LJ: this seemed like a good idea to someone

[sigma7]

Via /.: "LiveJournal.com has just announced via their Business Discussions journal that they are introducing 'sponsored communities and features.' This has lead to an outcry from those who watch this community, who accuse LiveJournal of starting down the 'slippery slope' towards placing advertising on users' journals — some of which users already pay for the privilege of not having to see ads on the site. Read more below."

At present, 38 pages of comments, the average of which can be summed up as "hysterically furious." I think my "do not want" panda icon's going to wear out due to overuse.

Edit: Brad clarifies. And God bless rewil for pointing out this to me:

Comments

Re: because it is my job to play devil's advocate

[sigma7.livejournal.com]

SixApart could tell LJ that they're going to give everyone a free pink bunny and Ljers will scream that these bunnies are promoting bunny farms and discriminating against those who don't like pink.

This would be, indeed, the greatest day ever.

I can understand the whiplash OMGWTFLOL reaction, if only because of the evolution of LJ from the whole "no ads ever" mindset to the Sponsored options (which are, of course, options) seems quite contradictory. And like you noted, 6A's doing a wretched job of articulating its decisions and the options involved. And there's no disguising the fact that this isn't a feature set designed with the user in mind; it's a money grab, sure.

I don't see it as a problem in and of itself. What I think most people are worried about is a possible pattern of things to come. People are worried that 6A wants to turn LJ into Myspace, and they see this as just one symptom of this sickness, and fear more symptoms down the line. 6A isn't helping by trying to present this as a service to the user.

It's not the end of the world, but as a check on 6A's awareness of its user base, not reassuring, either.

Re: because it is my job to play devil's advocate

[paradisacorbasi.livejournal.com]

I hate pink, and as long as the bunny didn't sing like that bunny in the Skittles commercial, I could dye the bunny some other color.

Re: because it is my job to play devil's advocate

[gloomchen.livejournal.com]

That latter part of your comment is where my support of SixApart in this debacle ends.

Yes, they want to make money, blah blah blah. But they have gone about this all wrong as they obviously didn't realize that LJers primarily use LJ because there are no ads. I honestly think the LJ crowd would accept pretty much any changes that involve money including a small rise in paid journal costs or perhaps more add-ons. But you stick an ad in there? DEATH! And even after the "sponsored" account PR mess, they STILL went through with an option that includes advertising? They're morons. Total morons. Their ideas aren't bad ones at all, but they're not appealing to this particular community's entire reasons for existing.