(no subject)

[felicula]

So, the news about no new basic accounts has trickled down into my noggin.

As a basic account user, it concerns me that others will not have this option. The elimination of new basic accounts leaves no room for college students on a tight budget or families at or below the poverty level. No, I do not always post unique and/or insightful content, but I like to believe that I have the potential to.

Were it not for the basic (then called "free") account, I would not have registered on LiveJournal. I would have missed out on keeping in touch with friends near and far. I would not have received the comment that allowed me to be mentally prepared for my father's death, just over a year ago. I would not have been able to share the story of how I found peace the day of his funeral. I have made friends here I might never have encountered offline or in other fora. I have been able to keep up with friends near and far in ways I never would have dreamed fifteen years ago.

Paid accounts may be the food that keeps LiveJournal going, but I believe that it loses a significant chunk of its heart and soul without basic accounts.

Those making LiveJournal's business decisions have lost my trust. The way they tried to sneak this one under the noses of the users, with misleading language and insincere reasoning inspires fear that this is only the start. I am afraid of the day that I lose this account and all the memories contained within, or have to chose between that and being spammed with large banner ads for products and services I would not choose even if I felt that I had money to spare. Should basic accounts be eliminated, I will likely be moving my journaling to a private document file on my hard drive.

That said, along with the entries I've seen going around:

Everyone has things they blog about. Everyone has things they don't blog about. Challenge me out of my comfort zone by telling me something I don't blog about, but you'd like to hear about, and I'll write a post about it. Ask for anything: latest movie watched, last book read, political leanings, thoughts on yaoi, favorite type of underwear, graphic techniques, etc. Repost in your own journal so that we can all learn more about each other.

Comments

[tearsinger.livejournal.com]

basically what free users would get instead is a plus account, which shows minimal ads, like all free interwebby stuff like gmail and hotmail and yahoo mail. I think it is sad that they can't offer the free accounts anymore, but it is expensive and it was nice while it lasted.

[blackfelicula.livejournal.com]

In my opinion, the big banner ads I see blazoned on every plus account I read qualify as more than "minimal advertising."

[tearsinger.livejournal.com]

Are they really bad, most of my interaction has been friends page based and comment based, but also my experiences are from before the Russian change over and maybe it is different.

[phoenixsong]

Agree with blackfelicula. I changed one of my basic accounts to Plus last year, on a whim, to see what it was like. The ads were far more disruptive than what Gmail does, and I was disturbed at some of the ads that were displayed on my journal page -- even when I selected the categories I wanted ads displayed for, it still was something I was uncomfortable with. I switched it back to Basic pretty quickly.

I fear the ads are only going to get more intrusive. I fear Basic accounts will eventually be eliminated, even though they produce the most content. And that's not what the LJ that I joined back in 2002 was all about.

[blackfelicula.livejournal.com]

Gmail's ads I can deal with. Text, out of the way, and sometimes I see something I actually want to click on.

I admit I never tried LJ's plus accounts on for size myself. My reaction to seeing them on other journals, though, is to feel like they've put up way, way too many billboards on the internet superhighway.

I agree that this is not the LJ I joined in 2003.

[kareila]

I just want to say again how grateful I am that I was able to help you through a difficult time.

I agree that basic accounts add value to the site and I regret the decision was made. At least the basic accounts already in existence aren't going away.

[blackfelicula.livejournal.com]

Thank you. It made all the difference to know that preparing for the worst ought to include death. It got the shock out of my system and was able to be there for him before he went. ***hugs***

Regarding the basic accounts, I am afraid that they're on a slippery slope that will eventually lead to the basic accounts going away. It would be sad, but it is not unimaginable...

[lite.livejournal.com]

Those making Livejournal's decisions have lost my trust a loooong time ago, since the whole "Deleting Users and Communities that might be tangentially related to sex with children thing."

To those who own Livejournal, it's clear that we are not PEOPLE, but numbers.

Perhaps it is a good time to archive what you do have here. Just in case, so it can never be lost.

[blackfelicula.livejournal.com]

I did not experience the Great Deletion firsthand, since I don't keep up with a lot of fic. I agree that we're just stats for their business model these days.

I was just thinking that someone could make a lot of money creating a blog service that allows you to input your LJ username and password and schlorp your LJ archive onto your account there... Like renting a moving van for your blog! Heck, that's a service I'd be willing to pay a little bit for.

[tearsinger.livejournal.com]

I'd pay for that too.

[phoenixsong]

*hug* You know where I stand. I'd be sad to see you go, but I understand. If you do end up leaving LJ, I hope it's to go somewhere else and not disappear altogether. LJ isn't perfect, but it's been useful in staying connected.

I left comments on a couple of the posts I linked to yesterday, and got helpful responses from various people on ways to archive posts and comments, and/or transfer them over to another site.

[blackfelicula.livejournal.com]

It is useful for staying connected, but if it comes to a choice between big banner ads or paying money I don't have... Do you happen to have links to the comments you made? I don't know where-all you went for them, but I'm interested in the advice.

[phoenixsong]

LJ Archive was recommended to me for archiving entries from LJ to a personal (Windows) computer.

I've also poked at WordPress, and they appear to have a mechanism to import from several other blogging services, including LJ. There is also lj2wordpress for support in that area, which was recommended to me when I mentioned I was considering Blogger or WP. (dawnstar has something on WP as well, and she says that the free accounts are ad-free. The main site indicates that occasionally they may put small ads on free sites, but not all the time.)

Why yes, I am leaning heavily towards WordPress, why do you ask? s:) I just want to be able to make entries on that particular subject public, and as unconnected to my actual identity as possible. And with little if any advertising. Keeping that content here on LJ feels dirty now, so I figure it's probably time to walk the walk, you know?

[mspaintchuk.livejournal.com]

I've been using WP for a bit now and I love it.

[mspaintchuk.livejournal.com]

My adblocker kills off all of the LJ banner ads on those accounts. The only way I can tell that have ads is an extra line with the word advertisement on it.

Honestly, I know everyone it yelling about this but I didn't expect LJ to remain free this long.