LJ has recently removed the ability to create new Basic journals -- adfree spaces with minimal goodies. This affects the many users who like to create new journals and communities for alternate uses. (Seriously, I was just about to create a new Basic journal for my extended family to use to keep in touch with one another -- now I can either pay for features we won't use, or get a Plus journal with ads... and my 70-year-old mother has a hard enough time figuring out the internet without ads cluttering up the page.)

Removing the Basic option was a faulty business decision. The new owners of LJ want money, and Basic users didn't contribute to the ad-viewing rates. Therefore, they thought, Basic users contributed nothing.

But what I am really protesting is the way in which this change was announced.... It wasn't announced. Users had to ask about it in the comments to a news post.

And then the new VP of Product Development -- a man who ought to know the Product, right? -- made a comment full of marketing spin and bullshit, about how having THREE options was just too hard for users to understand.

You know, if they'd come right out and announced it in news openly as a business decision, there would have been some protest but at least it would not have insulted their customers.

LJ is nothing without content.

Everyone. I know that I pay for my journal and throw money at LJ in other ways because I am proud to support an adfree service.

Yep. A one-day boycott against gasoline is useless, since you'll buy that gas anyway whether it's by topping off your tank the day before, or getting a little more the day after.

But content uncreated cannot be replaced. The day-by-day statistics will be there. The precious ad-click-through counts will be down.

Man, I hope this takes off!

It would be best to turn off auto-posting things, like LoudTwitter and RSS feeds. But I know that that can be a pain -- especially to remember to turn them all back on again -- so...

And you're right: this must include private, locked, and community posts.

Thank you!

Please post about it in your journal, too. Got a good Gaelic protest song?

Yay! Please ask your friends to join in!

The best way to promote is across LJ is to post it in your own journal, and ask your friends to post it in theirs. Also, post and/or comment about it in communities where it would be appropriate.

Another good thing would be to leave comments on posts and articles off-journal, wherever the latest LJ dust-up is mentioned.

This Friday, March 21, is just six days away. That's not long at all for a normal marketing campaign, but the internet moves fast.

Yep, the interests censorship has me steamed as well.

Be not there on Friday, March 21! :)

This Friday, March 21. It's soon, so it will use the momentum of protest, and it's a Friday, normally a high-posting day.

Please spread the word!

O HAI THERE CHELLE.

*is doing this strike*

Are you?

Seconded.

I pay for my main LJ, and pay for several other peoples' LJs. I also support the site by buying vgifts and clothing from the Gift Shop.

I do this because I love supporting an adfree site. I do this so that others who can't afford to pay don't have to.

Of course the site needs money. Servers and employees need to be supported. But LJ is a Community of Users, not just a commodity. It is content-driven -- content supplied by the Community of Users.

We, the users, also need to be supported. Otherwise we will take our content elsewhere.

Please do. Thank you!