feedback I sent to LJ

[novapsyche]

I understand that you have linked the site to other social networks for exposure. You're thinking of business.

However, as a social networking site yourself, you must understand that your business ultimately is comprised of individuals who use the network & support it in some way, either by viewing ads or paying for accounts.

The only reason people pay for accounts is for the unique options LiveJournal offers. I don't have data to back this up, but I would conjecture that one of the top reasons users have come to &/or remained at LJ is that they have control over their individual accounts.

LJ has a social aspect but is billed as an online diary. In real life, most diaries are private; some even have locks. I for one was pleased when LJ implemented locked posts & filters, as these were ways in which this online journal experience could operate as a diary should.

The fact that now any user who comments on one of my posts can now refer back to my journal's URL, even if that comment originated in a locked entry, by way of this new "feature" of commingling LJ, Facebook & Twitter devastates me. The lack of being able to control my own LJ upsets me terribly. A diary is not a place where violations of privacy should occur. I feel that this business decision of yours has done just that.

I utilize friendslock for several reasons; primarily I want to keep certain posts from being aggregated by companies like Google, but also I have certain friends who are close friends with whom I'd like to share particular content. Both are compromised by the inability to control who or what references my journal.

I have been with LJ for nearly a decade. I have invested countless hours into this site, & I loved it so much that when a chance came for me to sign up as a permanent user, I jumped at it. Now I rue that decision. Indeed, this privacy violation issue is so important to me that I may leave LJ because of it.

Although I am a permanent user & so cannot use money as leverage to bolster my input, I will say this: if this "feature" is not fixed so that users can inhibit what comments to their own journals may be crossposted, I will actively engage in a word-of-mouth campaign urging those who are still active on LJ to move to another site. You've gotten all the money out of me that you will ever see, but I can prevent you from getting more. It is the only way I can boycott your decision.

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Send your own feedback to LJ here (after clicking the appropriate button).

Also, eljayfeedback has a poll that might make a difference.

Comments

[childe.livejournal.com]

Have you seen the CSS workaround?

[novapsyche.livejournal.com]

From what I understand, that only blocks out the option to crosspost for yourself. Others who post comments in your journal can still crosspost those if they choose, & those will refer a URL back to the original journal.

But yes, I have seen at least one version & have implemented it.