Falling somewhat in the dead horse category, but oh well...

[elderberrywine]

First of all, I will out of town and away from the computer from tomorrow until late Thursday, so my apologies if I'm late answering anything.

But second of all, I recommend anyone who is confused/annoyed/peeved by the latest LJ scam to read the last comment on this page
http://community.livejournal.com/lj_biz/241182.html?page=16#comments
by vyoma of exactly what is happening to LJ.

To put on my rarely-used-these-days ex-banker hat for a moment, I must say that his analysis of the current business model for this type of industry is absolutely spot on.



My quarter century in business lending (not to mention the MBA that's pretty useless to me these days - heh) kicked in when I read that, and I really must agree with everything he said.

Point is, to any media company, the main income stream is advertising. Subscribers paying for permanent accounts? A nice one-time pop, useful for making the books sexy, as we bankers say, much like a company would sell some excess equipment. Usually used to lure new bankers/investors in, and make the ratios look pretty. The other benefit is that it makes subscriber numbers look more attractive, which is what is needed to lure in the big dollars (advertisers).

Every type of media company works this way - magazines, newspapers, TV, radio, and now, as they grow up and join the big boys, web-based media outlets. So the point is absolutely not what you, as a subscriber, care for, it is what the advertisers want to see. And my hunch is that LJ has decided to go for the "family-friendly" businesses.

Vyoma makes an excellent point - that LJ is now in the hands of a salesman, and not a particularly ethical one, at that. So you will absolutely NOT see TOS clearly defined, since it is not in their interest to do so. In fact, I'd be willing to wager that this is only the first step, and the ultimate goal will be to disallow any sort of content that would be restricted to adults only. The signs are both here and in MySpace, because no website can truly restrict content to adults only, and it can be seen as a liability for them - legally and perceptually - if they cannot. We're talking slash, folks.

What to do? Well, complaining to LJ is absolutely pointless, IMHO. It is not in their monetary interest to work with fen. And they are, I'm assuming, counting on fandom's comfort level with them and reluctance to go elsewhere, to keep any decline in numbers to minimum levels, at least for awhile. And that really is all that matters, actually, since 6A appears to be a poster boy for flipping LJ - selling it to some other investors when they feel it has hit its peak potential. Short-term gain is what its all about, and the self-life of a web-based company, these days, is probably akin to that of a banana.

Well then. I'm eying GJ as the next LJ right now, but I know absolutely nothing about their ownership situation, so it might not be all that different. Way I see it, if a site wants to deal in adult content, it will have to adjust its income ratio to less advertising, more subscription income, which will mean the days of the freebies are over.

Ah, well. The days of wine and roses, I guess. 'Twas great while it lasted.

Comments

[mirabella]

Yeah, I've been saying things to this effect for a while. There are so many people in fandom who are still operating under the idea that 6A has an interest in dealing with them as customers, from a position of basic human respect, and 6A just doesn't. As long as even prospective ad money outweighs actual paid-user money and any given LJ user is completely fungible, they will continue not to.

It really is sad, but that guy's right - at some point you have to cut your losses.

[elderberrywine.livejournal.com]

Yep. For me, the thing that's the dead give-away is that buying a permanent account is not offered on an ongoing basis. If that was a serious source of income (say, like a magazine subscription) it would be. The way they are running it, they can only expect some noticeable income if they withhold supply and artificially induce demand.

So clearly they are looking to fine tune their product to meet the expectations of the type of advertiser they are aiming for, and, as a wild guess, slash doesn't float that particular market's boat.

It's always easy to go after the CHILD PORN OMG! but I'm sure that ain't all, not by a long shot.

[semyaza.livejournal.com]

What he says is obvious, and I wish someone had said it sooner, thus preventing the lemming behaviour of Strikethrough (assuming that fen had paid attention). It makes no difference to me though; I bought a permanent account because I intend to stay and I want to save money. Unless LJ goes belly up in less than four years, it will have been worthwhile. I was well aware of what was going on with LJ from the moment it was bought by 6A, but I'll be here making icons and posting random jottings for as long as LJ lasts (or I last).

[elderberrywine.livejournal.com]

Oops. Saw this just as I was taking off to Portland, and never got back to you.

I think they will hit art before fic, but still thinking of parking my stuff elsewhere. Especially since it doesn't seem like there's a warning before your stuff vanishes. Having it in more than one spot can't hurt. With LOTR, I worry more about the copyright than the porn aspect.

And is there anyway of getting IJ's post page to be less eye-bleedingly orange? And to get that thing that reminds me of the annoying WORD paper clip off of the page?

[semyaza.livejournal.com]

I long for the days when copyright was the main concern, although most copyright holders seem disinclined to go after fanficcers.

There are different profile page layouts for IJ. Let me see -- if you go to 'my account'>'manage profile'>'viewing options' you can choose from ten schemes.

[frodosweetstuff.livejournal.com]

Hi Sweetie! Just wanted to remind you that it will be your turn to post your Hobbit Month post on Friday! :) I can't wait to see what you are going to post! (Oh, and I know I haven't read one of your latest fics yet (Tell me what you want)! Will amend that soon!)

Please remember to post the Hobbit Month banner and do not f-lock your post! Thank you!!

[elderberrywine.livejournal.com]

Sorry about the delay, but I just made it, I guess.

It's up!

Thank you for doing this with all your RL doings - yeah, I remember when mine stopped napping. NOT a good day. :(

*gives you hugs*

[frodosweetstuff.livejournal.com]

That's okay!! I read your post and enjoyed it a lot!

Thank you for taking part in hobbit month! You are such an integral part of the hobbit fandom for me and I'm glad you wrote more of that story!!

*sigh* I'm hoping again that kindergarten might bring a change... will see how things go on Tuesday.

*hugs and snugs*