More backstory: when LJ community was real community

[glowingfish]

Kind of related to that last map:
I spent a lot of my life in Portland, including my 20s. LJ was actually formed in Portland, and incidentally to that, LJ had a big usergroup, called "DamnPortlanders", where we talked about Portland related things, and also non-Portland related things. It had one of the best things about an internet community---some people were just watching, while others were more of the core group---a few dozen people actually became friends in real life. We had monthly meetups. There were also, based on the demographics of the time, shenanigans, with the safety of being online giving people an opportunity to meet.
(Interesting note: there was one woman who I met online on LJ in probably 2005-2006---and in 2023 we finally met in person and went on a date!)

I don't think lightning will quite strike twice as far as how online communities form, but I do know that online communities can become real communities---and there was a feeling, both giddy and cozy, that I associate with the 2000's and LJ.

Comments

[loganberrybunny]

I must admit I miss the old days of LJ. It was a bit too busy for me at times, but I had good friends there. Never had a specifically local group (not really enough local folks from the UK even then) but there was certainly a sense of a busy virtual city. Fortunately at least some of those friends are still around over here. I'd like it to be a little busier on DW, but (after some years here, admittedly) I've now reached the stage where I have something interesting to read every day. :)

[glowingfish]

I understand about it being busy...I remember the first two years, everyone was on LJ and they were posting quizzes and the like (I was about to say memes, but no memes in 2003-2004!), and it seemed juvenile (but of course...I was 24!), and then by 2007 it is already quieting down.

It seems pretty much true of most internet sites...either abandoned or clogged. Maybe this site would be a happy medium!

[loganberrybunny]

I was about to say memes, but no memes in 2003-2004!

We did call them memes! I just dug out my old LJ archive, and it looks like I first used the term in January 2004. The post was about something called Pholph's Scrabble Generator. Its links are broken now, unsurprisingly, but it seems to have been something along the lines of "How many points would your username score in Scrabble?"

Also, back then we used "meme" for quizzes and surveys as well. I still tag them "memes" on here (old LJ muscle memory, I suppose) which doubtless confuses some of my younger readers. :P

[glowingfish]

Ah, okay, I actually thought once or twice about that.
I think what I was referring to is the "lolcat" style meme, with a picture of a cat (or other animal) and then a caption in impact font. I think that that type of meme really started taking off in 2006.