Rolling Music Writers' Thread

I exchange ideas with people and find links to interesting things.

― Born In A Test Tube, Raised In A Cage (unperson), Tuesday, June 1, 2010 7:03 PM (12 minutes ago) Bookmark

^^this basically. and with so many journalists and writers in/near my field on it, it's extremely valuable for making connections as well.

My brother doesn't use social networking. And he has the same argument as xhuxk for not having a cell phone. Doesn't see what he's missing.

I felt the same way about both cell phones and Myspace/Facebook, until I started using them.

Yes, you can go through life without learning to drive a car too, if you want. But I get more out of life because I open myself up to these things. And I don't consider my use of them as wastes of time. It's actually improving my ability to do my job, interface with my friends, and learn and share information.*

*(now somebody from Facebook should cut me a royalty check.)

Yes, you can go through life without learning to drive a car too, if you want.

Hi there!

what i like about twitter is that it doesn't feel like a compulsive timesink in the way most of the others (like ilx lol) do. it putters away like background chatter that you can join in or not as you wish, and if you miss something it doesn't feel, like, important.

Yep. This is why blogs and Facebook never clicked with me. I pretty much do everything on twitter. About once a week someone tells me i'm "ruining my brand" by not being on Facebook, but I think I'm doing just fine tbh

xp Yeah, I guess if this counts, I'm sort of here. And at Singles Jukebox. And other places. And I sort of do a quasi/not-really "blog" at Rhapsody. And I post comments on other people's livejournal blogs etc; guess I technically have an "account" there, even my own "page", though I've never used it. People have asked me to do Facebook, Twitter, etc. My problem is the same as Alfred's I think -- I have enough places (ILX for one) to use to procrastinate already; I can't imagine adding more to my plate without getting sucked in to them whole-hog. I tend to get obsessive-compulsive about such things.

But I do have a cellphone now! No landline, though, since moving to Austin.

I tend to get obsessive-compulsive about such things.

So true on this end too. You have to know where to draw a line for yourself.

I also drive a car again, since moving down here!

Hahah well there you go. Been twenty-two years in LA then OC without one for me.

i have a facebook account - i think that much is important, people who don't have my email address are much more likely to contact me there with actual offers of paid work - though these days i only really use fbook as a diary, rarely log in and kind of hate it. but i think it's important to have it.

Ned, come to Portland. I will drive you all over the place :)

yeah, I'm thinking of joining Twitter again mostly just to read other people's feeds -- don't have much interest in posting there too often myself

if i were to ever join Tumblr again, i'd be doing so primarily to use it as a publishing platform. as of right now, i've just added the couple tumblelogs I'm interested in to my Google Reader. pretty much try to use Google Reader to follow whatever sites I'm interested in following b/c having everything in one place that only tells me when sites add new stuff is extremely convenient

as far as choosing which social services to join, though, i'd just recommend that people join whatever ones actually add value to their lives. for some, this might be none, for others this might mean several. but, at least in the spirit of what Whiney said, you really probably don't need to join them all. or even most of them

I'm kind of a Twitter asshole. I only use it once or twice a week to post about my events and I never check other people's tweets. Maybe I'm using it wrong?

I will say that both Myspace and Facebook have actually gotten me laid though. So that is a "value add".

Ned, come to Portland. I will drive you all over the place :)

Too kind, but you already have good mass transit up there! I am thinking about a visit to friends and family there in fall, in any event.

Also, based on your post just now, um.

I will say that both Myspace and Facebook have actually gotten me laid though. So that is a "value add".

ILX, on the other hand... :'(

(amirite?)

I don't get Tumblr.

it's like blogspot with a tan

problem w/ Tumblr for me is that most of the stuff ppl tend to post there isn't interesting or valuable in any way

has anyone here actually found the "community" aspect of it to be worthwhile? or even many tumblelogs? i think i have four or five in my Google Reader

i "get" tumblr but just can't be arsed tbh

i mean, it's a handy occasional platform if i want to get something longer-form down or as a repository for stuff but as a social interaction thing i just don't have the tyyyyyme

I guess what I don't get about it is what it offers that other, already extant blogging platforms (Blogger, Wordpress) don't. How is it different?

