Watching your Watchers

[melannen]

Title:
Watching your Watchers

Area:
Circle

Summary:
I like to keep an eye on what's going on with the people who watch & comment on my journal, even if I'm not regularly watching them. I'd like an easy way to see the latest entries of everyone who watches my journal.

Description:
I can't (and don't want to) subscribe to everyone who watches my journal, but I still like, every so often, to see what they're up to, and see if I *do* want to subscribe. Right now, the only way to do that is to go to my profile page and visit every journal separately, which can take a long frustrating time, especially with many inactive journals. I would like to be able to easily see the recent entries of everyone who watches my journal, all on one page.

I visualize something similar to "network", that would show the latest entries from all your watchers on a page styled like the regular watchlist, and filtering out people you already watch. A similar page for "people I trust" might also be nice for people who extensively use the trust system. This would probably be a paid feature, like Network, and easy to ignore if you don't want to use it.

The downsides are that it would probably cause substantial server load, it would probably cause (stupid) drama, and it might start to break down the division between Watching and Friending again. I think I would use it enough to be worth it, though - I'd certainly use it more than Network.

Alternatively, something set up like the <a href=http://www.dreamwidth.org/editjournal>Edit Entries</a> page that just showed a short excerpt of recent entries from all your watchers or trustees would still be useful; maybe navigable from the manage circle page. This would have the advantages of keeping the watch/trust distinction clearer and would probably cut down on the drama, but wouldn't be as convenient as simply using the existing watchlist setup.

Poll #1284 Watching your Watchers

Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 44

View Respondents

This suggestion:

View Answers

Should be implemented as-is.
29 (65.9%)

Should be implemented with changes. (please comment)
4 (9.1%)

Shouldn't be implemented.
4 (9.1%)

(I have no opinion)
7 (15.9%)

(Other: please comment)
0 (0.0%)

Comments

[cheyinka]

I can see a use for a page - and I would have called it Network, if that name weren't taken, actually - for "journals in your circle to which you aren't already subscribed", so those you trust-but-don't-watch, are-trusted-by, or are-watched-by. I don't think it'd be much more resource-intensive than "anything that you don't watch but someone you do watch does", either, since it doesn't involve iterating through the subscription lists of your subscription list.

[melannen]

I'd prefer the ability to pick which ones showed on the page (of trust, trusted-by, watched-by) because not everybody would be interested in all of them. At the very least, I would want it to make very clear which category each poster was in.

[cesy]

This sounds good to me.

[susanreads]

Yes, versatility is good but mixing them all up could be confusing.

[kate_nepveu]

I have often wanted something like this and would love it.