The Contrarian Calls Bullshit

[liz_marcs]

You know, I knew I smelled something nasty-ass when I opened my Web browser this morning.

Oh, look!

It's a translation of a a Russian interview with the diplomatically challenged Anton Nosik, who is a one of our SUP overlords.

Wow! Check it out! Doesn't Nosik sound sooooooo much like a clueless Russian Mafia Gangsta/KGB Thug!

Onoes! I was not gonna participate in that stupid One-Day Boycott on LJ that just so happens to occur on a Friday, which also happens to be Good Friday and the day after Purim starts, which means the posting volume will be low anyway, but...

NOW I'M SO MAD THAT I'M GOING TO USE THE RIGHTEOUS CAPSLOCKS OF RAGE TO ANNOUNCE THAT YES I WILL PARTICIPATE IN THE BOYCOTT OF THE EVIL LJ.

---

Gee, I still smell bullshit. I wonder why. I must ponder this...

---

Look! Over there!

There are a few people saying that the translation of Nosik's interview whenin he comes across as a clueless Russian Mafia Gangsta and KGB Thug has been...maybe...perhaps...translated with slightly more of a negative spin than is warranted.

Behold! Here's the same interview with Nosik but a different translation when which Nosik actually sounds like a rational business man who lacks a certain amount of diplomacy.

Oh, and this LJ user concurs that this second translation is actually the right translation.

[Note: Links to the alternate translations courtesy of this comment on JournalFen.]

---

Golly gee willickers, Batman! What's a po' widdle non-speaker and non-reader of Russian like me gonna do?

Well, what I'm gonna do is take a look at both translations and decide which scenario is more likely:

• Nosik is a a clueless Russian Mafia Gangsta and KGB Thug who hates the LJ userbase
  
  
• Nosik is a diplomatically challenged businessman who has a fuckload of good points about LJ and its user base, even though no one wants to hear it
  

Wow. This is sooooo hard. I wonder which translation is a little bit closer to the real article.

---

Much as no one wants to hear this, one of the Very Good Points Nosik makes is the following:

Whenever LJ makes any changes, the whiners and the crybabies come out of the woodwork to bitch (true). These same people then make a zillion threats to boycott-leave LJ-call the advertisers-hurt the business if shit doesn't go their way (very true). But when all the yelling, screaming, and threatening is done, people on LJ do not follow through, therefore SUP has learned that all they have to do is wait for the hue and cry to die down and they can continue on with business as usual and not have to change a damn thing (very, very true).

This is a far cry from the tone that's in the first article, where Nosik sounds like he's digging in for a long, nasty cold war against LJ's user base, no?

---

If you all want to do a "day of silence" on LJ by posting nothing and commenting on nothing, be my guest.

But a one-day boycott is going to accomplish...what, exactly?

Needless to say, this is my way of telling everyone that if I don't post or comment on Friday, it'll be because RL prevented me from doing so, not because I'm honoring a one-day boycott, which, IMHO, is a pretty fucking stupid idea.

You want to hurt LJ? You want to make yourself heard by SUP?

Here's a few hints about what might be more effective:

• Stop bitching every time some change comes down the pike. Pick your battles. Strikethrough was a battle worth fighting. Removing Basic Accounts is not a battle worth fighting, especially since the end user still doesn't have to pay if they're willing to host ads. However, arguing that SUP really needed to make a public announcement and explain that Basic Accounts are going away and why, IS a battle worth fighting for. I'm not telling anyone to stop fighting the good fight, but for Christ's sake, nitpicking every little thing means that when you're truly pissed everyone's going to dismiss it as more whining from you.
  
  
• I don't like ads. You don't like ads. However, if you're not doing something to stop ads from happening to you like, oh, using FireFox, with its Adblock Plus, Flash Block, Script Block, and Pop-Up Blocker extensions, then that's on you. I see maybe 10% of the Web ads that are out there, the rest I see only if I want to. Want to block ads on LJ? Then block them yourself.
  
  
• End your subscription. Stop paying for your journal space. Or, alternatively, pay for your journal space on a month-to-month automatic payment basis so you can cancel your automatic payments at any time if LJ or SUP pisses you off again.
  
  
• Leave LJ entirely. There's a growing community over a InsaneJournal who'd love to have you. Plus, there are more and more tools for migrating individual journals and communities springing up all the time. If you're that unhappy, then just leave.
  

So, yeah. There are ways that are A LOT MORE EFFECTIVE than some stupid-ass one-day boycott.

Sorry dudes. That's just the way I feel.

---

Listen, I'm not the biggest fan of the way LJ runs things, and yeah, SUP made some boneheaded moves this week, but I'm a long way from putting SUP on the same level as the criminally stupid 6A.

