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One Month on Dreamwidth
Aug. 25th, 2023 08:38 amWelp, it's been a little over a month since I decided to step away from Tumblr and explore my other options. Since then, I've opened an account here on Dreamwidth and luckily got an invitation code for BlueSky. That said, I haven't totally been absent from Tumblr. I added some of my mutuals' feeds on Inoreader so I'm still able to keep tabs on them without actually logging onto the site. From time to time, I did log on, and I'm still quite torn about whether I need to permanently find a new platform.
In terms of being able to write and express what I want, I am starting to get a sense that Dreamwidth is currently the place for that for me. I don't know if it's just because there's just less people here, so I'm braver in tackling topics I would have never broached on Tumblr. Like religion and mental health. I think I shot myself in the foot with the way I curated my Tumblr accounts, the main blog being all about writing and Filipino culture. And what used to be my fandom account is now a general dump of other things I find interesting. I used to want a streamlined and writing-focused main account, but now I feel like I can never talk about other things without losing followers. I know that I've built so much of my writing brand on my Filipino identity, and while yes, that's a big part of who I am, there are other parts of my identity too, but I just don't feel like they fit into that blog.
Before stepping away from Tumblr, I was mostly reblogging posts to keep my accounts seeming active, but I find very little joy in what I was actually doing. The likes and reblogs feel so impersonal. Nobody really comments on the posts that I do put a lot of thought and work in. I find very little incentive to comment on other people's posts that I'm sure they put a lot of thought and work in as well. What would my comments matter anyway? What would the tags on my reblog matter?
In a way, I think this is why I'm really attracted to Dreamwidth, even though a lot of times it feels like a ghost town here. Every post seems personal. Every comment I leave feels intentional. It's not just a way for me to "seem active." It does take a lot more time to discover engaging content, though. In the month I've been here, I've only followed 4 accounts. And I was lucky to discover the latter 2, who are SFF writers that seem to have made DW their main blogging platform. I'm hoping I can find more; after all, "writing" seems to be the most active interest on here.
I also went ahead and tried BlueSky. My profile is here if you're interested in friending me there. BlueSky is basically the new Twitter. I've never had a Twitter account before, because I found the character limit very restrictive at first, and then it just seemed too much of a hostile and rage-triggered platform for me to be comfortable there. BlueSky does have a character limit too, which I'm already struggling with. I'm the kind of person who always has to add "probably," "maybe," "perhaps," to quantify my opinions, otherwise I feel like I'm going to come across harsh. And seeing how Twitter became how it is, I do think comprehension gets affected when you're trying to fit things in such short messages. Yesterday I wanted to post something funny like, "Being an ML engineer and a fantasy writer feels like being a double agent." Then I decided that people might get upset at me for comparing myself to a double agent. Or they might jump to conclusions about what it is I do as an ML engineer. (I am not in the business of generative AI -- but see how easily I clarified that when there's no character limit?)
That said, despite BlueSky being a new platform, it already seems to have a lot of notable people on it. It was easier for me to find my favourite authors on there and follow them. I also think that because it is new, people there feel more comfortable, and they are posting more fun things again. I still get lots of political posts recommended to me, but I'm hoping that the more I engage with the website, the less I will ever look at recommended posts. I don't find social media to be the best place to discuss politics, since people can get so self-righteous and hard-hearted, and my own values don't fall neatly in the current buckets of political parties. I think it's quite telling that one of the things I miss most about Tumblr is its Side B community; I'm not Side B myself, but in terms of values and approach to thorny subjects, I find that this community has been the most gracious so far.
Funny enough, it wasn't actually in Dreamwidth nor BlueSky where I socialized the most the last week. In my last post I talked about looking for a critique partner, and I was able to find one on CritiqueMatch! This past week, we've been exchanging chapters and providing each other with comments. It's been so much fun! I was lucky that I found someone whose work I resonated with; it has themes similar to my own WIP, and she's at a level that I can comfortably read her work but still provide meaningful feedback. The experience just left me wondering what it really is I want out of social media. What am I looking for when I say I want to move away from Tumblr? If I want something more engaging and involved, maybe social media isn't the place for that? Maybe I need to find other ways to be a meaningful presence in the writing community.
