Dissolution

[darkemeralds]

Is anyone else trying to re-figure out how to have an online life? Is anyone else feeling that Google+ is cool but how many more social networks do I need? Does anyone else wonder if there's still a place for a journaling site like Dreamwidth and LiveJournal in their life?

I'm finding G+ very homey--more succinct than here, not quite as flighty as Twitter. Less conversational than here, but more interactive than Tumblr. It feels like a comfortable stream of connection.

Of course, it's new. Not many people are on it yet. Everyone's behaving like early guests at a nice party, so it's also much less contentious than here tends to be sometimes. (I have invites, by the way, if anyone wants one.)

Journaling/blogging has been a mostly wonderful experience for me for the past six years or so, but I feel it slipping away as a concept. I hate to let it go, but fighting the flow seems futile. Does anyone else feel that way?

Comments

[rainkatt]

I think people are there for almost as many reasons as they are on LJ or DW or Twitter. Folks show up to sell a product, to stalk a partner or former partner, or just to talk endlessly about their pet peeve/enthusiasm/fandom. There's as much that can be attributed to hormones and emotion on the forums as on LJ, but I think it's easier to either avoid, if that's what you want, or watch without engaging, because of the way Ravelry is put together, which is brilliant.

I think most members are there to organize their fiber stuff and talk about knitting or spinning or yarn or fleece, but it's possible to join a group for any reason under the sun, and if you check profiles, there are many, many members who have no stash, no projects, no queue.

I couldn't figure out why Ravelry, back before I joined, and then I was blown away by the tools. Now I'm blown away by the huge collection of knowledge in that one place. I would never have progressed so much in my knitting, nor would I have even thought about spinning (even though I'd wanted to learn) without Ravelry.

It still has much in the way of arguments, wank, name-calling, mods having to put folks in time-out, freezing threads, and flouncing, especially on certain forums.

[darkemeralds]

I didn't really know all that about Ravelry. I haven't been a member long, and have mainly only gone there to get pattern ideas and tips, and to inventory my stash and projects. I suppose the wank and stuff is inevitable--after all, it's human interaction we're talking about!

I do think, however, that knitting itself (and the related arts) is less inherently wanky than fandom is. Or it could be simply that my relationship to knitting is more detached than my relationship to fandom.

[rainkatt]

do think, however, that knitting itself (and the related arts) is less inherently wanky than fandom is. Or it could be simply that my relationship to knitting is more detached than my relationship to fandom.

I would say the latter. Casey killed the Remnants forum (one of the Big Six) because it was so endlessly wanky that the mods were losing their minds and couldn't keep up.

There's a certain other group that was disbanded and several members permabanned because of the really horrible behaviour.

Go into any forum and say that anyone who uses [magic loop/dpns/two circs] to knit socks is an idiot, and the thing will go up in flames before you can say bind off. Or is it cast off?

Go into a spinning forum and state that even though you've only been spinning for about ten minutes, that you think you've figured out everything there is to know about it, and oh, by the way, spindles are for fools. If you throw in a few references to the way women do things (inefficient) as compared to the scientific way the menz go about stuff, wank will ensue.

These are recent or frequent occurrences. Swap threads are wank fodder, and there are plenty of religious, political, and breast-feeding threads to satisfy the most jaded wank-watcher. There's race wank, feminism wank, misogyny aplenty, and people who constantly bring the drama, no matter where they go.

Because Ravelry is the first online experience for many people, it's got a lot of n00b stuff going on, and there are a ton of folks who are big fish in their little ponds at home who are now having to deal with a large chunk of the world, with diverse beliefs, opinions, and experiences. The flouncing subset has a lot of these folks.

I've learned much on Ravelry, including that indie dyers "die" with a higher frequency than 20-somethings on LJ. ;-)

Edited to add my favorite thread ever: http://www.ravelry.com/discuss/lazy-stupid-and-godless/1420352/1-25

Cats and love, man. Cats and love and a miracle or two. It's long, but you won't regret the read, and it's still going!

[darkemeralds]

I had no idea! But of course it makes perfect sense now that you mention it. People are as passionate about their Traveling Loop as about their iPhones and Androids, or their TV shows.

I hadn't thought about Ravelry's power to bring the previously non-computered online. That's a very good point. In that regard, it may be a bit like the Forums of Old (I'm thinking clear back to Prodigy and AOL) where hobbies and interests were the whole organizing principle.

I haven't had time to read the whole Mojo The Blind Cat thread. Did he survive? The story starts out wonderfully.

[rainkatt]

Yup. Do not take away my dpns! :D

Mojo is thriving, and is no longer blind. She has some issues, but is currently a young adult cat experiencing being in heat, and her human family and vet are trying to work with that, while not exacerbating her neuro issues.

You will also fall in love with Mr. Darcy, the Maine Coon kitten, who lives in London, and who is the most accident-prone kitty on the planet. Not to mention Mau, the giant monster cat, and a whole kitty herd of found and rescued kitties. It's a fabulous thread, and Mojo's mommy is wonderful and can tell a great story. Darcy's mom is someone I'd love to meet, as well.

There are pictures a-plenty there, and I'm always going "AWWWW!" out loud at work. My office mates and my human family know all about Mojo and Darcy, and will ask how they're doing. :D

[kis]

It still has much in the way of arguments, wank, name-calling, mods having to put folks in time-out, freezing threads, and flouncing, especially on certain forums.

O.O I'm amazed. I probably shouldn't be, but I am!

[rainkatt]

See above. Knitters will argue about technique, color, needles, yarn, patterns, and copyright. Crocheters will whine that nobody loves them. Spinners argue about fiber, fiber prep, types of wheels, types of spindles, ratios, drafting, and grist. They will all argue about anything out in the world you can imagine.

There is whining about late shipping for swaps, store orders, club selections, and the postal services.

There are super-liberal folks bumping into super-right-wing folks. There are feminists bumping into the quiverfull. There are super-eco folks who yell at everyone for everything from killing silkworms to shearing sheep to using a certain wool wash.

It's a big, teeming mass of humanity, most of which happens to be involved in fiber crafting in some way. I love it.

[darkemeralds]

Now that you mention it, I had noticed some (what I considered to be) wank about bamboo yarn: very strong wording to express contempt for it, because it's no more natural than rayon, etc. etc., and NOBODY EVER IN THE WORLD SHOULD CONSIDER USING IT OMG.

That sort of thing. Heh. I think fandom has made me allergic enough to it that I just skipped over it and put it out of my mind.

But nothing you say here really surprises me, as I think about it. I'm just a marginal enough knitter that Ravelry isn't my primary online home.

[rainkatt]

NOBODY EVER IN THE WORLD SHOULD CONSIDER USING IT OMG.

Exactly. I mostly point and laugh quietly to myself. It pretty much doesn't matter what you have an opinion about. If you express it on Rav, someone else will need to explain why it's RONG.

On the other hand, I've found some wonderful folks there, just as on LJ and DW, who are thoughtful and supportive and who I'm proud to know.

Spinning was my wormhole into Rav. I just fell in and never got out again. ;-)

[kis]

And there was me thinking that knitting was a quiet, reclusive kind of activity!