Green Room - Week 27 - Day 7

[clauderainsrm.livejournal.com]

Good morning.

Before we do anything else - let's say hello to everyone who is coming out to support our contestants! Thank you! I know they appreciate it!

"Support them where" you ask? http://therealljidol.livejournal.com/468227.html !!

We also have the Free Topic up. http://therealljidol.livejournal.com/468544.html I've been really impressed with what I've seen so far, but I'd be lying if I didn't say that I was hoping for more! ;) Who needs a dozen or so roses when you can present the same number of creative endeavors! :) (she appreciates writing much more than she does gifts of flowers actually. . . )

***

Now for the "meta of the day". Well, less of a feature and more of what is on my mind.

I've had this discussion with a couple people over the course of as many days, so I would be remiss if I didn't bring it out here for everyone. Not that you don't know it - or should, given that it's been mentioned a few times before. Plus LJ itself announced it, and was met with a ton of resistance.

Sometimes people have family and friends who do not have Livejournals - but want to come out and support them. I love this. You love this. Everyone loves this. Quite frankly some of us are kind of jealous of that sort of thing. :)
"Support? From "family"? - what's that? ;)

I've always been rather leniant on "if someone lets me know" which account is which, that I would just keep an eye on it so it didn't get out of hand. It still hasn't, but. . it has got me to thinking. . .

LJ has been allowing people to log in via their facebook accounts (and other Open ID). There should be a button to do so on your log in screen.

If LJ allows it, we're part of LJ, so it's going to happen. I wasn't sure how I felt about the security issues, and if we were going to be overwhelmed, but so far this season only a couple people have voted from their FB. About the same that have done that from Open ID accounts.

Again, if it gets out of hand, I will have to come up with something. (or rather, I'd have to implement it) Don't make me do that. Please. I like being "evil" rather than "that bastard"!;)

Everyone left in the competition is an adult. I think that you can act like adults. I suspect so can your friends and family. It would be a shame, at this point in the competition, if that turned out not to be true. . . especially since the winner doesn't get to play anymore! I've always hoped that was enough incentive for people not to act ridiculous! :)

As long as you don't abuse it, that is another way to promote your work and expand the audience/potential voters.

Comments

[vaguelyclear.livejournal.com]

Sometimes people have family and friends who do not have Livejournals - but want to come out and support them. I love this. You love this. Everyone loves this.

I don't love this. No one in my real life knows of my LJ and that's the way I like it! :D

[xo-kizzy-xo.livejournal.com]

Same here...except for my husband and the people I know IRL from LJ. I have no desire for anyone else I know IRL to follow me to my LJ.

If they knew I was playing Idol, then yeah, I could understand it. But I'd have to play under an alt just so they wouldn't be able to read anything under Kizzy.

[pixiebelle.livejournal.com]

My mom and other family members have LJ (my mom uses the communities rather than posting). Is it bad that I don't add them back as friends? :/

My stuff is friends locked for the most part. Idol entries sadly get censored for that reason. It's kind of a pain and one reason I had an alt earlier in the season that they didn't know was me.

[clauderainsrm.livejournal.com]

;)

I was, of course, referring to the idea of other people having friends and family who DO support their writing and who *can* be open about it as a result! :D

It's a very good thing when it happens.

[applespicy.livejournal.com]

Same! This is my secret internet hideaway!

[tigrkittn.livejournal.com]

Exactly, me too. I knew I was limiting my vote potential, but it sounds as if the scales could get REALLY unbalanced if people start pimping their FBs too!

[mstrobel.livejournal.com]

So this won't mean anything to a lot of people here, but it might to a few so: Titanium Seal of Dalaran, bitches :D

[vaguelyclear.livejournal.com]

I have no idea, but I'm gonna guess........... something to do with World of Warcraft?

[pixiebelle.livejournal.com]

You are just too funny! I had to read below to see what it is though :p

[java-fiend.livejournal.com]

Titanium Seal of Dalaran? Is that a fancy name for a chastity belt or something? :-p

[joeymichaels.livejournal.com]

HOLY SHIT GRATS

What I've Done Thus Far On Vacation

[xo-kizzy-xo.livejournal.com]

1. Shred a bunch of old checks, receipts, bills, and whatnot.

2. Shred some more.

3. And more.

4. Look at houses on realtor.com within a 20 mile radius of Current Employer until my eyes cross.

5. Send telepathic messages to people I'm supposedly getting together with, as in...where is everybody?!?!?!?

6. Sleep. OMG, I've been averaging 8-9 hours a night. I had NO IDEA I was THAT exhausted :p

Re: What I've Done Thus Far On Vacation

[vaguelyclear.livejournal.com]

I find shredding paper really therapeutic. That makes me weird, doesn't it? LOL.

