ysabetwordsmith (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
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newcomers2024-09-28 02:08 pm
ysabetwordsmith) wrote in newcomers2024-09-28 02:08 pm
How to Find Things You Like on Dreamwidth
Dreamwidth blogs can cover any topic. Some are tightly thematic and only cover one thing; many have a wider range. They usually state their parameters in the profile and/or a sticky post. Learn how to find things to read on Dreamwidth. See "Let Your Freak Flag Fly" for inclusivity and diversity on Dreamwidth. Find more resources here. Scroll down for further ideas ...
Interests
Interests help people find things on Dreamwidth. The best way to help people find your blog or community is to make a big list of interests on your profile page. If your theme is narrow, keep that list more concise, but if you have a broad focus and want lots of traffic, then maximize it. Note that the Dreamwidth search algorithm is dumb and seems to return only exact matches. So for instance, "fanfic," "fan fic," "fanfiction," "fan fiction," "story," and "stories," are all separate searches. For the best sweep of potential readers, you need to riff many variations of the same topic to cover as much as possible that people might use to look for it. If you are new to Dreamwidth, then filling your Interests is an important first step.
To search for things you like and see what's available here, use the Interests page. It gives you tools to search for individual blogs, communities, or both. To find the most active topics, you want the Popular Interests page. If you're not sure what Interests to list in your own blog, look at the popular ones and list whichever of those you like, because lots of other people like them and are probably searching for them too.
Topical Lists
Because this platform has existed for years, it does have a bunch of dormant communities and blogs, plus some folks have a comment-only account where they never post anything. My Followfriday tag features lists of active communities by topic, which I link onfollowfriday. I create these by picking a topic -- currently I'm using Popular Interests for that -- and then searching the Interests page for that and variations of it.
You might also look at other topical lists for inspiration, note what you like, and type those into the Interests search box. It is much easier to check a list for things you like than it is to think up things from scratch.
Popular Fandoms
102 Popular Fandoms -- List Challenges
Fandoms -- Multifandomkindagirl
List of Fandoms -- Acmses
Hobbies:
Definitive List of Hobbies and Interests -- Boredom Busted
List of Hobbies -- Burlap and Blue
List of Hobbies -- Wikipedia
Common Themes:
A Huge List of Common Themes -- Literary Devices
Meta List of Game Themes -- BoardGameGeek
Interests
Interests help people find things on Dreamwidth. The best way to help people find your blog or community is to make a big list of interests on your profile page. If your theme is narrow, keep that list more concise, but if you have a broad focus and want lots of traffic, then maximize it. Note that the Dreamwidth search algorithm is dumb and seems to return only exact matches. So for instance, "fanfic," "fan fic," "fanfiction," "fan fiction," "story," and "stories," are all separate searches. For the best sweep of potential readers, you need to riff many variations of the same topic to cover as much as possible that people might use to look for it. If you are new to Dreamwidth, then filling your Interests is an important first step.
To search for things you like and see what's available here, use the Interests page. It gives you tools to search for individual blogs, communities, or both. To find the most active topics, you want the Popular Interests page. If you're not sure what Interests to list in your own blog, look at the popular ones and list whichever of those you like, because lots of other people like them and are probably searching for them too.
Topical Lists
Because this platform has existed for years, it does have a bunch of dormant communities and blogs, plus some folks have a comment-only account where they never post anything. My Followfriday tag features lists of active communities by topic, which I link on
followfriday. I create these by picking a topic -- currently I'm using Popular Interests for that -- and then searching the Interests page for that and variations of it.You might also look at other topical lists for inspiration, note what you like, and type those into the Interests search box. It is much easier to check a list for things you like than it is to think up things from scratch.
Popular Fandoms
102 Popular Fandoms -- List Challenges
Fandoms -- Multifandomkindagirl
List of Fandoms -- Acmses
Hobbies:
Definitive List of Hobbies and Interests -- Boredom Busted
List of Hobbies -- Burlap and Blue
List of Hobbies -- Wikipedia
Common Themes:
A Huge List of Common Themes -- Literary Devices
Meta List of Game Themes -- BoardGameGeek