Don't Shove Fandom Out of the Argument
Yes...the heart of this issue is LJ's bad customer service. But fandom is outraged for a reason, and I replied to someone else's post where they said fandom has nothing to do with it, with this.
I agree with most everything you said here, and said it beautifully.
But, fandom is at issue, and here's why...
Back in the day, when El Jay was a wittle bitty tadpole and Brad was trying to pay the electric bill, he very directly courted fandom. He said that this site was a place for fandom to be creative and to grow. He was involved in Fandom Wank and several other fandom related comms. Fandom came here and spent money. They bought paid accounts. They bought permanent accounts. Fandom writers who roleplay have MULTIPLE paid accounts. We're icon whores. We buy the extra icons. We pay for accounts for our friends. I had, at one point, twelve paid and three sponsored accounts. They love us when we spend the money. They NEEDED us when they were growing.
Now, fandom is like that smelly, embarassing relative that shows up at Thanksgiving dinner, and everyone rolls their eyes at them. But that embarassing relative brought the pumpkin pie, and everyone wants pie, so they let him stay, but they spit in his cranberry sauce.
Livejournal wasn't "too cool" for fandom years ago, when they needed us to make a pie. And we've supported them with loyalty and MONEY, all the time. So if El Jay wants us to take our pumpkin pies and go someplace else, that's fine. We'll go. But I want my money back. Plain and simple. I want every stinking nickel back from those greedy, two faced liars, every single one I ever spent here. Because they didn't treat us like an embarassment when they needed us to build their wealth. They lied, and they deceived, right up to the last permanent account sale, when they vaguely bullshitted us with their promises of warnings and fair play.
Piss poor customer service? Yeah. But it's more than that at the heart of the fury for fandom. They used us to build their little family, and then screwed us over AFTER they got their Beemers and multi-millions. And that makes me want to smash that pie right in Brad's face, the coward, because he isn't man enough to come out and say, "Haha, fandom, fuck you.".
Their contempt for us, as a customer base THEY sought out and used is despicable. So, yes, it really has to do with fandom, in the sense that they courted us and then pitched us when they didn't need us anymore. And I don't write underaged porn, and I resent their employee stating that I am a pedophile.
Take a look at the main page for LJ. See what it says? An OPEN community. False advertising, mixed with betrayal of their customers. Livejournal stinks. Today it's fandom. Tomorrow....?
So yeah, keep to the main point, bad customer service. But if you want to understand why fandom is "overreacting"...well, there it is.
I agree with most everything you said here, and said it beautifully.
But, fandom is at issue, and here's why...
Back in the day, when El Jay was a wittle bitty tadpole and Brad was trying to pay the electric bill, he very directly courted fandom. He said that this site was a place for fandom to be creative and to grow. He was involved in Fandom Wank and several other fandom related comms. Fandom came here and spent money. They bought paid accounts. They bought permanent accounts. Fandom writers who roleplay have MULTIPLE paid accounts. We're icon whores. We buy the extra icons. We pay for accounts for our friends. I had, at one point, twelve paid and three sponsored accounts. They love us when we spend the money. They NEEDED us when they were growing.
Now, fandom is like that smelly, embarassing relative that shows up at Thanksgiving dinner, and everyone rolls their eyes at them. But that embarassing relative brought the pumpkin pie, and everyone wants pie, so they let him stay, but they spit in his cranberry sauce.
Livejournal wasn't "too cool" for fandom years ago, when they needed us to make a pie. And we've supported them with loyalty and MONEY, all the time. So if El Jay wants us to take our pumpkin pies and go someplace else, that's fine. We'll go. But I want my money back. Plain and simple. I want every stinking nickel back from those greedy, two faced liars, every single one I ever spent here. Because they didn't treat us like an embarassment when they needed us to build their wealth. They lied, and they deceived, right up to the last permanent account sale, when they vaguely bullshitted us with their promises of warnings and fair play.
Piss poor customer service? Yeah. But it's more than that at the heart of the fury for fandom. They used us to build their little family, and then screwed us over AFTER they got their Beemers and multi-millions. And that makes me want to smash that pie right in Brad's face, the coward, because he isn't man enough to come out and say, "Haha, fandom, fuck you.".
Their contempt for us, as a customer base THEY sought out and used is despicable. So, yes, it really has to do with fandom, in the sense that they courted us and then pitched us when they didn't need us anymore. And I don't write underaged porn, and I resent their employee stating that I am a pedophile.
Take a look at the main page for LJ. See what it says? An OPEN community. False advertising, mixed with betrayal of their customers. Livejournal stinks. Today it's fandom. Tomorrow....?
So yeah, keep to the main point, bad customer service. But if you want to understand why fandom is "overreacting"...well, there it is.