I remember not so fondly how intimidating creating a journal can be and then, to actually post in it or comment with it...I almost gave up the first day. I mean, I didn't even know what html coding meant, let alone the actual codes. And rich text v. html. ACK. I felt so stupid and I have a post-graduate degree that I wanted to cry. Plus I had to figure out what the hell friending was and all the journaling terms.

So this post is for anyone COMING OUT to play for the first time...or maybe you've been around for a while but you felt uncertain about all of this "friending" stuff.

This post will focus on a few basics about friending but have no fear, info on posting and coding is coming your way soon!

Friends/Flist/Friending
A flist (friendlist) is the page on insanejournal where you can read all the posts that your friends have made.

I suggest friending away. I was shy at first and didn't feel comfortable but I wish I'd stepped out of lurking sooner, so come and play with us. If you're still feeling uncomfortable, consider this an engraved invitation from me, happier_bunny, to come and friend me. I'll friend ya back!

There's a couple different ways that you can friend someone/add a friend to your flist. You can go HERE and type in names. Or if you're looking at someone's profile (aka diagnosis), here's mine, there is a set of links at the top. The first one, is how you can add a friend. Just click it.

If you're joining an asylum, like qaf_comingout, be sure to click JOIN THIS ASYLUM (qaf_comingout's diagnosis/profile) and add it to your flist so that you're an actual member and you can see the posts on your flist.

Asylums
These are communities created usually for a shared interest (like music, Queer As Folk, politics, etc). They allow members to post to share info with other members. Or in the case of most of the asylums I maintain, they can be used to be silly. lol Either way, join as many as you can find (and you don't have to limit yourself to QAF, there's lots of political stuff, etc out there to) because sometimes people post there instead of posting in their personal journals.

Sometimes, asylum maintainers moderate their membership for one reason or another, so don't panic if you get a message telling you that the asylum isn't an open asylum and asking you to verify your interest. A maintainer will either approve your membership or give you a reason why they didn't.

If you have other questions about IJ, you can probably find the answers at THE FAQ PAGE...or leave a question to this post and I or someone else will try to answer it.