To strike or not to strike, that is the question...
Just to get this straight: I'm not happy about LJ axing basic accounts, but it's a business decision I can understand. It could have been avoided if SUP/LJ had taken a closer look at the product they bought; LJ can pay the bills, the staff and the servers, plus produce a little extra income, but by its very nature, it can't be a multi-million dollar cash cow like myspace, for example.
So yes, I understand the decision, but I don't agree with the way it was communicated - not communicated at all, that is. It just happened, and if some clever LJ user hadn't figured it out, there would be no discussion now. Instead of a reply along the line of "yes folks, we know, it sucks, but we can't run LJ profitably if we allow new basic accounts" we got a snotty "nyah nyah nyah, we do whatever we want" snark. In the first case, people would have disagreed as well, of course, but by far not at this scale. Personally I think it's a wrong decision because it ignores the nature of LJ and endangers the community. First 6apart and now SUP have a product at hand of which they know nothing about.
That's one point.
The other is the removal of terms like "depression, bisexuality, fanfic, sex" etc. from the "most popular" site. We're still allowed to post about these things, but hey - what sort of signal gives this? Look, if some people suffering from depression, who are bisexual and/or write fanfic don't mind that aspects or their personality have been removed for cosmetic reasons just to impress - well, whoever, concerned citizens, advertisers - fine. But there are others who are concerned, very much so. I'm concerned as well. This worries me. And this move on LJ's part is far more important to me than the axing of basic accounts.
So I'll join the strike on Friday, March 21, from midnight GMT to midnight GMT. No posts, no comments, in journals or communities, whether public, private or friends-locked from my part. Join in or don't, it's up to you.
Personally I'm also curious to see what impact, if any, this will have on LJ's stats. I predict it won't have any impact at all, but I wouldn't mind being wrong.
Edited to add: comments disabled because I can't keep up with replying... sorry about that! :)
So yes, I understand the decision, but I don't agree with the way it was communicated - not communicated at all, that is. It just happened, and if some clever LJ user hadn't figured it out, there would be no discussion now. Instead of a reply along the line of "yes folks, we know, it sucks, but we can't run LJ profitably if we allow new basic accounts" we got a snotty "nyah nyah nyah, we do whatever we want" snark. In the first case, people would have disagreed as well, of course, but by far not at this scale. Personally I think it's a wrong decision because it ignores the nature of LJ and endangers the community. First 6apart and now SUP have a product at hand of which they know nothing about.
That's one point.
The other is the removal of terms like "depression, bisexuality, fanfic, sex" etc. from the "most popular" site. We're still allowed to post about these things, but hey - what sort of signal gives this? Look, if some people suffering from depression, who are bisexual and/or write fanfic don't mind that aspects or their personality have been removed for cosmetic reasons just to impress - well, whoever, concerned citizens, advertisers - fine. But there are others who are concerned, very much so. I'm concerned as well. This worries me. And this move on LJ's part is far more important to me than the axing of basic accounts.
So I'll join the strike on Friday, March 21, from midnight GMT to midnight GMT. No posts, no comments, in journals or communities, whether public, private or friends-locked from my part. Join in or don't, it's up to you.
Personally I'm also curious to see what impact, if any, this will have on LJ's stats. I predict it won't have any impact at all, but I wouldn't mind being wrong.
Edited to add: comments disabled because I can't keep up with replying... sorry about that! :)