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Scabbing
You know, during the strike, I was thinking that there were probably some jerks out there who were going around posting extra and leaving comments on strikers' blogs just to be perverse. It's the internet. You've got to anticipate trolls.
I don't know if that happened, but I did hear about this post from![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
wendymr:
Now, it's one thing to disagree with the idea. To say it isn't going to do any good. If you don't like it, you don't have to participate. Just go about your normal blogging life. But to actually go out of your way just to deliberately sabotage the effort? We've had our differences, but I didn't expect that from her.
She goes on to explain her reasons.
First off, she doesn't think it'll work.
Fair enough. It was a flawed idea. But it doesn't hurt to try. And, again, that's no reason to deliberately mock and sabotage the effort.
Second:
You know, it's funny. I heard about that reversal in another blog shortly before the strike. There, it was represented as a sign that the strike was working. Because the change happened after the strike was announced. So, yes. Please do try to get your information straight.
And if some things have been fixed, but the majority haven't, how is that reason to cancel the effort?
Thirdly, she says LJ is a business and has the right to run ads and make money.
True. I could point out that the more traffic you get, even with Basic accounts (which still see ads on Plus accounts), the more ads are worth. But that's a tricky argument on both sides, and it's not the point.
Customers have the right to demand respect and decent service. She mentions, for example, Google and their ads. I deliberately don't use gmail service for that reason (among others). I'm not striking against it because I never joined. But there'd be no reason to strike against it because it's been like that since Day 1. But LJ has gone through a series of changes. Taking the existing service and twisting it and gutting it. That's different.
And when new management comes in and makes it clear that they don't respect their customers, the customers have a right to stand up and demand better. The decisions they've made, the way they've handled the backlash, the things that they've said (this interview being only the most recent)... There's justification for taking a stand. Making a point, reminding them that without users, they have nothing.
If they make a mistake or two, make some bad choices, that's one thing. But when it becomes a consistent policy to put user needs and interests last, when the people in charge not only ignore legitimate complaints but start mocking them and the people who make them, when a site that should, as much as any place on the internet, be about free speech and free expression starts arbitrarily imposing sweeping censorship policies because of a few loud-mouthed extremist censors (including blocking, hindering, or outright deleting support groups)... It's time to do something.
Again, if you don't agree with that, fine. Your prerogative. (And, in any case, it'd be hypocritical to try to quash free speech and dissent when you're making a stand against censorship and disrespect.) You can ignore the protest. You don't have to go crossing the picket line just to thumb your nose at people when you don't even have a reason to be on the other side.
If you want to disagree, open a dialog. At a time when people aren't working to make the point. But don't go out of your way to actively work against the effort when all that's being asked is that you keep your mouth shut for a day.
I don't know if that happened, but I did hear about this post from
wendymr:It's the 21st of March. The Great LJ Boycott Day, apparently. And I'm not boycotting LJ. I'm reading, commenting, and now I'm making a post in my LJ just to demonstrate that I'm not part of the boycott.
So, yeah, you can scroll on past and ignore this, because it's just a post for posting's sake.
Now, it's one thing to disagree with the idea. To say it isn't going to do any good. If you don't like it, you don't have to participate. Just go about your normal blogging life. But to actually go out of your way just to deliberately sabotage the effort? We've had our differences, but I didn't expect that from her.
She goes on to explain her reasons.
First off, she doesn't think it'll work.
Fair enough. It was a flawed idea. But it doesn't hurt to try. And, again, that's no reason to deliberately mock and sabotage the effort.
Second:
- At least some of the objections have already been dealt with, such as returning certain apparently-blocked interests to the list of searchable interests. Done. Fixed. Over with. Yet a lot of people around LJ are still using the argument that 'fanfiction' is blocked as a searchable interest as a reason for striking. Please. At least try to be up-to-date in your information.
You know, it's funny. I heard about that reversal in another blog shortly before the strike. There, it was represented as a sign that the strike was working. Because the change happened after the strike was announced. So, yes. Please do try to get your information straight.
And if some things have been fixed, but the majority haven't, how is that reason to cancel the effort?
Thirdly, she says LJ is a business and has the right to run ads and make money.
True. I could point out that the more traffic you get, even with Basic accounts (which still see ads on Plus accounts), the more ads are worth. But that's a tricky argument on both sides, and it's not the point.
Customers have the right to demand respect and decent service. She mentions, for example, Google and their ads. I deliberately don't use gmail service for that reason (among others). I'm not striking against it because I never joined. But there'd be no reason to strike against it because it's been like that since Day 1. But LJ has gone through a series of changes. Taking the existing service and twisting it and gutting it. That's different.
And when new management comes in and makes it clear that they don't respect their customers, the customers have a right to stand up and demand better. The decisions they've made, the way they've handled the backlash, the things that they've said (this interview being only the most recent)... There's justification for taking a stand. Making a point, reminding them that without users, they have nothing.
