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indieweb:dreamwidth [2026/09/23 14:52] – created - external edit 127.0.0.1indieweb:dreamwidth [2026/10/23 15:30] (current) – external edit 127.0.0.1
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 ====== Dreamwidth ====== ====== Dreamwidth ======
  
-[[https://www.dreamwidth.org/|dreamwidth.org]] — an open-source, non-commercial journaling platform. No advertising, no venture capital, no shareholders.+[[https://www.dreamwidth.org/|dreamwidth.org]]: an open-source, non-commercial journaling platform. No advertising, no venture capital, no shareholders.
  
 ===== History ===== ===== History =====
  
-Founded 2008 by Denise Paolucci and Mark Smith, former LiveJournal employees. They watched LiveJournal drift under Russian corporate ownership toward advertising, censorship, and ethical erosion — and forked the code.+Founded 2008 by Denise Paolucci and Mark Smith, former LiveJournal employees. They watched LiveJournal drift under Russian corporate ownership toward advertising, censorship, and ethical erosion: and forked the code.
  
 Open beta: **April 30, 2009**. ~75% of early developers were women, in a field where that figure was closer to 1.5%. Has never changed ownership. Open beta: **April 30, 2009**. ~75% of early developers were women, in a field where that figure was closer to 1.5%. Has never changed ownership.
  
-**The 2017 migration:** LiveJournal moved servers to Russia and revised terms of service to require compliance with Russian law — meaning LGBTQ content could be deleted without notice. Fandom communities, queer writers, diaspora bloggers migrated to Dreamwidth in waves. The platform absorbed them without pivoting to monetize the influx.+**The 2017 migration:** LiveJournal moved servers to Russia and revised terms of service to require compliance with Russian law: meaning LGBTQ content could be deleted without notice. Fandom communities, queer writers, diaspora bloggers migrated to Dreamwidth in waves. The platform absorbed them without pivoting to monetize the influx.
  
 ===== What Makes It Different ===== ===== What Makes It Different =====
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 The platform preserves the **journal as a form**, not a blog, not a newsletter. Journals have entries, not posts. Entries can be locked for a smaller circle. Journals are where you work things out before you know what you think. The platform preserves the **journal as a form**, not a blog, not a newsletter. Journals have entries, not posts. Entries can be locked for a smaller circle. Journals are where you work things out before you know what you think.
  
-  * **70,000+ active communities** organized around chronic illness, disability, obscure fandoms, poetry, mathematics — some posting continuously for 15+ years+  * **70,000+ active communities** organized around chronic illness, disability, obscure fandoms, poetry, mathematics: some posting continuously for 15+ years
   * **Threaded comments** nested as deep as the conversation goes, readable as long-running correspondence   * **Threaded comments** nested as deep as the conversation goes, readable as long-running correspondence
-  * **Userpics** — small 100×100 square images attached to entries and comments; a compressed form of self-expression +  * **Userpics**: small 100×100 square images attached to entries and comments; a compressed form of self-expression 
-  * **Current mood / current music** fields — optional entry metadata; unbearably earnest and very good +  * **Current mood / current music** fields: optional entry metadata; unbearably earnest and very good 
-  * **Circle system** — separation of subscribing (seeing someone's posts) from granting access (letting them see your locked ones). Granular, earned intimacy+  * **Circle system**: separation of subscribing (seeing someone's posts) from granting access (letting them see your locked ones). Granular, earned intimacy
  
 The **Circle system** is the key architectural difference from most platforms: you can follow someone without granting them access to your locked entries, and vice versa. People maintain access-only journals for over a decade, writing for circles of 30 people who've followed each other through major life events. The **Circle system** is the key architectural difference from most platforms: you can follow someone without granting them access to your locked entries, and vice versa. People maintain access-only journals for over a decade, writing for circles of 30 people who've followed each other through major life events.
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 ===== Cultural Artifacts ===== ===== Cultural Artifacts =====
  
-The term **"queerplatonic relationship" (QPR)** was coined on Dreamwidth in 2010, in comments on a post by an asexual blogger named Kaz — two people working out language for something they were living that no existing word fit. Dreamwidth is where new language gets made.+The term **"queerplatonic relationship" (QPR)** was coined on Dreamwidth in 2010, in comments on a post by an asexual blogger named Kaz: two people working out language for something they were living that no existing word fit. Dreamwidth is where new language gets made.
  
 ===== Design ===== ===== Design =====
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 The interface does not compete with the content. The interface does not compete with the content.
  
-User-customizable layouts (Tabula Rasa, Practicality, Crisped, etc.) built and shared freely by community members via layered CSS — IndieWeb before IndieWeb had a name.+User-customizable layouts (Tabula Rasa, Practicality, Crisped, etc.) built and shared freely by community members via layered CSS: IndieWeb before IndieWeb had a name.
  
 ===== vs. brennan.day ===== ===== vs. brennan.day =====
  
 ^ | brennan.day | Dreamwidth | ^ | brennan.day | Dreamwidth |
-| Form | Lyric essay, cultural criticism, longform | Journal — rough, unfinished thinking |+| Form | Lyric essay, cultural criticism, longform | Journal: rough, unfinished thinking |
 | State | Drafted, edited, considered, committed to repo | Process notes, observations, behind-the-scenes | | State | Drafted, edited, considered, committed to repo | Process notes, observations, behind-the-scenes |
 | Access | Public-only | Public + access-locked for earned circles | | Access | Public-only | Public + access-locked for earned circles |
 | Comments | Webmentions, guestbook | Threaded, in-conversation | | Comments | Webmentions, guestbook | Threaded, in-conversation |
  
-Brennan.day is the canonical record. Dreamwidth is for writing that arrives the way you arrive at a friend's house — still in your coat, still mid-sentence, carrying what you haven't unpacked yet.+A personal site is the canonical record. Dreamwidth is for writing that arrives the way you arrive at a friend's house: still in your coat, still mid-sentence, carrying what you haven't unpacked yet.
  
 ===== See Also ===== ===== See Also =====
indieweb/dreamwidth.1790196766.txt.gz · Last modified: by 127.0.0.1