I’m thinking of starting a new site: dumbjournal.com
Dumbjournal would be the place where people can post public entries from LiveJournal that they feel are especially stupid in one way or another. They’d be put into categories, things like: drunk, cheerleader, emo, punk, suicidal, inept, etc. People could rate them on how stupid they are.
I think this’d be totally okay because LiveJournal is supposed to be a place where people expose themselves and allow the public to look at them – if they don’t want that, they can make their stuff locked. The one thing I’m uncertain about is whether these entries should link to the original author… I’m thinking yes, so as to stop claims of plagiarism or the like. Also, there’d be a method where the original author of the post could request that it be removed by authenticating themselves.
To submit entries, people would simply punch in the URL of the entry on LiveJournal, and Dumbjournal would do the rest by parsing the entry and putting it on the site. This’d be a way to make sure that locked entries don’t get on the site – if Dumbjournal can’t read it, it won’t go on.
I think it’d be a source of endless laughs. Mean, yes, but a comeuppance to those who decide to make their lives public. Any thoughts?
I nominate this as the first dumbjournal.com post.
Sure
LJ drama?
though, that’s more dramatic. But most of it is pretty dumb too.
Oh yeah, you’re right. Forgot about that site. I’ll have to see how they accept user submissions and the like… the thing I don’t like about that site is the commentary and how active the owners of the actual site are. I’m thinking dumbjournal would be more automated and less partial (instead, letting the users decide what gets popular, akin to a digg-esque system)
ditto
Eh, a little more thought on the similarity: there isn’t much. Sure, both of them are places where people point out dumb things happening on LJ, but my site isn’t really for drama or to show comment floods or whatever – “drama” would probably just be one category.
It’d be a place to submit posts that don’t even have any comments – just dumb questions or stories or other ridiculous meme examples or the like.
sounds both retarded and profittable
kind of like a ‘make your own Weekend Web’
I think your system is inherently flawed… as LiveJournal is already DumbJournal, a place where people can post public entries that other people feel are especially stupid in one way or another. In fact it even has a subscription system of sorts called a ‘friends page’ and thanks to the memories system you can classify things as drunk, cheeleader, emo, punk, suicidal, inept, etc. if you’re not just content writing them off as such in your mind when you read the entries.
And your ideas for entry removal system and the fact that DumbJournal links back to authors would only serve as more mindless fodder for possibly Dumbjournal and definitely LJ Drama. Even you highlight the fact that you link back to combat plagiarism, that will not stop the puerile combat. And those ‘fights’ willl definitely be on the ‘LJ Drama’ side of the curve.
Also ‘a comeuppance to those who make their lives public’? Is that really neccessary? Livejournal and a great many other public journal systems are largely a cry for attention, to be sure. But there’s also a large portion of it that’s a cry for help too. So in the end there, you’d be giving most of the people you hold in contempt exactly what they want and collateral damaging a great deal of others you don’t think about because nobody deigns to think about them.
Do you really need to devote a page to the active derision of these people ? Especially when the chief audience probably overlaps and no doubt feels every bit as pathetic and useless as those they mock? Enough of this ‘cerebral palsy people bullying down syndrome victims’ approach to internet ridicule. Jesus.
Those are some big words.
And that is a fairly accurately scaled pog.
That’s a big monitor.
mahna mahna mahna mahna
batmaaaaaaan
I agree with neroman in that this is just like a “make-your-own weekend web,” a la something awful. Dumbjournal is not a place where people can sign up and post entries – it’d be a place where random people submit LJ URLs, and Dumbjournal takes something of an HTML-based snapshot of the page and hosts it.
As for the memories system, it’s an interesting comparison, but it’s not something everyone can add to or rate.
I’ve heard this argument countless times about things like this leading to mass trolling, and I seriously doubt it’s as dire as it seems. You’re really going for the worst-case scenario when it comes to the way people will act about this thing. Come to think of it, since Weekend Web and a bunch of other people often DON’T credit whoever they’re quoting, this site might not either. It’d cut down on trolling that way, wouldn’t it? And about giving attention to those who want attention – not my problem.
Basically I want this to be a mix between bash.org and the Weekend Web – it’s nothing new besides an easier way of finding funny stuff.
‘An easier way of finding funny stuff’ is a much better sounding platform than ‘ a comeuppance for those who make their public’.
The end of each week-end web indicates that there’s discussion and forum help in writing those articles… and a few of the ‘choicer’ communities seem to have ‘hello SA’ post in their Week-end Web portfolio.
As for bash there’s a few ‘funny frame ups’ and some of them among other quotes look scripted. I always thought bash was relegated to relay chat. My point is relay chat users =/= LJ users in terms of ‘material’. Purely speculation on my part… but I think the LJ set has more emotionally vulnerable harassable types that are easier to find and the fact that there’s photo options and color involved makes for more fun.
If you waana do, it you’re going to do it and good luck and I hope it stays away from worst case scenario. You wanted thoughts and opinions; those were mine.
Along with this one: Think heavily before considering putting up a ‘letters to Dumbjournal’ page in case this catches on and you get mail.
this idea is retarded