While I don't know much about SUP and how they've run the Russian side of things, I have to wonder if some of the issues don't boil down cultural disconnect and (as I suspect) badly translated interviews. The Russians of my acquaintance have always been blunt to a startling degree. From an American point of view, they can come across as rude and dismissive when neither characterization is true.

So, take a chill pill and think things through because you decide that SUP has declared war on the LJ userbase, 'kay? Cause right about now, you're making us all look stupid.

Comments

[blade-girl.livejournal.com]

Interestingly, I didn't find the two translations that appallingly different. There are some differences of interpretation, yes, but I didn't find Nosik's attitude much improved in the second version at all. The things that upset me in the first translation - such as the assertion that users want basic accounts for spamming and that the protesters will create sockpuppets to beef up their numbers - are also present almost verbatim in the second.

[liz-marcs.livejournal.com]

Because we all know the creation of sockpuppets to harass people or spam someone's LJ has never happened on LJ....

And we've never heard, "All my supporters have contacted me by email..."

Sorry, I don't mean to be sarcastic, but even though it strikes me that Nosik made a dumb charge on that point, it also strikes me as a rather dumb thing to be insulted about because it has happened and denying that it has is like denying the presence of oxygen.

I find the two translations very, very different in tone and manner. One is a declaration of war against the LJ user base, the second is showing more frustration with the LJ user base. The first de-emphasized the good points that Noisk did have, the second showed that Nosik had some good points to go along with some of the shit he was selling.

And I still think a one-day boycott is bullshit either way.

[secondalto.livejournal.com]

Thank You!!!

For injecting a dose of reality into this whole sordid mess. I too will most likely not be posting due to RL issues, but if I didn't have those issues, I think I might SPAM.

Everyone seems to be forgetting SUP bought LJ to MAKE MONEY. I agree that the way they went about the deletion of Basic Accounts was boneheaded at best but they are first and foremost a business and I am not going to fault them for trying to make sound business decisions.

[marenfic.livejournal.com]

Sing it.

[ileliberte.livejournal.com]

Thank you. I knew there were good reasons why I friended you (apart from the delightful fic that is...) The annoyance, it has been strong these past few weeks.

[tamibrandt.livejournal.com]

The ad-accounts/no basic accounts isn't what pissed me off with LJ and the Russian KGB that owns it.

It's their attitude that anyone using LJ for fandom should be ignored, aren't 'human' and have no voice or leg to stand on when the LJ staff makes inane decisions.

[liz-marcs.livejournal.com]

Which is...not what was actually said in either translation.

I'm not saying, by the way, that you don't have the right to be pissed off about something, and I'm not saying that you don't have a right to complain.

I'm just saying that it seems to me that people are overreacting to some issues, and that dueling translations of the same Russian article is not helping matters.

I'm also saying that a one-day boycott is a pretty stupid way to register discontent and that maybe other options should be considered if you really want to show displeasure with SUP/LJ. However, if you want to go waste time on a one-day boycott, go right ahead.

[rileysaplank.livejournal.com]

Completely agree with you that a one day action isn't going to acheive anything and personally I'm not trusting any translation I see of the Nosik interview. I don't speak Russian, I personally know no-one who does so I can't trust any translation I see not to have some kind of spin put on it by the translator.

[liz-marcs.livejournal.com]

DING-DING-DING! With this I do agree.

And my main point is that the "one day boycott" is a pretty useless action to take.

[agilebrit.livejournal.com]

I added "watching lj implode" to my list o' interests the other day.

Methinks it may be time to add "watching lj users implode." Just to, you know, balance stuff out.

I probably won't be posting on Friday, but not because of any "OMG I'M BOYCOTTING LJ YOU JERKS." I'm going out of town and (probably) won't be anywhere near an internet connection. Otherwise I might post just to be contrarian. This is getting ridiculous.

[dawnmipb.livejournal.com]

Once again, the voice of sanity. Yes, yes, yes on the cultural disconnect.

Thank you.

[spikewriter]

Both translations make my teeth ache and hit some very unpleasant buttons for me. I thought the dropping of basic account creation was handled badly, but wasn't surprised by the move. The apparent dropping of terms in the search engine raised an eyebrow, but it also was quickly rectified, so I was willing to believe it might well have been a glitch. Maybe this interview wouldn't have annoyed me as much by itself. But...

The three of them in close proximity are making something itch that I don't like. I've been through losing services before, back when the old GEnie service was gutted and I can't help wanting to make certain I've got everything moved. I have a lot of private material in my LJ -- it's easy to get to my WIPs at work by having them on journal issues. And I now realize I'm not terribly comfortable having that on LJ; it's just...it's feeling and a personal decision. So Friday is going to be a day me to take all that material and get it migrated so I'm back at a place where I have a comfort level.

