Tag! Am I 'It'? Are You?

[capri0mni]

I've never gotten into the habit of using this Elle-Jay thing called "tags" for my journal, because, for most of the time I've had one,* I was using a style that didn't support them. But, what with this new LJ policy that asks users to tag their posts for adult content, that's got me wondering:

[Poll #1100477]

---

*November 3rd was my five-year Elle-Jaye anniversary. But I was too busy Noveling to commemorate it. Back then, my LJ user name was "pomeroyschild," in honor of my mother. I had three people on my flist, that first day: gordon_r_d (who sponsered me in), alryssa and snowgrouse. And they've all stuck with me, through the years.

[ETA: no, sorry, November 6 was my five-year anniversary]

(Hugs you guys with much gratitude.)

Comments

[alryssa.livejournal.com]

*hugs* :)

Wouldn't change a thing.

[capriuni.livejournal.com]

Hug
Scritch
Cuddle
Purrrrrrrrrr.

Neither I.

[trinalin.livejournal.com]

I tag my entries for my use. No idea of anyone else gets any use out of my tags, but they're handy for me (if I remember to tag) to locate things from the past. So I say, if you don't use tags now, you shouldn't have to bother with 'em later. Unless you feel like it.

I started November 5, 2003, apparently. Go me! :-)

[capriuni.livejournal.com]

Happy Almost Anniversary to Both of us (Well, it really should be "anniandamonthiversary")!

Yay!

Well, I certainly wouldn't bother going back and tagging posts I've already written. But I was wondering if it would be helpful (because I ramble a bit) if I identified the basic main point of the post, so that people doing a quick scan could decide how much time they want to spend reading, or if they want to go back and reread and/or reply later (like seeing that thus and such a post is political, or folkloric, or literary, or ...etc.). Or explictly "Adult" content...

(I've set my journal as default "Adult Concepts," btw, because literary history, politics, social ethics and the like are adult concepts -- and oh, yeah... I sometimes talk about sexuality, too :-P)

[alto2.livejournal.com]

I'm the weirdly anal-retentive soul who did go back and tag all her old posts--and then was quite cross when she learned that LJ will only bother to display the first 100 (or is it 200? Either way...) for you. I have some tags that I've used many, many times, so that is rather inconvenient! But anyway, you certainly would not have to do that.

I find it useful when friends tag their posts because it helps me if I think of something I want to find in their journals. For instance, one of my friends recced a YA book a few months back, and try as I might, I couldn't find it in her journal when I wanted to add the title to my reading list for grad school. I'd been hoping she'd have a "books" tag, or some such, but she doesn't use tags at all, and since I couldn't remember exactly when she posted, and only had post titles go to on, I finally gave up and emailed her in the hope that she'd remember, or be able to find it (judging by the radio silence on her end, I'm guessing that's a no). At least she titles her posts, though--some of my friends don't even do that, so if you're going back looking for something...urgh.

And don't even get me started on this flagging and "Adult Concepts" business. I don't even want to think about whose definition we should be using--just like the Strikethrough nonsense about the definition of "interest." Talk about something rife for abuse...

[capriuni.livejournal.com]

I know the flagging and tagging and catagorizing are an invitatiion to abuse (and it annoys me that adult=sexual in our culture; there's so much more to being an adult than having sex -- s time-traveling saga about the political intriques of WW2, snd the messy alliance between Stalin and FDR should be able to be called an "adult fantasy," too!)

Speaking of which, I'm wondering if this policy change is spurred on by the rumored merger with a Russian company... and the whole CYA involved with international law...

[alto2.livejournal.com]

The flagging is the only thing that's postentially abusive--tags are just tags, as far as I'm aware. ;) And my understanding is that LJ's been sold, so there's no merger. 6A is LJ-free, if I read the posts correctly.

I think this "Adult Content" business is a result of the backlash after the Strikethrough fiasco earlier this year. And it's one thing to be able to flag your own stuff. That's fine. It's another thing entirely for someone else to come along and flag your journal or community. As I've said in other comments, I swear, frequently, both in real life and on LJ. Does that mean my journal should be flagged? And who should decide if it is, especially since I'm FO and thus not viewable to the general public.

The idea itself is not necessarily bad, but the implementation is bass-ackwards. And I agree with you re: adult=/=sexual, but...I doubt we'll ever change that perception.

[jekesta]

You don't actually have to fill in teh poll, if you click on submit of any poll without actually filling it in, it will show you the results on your flist/posts without counting your answers. If that's what you mean. Yes.

[capriuni.livejournal.com]

ooh. Thank you. I did not know that.

However, I think, as a composer of the poll, it should be taken as given that I'm not actually asking for my own opinion...

[alto2.livejournal.com]

I agree--it makes no sense to me that polls you create yourself don't automatically show the results on your page. At least they've added a notification that someone's taken the poll, which...helps, but is still cumbersome.

[capriuni.livejournal.com]

At least now that I know I can [submit poll] without actually answering anything, I can make it appear on my page without coming up with silly extra questions, or skewing my results...

Still wish I could choose the colors of the bars, though... make each question a different color, or something....

[gordon-r-d.livejournal.com]

I keep saying I'll tag things, then never do and I'm too lazy to go back and tag all the previous however long it is of posts. I think I got into LJ through alryssa if I remember, been that long.

[capriuni.livejournal.com]

Yes, I think you did get in through alryssa. In that very first post, I thanked both of you for getting me in... I know I was lurking on your journal for a while before I joined.

That was back in the day when you needed to get in through being sponsered by a friend, and each member had a certain number of sponserships, or something. IIRC, I think she gave you a sponsership to give to me, or something...

Gods. that seems so old-fashioned, now... 5 years on the 'nets = 50 irl?

Would it be particularly annoying if I tagged posts specifically if it's something I need to talk through with folks? 'Cause that's something I'm considering...