A friend who basically reps for it every chance he gets -- sometimes irritatingly so, the first time he did the hard sell I was resisting hitting him even though I was a continent away at the time -- says he likes it because (and I'm totally paraphrasing here) it provides a better chance for immediate reaction, commentary, etc. because it can be shared and 'liked' and commented upon in a way similar to Facebook while not being a closed system.

I should say I don't ignore it entirely but neither am I living there nor do I care to -- I enjoy doing the group blog stuff at Chain of Knives as I can, but that's not a front and center priority for me and can't be at this point.

Tumblr is just simpler. It's like the Mac of blogging. Its means you can just up the random video, audio and quotes REALLY FAST instead of dicking around all day with coding.

I like it way more than blogging

What's really fast, though? Honestly it takes me about the same speed there as on Wordpress, so I think it's all down to comfort level rather than actual speed across the board.

the thing w/ Tumblr, though, is that ppl mainly seem to just post boring, ephemeral stuff or poorly thought out pseudo blog posts instead of doing anything interesting w/ the format. as always, there are exceptions

There are plenty of exceptions! Tom Ewing's blog project It Took Seconds alone justifies the place.

WordPress = blahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblah

Tumblr = funny picture

in Google Reader, i have, like nabisco's blog, H1pster Pupp1es, http://kungfugrippe.com, http://blog.instapaper.com, and that might be it but I'm not sure

MY BLOG

cant believe you dont have my tumblr in your google reader

There are plenty of exceptions! Tom Ewing's blog project It Took Seconds alone justifies the place.

Agreed, but don't see how Tom's project couldn't be hosted equally well on any number of other blogging sites. What's the difference with regards to Tumblr?

good thing you google proofed hipster puppies or that dude might start boarding here

max, is yr blog the best thing on Tumblr?

uh you moved hipster puppies talk to 77, so i thought i'd gproof the name just in case but whatever dude

I never kept a blog before I started on Tumblr, so the "what makes it better" questions are sort of abstract to me -- I just know that it certainly doesn't seem worse, and if you to go my URL you don't see anything different than what you'd see on any other blog host.

And then beyond that there are a bunch of elements that appeal to me personally, but probably wouldn't be worth anyone actually migrating for: ease of use, built-in uploading of streaming tracks (because I don't want to get into downloads), a background feed where conversations can develop, and a good amount of built-in info/feedback about who's reading, what they think, etc.

That last part also makes it really easy to get started. Obviously any kind of blogging leads people to link back and forth to each other, but the social bits of Tumblr bulk that up. Follow people you know, they follow you back, eventually you repost each other or talk back and forth, and people who read them start reading you, etc. (Same with Twitter, but you know I'm long-winded and whatnot.) Write something particularly interesting, and the format makes it really easy for it to float around and get in front of different people. And for me personally, it's way more comfortable to slip into the conversation that way than actually have to try and develop or spread the word about your blog.

A lot of stuff on there is just pictures or short comments or private conversations, but I don't see any reason you can't think of it as outward-facing -- directed at non-Tumblr readers who come straight to your URL -- instead of (or in addition to) looking at your feed as an internal conversation.

Obviously any kind of blogging leads people to link back and forth to each other, but the social bits of Tumblr bulk that up

and also make it super-confusing to work out who's said what in reply to whom and when. and ALSO bring annoying people who you wouldn't ever follow directly into your purview, repeatedly, when people reblog them. DNW. (when people retweet annoying people on twitter at least it only lasts for a second, as opposed to being a huge long thing integrated into the debate that you have to take into account if you want to partake.) (even then, the side effect of following r&b divas being a fuckton of inane @revrunwisdom tweets = dud dud dud.) (still luv u lesley electrik red.)