[liz-marcs.livejournal.com]

See, on this agree. I have an "on-line" back-up on IJ, but also have an electronic back-up at home with a back-up of that as well. I also plan to PDF what I have and print it out on paper.

So, yes, yes, yes on backing up and not trusting LJ (or IJ or any journaling service) to be there next year or the year after that).

My point is: 1) I think there's been some over-reacting on several fronts and shit's beginning to go into a freedback loop and; 2) If you want to hurt SUP/LJ enough to make it pay attention to you, you're going to have to do a fuckload more than a one-day content/commenting strike and you have to be willing to stick with it

So, yeah. I'm more frustrated with the fact that people are taking penny-ante actions because they don't like this or that, but they're not willing to take actions that might, you know, be hard nor are they willing to stick with it for the long haul.

[curiouswombat.livejournal.com]

which also happens to be Good Friday and the day after Purim starts, which means the posting volume will be low anyway, but...

I pointed out to one of the people pushing the one day strike to start with that it was Good Friday, and I saw someone else mention Purim, but you are the first other person I've noticed who has mentioned it.

But then it occured to me that perhaps the strike organisers picked the date especially because of that, to push the natural dip lower and make it more obvious.

The only thing I will miss the ability to start new basic accounts for would be if I were to start another community - I maintain two. But then if I did, and they had ads on them, other paid users wouldn't see them, and plus users either block them, or are used to them. So no big, really.

I did obect to the implication that removing the basic level was to make it easier for us to understand - but then that might also have lost or gained in translation too, maybe....

[liz-marcs.livejournal.com]

Except it's precisely the kind of day where "an obvious dip" in traffic can be put off to the various holidays and its a Friday.

If you want an obvious dip, pick a day that traditionally is a high-traffic day. Better, instead of a single day, make it a week so that the drop in traffic is really obvious.

But a day where traffic is going to be low anyway? That doesn't strike me as good tactics at all.

[rainbow.livejournal.com]

here by way of dawnmipb, and thank you for posting this. i'd linked to the 2nd translation, but i'm not that good with words, so i'm going to link to this as well, if that would be alright?

[liz-marcs.livejournal.com]

Be my guest.

[imaginarycircus.livejournal.com]

So, I've seen the idea floating about that instead of a content strike people post all day. Spam the heck out of LJ day. I sort of like this idea too.

[liz-marcs.livejournal.com]

THIS I could get behind...HEEEE!

But seriously, neither action seems terribly productive to me. You need something that's going to have more of an impact, last longer, and determination to see it through until some accord has been reached.

"Striking" for a day? Not really striking me as something that's particularly useful.

[terioncalling.livejournal.com]

A one day strike? That...is really terribly silly. Week long, now that might be a show of something. One day...eh, not so much.

[curiouswombat.livejournal.com]

Would only work if every one of us addicts migrated to IJ for the week - or it would crumble very quickly!

[bubble-blunder.livejournal.com]

I have now read 4 translations of the interview. BabelFish's was completely unintelligible. Google's translator was much better and pretty much got the point across without added subtleties. Then there are the two different versions floating on LJ that contain warring subtleties. And honestly, my annoyance wasn't appreciably altered with any of them (well other than being extremely annoyed with BabelFish for having a shitty translation).

I think that this is because what annoyed me the most is that I tried really hard for a very long time to have a "constructive dialogue" with 6A about everything. And since SUP took over, I've tried really hard to continue in the vein of constructive criticism. But I have recently discovered that SUP would prefer to take the word of 6A on what has happened in the past than to discover the truth on their own. And apparently in the halls of 6A, I am a running joke, despite how constructive I've tried to be. My point is that in the eyes of SUP, I am being lumped in with blackmailers who want to destroy the service. In the interview, Nosik talks about how great constructive dialogue is. But I don't think that they consider anything that they disagree with to be constructive.

This interview, regardless of which translation is used, seems to make it clear that SUP has no greater an understanding than 6A did of who their userbase is and what we want from the service, and no more an interest in learning than 6A did either.

All that aside, I think that the strike is an ineffective solution and I won't be participating. But I think that the reason there are a lot of otherwise reasonable people who are participating is because they need something to do with their anger besides posting cat macros in a news post or beating their heads against a brick wall. And in that vein, I can certainly see some effectiveness, especially since I spent a long time banging my head against the corporate brick wall, without even making a crack in it.

~Lisa

[jennem.livejournal.com]

But I think that the reason there are a lot of otherwise reasonable people who are participating is because they need something to do with their anger besides posting cat macros in a news post or beating their heads against a brick wall.

I find this interesting because I think a "one day strike" is pretty much in the same vein as posting a cat macro, which is therapeutic, but at the end of the day, not affective.

Basically, if fandom wants to get the message across, fandom is going to have to leave for at least a month, and not come back.

I just don't see that happening.