Good luck with the house hunt!

Re: What I've Done Thus Far On Vacation

[pixiebelle.livejournal.com]

Well I do envy you for the sleep bit. I need a vacation where I stay home and just sleep. But instead, I'm always going sonewhere (usually MO) where sleep is hard to come by.

Shredding? Yikes. That's a lot of shredding from the sounds of it!

[cacophonesque.livejournal.com]

Update on the baby front: ultrasound tech says it's a girl!

Now the partner and I are starting on the big name selection adventure.

[mstrobel.livejournal.com]

Congratulations! :D

[pixiebelle.livejournal.com]

I don't want to get out of bed. This is tough. It's going to be a looong day where I'm just counting the hours till it's time to get back in bed I'm afraid. Or counting down till the weekend which is even better.

So with all that being said, if we have friends or family vote that way, do we still need to tell you who they are like with LJ accounts? I think that's pretty cool. Hopefully it will bring readers and new people to LJ. I don't get how it all works, but I'm curious what makes them using FB through there FB any different than a regular LJ? Like is their account the same as ours? Or are they limited? What security issues are there? I'm really just curious since I agree, this really could impact the game even more *bites nails*

[vaguelyclear.livejournal.com]

It's been so cold here that yesterday, I spent most of it in bed with my electric blanket on. It was divine! I hope the day goes quickly for you :D

I'm not sure what security issues Gary might be referring to - maybe people creating multiple FB accounts in order to vote (since it might not be as obvious that it's a new account)? Then again, I've never signed in here with my FB account, so I could be wrong.

[beautyofgrey.livejournal.com]

Seriously...it is kind of a bummer when you can no longer play. :/

[pixiebelle.livejournal.com]

I bet :(

[nyxocity.livejournal.com]

As I was saying upthread, I keep my FB and LJ life completely separate. You don't even want to know the panic I went into when they started the cross functionality with FB here. I just turn off and ignore all the FB crap on LJ.

I can't believe I made it to work today. I was up stupid late chatting, but I actually feel okay. Watched the end of season 3 of Sons of Anarchy last night, too. Holy crap what an awesome show!

If I'm lucky today I'll find some time to write something for Idol this week, though I may have to choose between the free topic and the regular one.

[pixiebelle.livejournal.com]

I was a bit late getting into work today too...I blame chatting in the GR, but a big chunk of that is from me sleeping in 15 minutes later than I should. Rushing to get out the door has become the norm for me!

I hope to get time to write the free topic today...it's just crazy around these parts!

[roina-arwen.livejournal.com]

I had to get up early (for me) this morning to get to an 8:00 dental appointment (6 month cleaning and x-rays). Apparently, I also have numerous cavities that will need to be filled at some point this year, so I get to go back next Tuesday and get 3-4 of those done (they are all near each other). Um, yay?

At least I have dental insurance that will cover at least part of the cost... blargh.

[pixiebelle.livejournal.com]

I've never had a single cavity in my entire life. I'm some kind of freak, I know. I need to get to the dentist actually...I'm due for a cleaning.

I hope your dental insurance is better than my medical insurance. Apparently they don't cover crap even though I have the most expensive plan:/

[applespicy.livejournal.com]

I'm in the camp of people who wants to keep my LJ mostly secret from my "real life." There are only a few people on my friends list that I know in real life, and most of them I haven't seen in person for years. That's how I like it! I am a bit of a recluse, I think.

So there won't be any extra help coming for me! But that's okay. I think I may be going this week, and I am trying to be zen about it. I tried something outside my usual purview, and I suppose if I go I'd rather go for that than something I feel like I'm good at!

[pixiebelle.livejournal.com]

I'm not sure I'd get a lot of support even if I do open it up to FB. Most of the people who already care to read and support me are already on LJ and doing so. Most of my active FB is LJ people, mostly Idol people...

I'm trying to prepare myself for the inevitable too. It's gonna happen at one time, but I'll never be ready. It's tight, so you very well could make it still. No one is a sure thing either way and that's scary!

