More LJ RP Disasters
Apparently, LJ has gotten rid of the option to create future Basic (no-pay, ad-free) Accounts. If you haven't heard yet, it's because this was-and in a way, still is-never announced. A small reference was made in this LJ news post that The Powers That Be have "streamlined" the registration process. Elsewhere, this was explained as "simplifying" the registration for a new account.
Um, yeah, I can see how *three* options was so very confusing that they had to pare it down to two choices: Plus Account, or Paid Account. [/sarcasm]
My main objection to this behind-everyone's-back move? There isn't a hint of communication between SUP and its user base, the LiveJournal account holders. I also object to what in effect was a decision to put making money in the short-term over capitalizing on the resources, content, and community that is LJ that would lead to more sustainable long-term revenues. But that takes a backseat to the total lack of official announcement about SUP's decision to do away with the option to create any more new Basic Accounts.
Others have put it much more eloquently. Here are some very useful links. Please do take the time to read and understand the current climate of LiveJournal under SUP. I value LJ as a community and would hate to see the sense of community gone because of some higher-up's management disasters.
Links, more or less in chronological order:
The C-News article further solidifies my belief that The Powers That Be don't really understand the LJ culture. Anton Nosik defends the lack of announcement by saying,"We do not consider it necessary to inform those, who have not opened a basic account during 9 years of LiveJournal’s existence, that there is no such an opportunity any longer."
Um, sorry to burst your bubble, but if none of us on LJ has opened a Basic Account in the past 9 years, then where do we come from? I've opened multiple accounts since I created ziasudra, a majority of which I don't use any longer, but that doesn't mean I won't wake up tomorrow and decide to create yet another LJ account.
At the end of the day, SUP will make whatever revenue it hopes to make through instituting all these "changes." But it'll do that at the expense of LiveJournal itself. By adding extra hurdles to attract users-the content providers and the eyeballs to see/click on the ads-to the site, SUP is diminishing the community aspect of LJ. And LiveJournal was founded and is known for its communities. Maybe down the road LiveJournal will become much more profitable than now as a cesspool of ads so that even empty journals might bring in more revenue per year through the "explore LJ" random journal-highlighting function. But rest assured that should LJ ever stoop to that level, I will have been long gone from being an LJ user.
Um, yeah, I can see how *three* options was so very confusing that they had to pare it down to two choices: Plus Account, or Paid Account. [/sarcasm]
My main objection to this behind-everyone's-back move? There isn't a hint of communication between SUP and its user base, the LiveJournal account holders. I also object to what in effect was a decision to put making money in the short-term over capitalizing on the resources, content, and community that is LJ that would lead to more sustainable long-term revenues. But that takes a backseat to the total lack of official announcement about SUP's decision to do away with the option to create any more new Basic Accounts.
Others have put it much more eloquently. Here are some very useful links. Please do take the time to read and understand the current climate of LiveJournal under SUP. I value LJ as a community and would hate to see the sense of community gone because of some higher-up's management disasters.
Links, more or less in chronological order:
- On March 12, LiveJournal posted this rather innocuous looking news post.
- Somewhere in the comment threads of this post, we discover that it's no longer possible to create new Basic Accounts.
- More people start to notice.
- LJ staff jasonshellen was the only one responding to comments. He pointed people to this FAQ answer thread explaining the changes in account types available for new users. *Note: this is hidden in the FAQ section, never meant to see the light of day except through specific FAQ searches.
- For referencing purposes, here's a list of Jason's responses to the same news post here.
Meanwhile, we find out the backstory: - LJ founder brad posted an entry saying he advised against removal of Basic Accounts when he first heard it as a rumor, but didn't hear more about it despite being on the LJ Advisory Board.
- Similarly, another LJ Advisory Board member, danahboyd, was also against the idea.
SUP's response - The copious complaints were noticed, and SUP updated news with another entry-except they still didn't explain what regarding account structures were changed.
- Though a bit late, they did make the official announcement over at ru_news. According to this Russian user's comment, the reaction over at the Russian corner of LJ isn't pretty.
- C-News Russia has an article about this, in which SUP's Head of Blog Service Anton Nosik is quoted. It's all about the money, no surprises here.
Some resource links: - stewardess tracks past LJ "fiascos" since 2005.
- Someone linked me to this post. I find it eloquent and (regarding the community aspect) personally identifiable.
The C-News article further solidifies my belief that The Powers That Be don't really understand the LJ culture. Anton Nosik defends the lack of announcement by saying,"We do not consider it necessary to inform those, who have not opened a basic account during 9 years of LiveJournal’s existence, that there is no such an opportunity any longer."
Um, sorry to burst your bubble, but if none of us on LJ has opened a Basic Account in the past 9 years, then where do we come from? I've opened multiple accounts since I created ziasudra, a majority of which I don't use any longer, but that doesn't mean I won't wake up tomorrow and decide to create yet another LJ account.
At the end of the day, SUP will make whatever revenue it hopes to make through instituting all these "changes." But it'll do that at the expense of LiveJournal itself. By adding extra hurdles to attract users-the content providers and the eyeballs to see/click on the ads-to the site, SUP is diminishing the community aspect of LJ. And LiveJournal was founded and is known for its communities. Maybe down the road LiveJournal will become much more profitable than now as a cesspool of ads so that even empty journals might bring in more revenue per year through the "explore LJ" random journal-highlighting function. But rest assured that should LJ ever stoop to that level, I will have been long gone from being an LJ user.