[doingsoso.livejournal.com]

Heya:)

Yeah well, maybe so, but this is just the latest in a loooong string of things, and it doesn't look like it's going to end, does it?

One translation, or another, the meaning of what he said still comes through loud and clear. And that is his clear contempt for his customers and their concerns. I don't care how Russian business differs from ours, I don't live in Russia. Anton Nosik is doing business with LJ users in the US, not just his Russian counterparts. It's time he learned if he's going to participate in international business he needs to learn a new business model. And if expecting a little respect and consideration, in return for the money I've paid for his service is stupid, then so be it, boy I'm stupid!

I don't accept a poor attitude from anyone I pay for a service, and I do expect a little human decency and consideration. No business that I know oif changes things without publishing a notice. I guess Mr Nosik is so used to dealing with die hard communists that notifying us of changes was just too democratic a gesture on his part, even after being advised by the board members that represent LiveJournal users such a move was not the best way to do things.

I don't accept interference from anyone when my actions are not illegal. The censoring of the top 100 interests list was bad enough by itself. That's really what the strike is all about. It's not solely based on the cessation of basic accounts with no warning whatsoever. If it were just the ending of basic accounts I could probably shrug it off, but not the censoring of fanfiction, bisexuality, and other interests from the top 100 interests list. I am not a second class citizen, to be swept under the rug because I read fanfiction. Bisexuals and those affected by depression are not second class citizens either.

I don't write fanfiction but I read it, and I support those who have the talent to write such wonderful stories, no matter what fandom they prefer.

I know for a fact that these interests WERE censored because I checked it out for a day or so, reading everything I could find, before I let myself get upset about it. They're back on the list now, of course they are, on March 17, the LJ change log post shows where the the filter was removed.

And I could really care less about what some people on JournalFen think. If they think LiveJournal is so wonderful, they'd be here on LiveJournal instead of there! It's real easy to talk when you're not affected by, or the target of, the steps LiveJournal has taken.

There's also the fact that SUP completely ignored the advice of the board they're setting up. This does not bode well for the future. If you don't believe me, then just go to danahboyd's journal and read her latest posts. Some of us were worried that the board was just a sop to the users and it's beginning to look as though our concerns are not unfounded.

And the roll of LiveJournal's missteps gets ever longer.

One day for a strike? I've been suggesting at least a week! I know I'm planning on making my strike last for far more than one day, and so are more than a few of the people I've spoken to privately.

So yeah, maybe I'm stupid in your opinion for objecting to what has been done, and the way it was done. If so, then long live my kind of stupidity!

[txvoodoo.livejournal.com]

Just wanted to thank you for making this post. I keep linking to it in comments elswhere saying "what she said" :D

[laerwen.livejournal.com]

This is an excellent post. I linked here from txvoodoo, and I've linked it on my LJ. It sums up very much what I think of the current situation. It's getting to be very ridiculous, lol.

[vichan.livejournal.com]

JESUS H CHRIST ON A CRACKER.

Thank you.

[tnmisery.livejournal.com]

Here via txvoodoo.

Yeah. What you said.

I don't give a rat's fucking ass if he has contempt for us customers. That's not even how I read it, anyway. He just doesn't spew flowery bullshit all over everyone, which is fine by me. Bullshit makes me puke.
My money keeps me here. He takes it. Problem??? Where?
I pay, therefore I have no problem. I chose to pay because I wanted the goods. That's how shit works. Sheesh.
I'm not pining for the fjords of the good ol' free days, because that's long fucking gone and hello reality. Boo-fucking-hoo.
I curse constantly when I'm annoyed. Ok, really just constantly. Sorry about that.

[poshcat.livejournal.com]

Hee, this is totally my favourite comment of the day.

::pines for the fjords::

[mattador.livejournal.com]

Mind if I link this on my LJ? You've summed up my opinion very nicely.

[sweetcheri.livejournal.com]

txvoodoo linked to your post, so here I am to applaud you for being a voice of reason! Kudos to you.

[kuiskata]

Excellent post. I agree, I doubt a content strike like the one they plan will have much, if any, effect, let alone one planned for Good Friday. Nevertheless, I don't see any harm in participating (given that I'm unlikely to post that day anyway.)

*shrugs* I'm not happy about how they went about getting rid of the basic accounts (a news post would have been nice) but ultimately, the change doesn't affect me much. I've got my journal backed up in several different places, including on my harddrive, so really...

[rhythmaning.livejournal.com]

You have kind of summarised how I feel about this, too.

[trishabooms.livejournal.com]

Sensible!!

[westingsea.livejournal.com]

I'm sorry I can't participate in the boycott and all, but, like, I need my LJ to boycott Good Friday.

Great, post, anyway. When SUP starts using 5-year-old Bengali orphans to power its servers, I'll get on board with a boycott.