darkemeralds. (Reply)

Posted by

Yes! I think I was groping towards expressing a feeling of fragmentation. That's exactly it. When LJ first got going, it was IT, it was everything. For several years it remained THE place, a niche band for fannish people (though I don't believe it started out specifically as a fandom place). It didn't take long to start fragmenting: "real" blogs, MySpace, other LJ-platform spaces, etc. Even DW, which I think is now vastly superior to LJ on every front except sheer established-ness of some comms, has done a lot to fragment the journal world.

When I first made the official switch from LJ to DW, it felt very lonely, but of course a community of both old friends and new has coalesced here, and now it feels like home. Going to G+--admittedly for undefined "other" purposes--was déjà vu all over again.

Ravelry is a great example of a niche community that's vibrantly alive because the niche is of interest to millions of passionate people (and Ravelry is monitored and managed, privately owned, and brilliantly designed).