Because What LJ Needs Is More Censorship
Every time I think Six Apart couldn't possibly surprise me with another boneheaded move to alienate their user base, they go and raise the bar some more.
I think the comment thread over at warren_ellis sums this up about right. But it seems to me that, in addition to being another ass-backward move to PROTECT THE CHILDREN that ends up causing more problems than it solves, this is also yet another gambit by 6A to clean up the poor cousin that is LiveJournal in order to make the company as a whole more attractive for a sale.
These moves are clearly designed to piss off many LJ factions such as the fanfic writers, slashers, and so on who post explicit content, and many of whom don't have paid accounts or advert-sponsored accounts, so they generate no revenue for 6A. By driving these folks off, 6A can demonstrate to potential buyers how it can clean up its act and look shiny in order to sell off the software to whatever corporate Web 2.0 shell company is hot this week.
I don't expect that anything I write here could be flagged for explicit content (at least until the next time I write "SURPRISE! BUTTSECKS!!!!!"), and I doubt there are hordes of right-wing LJ trolls out there waiting to flag me the next time I slam Bush, Cheney, etc., but the point is that I shouldn't have to worry about that. I pay LJ for a service, and in exchange, I expect them to leave me alone as long as my content is legal and directly threatens no one. The idea that 6A would turn over the ability to censor content to its own user base--the same user base that they deleted accounts from en masse not too long ago--is not only stupid and ill-advised, but creepy in an Orwellian groupthink fashion.
I don't know what crawled up 6A's ass that made them so afraid of being sued, but they should see a specialist about it, because it's chafing all of us in the end. So to speak. Ooh, I implied something involving anal sex! Watch out for the flaggin'!
I think the comment thread over at warren_ellis sums this up about right. But it seems to me that, in addition to being another ass-backward move to PROTECT THE CHILDREN that ends up causing more problems than it solves, this is also yet another gambit by 6A to clean up the poor cousin that is LiveJournal in order to make the company as a whole more attractive for a sale.
These moves are clearly designed to piss off many LJ factions such as the fanfic writers, slashers, and so on who post explicit content, and many of whom don't have paid accounts or advert-sponsored accounts, so they generate no revenue for 6A. By driving these folks off, 6A can demonstrate to potential buyers how it can clean up its act and look shiny in order to sell off the software to whatever corporate Web 2.0 shell company is hot this week.
I don't expect that anything I write here could be flagged for explicit content (at least until the next time I write "SURPRISE! BUTTSECKS!!!!!"), and I doubt there are hordes of right-wing LJ trolls out there waiting to flag me the next time I slam Bush, Cheney, etc., but the point is that I shouldn't have to worry about that. I pay LJ for a service, and in exchange, I expect them to leave me alone as long as my content is legal and directly threatens no one. The idea that 6A would turn over the ability to censor content to its own user base--the same user base that they deleted accounts from en masse not too long ago--is not only stupid and ill-advised, but creepy in an Orwellian groupthink fashion.
I don't know what crawled up 6A's ass that made them so afraid of being sued, but they should see a specialist about it, because it's chafing all of us in the end. So to speak. Ooh, I implied something involving anal sex! Watch out for the flaggin'!