That's very kind of you to say, thanks for that. But, if we're being honest, the sadness and frustration have been going on for, what? A decade?
It's been a roller coaster ride, this El Jay business. I started in 2001 just as the "invite code" era was ending. then it exploded in 2003 and several million new LJ accounts got created. That was a crazy time. Then Brad sold to SixApart and they were double trouble because they 1. just wanted to make quick money from the users while 2. not understanding anything about what blogging was and why people liked it, so they made several fatal errors that eroded the base and caused a panic. And then the sale to SUP, which was separate until the binding of the TOS in December.
I had long been trying to promote LiveJournal after the SUP sale, trying to suggest that everything you did on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram could be done here, only with a better user interface that allowed people to respond through comments to the original poster or to other commenters. That was how a social network should work! I still say the threaded comments element of LJ is something nobody ever quite got right and makes it the best designed platform for interaction with people of any I've seen, even now.
But this whole Russian business. I never thought I'd say it, but I long for the days of 6A!
Still, it's the people who make the place. It doesn't help that so many people left either during one of the two previous sales or that they just got fascinated with the possibility of interacting with celebrities on IG or Twitter.
It makes total sense that Gary started LJ Idol. LJ is a platform for writers. Tailor made! I wish I had discovered it sooner.
You're probably right that it will be a brand new platform that will likely come along to wow everyone, but I fear that anything newly designed from here on out will have a special agenda for getting more revenue/information from all of its users. Brad didn't care about that when he created LiveJournal (until he did care about it and we are now living with the results). Everything is extremely savvy and profit driven, now.
I'm leaving because I don't want to be the one to turn out the lights, or worse, have the lights unexpectedly turned out by those that own the place. It has been a good time... even a great time, some of the time!
Good wishes to you and everyone deciding to stay till the end!
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timeasmymeasure
no subject
Date: 2017-07-22 04:47 pm (UTC)It's been a roller coaster ride, this El Jay business. I started in 2001 just as the "invite code" era was ending. then it exploded in 2003 and several million new LJ accounts got created. That was a crazy time. Then Brad sold to SixApart and they were double trouble because they 1. just wanted to make quick money from the users while 2. not understanding anything about what blogging was and why people liked it, so they made several fatal errors that eroded the base and caused a panic. And then the sale to SUP, which was separate until the binding of the TOS in December.
I had long been trying to promote LiveJournal after the SUP sale, trying to suggest that everything you did on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram could be done here, only with a better user interface that allowed people to respond through comments to the original poster or to other commenters. That was how a social network should work! I still say the threaded comments element of LJ is something nobody ever quite got right and makes it the best designed platform for interaction with people of any I've seen, even now.
But this whole Russian business. I never thought I'd say it, but I long for the days of 6A!
Still, it's the people who make the place. It doesn't help that so many people left either during one of the two previous sales or that they just got fascinated with the possibility of interacting with celebrities on IG or Twitter.
It makes total sense that Gary started LJ Idol. LJ is a platform for writers. Tailor made! I wish I had discovered it sooner.
You're probably right that it will be a brand new platform that will likely come along to wow everyone, but I fear that anything newly designed from here on out will have a special agenda for getting more revenue/information from all of its users. Brad didn't care about that when he created LiveJournal (until he did care about it and we are now living with the results). Everything is extremely savvy and profit driven, now.
I'm leaving because I don't want to be the one to turn out the lights, or worse, have the lights unexpectedly turned out by those that own the place. It has been a good time... even a great time, some of the time!
Good wishes to you and everyone deciding to stay till the end!