Entry tags:
Alternatives to LJ and Other News
All previous posts related to the LJ Strikeout of 2007 can be found here.
First, Those LJ Alternatives
![[profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
bubble_blunder totally called this one. For my money the best of the alternatives. LJ interface on this one is exactly like LJ, minus the the touches SixApart additions. If you were on LJ before the SixApart bought LJ, you'll find IJ very, very homey. Of all the options presented here, this one might be the best one to migrate to. What it lacks is critical mass. For a full list of what's available, go here.
Pros:
Last post before I pass out....
First, Those LJ Alternatives
(Personal account at liz_marcs)
bubble_blunder totally called this one. For my money the best of the alternatives. LJ interface on this one is exactly like LJ, minus the the touches SixApart additions. If you were on LJ before the SixApart bought LJ, you'll find IJ very, very homey. Of all the options presented here, this one might be the best one to migrate to. What it lacks is critical mass. For a full list of what's available, go here.Pros:
- Smooth running site
- Clean LJ interface
- Easily customizable (S2 is supported)
- Ability to PM someone
- It's not "communities," it's "asylums," damn it!
- We're all patients now
- Exhaustive FAQ that's easy to find
- Ability to upgrade via a paid account ($20 per year or $10 for 6 months)
- Permanent accounts are always available for purchase for $40 (yes, $30)
- Active ownership
- Syndication feeds
Cons:
- Critical mass? What critical mass?
- Free accounts are very limited: only 100 friends and 100 user pics allowed, tweaking of some basic designs allowed, ads (Firefox kills the ads, btw)
- Paid accounts are significantly enhanced: 800 friends, 250 user pics, fully customizable, no ads, text messaging to journal allowed, polls
GreatestJournal
(Personal account at liz_marcs)
I've had this account for about two years and haven't done much with it. I've backed up some stuff, but as usual kind of lost steam early on. Early sentiment seems to favor GJ as the alternative for fandom because it's somewhat familiar. Also, right now the site seems to be running a little bit on the clunky side.
Pros:
JournalFen
(Personal account scaryfairy)
This site is run by fans for fans. I've had this account for awhile, mostly so I could comment on the fannish communities there. My own journal is empty. This one uses an older version of the LJ interface like GreatestJournal and the fact that it's overwhelmingly dedicated to fannish pursuits puts it slightly above GJ.
Pros:
Neutral:
(Personal account at liz_marcs)
I've had this account for about two years and haven't done much with it. I've backed up some stuff, but as usual kind of lost steam early on. Early sentiment seems to favor GJ as the alternative for fandom because it's somewhat familiar. Also, right now the site seems to be running a little bit on the clunky side.
Pros:
- All accounts are free
- There are ads, but they are kept off journal pages
- 2,000 user pics
- 1G photo hosting
- Voice posting
- Ability to post "testimonials" on friends' and community user info pages
- Ability to PM someone
- Uses an older version of the LJ software
- Can be kind of creaky at times (Let's just say that the site seems to be on a slowdown right now)
- User support is somewhat spotty because it's all-volunteer
- The FAQ is a bit iffy
- No way to upgrade your services through supporting memberships or paid accounts
JournalFen
(Personal account scaryfairy)
This site is run by fans for fans. I've had this account for awhile, mostly so I could comment on the fannish communities there. My own journal is empty. This one uses an older version of the LJ interface like GreatestJournal and the fact that it's overwhelmingly dedicated to fannish pursuits puts it slightly above GJ.
Pros:
- It's a site run for fans by fans
- Three levels of accounts: free, paid, and premium
- Paid accounts available for $25 a year and include: 500 user pics, 2500 friends, text messaging, polls, and customizable styles
- Premium accounts available for $36 a year and include: 1,000 user pics, unlimited friends, text messaging, polls, and customizable styles
- Active ownership
- Very active membership
Neutral:
- Only people over 18 are allowed to have an account. Fans who engage in more adult fannish activities might like this fact. Under 18 fans aren't going to be happy.
- Much as I love JF, it can get a little wanky over there.
- If you don't pony up the cash right away, someone with a paid account will have to invite you. Before you ask, no, I don't have a paid account. I got in just before JF made it hard to get a free account.
