say hello to my new public LJ
::wave:: Thanks to the folks at LJ, I was able to snag this name back from my poor decision years ago to call my blog's syndicated feed danahboyd. The reason that I'm starting a new public LJ is because I have some fantastico news: I've joined the advisory board of LJ. w00t!
As most of y'all know, LJ was sold to a Russian company called SUP. This makes a lot of sense because the Russian contingent is quite large and active. SUP has been running the Russian branch of LJ for quite some time now. So, when SixApart decided to sell LJ, it only made sense. The new owners are trying to figure out how to be good owners. They understand the Russian contingent, but aren't nearly as familiar with some of the U.S. subcultural and fandom practices present on LJ. Since I've been blabbing about this for years, the new owner came and met with me. I talked his ear off for a few hours and he asked me to be on the advisory board. So voila! (OK, that's the mega simplified story.)
The most important thing is that I'm joining the board to represent subcultures and fans. My goal is to help the company understand these users, to help information flow between the company and these constituents, and to make sure that the company does its best not to fuck up. None of us want another meltdown or miscommunication mess.
While I'm going to do my best to advise on these areas, I also need to be in better communication with LJ users who aren't just my closest and dearest friends. Thus, I've decided to start a public LJ. This is where I'll talk about LJ issues, beg for feedback/suggestion, comment on new developments, and generally talk about anything that might be of interest to LJ folks. I'm still going to keep my private LJ and my blog, and from time to time might crosspost.
I'm super stoked to have the ability to work with SUP/LJ. I strongly believe in the communities that have formed here and, while I've been studying social tech for a long time, this is still the one community where I feel at home in my own practices.
For those who are arriving here who don't know me, I've been on LJ in one form or another since 1999/2000 (although I deleted my earliest acct for dumb reasons). I'm an active and passionate LJ user and have written about LJ over the years, most notably in a Salon op-ed called Turmoil in Blogland that was published after LJ was sold to Six Apart.
As most of y'all know, LJ was sold to a Russian company called SUP. This makes a lot of sense because the Russian contingent is quite large and active. SUP has been running the Russian branch of LJ for quite some time now. So, when SixApart decided to sell LJ, it only made sense. The new owners are trying to figure out how to be good owners. They understand the Russian contingent, but aren't nearly as familiar with some of the U.S. subcultural and fandom practices present on LJ. Since I've been blabbing about this for years, the new owner came and met with me. I talked his ear off for a few hours and he asked me to be on the advisory board. So voila! (OK, that's the mega simplified story.)
The most important thing is that I'm joining the board to represent subcultures and fans. My goal is to help the company understand these users, to help information flow between the company and these constituents, and to make sure that the company does its best not to fuck up. None of us want another meltdown or miscommunication mess.
While I'm going to do my best to advise on these areas, I also need to be in better communication with LJ users who aren't just my closest and dearest friends. Thus, I've decided to start a public LJ. This is where I'll talk about LJ issues, beg for feedback/suggestion, comment on new developments, and generally talk about anything that might be of interest to LJ folks. I'm still going to keep my private LJ and my blog, and from time to time might crosspost.
I'm super stoked to have the ability to work with SUP/LJ. I strongly believe in the communities that have formed here and, while I've been studying social tech for a long time, this is still the one community where I feel at home in my own practices.
For those who are arriving here who don't know me, I've been on LJ in one form or another since 1999/2000 (although I deleted my earliest acct for dumb reasons). I'm an active and passionate LJ user and have written about LJ over the years, most notably in a Salon op-ed called Turmoil in Blogland that was published after LJ was sold to Six Apart.