfortable state in a way. But you make a good point that it's all about reading, and that the internet has become very much about instant-gratification.

[frances-lievens.livejournal.com]

I noticed tweets and Facebook updates only get attention at the moment they're posted. An hour later, they've become obsolete. People very much like to enter into conversation with you. Facebook encourages this by making its "email"-service the same as its instant messaging service (or is this only when you use the mobile app).
More and more people blog, but it's intertwined with their use of other social media: Flickr, Facebook, now Pinterest. I can't really talk for tumblr, because I haven't figured that one out just yet.

Sometimes staying at LJ feels like being the dinosaur while the young kids are taking over the internet. But it aren't the young ones who are taking over the internet. It are the dinosaurs finally understanding how this thing works, making a big show of themselves in the process. Its probably a bit smug considering oneself the cutting edge of cyberspace while I'm only on LJ.