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Oct. 30th, 2012 01:51 pmI'm very aware that the owners of LiveJournal have plans for the site that disregard, and dismiss as petty and irrelevant, every wish and preference of the users who have been part of LiveJournal for up to a decade. Purchase with the intent of remaking the site into a copy of other social networks, for non-US users who, for some reason, can't seem to access or master Twitter, Facebook, or Tumblr has always been the intended goal, even before the point of purchase--was in fact, the purpose of the purchase.
It's crystal clear the owners regard their own agenda far above the knowledge that LiveJournal, even with the changes to date, is a unique entity, with useability and functions that no other site combines. But rather than valueing this uniqueness, the owners seek to remove the functionaltiy and features that have made LiveJournal the mecca it has been, and turn it into just another social network, the aim of which seems to be "I have more people following my LJ than you do!" Just like Tumblr, Twitter and FB, quantity, not quality.
This last bastion of in-depth, thoughtful discussion and creativity must be sacrificed to the instant newsbites and superficial popularity that passes for social contact on every other online social site, whether that's because the owners want the prestige of owning and controlling the next Twitter, Tumblr, etc., or whether there's a "need" in Russia for yet *another* social network--is it a competition? To have the "most used" or "most popular" social network? Does the owner get a prize if he "wins"?
In any case, I won't be the only former user mourning the site that Live Journal used to be, and the communities, conversations, and discussions that have gone on here, in my LJ and in others', over most of a decade.
My quandary now is, do I pay for another year for my journals? Some of them? Or do I let them all go and seek some other shelter for the things for which I've depended on LiveJournal?
It's crystal clear the owners regard their own agenda far above the knowledge that LiveJournal, even with the changes to date, is a unique entity, with useability and functions that no other site combines. But rather than valueing this uniqueness, the owners seek to remove the functionaltiy and features that have made LiveJournal the mecca it has been, and turn it into just another social network, the aim of which seems to be "I have more people following my LJ than you do!" Just like Tumblr, Twitter and FB, quantity, not quality.
This last bastion of in-depth, thoughtful discussion and creativity must be sacrificed to the instant newsbites and superficial popularity that passes for social contact on every other online social site, whether that's because the owners want the prestige of owning and controlling the next Twitter, Tumblr, etc., or whether there's a "need" in Russia for yet *another* social network--is it a competition? To have the "most used" or "most popular" social network? Does the owner get a prize if he "wins"?
In any case, I won't be the only former user mourning the site that Live Journal used to be, and the communities, conversations, and discussions that have gone on here, in my LJ and in others', over most of a decade.
My quandary now is, do I pay for another year for my journals? Some of them? Or do I let them all go and seek some other shelter for the things for which I've depended on LiveJournal?