- Getting a free account is like winning the lottery. JF will occasionally open the floodgates and allow for free sign-ups, but that happens about as often as a lunar eclipse.
- JF servers have been a little cranky as of late as membership and commenting on the site have exploded.
- Can't find out if there are Syndication feeds
- The FAQ is...not helpful
In Other News...
I need to go get some sleep now...
- The folks over at dark_christian, a journal dedicated to tracking the Dominionist movement, has been all over our friends at Warriors for Innocence (deliberately not linked). dogemperor has been leading the investigation into finding out just who these people are. If you've been following the various links, the answer isn't exactly a surprise.
- Firefox News has two news articles on the SixApart/LJ debacle: The Purity Police and Fanfic and Six Apart Deletes 500 Journals, Many of them Fannish
- Oh, and we've been BoingBoinged
- And Farked
- And Slashdotted
- And Digg-ed
- And before I forget, Perverted Justice just threw up its hands and wondered aloud if SixApart/LJ knows the difference between real life and fiction. (Scroll down to see the rant.) Whoops!
- Just an aside: I want to ask SixApart/LJ, "Deleting all those journals...how's that working out for you?"
- Over at
![[site community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/comm_staff.png)
dw_news, the natives are getting restless and demanding answers. Thus far, we've got resounding silence. The newest post has already reached the max number of comments (5001). The online riot has moved to the next-newest post here and that's looking to reach 5001 posts as well.
- Don't forget to be counted at fandom_counts. By showing SixApart/LJ the sheer numbers of people who are in fandom, it's hoped that we can pressure our corporate overlords into addressing our concerns.
- fandompays is taking a survey. The main idea: are you willing to refuse to spend money and dump your account down to basic? Enough numbers could mean a chunk of change to SixApart/LJ, so fill out the survey. When I filled it out, I was in a more charitable frame of mind.
- fandomuhaul is offering to be a central location where people leaving LJ can leave a "forwarding address" or blog
- fandom_lawyers has a really good round-up of legal issues in this post.
- For more links and round-ups and information, trawl through my previous posts all tagged for your convenience.
I need to go get some sleep now...
no subject
We never intended this policy to cause the removal of journals that were have perfectly valid discussions about literature, law or culture. We never intended the policies to take down journals or communities clearly opposed to illegal activities but clearly we did. We love our members of fandom and respect their role in our community. We made a mistake and now we are going to try to fix it.
That is it. We have always been strong supporters of free speech and at the same time we believe deeply that children deserve special protections as well as the victims of violence and hate. We tried to implement a policy that walk that line and we did it poorly, we are all sorry. One could say that no matter what we did we would either be accused of opposing free speech or endangering children but I am sure we should and could have done this much better. I hope you can forgive us and we can regain your trust.
Barak Berkowitz
Chairman and CEO Six Apart
updates:
Talking to press:
It seems that people are very upset that I did a phone call with cNet before posting here. Probably a mistake but I did make it clear to them that we were still looking in to this and that I would have a better answer by the end of the day. Sorry but it really took some time to figure out how messed up this was.
Isn't this all just a panicked reaction to WFI?
Not really. WFI or anyone else may complain but we are responsible for applying our policies to those complaints. . Even idiots can be right about some things. We try not to judge the complaint by the source but rather judge them by our policies. I believe the problem here was not the complaints or the policies but our very poor execution.
Why did it take so long?
Well when you mess up some times you really mess up and it takes a while to even sort it out, It was really bad timing, so many people were traveling and even out of touch. When we did get it figured out I thought it would be worse to make a statement that was incorrect than to wait and try hard to get it right, I may have been wrong, I don't know. I would hate to be apologies every hour, Its late.
Will you make mistakes again?
I’m sure we will. These policies are hard to define and harder to enforce consistently. We are trying to walk a fine line between our love of free speech and our desire to protect children and others. The vast majority of these issues are clear but there will be time we make the wrong call, we will try hard to correct our mistakes faster and not make them on such a big scale but I’m sure we will make them.
Where is Brad?
He is on a well deserved vacation. He has worked so hard for so long to make this site great. He probably would have responded faster. I will need to beg his forgiveness too for doing such a bad job of filling in his absence.
I’m going to try and get some rest .
see news