Why does it matter?
Mar. 16th, 2008 08:38 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
winterthunderI know there are those of you reading the entry below and wondering why all of this is important. Why should we care what SUP does with LiveJournal? They own it, after all, and they can do what they like with it. If I don't like it, I can go elsewhere.
I suppose on some level this is true. I certainly have the option of voting with my keyboard, as it were, and moving my content to a journaling service that doesn't censor free speech, pander to religious conservatives, misrepresent its statistics and ignore the wishes of its users. I can move to a service that understands that I, along with more than a million others, am the reason that their revenue source exists in the first place.
I'll be honest and admit that I'm very close to doing just that. What's holding me back? The community. As cheesy as that sounds, it's true. I've been on LJ for two and a half years. In that time, I've written over 500 pages of entries and interacted with people that have become just as real to me as the friends I see on a daily basis. I've learned from people who know more than I do and have, in turn, taught others when I knew what they didn't. I've grown as a person and as a writer. And I care about my friends list, even those whom I've never met but know only through their words. I worry when they haven't posted lately. I share their happiness when something good happens and grieve when all I can do is give virtual hugs.
I've invested in this community and I do not want to leave it behind. I know that there's no way we would all go to the same place, even if we could agree to relocate. Leaving LJ means losing track of people.
That's why it's important. That's why it matters. It's not the issues with free speech, privacy and business transparency, though those are important in their own right. I am here on LJ because of the people. They are the reason I will be striking on Friday.
I suppose on some level this is true. I certainly have the option of voting with my keyboard, as it were, and moving my content to a journaling service that doesn't censor free speech, pander to religious conservatives, misrepresent its statistics and ignore the wishes of its users. I can move to a service that understands that I, along with more than a million others, am the reason that their revenue source exists in the first place.
I'll be honest and admit that I'm very close to doing just that. What's holding me back? The community. As cheesy as that sounds, it's true. I've been on LJ for two and a half years. In that time, I've written over 500 pages of entries and interacted with people that have become just as real to me as the friends I see on a daily basis. I've learned from people who know more than I do and have, in turn, taught others when I knew what they didn't. I've grown as a person and as a writer. And I care about my friends list, even those whom I've never met but know only through their words. I worry when they haven't posted lately. I share their happiness when something good happens and grieve when all I can do is give virtual hugs.
I've invested in this community and I do not want to leave it behind. I know that there's no way we would all go to the same place, even if we could agree to relocate. Leaving LJ means losing track of people.
That's why it's important. That's why it matters. It's not the issues with free speech, privacy and business transparency, though those are important in their own right. I am here on LJ because of the people. They are the reason I will be striking on Friday.
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(no subject)
Date: 2008-03-17 04:15 am (UTC)