h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Wow, has this place ever gone downhill lately. I realise a lot of the people I used to regularly interact with are too busy behind the scenes to be here.

But the really annoying part is this expectation that everyone deserves a medal just for shwoing up. Whatever happened to the satisfaction of writing an entry because you were interested in it, making the appropriate corrections in peer review, and finally seeing it hit the front page?

Now we're expected to applaud people for being so "creative" that they need someone else to come up with ideas in Create, or doing the mindbogglingly difficult "challenge" of posting a journal every day. The real challenge, of course, is keeping up with unsubscribing from the stupid things.

You can tell that everyone only reads them out of a sense of duty by the marker smileys that appear after them - real journals or conversations have replies because someone has something to say in response; it's not expected otherwise that you merely indicate that you've read it.

Nobody seems to be writing things because they want to anymore, or because they found something interesting - it's now doing your homework and filling in the blanks. The level of navel-gazing is insane.

So if the whole point of this site is now to generate content without thinking about why you're doing it, I think I'm better off elsewhere. I've had the "my conversations" popup open permanently as the first tab in my browser for years, set to reload every 42 seconds.

But now all I find there is walls of text that are being written and replied to out of some strange obligation. It hides anything I'm actually interested in, and just keeps coming. I resent having to unsubscribe from it all when I never signed up for it; it feels like an invasion.

So I think I need to make an exit. I'm not posting this in my journal, because I wouldn't want it popping up in the conversations lists of people who aren't actually interested.

Crinoline!!


Can't beat a good flounce in crinoline!!


Haven't had one of those in years!! *awaits 2legs arrivals*

Noodles!


*erases the errant 's'*


lil xx

I'm sorry to read this, and it makes me feel guilty, although I don't think I have anything to feel guilty about, as I do do my best to be interesting, and I am working behind the scenes too...

In some non-PoMo threads, it is the etiquette that a marker smiley is used to indicate that the thread has been read, but the reader has no time left for writing anything more, so I am not unused to that, and indeed in NaJoPoMo I appreciate it, so I know I'm not stuck in a room talking to myself, but someone has noticed me there. I also like Create, as it gives me fresh ideas and inspiration that I don't necessarily think of myself, and gives me incentives to finish things within a month.

I noted you posted to a couple of KB's journals this week - as he is posting a journal a day along with many others (including me, although I'm keeping all my posts in one thread so as not to push my other journal off the page) is it because he hasn't put the code in his titles, or is it just because he is such an interesting poster, his "flooding" hasn't disturbed you?

I haven't really interacted with you much, but I like seeing you around, and I would be sorry to see you stop visiting here...

Malabarista, if you put it in your journal, it will only appear in the spaces of people who have marked you as a friend - exactly the same set of people who will see it here. A journal is just a conversation as far as subscriptions are concerned.

You're right, though, about people not posting about interesting things. I write entries about the stuff I'm interested in, and occasionally about the stuff I'm not so interested in but I think other people might be.

I also normally post a journal about twice a week, so posting something every day isn't really much of a change. In fact, I often find that I don't post something because I've already posted today and I might like to hold onto it to fill in an empty day later on. So the "once a day" challenge sometimes reduces my output.

Definitely the life has gone out of h2g2. It's effectively no longer a living guide. I don't know the reason why, but I suspect there are a few different reasons.

My personal theory is that new users are put off writing by the fact that the editor doesn't work, so they can't actually write anything more elaborate than basic text, and if they write a lot of that, it regularly deletes it all.

Every user who makes the transition from Pliny to the old skins has to endure the Captcha puzzle screen every time they make a change to an entry, so it just isn't worth it. If I was a new user, I certainly wouldn't write for h2g2.

Damn it, another interesting person going

I like the journal a day, and I do read all the entries however I'm mostly doing it on the quiet at w**k so don't always comment.

there's nothing wrong with a good flounce, but has more impact I've found if done in a big flouncy dress (yes boys you too)

I wish I could pull off a good flouncing outfit but I'd fall over myself everytime

"Nobody seems to be writing things because they want to anymore, or because they found something interesting - it's now doing your homework and filling in the blanks."[Malabarista]

You can't learn to do a better job of writing unless you write. A lot. Sure, there's much to be gained from getting tips from experts, and reading constantly so as to be exposed to superior writing, but practice is important.

I sympathize with your annoyance at the overflow of journal articles and threads [I'm overwhelmed by it, too], but I think it qualifies as spitting against the tide to deny people some credit for doing what is absolutely necessary in order to become better at writing. This a writer's site, after all.

When the site was first created, all users were encouraged to write in their journal everyday.

Just a little bit of history there.

Journals have much to recommend them as far as gathering material for later use. They're the online equivalent of the notebooks that writers used to keep. When I read "Running With Scissors," there was a pivotal passage where Augusten is wondering what kind of a career to aim for, and one of his friends is astonished that the answer isn't obvious. "You're always writing in your notebook. That's the sign of a born writer." [Not the exact words, but the gist is there....]

I remember your complaining about the many journals last year. I say if you want to flounce, have at, but I see from your eyes that you are still here...

The eyes never lie. Except on this site, where they often give a completely spurious impression that someone is nearby. People who are dead for years sometimes come back to h2g2 as a pair of eyes.

Hmm, Thanks for the info Gnomon.

I was not subscribed to Mala's journal, but I was subscribed to Misc Chat, so I was forced to look at this uninteresting post and comment about how uninteresting it is.

Oh I didn't notice that this was posted to Miscellaneous Chat. So what I said earlier was wrong.

If Mala had posted to her journal it would have been seen only by those who had chosen to listen to her words of wisdom. Instead she chose to broadcast to the biggest possible audience.

She accused the NoJo people of spamming her, when she had chosen to follow their conversations. Instead it is she who comes close to spamming.

Actually, it was posted in Ask first, then moved to Misc Chat.

I agree with both of you, hellboundforjoy and Gnomon.

Hmmm.

>> Actually, it was posted in Ask first, then moved <<

Ah, y'see, there's a big part of the problem.
Nothing discourages like a loss of control.

But beyond diagnosis, I have no prognosis, just a prescription.
Take two of these and dont bother to call me in the morning.


~jwf~

I have no time to read the journals that pop up everyday. I "clean" the list from time to time just to avoid that the conversations I could be interested in get sunk. It´s not much fun that of unsubscribing, but no kitten has died yet.
There could be a special entry to host the nojoposting to avoid the waterfall of journals, but... since there are alternatives I see this is much ado about nothing.


I don´t think it´s fair to dismiss Create or Nojo or any other "filling the blank" activity just because you don´t find them "challenging" enough.

I think that creativity can be in any hootoo place, from Entries to Create or in any ordinay thread in ASK.

Surely the place is a bit dead compared to other times. I guess it´s a mix of different things, as it usually happens with groups of people.

I still think it´s a good place to write, despite Pliny skin. It has room for great entries and for less brilliant ones. This is not a contest or a parade of talents, I think.
the more people write /fill the blanks? the more
they will improve.

Gracias querida.

I don't write anything in my journal from one year's end to the other, but this encourages me to do so.

I really enjoy reading journals from other people too, especially those who are usually very quiet on here.

If I find my convo list getting a bit heavy to handle, then I unsub from journals that I've read and am unlikely to go back and comment on in future.

I do read *everything* but don't always leave a comment or placeholder. I thank everyone for taking part. There are some cracking stories being told and some really interesting insights into other people's day to day experiences.

Besos a todos

I use my journal to wake or rather poke my friends and check they are still here..Which reminds me.......