A couple of weeks ago, I had problems logging into Joeuser. The problems continued up until a couple of days ago, but all seems well, now. I solved my own personal blogging crisis by signing up for another blog site, and it's interesting to see the pros and cons to both sites.
I registered at LiveJournal, and was surprised at the amount of people who were a part of this giant community. In fact, the numbers kind of scare me, as well as how easy it is to identify people who blog there. You see, you have the option of filling out your own whereabouts, and can locate other users if they list theirs within specific categories. Even my small community has a pretty big listing of people who hold journals there, and I easily identified a handful of people. Worse, I knew a lot of people that they talked about in their blogs and wondered about their ethics concerning privacy.
The plus side to LJ is that the system allows a number of functions that are unavailable here. (But will possibly be implemented when they design their elite program.) Tasks like adding a calendar that marks posts, a friends list, and posting of avatars are just a few things that are as of yet, unavailable here. But enough about talking tech stuff. The real difference is in the style of posting.
Here at Joeuser, you can feel relatively free to post what you want, and in a number of formats, but at LJ it seems to be a purely diary-style audience. I have yet to run into a 'deep' conversation, and the responses seem to be more of a cheering support team... "hooray, you posted something interesting. Good for you!" The sheer amount of Quizzes, memes, and chain mail type offerings are also a turn off. Yet, there is great freedom in being able to post anything you'd like without having a number of people asking you/demanding you to cite your sources. If Joeuser can be likened to a University, then LJ is definitely junior high.
What do I like better? I'd have to say that I enjoy Joeuser more. If not for the great bloggers and blogging content, but for the chance to see the beginnings of a new blogging community. LJ is just a place where I jot down random, mundane thoughts that are very personal (names have been changed to protect the innocent), that I don't really feel comfortable letting just anyone know. LJ's numbers allow me to be relatively obscure in such a large population. The trouble with Joeuser is the opposite... sometimes I hold back in saying what I want to say, because certain people that I enjoy reading have very differing opinions regarding politics, etc,. I don't want to get too involved, because I don't want to offend anyone. Plus, it seems as if there isn't a great variety of types here. On a site like LJ, the high numbers alone lead one to believe that there is a greater realm of diversity.
I think I'll keep the account at LJ though, it's mindless and not very challenging, but a good way to keep track of little day to day range of emotions. Here, I have the opportunity, if I so choose, to post relevant, interesting and insightful material. And read it, too.