[lawchicky.livejournal.com]

The funny thing about this is that I've been sharing some of my entries with friends/family, none of which have voted in the competition. They just like to read my stories. Theoretically, I guess I could have asked them to sign up and vote for me, but I haven't. The hubby reads all of my entries and votes most weeks. I've gotten him into ready some of the other entries too.

Otherwise, I've made it a habit to tell people about the competition but not to tip them off to what my userid is. I made a post on facebook earlier this week about the competition in general, but deliberately left off my identity in the competition. Only one of my friends expressed an interest readily, and she's enthusiastic about reading entries in the competition and maybe joining herself next year (she writes screenplays).

Only Gary would know exactly how much influence is being effected by things like openID voting, and if he says it's not being abused, I trust that. I think all of us pick up a vote here or there from someone who just loves us, but most of the voting is based on our writing in some capacity.


/meta

Another day here, much like always. Working, childcaring and feeling exhausted. I need a vacation :D Luckily, we're leaving next week!

[clauderainsrm.livejournal.com]

Thank you.

[beldar.livejournal.com]

I don't make it a secret on LJ that I have a FB, or versa vice, but even when I consciously crosspost nothing really comes of it.

It's like having friends who are Star Wars fans and others who are Star Trek fans -- they have a lot in common, even a few members in both goups, but they mostly stay separate and each do their own thing.

[pixiebelle.livejournal.com]

Nothing really comes from my crossposting either. I've had one non-lj friend comment they liked a story I shared once. Besides that? Nothing much. But I keep trying to get people to read (not just my stuff, but I don't feel bad posting links to my entries I'm proud of).

[joeymichaels.livejournal.com]

LJ is where I can write freely without the constraints of "what will my family think" or "will I get fired for this."

In essence, if I was up against somebody who could pimp out the poll to their whole FB list, I'd be entirely unable to successfully compete.

When we do reach that point, the good news is that everyone will be able to spend a lot less time working on their entries. They'll already know they have 50+ votes guaranteed. >:)

[pixiebelle.livejournal.com]

To be honest, it's no different than asking people to sign up to vote. Previous contestants have done that with their family to do that. People who let RL folks into their LJ is still going to have more people to promote to, but that's nothing new. It goes on already if you like it or not. I won't name names but I know several people who had their family members sign up just to read and vote for them. I know one person who has a lot. It's allowed, and people do it already. I have a huge FB list and I guarantee I couldn't rally up that much support. Most of those who care enough about supporting me here are already members, most read and vote independently. 

And maybe I'm just grumpy, but the whole spending less time writing comment is kinda simplistic (is that the right word?). Pimping happens. Good writers have to pimp sometimes too. Sure, there's some people who get by only with pimping...but those people get out during gatekeeper rounds and so forth. I'd say every single person here cares about their writing to not try to do their best and only rely on a free ride. 

Not to start drama, you're entitled to your own opinion...but I don't agree that those who care about Idol and their writing would slack off just because FB is available. I have a bit more faith in the writers here than that. I know I'm here to grow and to get better...and I bet most others are here for that too. It's more than just about winning. 

Again, I hope I didn't come off as rude! I don't mean to be. Just offering a different perspective into this :)

[basric.livejournal.com]

Good luck on the adult part. I've found most people are liars and cheats at heart. (I said MOST, if you argue then you are deluding yourself). Doesn't matter what the final prize is or isn't its all about control.

Don't believe me. You have the records take a look at the people who wait till the last ten minutes to vote--every week. That's not about reading and voting for the best pieces. That's about control.

And no there is absolutely nothing any mod could do about it. It just is. So yes, there will be people who find a way to use this new option to their advantage and will never be found out. Good for them. I only have to live with myself.

Anyway I have too much control in my job over people's lives, I don't need it anywhere else so let them have it they must need it.

And yes,I had a bad night at work so I am not in a kiss up mood. Sorry if I struck any nerves.

[clauderainsrm.livejournal.com]

I guess I am deluding myself then because unlike anyone else who would comment to this, I actually DO have the records and know who is doing what, when.

Now relegated to the Late Commenter Brigade!

[comedychick.livejournal.com]

Jeez, Gary, look at the conversations you stirred up without my presence in the green room! :P I've been spending my evenings with the hubby, which means I don't get to catch up on the green room until he goes to work the next morning. Looks like I have a lot of reading ahead of me!

Re: Now relegated to the Late Commenter Brigade!

[nyxocity.livejournal.com]

I didn't get a chance to comment on all the later chatter where Gary seriously joined the party. I think everyone pretty well covered my viewpoint though.