(Untitled)

[calli_thaala]

Okay, here's my issue with this post: if you flag the content now, it just makes it easier for them to find and censor it later

Comments

[dachelle]

I definitely wouldn't want to see Albion Archive become the only place to go for fic. I mean, there's a reason I post to albion_unbound first before posting there - I like the conversational aspect of LJ. I am glad, however, that we put the archive together so that the fic won't just disappear if LJ does come after us (btw, zegia came up with a lovely new layout for the archive, and I may need your mad eFiction skillz to implement it).

I'm really not sure where to go if LJ goes after RPS. I think JournalFen would probably be the most welcoming place, but they have server issues, and of course no one under 18 can join there. I'd probably be for a move to Insane Journal, but I really hope it doesn't come to that. For one thing, I'm just super lazy. The thought of moving my content somewhere else gives me tiredhead.

[calli_thaala]

I love the Archive, but there really is just... more... to LJ, unfortunately. *L* (I can try to give it a look in a bit. You'll have to email me the current login/pass since I lose those things like Peter loses erm, nevermind, not going there, but yeah, I have no memory for such information. *L*)

There are programs which will migrate the entirety of a journal from one location to another. I used one called lj migrate to put most of my stuff on my IJ and GJ back when this mess all got started, but I've not used one in ages (and it took forEVER) and it didn't want to work right for my fic journal, for some reason. Anyway, there ARE options for things to use to migrate journals (but not comms, I'm pretty sure).

[sushis]

I agree with all of this, even though I'm not in the comms you're discussing.

There is no really good alternative to LJ, that I've seen, either for your purposes or for mine (which overlap, although mine have diverged somewhat away from fandom). One of the things I love about LJ is that I'm not confined to just *one* comm or one existing group of people. I can find people who share an interest in something, but I can also find new interests. I originally came to LJ to read fiction about one particular rock group, then discovered several others, and then got interested in discussing things not related to any fandom at all.

And, I agree on people not marking their own journals or comms as "adult," even if they have adult content. The administrators of LJ have proven time and again that they're not trustworthy, and it's generally best to disclose as little as one possibly can to untrustworthy people.

[calli_thaala]

And, I agree on people not marking their own journals or comms as "adult," even if they have adult content. The administrators of LJ have proven time and again that they're not trustworthy, and it's generally best to disclose as little as one possibly can to untrustworthy people.

That, to me, is the crux or the problem. If I believed they wouldn't abuse the information this flagging system will make available for them, then I would have no problem with using it. But I just can't believe they'll sit there with that information at their fingertips and not use it.

[easilyled]

Yep. You can find new interests (and friends) - you can also retain friends after your interests have diverged. I heart the way the LJ format encourages this kind of socializing and discussion. *That*, more than the fanfic (although I heart that too, and they overlap), is why I don't leave.

[myska_x]

i just hate that all this is happening. i don't wanna go anywhere else. i don't even wanna think about going anywhere else. i just wanna close my eyes pretend nothing is wrong and wait till it goes away *sigh*

[calli_thaala]

I'd prefer to stick my head in the sand as well, but I think we're rapidly approaching a point where that really isn't an option.

I know this is a horrid comparison, but you know what popped into my head? The "First they came for..." poem because first LJ went after the paedophiles and, well, we're not paedophiles, so why should we worry? And then it was "objectionable" Potterfic and art and, well, we're not writing "objectionable" Potterfic or drawing "objectionable" Potterart, so why should we worry? etc etc etc...

[myska_x]

s'scarily true that. i remember when it all started and i thought people were being silly when they panicked because all i thought was "it will blow over,and s'none of our business, anyway" and now they're just getting more and more extreme and.. yeah

[calli_thaala]

It really makes me nervous that they'll realise the potential for all these real people we're writing to sue them over hosting this sort of thing. I know I brought that up the last time there were issues with LJ and it didn't come to pass, but I'm really worried that it is just a matter of time...

[easilyled]

What they're doing with encouraging the self-labeling is called "the chilling effect": they can't do anything legally against certain content but they know it's bad for them as a business, so they scare groups and individuals into censoring themselves.

During the last LJ kerfuffle we members-locked morrissey_slash, which I think is a preferable action to self-flagging. Although I know lots of people object to members-locking fic comms. (That comm is DEAD now, but I don't think the locking did it - it was dying before that.)

I agree with you that I really love the social aspects of the way LJ is set up, which can't be reproduced with an archive site (or forum or other). You can't even reproduce it with MySpace - it's very specific to this format.

The internet should be an adult-friendly, not a kid-friendly place!

[calli_thaala]

The problem with members-locking as I mentioned in the post is that there ARE groups out there joining communities to check for unflagged/unmarked/whatever adult content, so it'd have to be moderated membership, which just means even more work for the mods.

[easilyled]

Yeah, we'd always had moderated membership, and started a "no empty journals" policy after some community-specific problems. Although with three mods and only roughly 100 members, moderated membership wasn't a problem. We did almost think of just abandoning the comm after "strikethrough" because it was becoming more stress (although not more work) than it was worth - the point is having fun, right? But the comm died instead.

And this stress should not exist for internet users. The net is not like TV, which has to be censored for a general audience. It's individuals expressing themselves however they choose. Adults shouldn't be censored because of the unlikely possibility that "children" (and surely any "child" doing unmonitored netsurfing is 12 or up?) might come across something offensive.

[calli_thaala]

Part of the problem with making the comms 18+ is that either we do it with their flagging thing - which still puts us on their list - or we do it with moderated membership, which would be a pain in the arse for our mods. And that doesn't take into account the people who are legal in their countries, but not in the US. We've got a fair number of people who fall into that category, if I'm remembering right, and it wouldn't be fair of us to suddenly cut them out just because LJ's being a dick.

[calli_thaala]

Locking the comms was my initial impulse suggestion too, but the more I got to thinking about it, the more I've decided it's just a lose/lose situation.