In terms of being able to write and express what I want, I am starting to get a sense that Dreamwidth is currently the place for that for me. I don't know if it's just because there's just less people here, so I'm braver in tackling topics I would have never broached on Tumblr. Like religion and mental health. I think I shot myself in the foot with the way I curated my Tumblr accounts, the main blog being all about writing and Filipino culture. And what used to be my fandom account is now a general dump of other things I find interesting. I used to want a streamlined and writing-focused main account, but now I feel like I can never talk about other things without losing followers. I know that I've built so much of my writing brand on my Filipino identity, and while yes, that's a big part of who I am, there are other parts of my identity too, but I just don't feel like they fit into that blog.
Before stepping away from Tumblr, I was mostly reblogging posts to keep my accounts seeming active, but I find very little joy in what I was actually doing. The likes and reblogs feel so impersonal. Nobody really comments on the posts that I do put a lot of thought and work in. I find very little incentive to comment on other people's posts that I'm sure they put a lot of thought and work in as well. What would my comments matter anyway? What would the tags on my reblog matter?
In a way, I think this is why I'm really attracted to Dreamwidth, even though a lot of times it feels like a ghost town here. Every post seems personal. Every comment I leave feels intentional. It's not just a way for me to "seem active." It does take a lot more time to discover engaging content, though. In the month I've been here, I've only followed 4 accounts. And I was lucky to discover the latter 2, who are SFF writers that seem to have made DW their main blogging platform. I'm hoping I can find more; after all, "writing" seems to be the most active interest on here.
I also went ahead and tried BlueSky. My profile is here if you're interested in friending me there. BlueSky is basically the new Twitter. I've never had a Twitter account before, because I found the character limit very restrictive at first, and then it just seemed too much of a hostile and rage-triggered platform for me to be comfortable there. BlueSky does have a character limit too, which I'm already struggling with. I'm the kind of person who always has to add "probably," "maybe," "perhaps," to quantify my opinions, otherwise I feel like I'm going to come across harsh. And seeing how Twitter became how it is, I do think comprehension gets affected when you're trying to fit things in such short messages. Yesterday I wanted to post something funny like, "Being an ML engineer and a fantasy writer feels like being a double agent." Then I decided that people might get upset at me for comparing myself to a double agent. Or they might jump to conclusions about what it is I do as an ML engineer. (I am not in the business of generative AI -- but see how easily I clarified that when there's no character limit?)
That said, despite BlueSky being a new platform, it already seems to have a lot of notable people on it. It was easier for me to find my favourite authors on there and follow them. I also think that because it is new, people there feel more comfortable, and they are posting more fun things again. I still get lots of political posts recommended to me, but I'm hoping that the more I engage with the website, the less I will ever look at recommended posts. I don't find social media to be the best place to discuss politics, since people can get so self-righteous and hard-hearted, and my own values don't fall neatly in the current buckets of political parties. I think it's quite telling that one of the things I miss most about Tumblr is its Side B community; I'm not Side B myself, but in terms of values and approach to thorny subjects, I find that this community has been the most gracious so far.
Funny enough, it wasn't actually in Dreamwidth nor BlueSky where I socialized the most the last week. In my last post I talked about looking for a critique partner, and I was able to find one on CritiqueMatch! This past week, we've been exchanging chapters and providing each other with comments. It's been so much fun! I was lucky that I found someone whose work I resonated with; it has themes similar to my own WIP, and she's at a level that I can comfortably read her work but still provide meaningful feedback. The experience just left me wondering what it really is I want out of social media. What am I looking for when I say I want to move away from Tumblr? If I want something more engaging and involved, maybe social media isn't the place for that? Maybe I need to find other ways to be a meaningful presence in the writing community.
