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I just read that here on iconrants:
Well apparently according to one post I saw we're supposed to be striking right now. See it's supposed to have started at 8pm Eastern time on THURSDAY because that's when it was Midnight GMT when the strike was supposed to start. So they failed already. No one knew when it was supposed to start. No one told other people ( Read more... )
Well apparently according to one post I saw we're supposed to be striking right now. See it's supposed to have started at 8pm Eastern time on THURSDAY because that's when it was Midnight GMT when the strike was supposed to start. So they failed already. No one knew when it was supposed to start. No one told other people ( Read more... )
Since I'm posting right now, you might gather that I'm not participating. However, I wished people would stop pointing and laughing at the people who organized this. I'm c&p'ing a comment I left in another journal last night, because I'm too lazy to type it all out again:
I think the basic idea of a strike is not bad because striking is a generally accepted way of saying UR DOIN IT RONG. However, for it to have any effect, it would have to be for at least a week, and it would have to be promoted in a way that would make at least most of the highly active users participate.
Also, I don't think that making the strike about the basic account thing is doing any good. If it has to be about anything specific, I'd make it about the censoring of interests from the Most Popular Interest page. Because while LJ handled the basic account thing in a very shitty way, trying to sneak the change past their users to avoid having to justify their actions, it's still their site and their decision. However, censoring a selection of interests that very strongly speaks of homophobic tendencies, that's something I can't really forgive without a sincere apology plus a sound explanation.
Generally, I just think that the LJ userbase should speak up before it's too late, and the strike, ineffective as it might be, is at least trying to do that. So I'm not pointing and laughing, even though I probably won't participate.
Fandom is making it out to be about them again because it's always about fandom.
Well, yeah. Because it is about fandom. As I said, the basic account thing doesn't bother me, but the discrimination does. And who are LJ/SUP disciminating against? They actually censored fanfiction off their Interest Page. In Strikethrough, it were members of fandom who got their journals deleted. Fandom is the part of the userbase who are looking for a new home because they don't feel like they're welcome here anymore. So, yeah, of course this is about fandom.
As to the tight-knit circle, well, the strike was organized and announced on no_lj_ads, which is by no means a fandom comm and doesn't consist only of fandom users. If only fandom knew about this, maybe it simply means that fandom care the most.
If people don't agree with lj's TOS and their way of running things, deleting their journals would be the way of choice
I would like to quote ignazwisdom here:
"It is entirely possible to be deeply invested in something and to still get annoyed by the way it's being managed. People who are upset at the tactless SUP stunt of the week don't have to delete their journals and abandon years of work and thousands of posts and comments because you[read: users in general] don't share their feelings."
... and here as well:
Next time, when I buy a computer/shirt/bread, I tell the company producing it to please be running it the way I want?
"If LiveJournal is a business, and it is, then it is subject to criticisms from its clientele. (And LiveJournal is NOT a typical business, like the bars and restaurants people keep comparing it to. It's not as simple as just picking up and getting your beer somewhere else.)"
[ source]
Sorry for the tl;dr. I am just getting so sick and tired of people simply rolling over and taking all this shit without knowing all the facts :|.
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However, for it to have any effect, it would have to be for at least a week, and it would have to be promoted in a way that would make at least most of the highly active users participate.
Exactly. So why should I not "point and laugh" (which was by all means not my intention at all) at a badly organized sort of strike? This only tells me that after all, the issue is not THAT important.
f it has to be about anything specific, I'd make it about the censoring of interests from the Most Popular Interest page.
Again, I second that. But the whole interest page thing seemed to appear more on a side note (as far as I have seen it, I'm not reading all the comms dealing with this) and people seemed to be primarily concerned about the whole ads thing. Which also makes it not easier, because if some people are striking because of ads and others are striking because of censoring, how will it have any effect or be taken seriously? If there's going be an effective stirke, IMO people should at least be able to agree on a certain aim.
And homophic actions are by no means acceptable and escpecially in a institution like LJ even more disturbing. But again, I'm not sure if a strike is the right way to deal with this. This is actually far more serious than anything that could be adressed by a simple strike.
Because it is about fandom.
For the censoring, partly. For abolishing the basic account, no.
Fandom is the part of the userbase who are looking for a new home because they don't feel like they're welcome here anymore.
And that's the thing to do, go somewhere else where you're welcome. That's the only message that will really reach the TPTB, anything else is just :-/.
the strike was organized and announced on no_lj_ads, which is by no means a fandom comm and doesn't consist only of fandom users. If only fandom knew about this, maybe it simply means that fandom care the most.
Or there's only fandom in this comm. ;-)
People who are upset at the tactless SUP stunt of the week don't have to delete their journals and abandon years of work and thousands of posts and comments because you[read: users in general] don't share their feelings."
No, they don't, but then it's their problem. If this would be some country suffering under a dictator, okay, but this is LJ. And one can still save their journal content before deleting it.
"If LiveJournal is a business, and it is, then it is subject to criticisms from its clientele. (And LiveJournal is NOT a typical business, like the bars and restaurants people keep comparing it to. It's not as simple as just picking up and getting your beer somewhere else.)"
I don't see where it should be different. Seriously.
Sorry for the tl;dr. I am just getting so sick and tired of people simply rolling over and taking all this shit without knowing all the facts :|.
I'm not saying everyone should simply take everything quietly, but if people really cared, they would take serious consequences, not some badly organised strike.
But that's just my opinion. I don't want to start a fight with anyone, I just thought I put my 5 cents about that down. And I generally think that a strike is always the lazy option, I'm more for active action. And in this case, that would be leaving lj for good.
