Current mood:	discontent
Current music:	Wir sind Helden - Guten Tag (Die Reklamation)
Entry tags:	announce, geek, migration, rant

LieJournal: [sic] and tired of all of this

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I'm moving to InsaneJournal. Add me as shortcipher there, or shortcipher_ij here (public posts only and there are some old entries atm, sorry). Geekier post about migration coming soon.

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To the management and owners of LiveJournal,   ← (can anyone suggest the best place to send this?)

Summary: paid user leaving LiveJournal because of issues of culture and communication

This used to be a nice place. The social contract was a shining example of how to write such things. The title and nature of that document have changed a bit since then, as have your priorities. I realise that LiveJournal is a business and that it must make money to survive. I don't take issue with any particular change you've made, such as ads; InsaneJournal, the site I'm moving to, has those as well.

My big problem with this place is that it's evident, despite all your assurances to the contrary, that LJ now puts making money before the interests of its users. One need only examine the fanfic suspension incident to see that. Your handling of the recent decision to axe Basic accounts only shows me that lessons have not been learned.

The decision itself: well, fine, I can see why you might need to do that, though brad makes a good case against it and, frankly, you should have listened to him a bit more, on this and many other issues (it's a shame you were the best of a bad bunch in this regard). I can also understand not telling people in advance (a last-minute rush for Basic accounts would have somewhat defeated the point), but, in the end, you didn't really tell people at all.

I'm sorry, but we streamlined and simplified things so that now it’s faster and easier than ever to create a LiveJournal account. doesn't really cover it; that's a euphemism at best. Your subsequent message, admitting it was a business decision, is laughable in places, like so many of your apologies: working out how to strike just the right tone when communicating with such a diverse and complex collection of communities, indeed. Announcing the big change you had made and the reasons, rather than trying to bury it among less important news, would have been a good start, as I'm sure some of you knew. Did you think people simply wouldn't notice?

There are many cliché ways to say this: the place has become too commercial, you're too big to care about the little people anymore, you've sold out, etc. Unfortunately, they all seem to be true. Perhaps one day they will be true of InsaneJournal too, but I'd rather risk having to move again than give any acceptance to what LiveJournal has become. I've had an account here since 2004-05-17 (by word-of-mouth recommendation; I wonder how many of those you get these days?) and a paid account since 2005-05-09. I shall not be renewing it.

No love,

shortcipher

Last one out, lock the door.