If they make a mistake or two, make some bad choices, that's one thing. But when it becomes a consistent policy to put user needs and interests last, when the people in charge not only ignore legitimate complaints but start mocking them and the people who make them, when a site that should, as much as any place on the internet, be about free speech and free expression starts arbitrarily imposing sweeping censorship policies because of a few loud-mouthed extremist censors (including blocking, hindering, or outright deleting support groups)... It's time to do something.
Again, if you don't agree with that, fine. Your prerogative. (And, in any case, it'd be hypocritical to try to quash free speech and dissent when you're making a stand against censorship and disrespect.) You can ignore the protest. You don't have to go crossing the picket line just to thumb your nose at people when you don't even have a reason to be on the other side.
If you want to disagree, open a dialog. At a time when people aren't working to make the point. But don't go out of your way to actively work against the effort when all that's being asked is that you keep your mouth shut for a day.
no subject
Even if the cause is justified, a one-day boycott is not going to work, which is demonstrated by the fact that LJ has been fairly active today, strikers are probably still surfing and thereby viewing ads, and debates about this have made people who are for the cause, like you, to post anyway. Wendy's post is just a drop in the bucket of all the activity going on today. I would say 50% hasn't even heard about the strike.
And personally, I'm not sure the cause is justified. The Strikethrough was Six Apart's fault - they're totally out of the equation now. Blank slate. The interests have been restored, so no censorship (although I would have been pissed off too if this wasn't reinstated). So the main argument I see is about the ads.
The ads don't hurt anyone. Yes, a page is prettier without ads, but with them it's still free, and they help keep LJ a free service for those who choose not to pay. To demand free services without even being willing to tolerate a few ads (which ad-blockers can take care of, anyway), is just unreasonable, IMO, even if many internet services are still able to do this.
Also, as was said in the interview, 10% of the accounts created were Basic, so it's not like there was a high demand for them; new users won't know the difference, and old Basic accounts were grandfathered in. I see no victims.
Personally, the only reason for why I'm not upgrading to Plus for more userpics is that it will break my carefully CSSed layout.
As for the Infamous Interview (tm), the translation most people read (and which is in the post you linked to) was inflammatory and misleading. If you didn't read posts by people who pointed this out, here's an example of where this was done:
Translation: And add a cute catchprase like "that's just the top of the iceberg"
What was actually said: Add, "that's just the tip of the iceberg."
He was being honest in his attitude, which a lot of other business-runners can learn from. He's running LJ like a business, not like an LJer, and it's not that he doesn't respect the users - he said the resistance was unfriendly. That's reasonable. It's not friendly.
My real personal problem with this deal is that instead of seeing the awesome resource and playground we have here, and appreciating it, people take it for granted and for something they are entitled to, and choose to see and complain about the flaws in it.
no subject
For the record, I didn't post during the strike. It was midnight to midnight, GMT, which means that it started and ended at 8pm EST. I posted long after that.
SUP may have sold, but I'm betting that a lot of the people involved kept their positions, even under new management. So, no. Not an entirely clean slate.
And, you know, LJ built up a pretty vast userbase with their original way of doing things. I can see overturning the promise that there would never be ads on the site by creating Plus accounts, and at least they took steps so that Paid members don't have to see them. But wiping out Basic accounts? There's no need for that. You don't get very far betraying the founding principles of the site and antagonizing your userbase.
As for censored interests... (How many of them were restored?) I'll say again that it happened after the strike was announced, which makes a good argument for the idea that it actually had a positive effect.
Accepting that the interview was poorly translated, the gist of it still shows little respect for customers (and journalists), and no tolerance for dissent that doesn't fit into his definition of "constructive."
Honesty is good, but good sense and customer service are important, too.
As for flaws... Flaws should be examined, addressed. You can't please all the people all the time, but if you've got a screw-up... fix it. It doesn't mean you don't appreciate the resource you have. On the contrary, if you don't care about it, you wouldn't fight to make it better (or, at least, to keep it from being eroded... a playground is only nice as long as it's kept up).
no subject
How do you know how active LJ actually was? My flist was pretty quiet.
How do you know what strikers were doing? I didn't open the site at all for 24 hours.
If 10% of new accounts created were Basic, and we assume that 10% would have been basic from here on, doesn't depriving those 10% of that option hurt them?
And doesn't having a bigger, healthier community make the entire site more robust? Increase traffic, and thus ad sales. And also paid accounts. More people will pay for those accounts. And what are they paying for? The community. If you hurt the community, aren't you taking something away from them? Not to mention the people who have multiple journals, where they pay for some but keep others around for secondary uses, hurting their ability to make the most of the site and its resources.
Resistance was friendly, at the beginning. But when you treat that resistance poorly, then yes, it will gradually become more unfriendly.
Anyway, thanks for the thoughts and the civil discussion. It's good to have a dialog, to consider other points of view, examine flaws, etc. Ideas don't get anywhere without healthy debate.
no subject
http://brad.livejournal.com/2368071.html