Musing on other Somerville LJs

[mem-winterhill.livejournal.com]

Today I was sitting over at Assembly, reading my book "Ten Hills Farms" by CS Manegold, and a woman at the next table struck up conversation about it. She and her family have moved over to Ten Hills in the last year, and they really seemed to not be very connected with Somerville stuff. I talked about the Library's summer read (I'm also reading Dark Tide, but not in paper form). She wanted to know more about how I got that info. And we talked about the Mystic River water chestnut projects, etc.

They really seemed to be craving local info and want to participate. But as far as I know, there's nothing like DSLJ for the other neighborhoods (for the most part). Or are there others, and I just don't know this?

I have 2 questions for this group, semi-related:
1. Do you think new LJs would be helpful for other neighborhoods, and worth the work? and/or
2. Is it possible to have an LJ that has some "all neighborhood" set of posts, and a separate thread of neighborhood ones? That would be nice, so you wouldn't have to post on different communities if you have a broad item, you know? But the Davis folks wouldn't swamp out Assembly chatter, or vice versa.

I wonder, too, if we should post some social media awareness in coffee shops, laundromats, building entrances at these new developments, etc.

Open to other suggestions. I'm really just thinking out loud about ways to bring in new residents and get them feeling like neighbors.

Comments

[rmd.livejournal.com]

I think there have been a couple of attempts at other somerville lj communities but I don't think anything much came of them.

[mem-winterhill.livejournal.com]

Glad to know that, even if it's not what I was hoping. Thanks for the data point.

I really am open to being told this is a bad idea, or not worthwhile, or anything. I've got no emotional investment in it as an idea (yet).

[georgy.livejournal.com]

Not sure LJ still has mass appeal. Magoun Square area has the Ward 5 Online blog and Twitter account managed by Courtney O'Keefe. East Somerville and Union Square Main streets do a good job sharing news and events in those neighborhoods via their email lists. Winter Hill has squat that I know of, sadly.

[prunesnprisms.livejournal.com]

Could we really get so much traffic that it would really be a problem?

[badseed1980.livejournal.com]

This. Most people who I know who used to use LJ all the time are now using it only rarely, if at all. Also, Ten Hills is a small enough neighborhood that I'm not sure you could get the critical mass needed for a thriving social media presence specific to that neighborhood.

[mem-winterhill.livejournal.com]

But when a personal blog is run by someone, it doesn't permit wide posting by others who bring stuff. That's why I like the forum concept for more interaction.

[mem-winterhill.livejournal.com]

I don't know if the volume is the problem. But what happens is that not topics could dominate. And if the existing DSLJ community felt disrupted by others, that would be bad all around.

And I know I've been hesitant to post non-Davis neighborhood stuff because I don't want to seem disruptive.

[pierceheart.livejournal.com]

Try http://somervillemass.livejournal.com

[mem-winterhill.livejournal.com]

Oh. Three posts this year. Um... Good to know, though, thanks.

[prunesnprisms.livejournal.com]

Enh... the site is only a fraction as active as it was 5 years ago. Somerville is pretty small. I don't see how it's a huge problem. Would love it if more Somervillians came here to post things.

[secretlyironic.livejournal.com]

You might find more success at reddit.com/r/Boston and related communities.

[mem-winterhill.livejournal.com]

Reddit has a bad reputation among women. I know people who specifically refuse to use it because of that. But fair point.

[pklemica]

There were some posts here a year or two ago about Nextdoor.com when they were advertising by sending out postcards to the area. I've unfortunately since moved from Somerville to Dorchester (closer to my new job) - though I still visit often - and the Nextdoor community for the sub-neighborhood within Dorchester where I live has really started to come alive in the year since I moved in. Possibly there'd be enough interest in the Ten Hills area to try out something slightly more modern like that site? LJ, sadly, has dwindled to a pretty niche usergroup at this point (within the US, at least).

Part of what I've really enjoyed about Nextdoor is that I can sign up or un-sign up for news from neighboring communities, as I see fit. It's only taken a few very active members within the set of nearby neighborhoods for me to feel much more informed about the general goings-on of my new area.

[ron_newman]

There is a somervillemass community, but it has generally fallen out of use in favor of this one. It would be confusing to rename the davis_square community, but it is in fact intended to be welcoming to all other Somerville neighborhoods.

[ron_newman]

I'm not familiar with that; can you say more about it? Reddit is an entirely pseudonymous system (even more so than LJ), so I have no way of knowing which contributors are men and which are women.

There is an /r/Somerville subreddit, but it gets little traffic compared to this LJ community.

[ext-1782004.livejournal.com (from livejournal.com)]

Sure, and as long as you don't admit to being female, you're probably fine. Try posting with a clearly female name, or post about women in a positive way, and it's a whole other story :(

[ukelele.livejournal.com]

Seriously, google "reddit sexism" or "reddit misogyny" or something like that. This is not a new or obscure phenomenon.

[ron_newman]

What do you think we can or should do to encourage more people to post here (or to post here more often)?

If the current community rules seem too restrictive, should we loosen or rewrite them?

[mem-winterhill.livejournal.com]

Yeah, like others have said, it's kind of a swamp. I go there, but I can see why others don't. And I don't venture far from a couple of places I've found safe. But in my circle a lot of tech women don't want to support it because of the abuse and some of the types of really awful subreddits allowed.

[mem-winterhill.livejournal.com]

Ok. Although I've done it sometimes, like the free yoga at Assembly post, I have hesitated about posting non-Davis-centric things. But if it's ok with you, that's probably the best option. It sounds to me like firing up something else isn't worth the effort.

[mem-winterhill.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the tip. I never heard of that. I'll check it out.

[mem-winterhill.livejournal.com]

Ok--I totally understand, I'm not asking for a re-name. I appreciate the work you've done to moderate this site, I've found it really useful over the years. And I didn't want to burden you if you didn't want it to be broader. I'm sure moderation is a sometimes thankless task...

But thank you.

[secretlyironic.livejournal.com]

It certainly does. But like LJ, reddit is not s monolithic entity.

It is more a collection of message boards. The Boston group tends to be quite welcoming.

There are cesspools of antisocial behavior in the dark corners of everything. Reddit, LJ, Tumblr, Twitter.

[secretlyironic.livejournal.com]

Ohh and look for listservs too. Medford and Arlington both hve active lists. Lexington does too but they actually require you to be in lexington to join.

[curiositykt.livejournal.com]

I've since moved (yet stay lurking cause I love this community) and I really wish that all towns/communities had a place like this. It's really annoying not to have somewhere to ask questions like "why are there helicopters flying around X street?" and "Does anyone know where I can find X?" and "Hey, we're doing a play, come see it!"