OK, well, thanks for all the input. Given that my current blog dates back to 2004, though, I don't think I'll be making the changeover.

haha yes, it's basically like if blogging had sex with a message board. it's like my compromise between ILX and "productive" writing

yeah i have a weird jealousy/resentment of Tumblr right now because i've been on Blogspot, where it can be like pulling teeth to even get the friends and people you know are reading to comment or respond, for 6 years, and i'm really loathe to just pick up and move my shit every couple years to whatever format people seem to like the most at the moment, but it's really tempting because, as said upthread, it's much easier to get a real dialogue happening over there.

make it super-confusing to work out who's said what in reply to whom and when.

OTM. I hate this about reading, uh, Tumbles compared to most other blogs. Makes it totally user-unfriendly for the reader, as far as I can tell -- I always feel I'm missing some kinda inside information, like a flow-chart or whatever, to decipher who's saying what.

Also should mention that not personally Tweeting or Tumbling doesn't prevent me from reading other people's (like, say, Whiney's or whoever). Twittering would be impossible for me, though, for the reason Nabisco mentioned; I'd find it aggravating to impossible, constantly editing 100 word posts down to 140 characters all the time. It would really seem like work to me -- I don't think in 140 characters.

whats the group take on this ?

http://issuu.com/

of value to an aspiring writer or group of ?

twitter teaches concision and i like that. i genuinely think it's improved my writing.

rule of thumb is that if your argument is so complex that it goes over two tweets max, best not to bother. but what i like is that it mimics the flow of IRL conversation - when i discuss shit w/friends i don't speak to them in paragraphs, and that's what twitter is.

Concision's no problem at all for me, if I'm getting paid for it -- I was writing haiku-length Entertainment Weekly reviews almost 20 years ago, and Rhapsody album reviews still run 600 characters, tops. Was pretty good at chopping down other people's rambling as an editor, too. But damned if I'm going to concern myself with it in my spare time.

xpost -- well see this is what I mean about ignoring private conversations. I guess I don't get how they make Tumblr "worse" than any other service -- to me it's more like just another thing I can ignore, the same way I already ignore blogs I don't like.

It's kinda interesting to me, because a lot of the most "successful" people on Tumblr are obviously the ones who don't re-blog or have conversations at all -- they put their stuff up, they benefit from all the social aspects, and for all we know they don't even look at their feeds from other people. You could use the service the same way you'd use any other host, and let everyone else be social about reading. I feel like it's pretty easy to fill your feed with people who mostly do that, and post your own stuff in a way that's not all internal-conversation; if you don't, very few people outside Tumblr are going to bother reading. You can kinda tell who's aiming for what. (Also I'm pretty sure you can post something privately, like an inside-Tumblr post, and not have it face out to everyone else.)

Al's post about the weird resentment/jealousy of Tumblr speaks to me pretty directly, I admit. I do get a slight sense -- slight, and possibly ill conceived at heart -- that I don't get as much response on my Not Just the Ticket blog series because it's not native to Tumblr, though I've long since set up a separate Tumblr to link to all those posts given that it makes for a shorter URL. Of course I'm dealing with a project of personal retrospection and analysis rather than of the moment news, and there is the minor fact that maybe my writing there isn't as interesting as I thought! At the same time I get a feeling of "Oh you're doing that? That's nice ANYWAY let me reblog this bit etc etc." as a result a lot of the time, and per Al and others again I am tired of the every-two-years cycle that seems to have settled in of places one *has* to be, somehow. There is a sense of implied obligation I am not fond of.

Still, partially for some of those reasons I'm thinking of making my next blog project this summer native to Tumblr, but that's also because it will have an audio element to it and as noted by Nabs the streaming nature of the audio setup is v helpful. As it is I wasn't going to be uploading any songs or the like but more about that later...

issuu is a great tool. Realistically it doesn't relate to the "value to an aspiring writer or group of". It's just a publishing tool. If you're an aspiring writer there are plenty of established publications that will employ. If you're an aspiring writer then, by and large, it's useless. If you're intending in setting up a print publication with a limited run then issuu could be useful.

Perhaps, it could be used to produce a digital portfolio but that's about it, imho.