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I kept seeing people on my f-list saying, 'Yay, I have a Dreamwidth account,' and wondered what that was. After looking into it a bit, I'm still not really sure. Something like livejournal, except you have to be invited to join. If you're not invited, you can pay to have an account. So, it's starting off as exclusive and prestige-oriented with moneymaking on the side? This a good thing?
I've never been keen on exclusive prestige-oriented groups (probably from being picked last for the kickball team too many times), and when money is exchanged for goods or services, then it's business, not just fandom. I really don't get the point of this when there are already so many options on the interwebs.
I gather it comes as a response to restrictions/deletions/terms of service issues on lj? Dreamwidth is supposed to be open and welcoming of everyone without oppression or censorship (if you're part of the in-group or pay to join)? But... It is run and populated by human beings, correct? That means that issues and conflicts and wank *will* arise. It *will* be restricted according to USA law. It's unlikely to be a utopia of creative self expression. There will probably be arguments and schisms and then someone will move on to make the next *real* ideal on-line community.
I guess yay for the process of forever trying to do it better. I'm sure wonderful, well-meaning people are working very hard to create something they believe in. Good on them! No harshing of squee intended.
I'm not against it, but am very unsure of why I would shell out $ for another account on another on-line community thing. Maybe I'll see the light. Never say never...
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Right now, DW is actually is closed beta, but has been giving away invites as they get closer to open beta, which is April 30th. This includes giving out random invites (around 50-100 a day) to people who have signed in with OpenID and validated an email address. Although invite codes/pay only can have a exclusive effect, that is not their purpose: they're meant to make sure the service doesn't grow faster than it can support itself. (A side bonus might be that spam bots will be much less present.)
People without accounts actually have access to much of the service with OpenID. OpenID accounts can't post, but they get 6 icons, get their own reading page, can subscribe to users on the service and can be given access to their locked content. They're very good for people who aren't interested enough in Dreamwidth to have an account, but still want to follow some people on there.
You're right in that Dreamwidth isn't a fan service and that it's a business--they've always tried to make that very clear. You can see the business FAQ here. They're not trying to pull wool over anyone's eyes or pretend to be a charity. Basically, they're a couple of people who want to run a web service that's as good as they can make it. Like any endeavor, it is bound to have its share of issues and problems.
The main drive for making Dreamwidth, besides taking service management in a different direction, is to take LJ and improve it by adding certain features some people have wanted. You can see a summarized list of them here. Not all people will be interested in these features--there's nothing wrong with being satisfied with LJ the way it is. But for people who have wanted them, Dreamwidth is exciting.
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