[Reader-list] User interface on LiveJournal

[Kiran Jonnalagadda]

I'm stepping out on a limb here, talking about things I have no 
academic familiarity with, so I'd appreciate feedback. This post is 
mostly conjecture.

On May 1, 2005, at 9:51 PM, Kiran Jonnalagadda wrote:

> 1. The <lj user="somebody"> tag on LiveJournal creates a link to a 
> LiveJournal account by id. Liberal use of this tag converts what would 
> normally be taken for name-dropping into a form of introduction. In 
> addition, since LJ ids have no first or last name, there is only one 
> way to address a person using their LJ id. This creates an egalitarian 
> atmosphere for addressing other users.

To begin with, what is name-dropping? Answers.com provides a definition 
[1]:

"To mention casually the names of illustrious or famous people in order 
to imply that one is on familiar terms with them, intended as a means 
of self-promotion."

In the context of the blog, let us assume that "illustrious or famous 
people" refers to anyone who appeals to the average blog reader. It can 
then be said that any reference to another person that carries an air 
of familiarity with that person can be construed as name-dropping. 
Consider an imaginary post:

"Ramesh Ramaswamy says the delta wing design is unstable and unsuitable 
for a low power unmanned aircraft. I'm not convinced however. I'm 
building a prototype currently, and it does look as if it'll fly."

The words here carry an implication of Ramesh Ramaswamy as a peer, 
since it's an unusual event to openly challenge an authority (even if 
that is the case). Or consider this second example:

"Suresh is cool. He rigged up a barcode reader to his dormitory room 
lock, so now he can enter by just waving his id card."

In this case, the blogger's words imply familiarity with Suresh (since 
there is no explanation of who he is, and no proper identity either), 
describe an enviable achievement, and hence subtly imply that the 
blogger is in the company of very cool people.

Both these are somewhat unusual examples, but fact is, the blogosphere 
*is* inundated with posts from people talking about other people. Most 
of the time, this is about what one person thinks of another person's 
post. The bloggers have likely never met each other, but have attained 
familiarity with reading each others' posts, have referred to each 
other before, and are at a level of familiarity now that then referring 
to the other, they no longer bother to explain who the other is.

At this point a new person reads the post, discovers it is a bunch of 
people talking about each other, with a collective opinion spread thin 
across several posts, while at the same time carrying an air of high 
intellectualism. The new person typically dismisses this as a sham, a 
mutual back-patting club.


I think LiveJournal (LJ) has accidentally stumbled upon a mechanism to 
prevent this from happening within that community. Sometime in 2001 
[2], LiveJournal introduced a custom extension to the HTML formatting 
that is used in posts. If you insert a tag <lj user="somebody"> in your 
post, LiveJournal converts this into a link to that user's journal. 
This link is stylised with a small leading icon, followed by the 
account name in bold. Clicking on the account name leads to that user's 
journal, while clicking on the icon leads to the user's profile.

In 2004 [2], the tag's handling was updated so that the icon changes if 
the account is a community or a syndicated journal, and the account 
name is displayed struck out if the account has been deleted.

Use of the LJ tag has become deep-rooted [3] in the LJ community. 
Almost every reference to another LJ user is done via the tag, not the 
person's name. It may have been awkward for some initially, especially 
when setting aside a simple real name for a complicated username, but 
the tag offers the clear advantage of unambiguousness. There may be 
several people named Suresh, but there is only one <lj user="hserus">. 
You won't have to explain exactly who you are referring to.

Use of this tag transforms a reference to another person from a case of 
potential name-dropping to an introduction. What was previously "I know 
all these cool people (that you don't have access to)" becomes "here 
are some cool people that you should get familiar with".

I believe this is so for specific reasons:

1. Unambiguousness, as explained above.

2. Consistent interface for how to know more about the person. Click on 
the name to read their journal, or click on the icon to read their 
profile page, where they may have a biography, and where you can see 
who of your existing friends also know this person.

3. LJ usernames are a single word. There is no title, first name, or 
last name basis for addressing. Whether the person is one's spouse or a 
high authority, the reference is made in the same manner. This creates 
an egalitarian atmosphere and reduces implicit messages of familiarity.

4. Because there is a consistent interface, users do not have to 
explain who the person is or how they are familiar with them. The link 
to the profile usually provides it, and that they have a LiveJournal 
account at all is satisfactory explanation for how the user is familiar 
with them ("I know her because she has a journal and I read it").

5. Because the tag always provides a link, users grow to expect that 
they needn't provide it themselves, and because there's a link to a 
profile, they needn't bother with that either. This is particularly 
significant when a person is mentioned for the first time, for again 
after a long period.

To use a familiar analogy, LJ tags are like how when financial 
publications mention a company name, they follow it with the stock 
ticker symbol. Just as they expect a curious reader may look up the 
symbol to find out more before returning to the article, LJ users 
expect the tag provides adequate introduction to whoever they are 
talking about.

[1] http://www.answers.com/name-dropping
[2] Date to be verified.
[3] As observed. I do not have statistics to back this up.

Thanks to Nakul Shenoy for helping with clarifying why an LJ tag is 
different from a regular hyperlink.

-- 
Kiran Jonnalagadda
http://www.pobox.com/~jace