LJ

ah hope you dont mind me sayin but i got LJ but i dont no how to work it so its kinda well theres nothing on it ahh well its just there cause i never could be bothered to write in it so i wouldnt bother with it but thats just me
Merry Christmas!

Because that's where the furries hang out.

 
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My LiveJournal - My Website - See what I'm doing on Twitter

I see no point in it. It's kinda the "In" thing for most. I hate going to read other's journals, I prefer that I hear it directly from them to me, not for me to go beat around the bush and read what their LJ has to say. But, that's just me.

Some just do it because it's apparently easier for their friends to know what's going on in their life.

Well- the use of the word "Journal" sort of implies something like a diary, an account of the things that happen to you or that you do in a daily- or even moment-by-moment update. UNLIKE a diary, however, it isn't private, unless you take the trouble to make it so; it allows others, from a small group of friends to the world at large, know what's happening to you, or hear what you have to say - it acts as a simple and cheap "blog".

You can use it kind of like a newspaper - and make declarations for the world to see - top-down mode of communications, with the "reply comments" feature acting as the "Letters to the Editor" column in the Op-Ed section of the paper.

It is probably the best upgrade over the old BBS Bulletin boards that people ran on local dial-up PC's, or the USENET News Servers with sites such as Alt.Fan.Furry or Alt.Lifestyle.Furry, which could be seen around the world by anybody, but weren't at all private and had propogation delays that could take a couple days to update and catch up.

Best of all, though, is the control you have - YOU decide what is "on topic", and WHO can see your posts, and who can RESPOND. And it is usually FAST.

As a means of communication, its great, ONCE you learn how to best utilize it, and develop a network of mutual friends whose LJ accounts you follow (automatically, on your "Friends Page"), and who follow your account (automatically, on their "Friends Page").

And - if you get an invite from a friend to open an account - there is a FREE level of service, in addition to premium pay feature upgrades; I've never upgraded mine, but fdor what I use it for, there is no need.

Here's an example - The LJ group "Wild Cat Cards" was set up by Roz Gibson to coordinate and keep informed all the artists who participated in the just-released Wild Cat Card Deck project, where 40 artists each illustrated at least one card with a full color illustration of one of the wild cats of the world - Tigers, Leopards, Lions, Jaguars, Linx, the 4-footed kind - to make up a full, regulation poker deck of playing cards, and for 9 months Artists posted questions and queries, WIP sketches, and finished illustrations, with the group as a whole kept up to date and in-touch, and the artists passed on tips and advice and reviews to each other, leading each to produce the best possible illustrations that they could - and the outside world was able to watch, day-by-day, as the project came together. It was a fun treat to watch that project come together, and to watch the artists cooperate and encourage each other and have fun with it.