Friendslocked

Synonyms:	Flock, f-lock
See also:	Friends list
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A Friendslocked post is a Livejournal post that can only be viewed by people who the journal has friended. Most LJ clones (for example InsaneJournal) use the same terminology, but the LJ fork Dreamwidth instead uses the terms "access/reading list"/"subscribe" instead of "friends."

Some users posts all or some of their entries locked and only leave an introduction post unlocked. It is generally considered rude to redistribute information that is posted under friendslock. This may cause problems if the post was not originally locked, for example, some users retroactively lock posts that are controversial and generate a lot of response.

Friendslock and Fan Fiction

Many fan fiction writers on LiveJournal write stories on an individual journal. While most users leave their stories to the public, some choose to lock their fics after a specific period of time - or entirely, if they are embarrassed by old fic, to protect against plagiarism or flames, or because they do not want IRL (or RPF) people finding their fic. Some writers who do this do allow strangers to friend them in order to access their fic after commenting on an intro post of sorts, but it may be considered a hassle to wait for fic writers to friend readers back in order to give them access. Writers who flock seem to not care about receiving smaller readership because of this.

However, many fics on rec posts then become inaccessible when flocked, which can be a frustrating affair, especially when the writers are no longer active on LJ. Additionally, not everyone is comfortable with asking a complete stranger to friend them in order to read their fanfiction. Fic communities have became a trend, possibly due to this, because they allow readers to join and then immediately be able to read the writer's stories, while writers can still monitor who is reading their fanfiction without needing to click a button of approval with every new reader.