[LMB] (news) my new blog

[Elizabeth Holden]

--- Lois McMaster Bujold <lbujold at myinfmail.com>
wrote:

> -- can someone explain blogspace generally, and 
> what the objection is to MySpace particularly?

I looked at MySpace once, thought it was full of ads
and chaotic use of space - it would give me a headache
to try to read it.  Didn't like the questions in the
sign-up process, and thought it all seemed like a lot
of effort for minimal pay-off in terms of content. 

Now, I happen to love Livejournal, which is full of
interesting people that you can pick up as 'friends'
on your 'friends list' for ease of conversation and
information-sharing and reading each others stuff. A
number of my LJ friends are also here.  (I grin and
wave.) And in general terms - I'm simplifying - you
set up the look of your own pages, so there's nothing
headache-inducing unless you want it to be so. 

> Where do blogs come from anyway? 

It's like personal websites/journals all grouped
together in a friendly clump.  If a website could be
compared to a house, then blogs form a village.  But
it's much easier on LJ to ignore the neighbours you
don't like.

>  What's the difference between 
> Livejournal and Myspace?  

Easy answers?  The difference for me is:
- I use one (LJ) and not the other (MySpace) - which I
really don't know how to use
- I like one and not the other
- I have found intelligent book talk on LJ, but not on
MySpace

> Or any other?  

Livejournal is the only one I have felt comfortable
with, and I find it easy to use compared to any others
I have tried.

> Ferex, prior searches have 
> introduced me to something called Icerocket and
> another called Technorati... what are these?  

I don't know them. I'm spending way too much time on
LiveJournal to look at other blog sites. (Should I
admit this in public?)

I use rss feeds - and hooked up to yours.  Others I
get include Neil Gaiman, Miss Manners, Unshelved
Comic, and a delightful thing called "strangemaps". 
For example. I used to get the Diary of Samuel Pepys,
too - see, you don't even have to be alive to be read
on LJ! - but I just didn't have time to read it daily.

> Ta, L.  (disinclined to count the teeth on the gift
> horse.)

Well, nor should you. You'll probably meet all sorts
of different types on MySpace.  Have fun!

namaste,
Elizabeth