Question...

[ellid]

What is Dreamwidth, why should I get a code, and what advantages does it offer over LJ, IJ, etc.?

Comments

[kaiz.livejournal.com]

You might want to roam around their wiki.

[amykb.livejournal.com]

I have been wondering the same thing.

[xochiquetzl]

They're committed to remaining ad-free. And this is a post by one of the two people responsible for Dreamwidth and why that's important.

[ellid.livejournal.com]

Just did...and I might be dense, but honestly? I don't see any compelling reason to add a third social networking site to my mix, even if it's non-commercial. My time can be measured out in an eyedropper at this point. :(

[marginaliana]

I haven't determined if I'll make the move yet, but one of the things that is attracting me is that the people who run the site have the benefit of having experienced all of LJ's history. I mean, LJ had to do a lot of things by trial and error, they had to make mistakes. LJ was started by one dude with no plan. But these people have been able to look back on that history and say "we would have done this instead" or "that didn't turn out well, let's not do that." Yeah, they're still going to make mistakes, but they're not going to make the same mistakes.

One great thing - you can import your LJ (entries and comments) so it's not like you have to start all over with a blank journal over there. Another thing I like is that they're committed to accessibility for people with disabilities. LJ has mostly said fuck all to that issue.

If you need a code, let me know and I can hook you up.

[ellid.livejournal.com]

Is there a short, one or two paragraph post where they lay out *exactly* what the advantages are? I have a final paper due Monday night and seriously have neither the time nor the mental energy to read anything much longer than that. :)

[ellid.livejournal.com]

I'll have to think about it...but given how much of my flist is SCAdians who are staying on LJ, I'm not sure if moving makes any sense for me at this time. It sounds like a good idea, though.

[xochiquetzl]

Heh.

Well, the ad thing is: Once you start taking ad money, you're serving two masters. Even if you're a free account, you should be a customer, not an eyeball.

The biggest difference code-wise is that they've split "friends" into "subscription list" and "access list." So if you just want to read someone, you don't have to give them access to your locked posts. (Which you can also do with filters, but you know.)

They're also encouraging women in open-source coding. This excites me, but I don't know if it excites non-computer-nerds. :D

[xochiquetzl]

Yes, this. A lot of the "clones" are by people who haven't worked on LJ. I'm impressed by their careful approach to growth.

[ellid.livejournal.com]

Interesting...I happen to agree with them about the ads, but I'm a bit too cynical to think that they've found the answer to going without. I hope I'm wrong, though - it would be nice not to see ads for acai berries and dating services!

#2 can already be done with filters, so that's a tie with LJ. I do like the idea of using women for the coding, though. About time!

I might do it or I might not - ask me after I'm back from K'zoo and have my life back...:)

[kaiz.livejournal.com]

You can always just use OpenID to comment on DW posts if you don't want to create your own DW journal. And, I hear you about the no-time thing! :-)

ETA: if you do want an invite, give me a shout!

[kaiz.livejournal.com]

#2 can already be done with filters

Not quite, actually.

[aunty_marion]

And with OpenID, you can create a reading list for people who have migrated there, and use icons on your comments.

[ladypeyton.livejournal.com]

If you happen to have extra invites laying about I'd really appreciate one.

[xochiquetzl]

They're going to try to limit free account growth to what paid accounts can pay for. They also seem to be realistic in the expectation that most people will want free accounts. So we'll see.