Livejournal and ads - show your displeasure

[janestarz]

I was against Plus level since they first introduced it. Ads do not belong in my personal diary. I still get to see them on the login page when I log into the site from work where I refuse to keep the cookies. It seems to be that the cookies expire sooner too

Comments

[nathreee]

I have to disagree with you in this part. I will not be posting on Friday because I'm off having a fun weekend, not because I think anyone will notice if I do or do not post. As Tadiera put it, and I quote

[janestarz]

Each to his own. It is your decision to do so.

I think where it went wrong is when Brad sold Livejournal to SixApart and it turned from a student's geeky project into a business. Free users do provide the content for the paying users. I've wanted a paid or permanent account for years, because I support their cause. I just didn't have Paypal or a creditcard to do so.

I'm just very scared to see where this is going. First, advertisements were put on the site. Secondly, they take the ability to create Basic accounts away.
What's the next step? Quit basic accounts altogether? Create a Premium account (which just transforms all Permanent accounts into Premium, leaving them the perks but adding and end date to their account level)?

Yes, it's a business, but that doesn't mean I necessarily have to agree with the way they run the business. If I'm eating at a restaurant and my plate is dirty, I'll complain too.

[nathreee]

If customers are not happy with the way the restaurant is run, then they should go somewhwere else. This is a business, SixApart will decide how they run it and probably won't change their ways because a few people complain, and this is where the restaurant analogy comes short, because the people complaining may be a few hundred customers, but there are thousands of others.

This is why I didn't buy a permanent account; because things always change. And when they change for the worse, I want to have the freedom to leave and go somewhere else. BTW, I don't think that time has come just yet.

[janestarz]

Dolle Griet is a business. That doesn't mean I subject my customers to all sorts of treatment they get from other businesses! I am usually quick to reply to their efforts to contact me, I do not put people on hold until they hang up, and I deliver quality products.
Of course there are exceptions to the rule, but that doesn't mean that everything is the same. There are many shades of grey.

[anonymous]

With web-log.nl it was like this as well. First: free for all, come and have fun! And then there were more and more adds in the control panel. Ok, no sweat, people need to get their money from somewhere. But now there's even advertisements on the journals themselves! And not the subtle, content-associated Google Ads, no!!! Ugly, flashy, moving banners about whatever subject.
Fortunately I got tired of web-log.nl anyway and deleted my account. I'm now running Blosxom on my own server. It doesn't have the fancy control panel and GUI, but I can type html in a text editor and then use that file as a blogpost. I can change the look of my blog any time I like, without limits and I don't have to pay. (though that's because my server is in Matthijs' flat on campusnet... that'll change soon)

Would a non-visiting-non-posting strike work? Does the company get payed per visit?

~Brenda~