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

[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.