the_lj_revival's Journal

Are you fed-up with sites like Facebook, Instagram, Reddit and Tumblr? If so, a far better alternative is available in the form of LiveJournal. LiveJournal is a blogging and social-networking site which predates all the currently-popular social-networking sites, and which those who use it consider to be greatly superior to those sites in terms of functionality, layout, page-customisation and other features. It also allows deeper and more intimate and meaningful interaction between users.


Seen on Facebook on 10th April, 2014. You don't get all this nonsense on LiveJournal!
Facebook is a deeply manipulative, exploitative site with numerous faults. In no particular order, these include the following:

• Facebook takes it upon itself to decide which of your friends' posts you may see.
  
• Only a limited proportion of your friends' posts appear on your Newsfeed and, presumably, only a similarly-small proportion of your posts appear on theirs.
  
• Friends' posts are displayed in non-chronological order, even when the Newsfeed is set to 'Most recent'.
  
• The Newsfeed reverts to 'Top stories' regardless of how often you reset it to 'Most recent'.
  
• Facebook insists on recommending ever more 'People you may know', even when you already have many more 'friends' than you can possibly follow. You end up having numerous contacts who you don't know and with whom you have no interaction. What is the point?
  
• It then complains when it thinks you've added someone who isn't a real-life friend.
  
• 'So-and-so likes such-and-such a page'. Who the hell cares?
  
• Multitudes of pointless, mindlessly-reposted memes instead of people expressing their own thoughts in their own words.

• Supposedly 'targeted' adverts for erection pills, incontinence products, and dating-sites featuring pictures of ladies with two enormous balloons stuck up their jerseys.

• Facebook lists your 'friends' in random, constantly-changing order, making it needlessly difficult and time-consuming to locate anyone's profile page.
  
• Facebook continually demands that you provide and display your personal details, which you may wish to keep private for all sorts of perfectly valid reasons. Employers, government agencies, ex-partners, estranged family-members and people whom you may wish to have no involvement in your life, can and will find you.
  
• Social-media generally causes people to crave attention, approval and validation, but does not satisfy these needs as there is no genuine, meaningful communication. It increases social isolation and is harmful to mental health.

• Facebook is infested with drama-merchants, trouble-makers and trolls, especially on political pages and communities.
  
• The dimensions of images uploaded to Facebook albums are restricted and the resolution reduced.
  
• There is no provision for user-customisation of font, text-colour or page-layout.
  
• Images can be attached-to but can't be included in Facebook posts.
  
• Posts are limited to no more than a couple of trite sentences. Anything of greater depth is automatically hidden.
  
• There is no provision for individual comment-threads, as on LiveJournal.
  
• The privacy and other settings remain excessively numerous and impenetrably complicated, despite years of criticism of Facebook over this issue.

Following a period of years during which many of LiveJournal's original users migrated first to Myspace, then to Facebook and similar sites, many people are now seeking an alternative to those sites and are setting up LiveJournal accounts or returning to the site. This community invites you to join them.

If you are already on LiveJournal and still have a Facebook profile, and would like to see more people returning to or setting up accounts on LiveJournal, please post a link to this community on your Facebook Timeline.

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LiveJournal apps for mobile phones


It seems that many people have been reluctant to continue using LiveJournal or to reactivate their accounts due to the user-interface for mobile phone users having been unsatisfactory. However, LiveJournal has now introduced a new mobile phone app: see New LiveJournal app for iOS and Android is available now! The app is available from the App Store and Google Play.

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Tell us about yourself!
If you're seeking new friends on LiveJournal, please copy and paste the questions below and post them along with your answers to the community.

Name:
Age:
Sex:
Location:
How long have you been on LiveJournal?
What do you/will you write about?
What particular qualities do you look for in a friend?
What would cause you not to add someone as a friend, or to delete them?
Favourite films or TV shows:
Favourite books:
Favourite foods:
Favourite drinks:
Favourite bands and musicians:
Hobbies and pastimes:
How would you describe your style?
Anything else you'd like to tell us?

N.B. Abusive, malicious or threatening posts or comments on this community will be deleted immediately without response.