On LJ and organic qualities

[thebitterguy]

lord_whimsy has an interesting post on saving LJs that focuses on why more than how.

My initial impulse was to start backing off and exporting my six year-old LiveJournal, but at the last moment, I decided to cancel these safeguards. It felt too much like backpedaling to an old media mindset, a craving for permanence in an impermanent medium. Emotionally I wanted to save all the nonsense I've posted here--some of which have documented my life over that period. But philosophically I'm appalled at the idea, since the ephemeral nature of a blog/journal/blogue is part of its beauty--lends it a bittersweet tang, if you will. And besides, I won't revisit 90% of those posts, anyway.

Comments

[granolademonic.livejournal.com]

I hate the idea of losing my LiveJournal(s), but I agree with this, and shall honor it, come what may.

[sixteenbynine.livejournal.com]

As someone else once put it, all these moments will be lost in time like tears in rain. I think he was an ex-con or something.

[granolademonic.livejournal.com]

Or, as Stephen King said: 10,000 red Chinese don't give a shit.

Just...

[saltedlithium.livejournal.com]

keep in mind that if the LJ owner is so hard up for cash he'll axe... 70%? or 80% of his staff with no notice and no walking money, you could wake up and find a giant hole where this site used to be... but, more likely, I think he'll sell it for gas money back to the Vox people.

And remember, you can have a backup of all these files exported to your WordPress account with a few clicks... and it won't effect your LJ blog in the least.

[tfbretz.livejournal.com]

Meh. Over the years, I've used it as a clip pad to write down gaming ideas that came and went, shared recipes I've since forgotten, etc. My memory's not what it was, and I didn't start tagging things until last year (and haphazardly then). So, the notion of an offline archive I can search easily is a comfort in my old age.