Monetization
When last I visited, LiveJournal was trying to monetize, badly. At the same time they were under constant ddos attack from the Russian govt, because apparently activists use LiveJournal in the USSR. I remember them spreading some ridiculous story about one old lady with a shovel cutting off all the Internet in Russia, and people hyucking it up because LOL Russia LOL outdated morons. Yeah, no. That was purposeful. Occupy was doing similar activism on LJ so they got hit by American-based attacks at the same time. I'm surprised that LiveJournal is still here, to be honest.
Recently I met some of the people who invented LiveJournal. Very nice people. I didn't ask the pertinent questions. They were...they saw themselves as on some kind of mission to liberate the world through Open Source collaborative documents or something. Very intent, very geeky. I didn't know LJ was Open Source? Anyway, very thoughtful dreamer types. Their monetization schemes seemed terrible. I was embarrassed to ask how their idealistic goal squares with asking people to pay extra for more customizable icons and tiny avatars.
Recdit seems to be doing it right with "Reddit Gold " where you pay to add a gold coin symbol to a comment. It works because people genuinely feel they are complimented by the gift, and the Gold features are nifty, and it donates to keep the Reddit servers running. Thus the "Reddit Gold" has percieved, as well as actual, social and economic value.
Just sayin'. LJ doesn't need to reinvent the wheel.
There is a choice of "Mood" setting here, so I went for "predatory" because, really, is that even a mood? I am now making T-Rex noises. Just FYI.
Recently I met some of the people who invented LiveJournal. Very nice people. I didn't ask the pertinent questions. They were...they saw themselves as on some kind of mission to liberate the world through Open Source collaborative documents or something. Very intent, very geeky. I didn't know LJ was Open Source? Anyway, very thoughtful dreamer types. Their monetization schemes seemed terrible. I was embarrassed to ask how their idealistic goal squares with asking people to pay extra for more customizable icons and tiny avatars.
Recdit seems to be doing it right with "Reddit Gold " where you pay to add a gold coin symbol to a comment. It works because people genuinely feel they are complimented by the gift, and the Gold features are nifty, and it donates to keep the Reddit servers running. Thus the "Reddit Gold" has percieved, as well as actual, social and economic value.
Just sayin'. LJ doesn't need to reinvent the wheel.
There is a choice of "Mood" setting here, so I went for "predatory" because, really, is that even a mood? I am now making T-Rex noises. Just FYI.