Appropriate Venues

[coalescent]

Yesterday morning I was up in Oxford for some work-related training (a talk/discussion group about transplantation and immunosuppressant drugs), and I took advantage of the trip to meet domh and hsenag for lunch. In amongst the conversation about Glastonbury tickets and infinite car parks there was, inevitably, some LJ-related discussion, in particular whether or not you actually read all the people you have on your friendslist.

It got me thinking. If you believe my friends-of list, one hundred and thirty-eight or so people are following this journal; but I know that's not actually the case. I know that a good portion of those people, probably at least half (and particularly most of the people I originally arrived on LJ with) could not care less about the SF-related stuff that I post. And these days, that's most of the stuff that I post.

The balance of my livejournal has gradually shifted. It used to be much more personal (the old journal, in particular; check out the difference in the mind maps). It changed for two main reasons. Firstly, I got burned by making (admittedly ill-judged) posts about Real Life, so that nowadays I'm very careful about writing about anything that involves other people. Things I do with people not on LJ tend not to get mentioned at all, and even things I do with people who are on LJ often get skimmed over; the rationale is 'if they want something mentioned, they'll mention it themselves'. When I do write something about my own life, it tends to be locked away, friends-only.

In parallel with that, from around Easter this year I picked up a whole lot of new (predominantly fannish) readers; my friends-of list has jumped upwards by about fifty people in six months. This can be, ah, a little intimidating. It's not so much that I feel obliged to provide content that those readers might be interested in, but that I'm reluctant to mention things that they're almost certainly not interested in, and my impression is that they friended me for the content.

So these days, this journal is pretty much a pure SF-blog, alternating between collections of links, reviews, and the (very) occasional bit of information about my life. Most of the time I'm not unhappy about this--in fact, I'm vain enough that sometimes I feel quite proud of it; having actual content, and so on--but every now and then it chafes. I feel a bit guilty that so much of my journal is inacessible to many of my friends, and I wonder whether this is the most appropriate venue for all of what I'm writing. And then I wonder whether, if it's not the most appropriate venue--if I should make this back into a more personal, me-journal--then where should I put the SF stuff?

domh suggested putting spare reviews on my website, possibly linking to them from here every so often. I did once intend to do this, and it's true that it has some advantages. I would have closer access to the content than I do here, and the pages wouldn't scroll off the bottom of someone's friendslist after twenty-four hours. I have reservations, though. Firstly, it would be marginally more hassle, even if that only involved setting up a template page. Secondly, Google quite likes my journal, and that has made me lazy; on the off-chance that I want to find an old review, I know that "coalescent foo bar" has a good chance of pulling it up (hell, in some cases I don't even need the 'coalescent'). Thirdly, I'm not convinced that most of the entries I write here really deserve that kind of archiving; they're not detailed analysis, after all, they are, by and large, first impressions. Fourthly, and possibly most importantly for my ego, my website has no comments function. It's true that I could learn about something like Movable Type, but I don't think it would be quite the same.

So, what other options are there? For a while I tried to put all my reviews into one big monthly pot over on instant_fanzine; I'll still keep making those posts, but I think I've decided that I prefer writing things up as I go, so as things are at the moment, those posts will probably become progressively more like a collection of links. I could change this policy and save up all my reviews for those posts. (Either way, incidentally, it means you could follow instant_fanzine and not this journal and probably not miss out on anything).

One option I've toyed with is creating a specific reviews journal. Probably specifically a short fiction reviews journal, since I can put book reviews on Diverse Books or similar. I'm quite fond of this idea; it could be the best of both worlds. I could put up notes on stories as I read them, then do occasional overviews here or in instant_fanzine every time I finish a magazine/anthology/month. It could even be a community rather than an individual journal, if anyone else would be interested in taking part.

I don't know. Perhaps I should just take the plunge and start posting things to rec.arts.sf.written. Alternatively, you could all tell me you're quite happy with my journal as it is, and that I have no need to change anything. Or I could just stop worrying about whether or not you're all happy, and add frivolous and/or personal posts to the mix as the mood takes me. Or, I could continue on as I have been.

Thoughts? Does anyone else ever feel similarly self-conscious, and if so, how do you/did you deal with it?

Comments

[ex-susumu64.livejournal.com]

If you want to reverse infiltrate where a load of your new readers have come from, you could always try posting reviews to the CDR (http://cdr.culturelist.org), aka the back-up brain of the Culture list.

[ex-toastie256.livejournal.com]

Maybe you should conduct a poll to see if non-fan people would mind you moving the SF stuff off of LJ. I, personally, enjoy reading your stuff here. Especially when it's behind a nice neat lj-cut tag :)

[colours.livejournal.com]

I think you pretty much know my thoughts on this: my flist is so varied it's incredible, and hence why I'm attempting to learn to use filters.

It does sound like a nice idea to put your reviews on your website tho - maybe just a paragraph and a link on your journal to let people know to check out your website?

[coalescent.livejournal.com]

I possibly should have done a poll, but that would have seemed a bit formal.

