Pah, LJ, I shake my fist at you!

[flyboy_fox]

So, LJ have decided to remove Basic accounts without even announcing it :\ From March 12th onward, you can now no longer have a Basic (ad-free) account. Only Plus (ad-supported) or Paid.

I'm not even surprised anymore *Sigh*

Comments

[the-terrible.livejournal.com]

Yeah, that was a pretty shitty move. Clearly they don't learn from their mistakes.

[flyboy-fox.livejournal.com]

I guess not x.x The least they could have done is been upfront about the changes.

[the-terrible.livejournal.com]

But then everybody would comment and object and start drama. Heaven forbid!

[flyboy-fox.livejournal.com]

Kinda like they're doing now? XD;;

[the-terrible.livejournal.com]

Yes, but in a much higher volume. And right there in the news post. :D

[the-terrible.livejournal.com]

Actually, they're doing that too. AAAHHHH LJ DRAMA NOBODY WINS


--except those of us who watch and laugh. :D

[carriepika.livejournal.com]

You know, everybody bitches about this kind of thing but pretty much every other journaling site out there doesn't offer ad-free basics.

Be happy Livejournal gives you the option to pay a low fee to remove ads completely, no matter where you go on their site afterwards. I've been on enough sites recently that give you a 'free' account but you're constantly bombarded with ads and you haven't even got the option to pay if you'd like to get them removed.

Personally, I'd like to see people's reactions if they were able to get an actual estimate on just how much Livejournal costs to run every single month. I'm willing to bet it's shut them up about ads pretty damned fast.

[flyboy-fox.livejournal.com]

I'm not bothered about the ads (I'm a paid user and happily pay for my privilege). What gets up my nose is a) the fact that LJ had first promised NO ads, then promised no one would ever have to PAY for no ads, and are now FORCING users to pay for no ads, and b) the fact that they made a News post last night patting themselves on the back without even mentioning the act that Basic accounts are no longer available. It's the lack of (and faulty) communication that bothers me, not the fact that they need revenue.

[carriepika.livejournal.com]

You're also forgetting how many times Livejournal has switched hands since those promises were made. To give an example from my own experiences... I, as a head mod, am not required to uphold promises made by previous mods. Particularly if said promises were potentially detrimental to the community that I run.

As for the communitcation issue... if they didn't mention it in the News post then where did you find out about it in the first place?

[flyboy-fox.livejournal.com]

"if they didn't mention it in the News post then where did you find out about it in the first place?"

From a million comments IN the News post from users upset that they suddenly found themselves unable to create a Basic account.

Like I said, my issue is with communication, rather than the action itself ^^;

[carriepika.livejournal.com]

Then they haven't exactly had the chance to properly announce it, either. Because this is brand new. I know because I made a journal two days ago, in fact. And I had the basic option available to me. And, in fact, it still is a basic account.

Just because they made an announcement last night doesn't necessarily mean all the information for that annoucnement was gathered at the time it was made.

Yes, I'm playing devil's advocate here, but I see so many people immediately getting up in arms about how someplace is 'selling out' or how they've become some sort of money grubbing business that no longer cares about it's users simply because of ads being implimented. And it's complete and total bull. Sometimes things get changed or implimented before an announcement is made. It happens.

Immediately assuming that it means they're consipiring to keep people in the dark or whatever is just plain silly and just causes useless drama.

[flyboy-fox.livejournal.com]

I haven't accused them of selling out, nor of deliberate malice. I don't see why they haven't had a change to announce it yet, when they made a News Post at the very same time as they made the change. There's no reason why they couldn't have given their users forewarning about the elimination of Basic accounts. That's what bothers me more than anything else. Sure, they're under no obligation to announce it before it happens, but it would make the whole thing feel a lot less shadier :P

[moth-wingthane.livejournal.com]

Is this just the creation of the basic account, or will those of us with them be "upgraded" whether we want it or not?

And I agree with you too, I'm sure it won't make that much difference in the end, but it's sneaky not to be told.

[flyboy-fox.livejournal.com]

They're leaving existing accounts alone, thankfully. No one with a current Basic account will be forcefully upgraded. We just can't make new Basic accounts.

[leonskennedy827.livejournal.com]

They removed Basic accounts? Well that sucks :/

Coulda been more upfront about doing so too

[flyboy-fox.livejournal.com]

Yeah. That's what bugs me most. Lack of communication. Although the slow seeping of advertisement into one of the last bastions of "Free Ad-Free" saddens me, too.

[romik-g.livejournal.com]

(((

[flyboy-fox.livejournal.com]

Indeed.

[chocomookielove.livejournal.com]

I don't mind the ads. They could be worse, I always figure. Two or more pop-ups a page? Seen it. I'm just glad they're not doing that.

[flyboy-fox.livejournal.com]

They could be worse. They're not too obtrusive. I just find it annoying and even a little backhanded that LJ staff made a News post which was all "yay for us, we're awesome!" about how... uh... awesome the are. Yet failed to mention that bit of 'news', which is pretty darn significant.

[hoyvinglavin64.livejournal.com]

It's the 13th and my account doesn't have any ads.

[flyboy-fox.livejournal.com]

People who have Basic accounts can keep them. You just can't MAKE Basic (new) accounts anymore.

[rainsingingwolf.livejournal.com]

It's incredibly pathetic, isn't it? :/ I'm not surprised either.

[way-past-cool.livejournal.com]

>[ batman face. That's all I have to say on the matter.

[sletia.livejournal.com]

PFHAHAHAHAHAHA @ your icon. Heeee!

[teamrodent.livejournal.com]

Oh, surrrrrre, LJ news. I drop you from my f-list and THIS shit occurs!

[hdofu.livejournal.com]

And they seem to be wanting to hide the fandom and other interests in the closest

[flyboy-fox.livejournal.com]

Yeah, that came to my attention earlier today and is the next thing I intend to rant blog about. Thanks for the list of alternate blogging sites, by the way!

[hdofu.livejournal.com]

you're quite welcome