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Well, but NOTHING seems to be important anymore to anyone. You know about all the shit that's been going down with the education budget cuts and then the tuition fees. There was one demonstration, which turned into a huge party, but aside from that, NOTHING. If people can't even get off their asses to demonstrate to get better education, I'm not fucking surprised they're doing nothing about this. Every attempt to do something, like the strike, will not be ridiculed by me, because at least those people are trying, while everyone else is just sitting there picking their noses and laughing at them.
If there's going be an effective stirke, IMO people should at least be able to agree on a certain aim.
It doesn't matter why you are striking. The whole point of the strike is to tell LJ that they're doing it wrong. Yes, the basic accounts thing was the trigger, but I don't think that the LJ userbase would have reacted this strongly if it had been the first time LJ screwed up. If everybody had actually agreed on and gone through with the strike, it would have sent a message to LJ/SUP that they're definitely doing something wrong. What exactly that is would have had to be discussed in the fallout.
That's the only message that will really reach the TPTB, anything else is just :-/.
Oh, so copping out and turning tail is the only way to go. That's a bit pessimistic, don't you think? If I don't like the way someone is behaving, I won't immediately cut them off. First, I'd try to talk to them, and if I have to, get into an argument with them to make them see that yes, I'm fucking serious about this.
Or there's only fandom in this comm.
Well, but that's hardly the comm's fault. Every user has the option to be a member (it's moderated, but if you're an active user, you'll be accepted. The mods mostly just want to keep sockpuppets away), and if non-fandom people don't take that option, then that's their problem, not fandom's. Again, if no_lj_ads actually only consists of fandom members, to me that only communicates that fandom seem to be the only ones who actually care.
If this would be some country suffering under a dictator, okay, but this is LJ.
Yeah, this is LJ. Home to the huge, diverse fandom community. Of course nobody's life is threatened, but there are many people to whom fandom is more than just a hobby. There are quite a lot of people who have been on LJ for years, who have a close-knitted connections with friends and other communities, and for whom it would be a major loss if they had to just close down their journal and leave. Being an LJ user is not a one-time-only occasion like buying a shirt or a loaf of bread; it's more like being a tenant in a housing community. And especially nowadays, tenants don't have to take two shits anymore from their landlords.
And as far as the 'LJ is a business' argument is concerned - firstly, all businesses actually crave feedback from their customers. You can't buy a book in a bookstore anymore without having to fill out a questionaire about how you'd improve the bookstore's service. And secondly, LJ used to be a small, private site run by one single student for fun. You can't just blatantly ignore the history of the user/management relationship when you're taking over a business, and if you do, it'll come back to bite you in the ass.
I generally think that a strike is always the lazy option, I'm more for active action. And in this case, that would be leaving lj for good.
I can't agree with you there. For me, running away and sulking sounds a lot more like the lazy option than actually trying to change things. There might come a point where you have to give up on the person you're trying to change, but before that, you have to try everything to get through to them. And what else can we LJ users do than write letters and emails of complaints, or strike? We can hardly organize a demonstration, considering we're scattered all over the world.
I don't want to pick a fight, either. But I can't shut up about this, because fandom's reaction to this LJ fuckery disappointed and angered me to no end. I'm sorry if I offended you.
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No, you didn't. It's a good thing that you're standing up for the things that are important to you. And I know that my views on issues like that and in parts also fandom are pessimistic and not promotable... And I'm sorry for that.
Well, but NOTHING seems to be important anymore to anyone.
That seems to be a general problem of our time.
Oh, so copping out and turning tail is the only way to go. That's a bit pessimistic, don't you think?
Maybe it is, but sadly, in my experience, it's the only thing that works.
but there are many people to whom fandom is more than just a hobby.
I'm sorry, I keep not considering that. Because for me, LJ and fandom is "just" a hobby.
And there's the reason fandom cares, they actually have something to lose if lj fucks up. But, concerning fandom and the comm no_lj_ads, before today I didn't even know it existed, and I'm not sure why.
And what else can we LJ users do than write letters and emails of complaints, or strike? We can hardly organize a demonstration, considering we're scattered all over the world.
Okay, granted. :-) Although that REALLY would have been nice as well... Anyway, I get your point. Even though I still believe that if you're really bothered quitting is the most effective way to demonstrate your unhappiness, sorry. I hope that you don't think less of me because my priorities lie outside lj or because I'm rather passimistic when it comes to convince people to stop their evil ways since I've become really fond of your presence on my friends page. :-)
I'd also be happy to continue this discussion in a week's time since I'm leaving to go skiing tomorrow; and there's no internet. So if tomorrow there's no response, it's not because I just ran away. ;-)
And I hope I didn't offend you in any way as well.
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they actually have something to lose if lj fucks up
Hell yes. Fandom will lose SO MUCH if we're forced to leave LJ. We'll be scattered all across the internet, and it'll take forever to rebuild what we have here right now on LJ. That's why most fannish users are reluctant to leave, although a lot of us have already emigrated to IJ or JF.
Re no-lj-ads, the comm is known to most who were around when the plus accounts were introduced, and then to those people who are interested in having the ads removed from LJ. Doesn't matter if you're in fandom or not, but you do have to go looking for it.
quitting is the most effective way to demonstrate your unhappiness
It is, but it's also a no-way-back step. I'm willing to give LJ another chance, but I think this will be the last. I have my backup journal at JF, and I grabbed an account at IJ a couple of days ago, and if LJ continues to be a douche, I'll be gone sooner rather than later.
Lol, I would never think less of you just because your priorities don't lie with LJ. That would be quite irrational. And no, you didn't offend me. I'm hard to offend, and always up for a discussion.
Have fun skiing! :)
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