Dynamics of LJ

[lettered]

JB. I was going to say how much I loved lj's "save draft" thing for posts, but I retract because I lost half the post and apparently it wasn't saved.
O. speaking of lj, is there a way to mark posts on your friends page?  I usually scan the list through to the last entry I read, taking note of the posts with fic, posts I want to read more thoroughly, and posts I want to reply to.  Then sometime later when I feel like it I go back, but then I have to scroll so much and can't find/remember the things that were of particular interest.  I'm a lazy bint who wants a system.
R. speaking of all that I don't know about lj, what's this "skip 20" or "skip 50" people sometimes mention as regards their friends pages?
G. speaking of "friends," that whole thing is distinctly odd.  I mean, it's been said before, but I'll say it again.  But even if the system wasn't called "friends", I think it would still have that weirdness attached to it.  And I myself can't help feeling all weird about it.  I fancy that the way I use the ole flist is objective; I use it as a reading list.  But I'm starting to realize that the way I FEEL about it (and the way I feel about those of others) is still strangely emotional and sensitive, as *logical* as I've always tried to be about it.
E. speaking of that whole weirdness thing, what're y'all's thoughts about filtering the flist posts that you read?  I know some people are way against it.  I suppose others secretly do it.  I personally feel like I would use them--not to completely knock anyone off and secretly not read them, but if I had a list I had trouble keeping up with, I'd probably have a filter for the people I'm most interested in, so if I'm really busy I can fly through very quickly.  Then I'd have a filter for the others to zoom through periodically as well.  Most of the time I'd just go through the whole list, but in really busy times it seems like the filter thing would be handy.  It's not like I need it, though.  I'm just wondering if there're angles of it I haven't considered.  What do you do and how do you do it?
S. speaking of discussions about how you use your lj, I'm also wondering about locked posts.  Some people are against using them.  Some are against using them except for personal matters.  Some seem to use them completely arbitrarily.  Some, I guess, might use them for more...sinister reasons.  And some feel the need to explain every time they flock.  Anyway, I personally see nothing wrong with flocking something you're just not interested in discussing with everyone, either because you're feeling introverted or lazy, but again, I'm wondering if there're other things to consider?  What do you do and how do you do it?

*

I feel the need to point out that this isn't in response to anything--people are always trimming or locking or skipping or what have you.  Actually, it is in response to something.  3 things, actually.

1. imnotacommittee informed me that there's such a thing as a rich text editor for when you post. I had no idea.  Beats the shit out of typing out all that freakin' code, and made me wonder what other little treats lj has I'm too lazy to suss out.
2. I'm going to Austin tomorrow and will be gone for two days.  I'm wondering what'll be up with the ole flist when I get back and how I'll ever manage.
3. Which really just made me wonder how everyone manages, and how all this crap works, and while everyone is always discussing it I'm interested in having stuff to discuss with everyone on my lj when I get back.  Yay!

Look at the color of this text, yay!

P.S. I've discovered I hate the rich text thing.  I've discovered that this post contains massive frippery and the title of the cut is misleading.  It's much more difficult to edit such a thing when one is using this do-hickey.  I throw up my hands I say, I throw up my...ouch, ceiling.  And ew, throw up.

Comments

[spiralleds.livejournal.com]

In regards to R - If you are on your friends page, click on "previous" and then look at the link at the top of your page, you'll see that it says:

http://tkp.livejournal.com/friends?skip=10

Every time you click "previous" you will go back 10 more posts. So if I've been gone for a few days, instead of clicking "previous" multiple times, I'll manually manipulate the link, replacing the 10 with 50 or 100 or 170 or whatever finally gets me back to where I left off.

[tkp.livejournal.com]

Oh, awesome! I see. I know that you can actually go change in your settings how many entries the friends page shows, but manipulating that every time according to how much I was going to be around seemed lame.

Also, when people used the phrase "skip 50" or what have you, I assume they meant they were skipping the entries themselves so they didn't have that much to look at whenever they got back from a trip or from being uber busy.

Thanks for clearing that up.

[spiralleds.livejournal.com]

Also, when people used the phrase "skip 50" or what have you, I assume they meant they were skipping the entries themselves so they didn't have that much to look at whenever they got back from a trip or from being uber busy.

Yeah, I realized that I didn't explain that part very well, did I?

In the contexts that I have seen "skip N" it may or may not mean that the person is skipping reading the entries. The use of the word skip in this context is a lot like the use of friends in friends list. It is using a term LJ has to describe something. Just as people on your friends list may or may not be friends, "skip N" is about a count of posts, not necessarily skipping them in the pass over them sense.

I have seen people who have been gone for a weekend, return, figure out where they left off. If that's a skip 1000 some simply throw their hands up saying, "Skip 1000! I can't wade through it all. Lemme know if I missed anything major." Or they are simply remarking on who much traffic. If they had a "skip 1000," that means there were 1000 posts that occurred since the last time they checked their LJ, but they may fully intend to read it all (or at least skim it) and catch up.

[tkp.livejournal.com]

Oh no! I mean, I got it! You explained it perfectly. I meant, that I thought before you cleared it up that skip meant skip in the pass over them sense. It was pretty confusing, because people would be talking about how they had to "skip 250" and then talk about how much they had to catch up on--I kept thinking, if you're skipping THAT MANY, it's shouldn't take too long to catch up! Obviously I was a little wrong in the head.

thanks for the explanation. Sometimes I'm still such a newbie.

[spiralleds.livejournal.com]

You're welcome. I guess that means I've been around long enough to middler instead of a newbie. I know what skip-N is as well as how to do it. I find myself slipping into html in times I don't need to because I've gotten used to using in, particularly in reply posts. I have an opinion on the difference between bad fic and bad!fic. I want someone to come up with a way to differentiate the various AUs: AU post-this-episode-in-canon, All Human AU, AU I've-messed-with-canon-cuz-I-don't-like-XYZ, etc.

[tkp.livejournal.com]

Heh. Middler.

The thing is, I've been involved off and on in the periphery of fandoms for about 5 years. I know a bit about fic issues in particular. But then when it comes to lj I still feel woefully uneducated.

And totally agree about how there should be a way to differentiate AUs.