Mr. Cranky
May. 24th, 2004 10:56 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
furtechHaving nothing more interesting to post about, I'm going to list my Top Three Things I Hate About LJ:
Number One: Calling it a "Friends List". I hate that. Why can't they call it a "Contact List" or something less personal? I thought the joke of calling it a "Stalking List" was funnier and more accurate. Calling it a "Friend" list turns the casual adding and deleting of people into a traumatic/guilt-ridden event. Some of the people on my lists are actual friends: people I actively know and trust and associate with (ie, -friends-). Some are people I find interesting and enjoy reading their interesting posts (potential friends maybe). Some are just good writers or creatively fascinating. I've stopped adding people just because they add me: I'm not interested in a popularity contest or counting coup. And I've deleted people because I have discovered little in common with them or for reason's #2 or #3. Deleting you doesn't mean I don't like you any more than adding you means I love you.
Number Two: Animated icons. I find some of them very clever and amusing...for the first ten seconds. Most are just pointless (just because you CAN do something doesn't mean you SHOULD). I often leave a LJ window open on my screen and animated icons (especially those with garish, extreme animation) are about as enjoyable as having a fly preen itself there. I wish there was a way to freeze the screen so they just stop.
Numbah Three! Oblique posts. Hate 'em. "I'm working on a totally kewl, super-great costume but it's SEKRIT!" or "Something VERY SIGNIFICANT will happen today...but I can't talk about it" (and then they never explain later) or "!!!!!111!!! OMFG!!! !!!" and the like. Hate'em hate'em hate'em. I also hate "We're having a party (tee-hee) and [in-joke, in-joke, in-joke]!!! Hehehe!" where only people they are currently IM'ing or ICQ'ing have ANY idea what's going on. What's the point?!? You can do anything you want to in your journal...but I don't have to see it on my scroll! Dink!
A somewhat minor quibble (relative to the above) involves not knowing when to cut. If a post is going to take up the better part of a screen page or more, *please* cut it! And give the cut tag a title that hints at what the content is! Here's a helpful hint: instead of just using "lj-cut" use this instead: "lj-cut text="Cut off here". Thanks!
Number One: Calling it a "Friends List". I hate that. Why can't they call it a "Contact List" or something less personal? I thought the joke of calling it a "Stalking List" was funnier and more accurate. Calling it a "Friend" list turns the casual adding and deleting of people into a traumatic/guilt-ridden event. Some of the people on my lists are actual friends: people I actively know and trust and associate with (ie, -friends-). Some are people I find interesting and enjoy reading their interesting posts (potential friends maybe). Some are just good writers or creatively fascinating. I've stopped adding people just because they add me: I'm not interested in a popularity contest or counting coup. And I've deleted people because I have discovered little in common with them or for reason's #2 or #3. Deleting you doesn't mean I don't like you any more than adding you means I love you.
Number Two: Animated icons. I find some of them very clever and amusing...for the first ten seconds. Most are just pointless (just because you CAN do something doesn't mean you SHOULD). I often leave a LJ window open on my screen and animated icons (especially those with garish, extreme animation) are about as enjoyable as having a fly preen itself there. I wish there was a way to freeze the screen so they just stop.
Numbah Three! Oblique posts. Hate 'em. "I'm working on a totally kewl, super-great costume but it's SEKRIT!" or "Something VERY SIGNIFICANT will happen today...but I can't talk about it" (and then they never explain later) or "!!!!!111!!! OMFG!!! !!!" and the like. Hate'em hate'em hate'em. I also hate "We're having a party (tee-hee) and [in-joke, in-joke, in-joke]!!! Hehehe!" where only people they are currently IM'ing or ICQ'ing have ANY idea what's going on. What's the point?!? You can do anything you want to in your journal...but I don't have to see it on my scroll! Dink!
A somewhat minor quibble (relative to the above) involves not knowing when to cut. If a post is going to take up the better part of a screen page or more, *please* cut it! And give the cut tag a title that hints at what the content is! Here's a helpful hint: instead of just using "lj-cut" use this instead: "lj-cut text="Cut off here". Thanks!
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no subject
Date: 2004-05-24 01:29 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-05-24 02:04 pm (UTC)I guess it's a matter of what kind of a tool we see LJ as: I see LJ as a place to meet interesting people and communicate efficiently with them, as well as a way for long-distance friends to keep up with each other's lives. The key for me is the efficient communication part. "Yay it's my bird's birthday!" may be a frivilous post, but it still imparts information and a snapshot of someone's life. "I've got a secret!" is just (to me) a tease and more alienating than interesting to me.
All that being said, good luck with all the possibilities!