Point taken about the cut-tag ... I'm a bit ambivalent about their use, though. I have this feeling that nobody ever clicks on them. ;-)

[coalescent.livejournal.com]

I'd sort of worked out that that was where a bunch of you had come from, but I know nothing about it. Do I just sign up? Do I have to be a big Banks fan (I'm not; I like his work, but not particularly more than other things)? Are you all BSFA members, and if not, why not? :-p

[coalescent.livejournal.com]

Yeah, there's always filters. The only problem with that is that some people I might want to see the filtered stuff don't have LJ accounts. *cough*TOM*cough*

I think the main thing holding me back from the website option is comments. I like comments. People don't often have big discussions are a result of one of my reviews, but I like that in theory, they could. ;-)

[snowking.livejournal.com]

Or I could just stop worrying about whether or not you're all happy, and add frivolous and/or personal posts to the mix as the mood takes me.

DING!

[coalescent.livejournal.com]

Eh. Does it really seem likely to you that I'd actually do that? :-p

[ex-susumu64.livejournal.com]

Just look at http://www.culturelist.org/. It's massively off-topic unless there's a new book out, but is generally receptive to chatter about anything including any sci-fi, comics, hardcore astro physics, world domination, etc. If anyone on there was going to be a BSFA member, it would be ninebelow.

The CDR has comments, too (after a fashion).

[danmilburn.livejournal.com]

... I'm a bit ambivalent about their use, though. I have this feeling that nobody ever clicks on them. ;-)

Personally I find I'm more likely to read long entries if they are behind a cut. Things cluttering up my friends page unnecessarily often get scrolled straight past..

[snowking.livejournal.com]

I can only try and teach you the ways of the Rightheaded. I cannot make you follow them.

[hawleygriffen.livejournal.com]

If you're really worried about literary/fandom entries being an 'annoyance' to any on your flist, put it behind a cut, maybe with a little teaser. It's easier than putting it on a website and creating entries with links, and takes as much space. Not to mention, would lose the comments function. If, however, you want to create a new lj/put it on a site, go ahead, the choice is entirely yours.

Or I could just stop worrying about whether or not you're all happy, and add frivolous and/or personal posts to the mix as the mood takes me.

I like this option, but then I am fond of frivolous and/or personal lj posts! *g* You could always create a frivolous filter for the entries if it bothers you. You mention certain people don't have an LJ, but maybe it'll encourage them to get one. ;)

In the end, though, I don't mind it, and I doubt most people do, so stop worrying! :)

[coalescent.livejournal.com]

Yes, but I already know you're contrary. :-p

I've become less of a believer in cut-tags. I would rather scroll past a long entry that looks uninteresting and have a chance of something in it catching my eye than I would disregard it on the basis of an opening paragraph.

But I will try to use them more.

[coalescent.livejournal.com]

Bah. You know, niche targeting is meant to be the next big thing. By wanting to serve different audiences in the most efficient way, I'm only following the way of the future. :-p

[coalescent.livejournal.com]

50 messages a day? Yikes! Is there not a digest option?

[coalescent.livejournal.com]

but maybe it'll encourage them to get one

Unfortunately, my hope of this is slim.

I'm still leaning in the direction of splitting things up in some way, but I can't decide on the details. Thanks for the kind words, though. :)

[despotliz.livejournal.com]

(Insert obligatory joke about Niall not reading my LJ anyway here)

I sometimes wonder about this, although not in as much detail as you do. :p People who read my journal without the friends-locked bits get a completely different impression, since the unlocked parts never contain anything about what I'm doing, people I've met, anything a potential employer might not like to read. But then I figure it's my journal - if they don't want to read it, they can easily skip past.

So keep the reviews on your LJ, since I'm much less likely to click through and read them on a separate page. And tell us whatever personal stuff you feel like sharing.

[hawleygriffen.livejournal.com]

Well, don't split up things too much, or there'll be nothing left on here. :D

[snowking.livejournal.com]

Way of the Future, Present and Past = TO HELL WITH THE AUDIENCE.

I fully reserve the right to kick you square in the nuts when you start using focus groups or use the word "demographics".

[coalescent.livejournal.com]

(Insert obligatory joke about Niall not reading my LJ anyway here)

I would blame cut tags, but looking at your journal it seems that I can't. Damn.

I sometimes wonder about this, although not in as much detail as you do. :p

The post wasn't meant to be this long, you know ...

So keep the reviews on your LJ, since I'm much less likely to click through and read them on a separate page.

What's the difference between that and using a cut-tag? :-p

And tell us whatever personal stuff you feel like sharing.

Maybe I'll shock you all with shocking revalations. And shocks. Or not.

[coalescent.livejournal.com]

I hate it when I mis-spell 'revelations'.

[coalescent.livejournal.com]

Luckily for me, the technology to kick people in the nuts over the internet has not yet been developed.

[snowking.livejournal.com]

I also reserve the right to save the nut-kicks until I see you next.

[wg.livejournal.com]

Lj cut = open in a tab for closer consideration once caught up on flist in general.
Though maybe i'm just contrary like my boy.

I'll read it all, wherever you decide the content goes dearie :-)

[talvalin.livejournal.com]

Feh. At one point, it was about 100-200 messages a day with peaks of 300 or so.

As for the BSFA, what's the incentive to join? No, seriously, I have no idea.