oxfordtweed: (Mycroft - Does Not Approve)
Richard Book is Innocent ([personal profile] oxfordtweed) wrote2011-12-27 05:12 pm

OK, I'm gonna say some things about LJ

I have to say that I am really disappointed in what LJ has been up to lately. I stopped using my account for anything other than fandom after their last fuck-up that enabled people to access random accounts. That was just not on, so I left.

And now, I've been watching all the wank from over here and find myself absolutely astounded at the attitude of some people over there.

There are two facts that people really only need to know, and in the following order of importance:

The way LJ have redesigned the site makes it nigh on impossible for users with visual impairments to use the site (be that impairment visually-triggered migraines, blindness to varying degrees, or whatever). Screen readers no longer function properly and people have reported having migraines triggered so badly that they've vomited and/or had to go to hospital. How is this at all acceptable?

Even worse than this is the patronising attitude of many of the users, telling these people to adjust their screen brightness or the light levels in their homes. How very ableist of them. But really, I've never seen a website go so far out of its way to be so inaccessible for people. It's kind of disgusting.


The second fact is that this is a service people pay for. Since 2005, when I first started using it, I've easily put several thousand dollars their way for both my personal and my RP accounts. It doesn't matter why. The point is, I paid for this service. Many, many people do. Or did, before the service they were paying for stopped being what they were paying for, basically. It's like having a subscription to Discover Magazine, and then all of a sudden being sent something on fashion and make-up. No-one would settle for that with anything else, so why is it ok that a website should be able to change its service without warning. Netflix tried that earlier this year, and we all saw how well that went for them, didn't we? It's the same thing.


I'm thrilled to see so much new traffic here on DW. I can't wait to see fandom start popping up as well. A few of the places I spent time on over at LJ are already starting the process of porting over here, and then I'll have no reason to keep my account over there at all.

Now, if I could just get a few more icon slots over here, I'll be over the moon.
capri: (GA: Juice Box Sads :()

[personal profile] capri 2011-12-27 05:21 pm (UTC)(link)
I haven't been following LJ stuff much at all recently, so the access (or the lack thereof) stuff is completely new to me. Wow, what, just... what. Where can I read more about this?
capri: (Text: Tired of Holding Signs)

[personal profile] capri 2011-12-27 05:43 pm (UTC)(link)
Yaaargh I just read too much of all of that. Head is exploding. (Head is also kinda exploding because of how bright the new LJ page is, and I'm not even a regular headache/migraine sufferer. I never noticed this before!)
capri: (BOT: Veronica)

[personal profile] capri 2011-12-27 05:49 pm (UTC)(link)
Well, on the bright side! It appears my account has been purged from the servers. I deleted it months ago but it was still accessible just a couple of weeks ago, despite the whole "account will be deleted in 30 days" thing. When I left LJ I wasn't actually upset with the service, just bored - now I'm glad to be rid of it.
dynastessa: peter parker } the amazing spider-man (argh don't hit me)

[personal profile] dynastessa 2011-12-27 05:24 pm (UTC)(link)
oh god. THIS WHOLE POST. SO MUCH.

The latest LJ-news post was absolutely gross to me. I can't believe how awful people are being treated because they can't use the website they bloody paid for.
iosonochesono: (Default)

[personal profile] iosonochesono 2011-12-27 05:56 pm (UTC)(link)
I mostly stopped spending money on LiveJournal in 2007 and beyond (I have gotten a few things since) and started moving to DreamWidth almost entirely from 2010 and beyond. I think DW is better for those interested in writing primarily.

I'm sort of over thinking the company LiveJournal cares about the userbase anymore. As a show of support I try to make sure I get paid time for people regularly here :) Something I used to do for LJ. I can't figure out what SUP is trying to do with them.
iosonochesono: (Default)

[personal profile] iosonochesono 2011-12-27 06:10 pm (UTC)(link)
Yeah. I just wish my friends from over there would move over here more.

Bright side: DW is awesome and seems to have a lot of LJ's old spirit. It just needs a build-up in community activity. Probably won't start until we get people wanking over here though, sadly. My friend and I had this theory that we needed some sort of activity here to pick up the snark communities and hopefully get activity going elsewhere.

And I can't believe they got rid of the parent thread! It's so hard to keep track of comments over there, and they get rid of the parent link? WTF.
glamjam: (Hot Fuzz; V)

[personal profile] glamjam 2011-12-27 06:53 pm (UTC)(link)
I really agree with your main points, and the accessibility issue is such BULLSHIT. Yes, let's tell people to change their whole set-up to accommodate ONE website. (ecctv had me fuming in that thread)

I'm mostly over here now. I still cross-post to LJ, but everything starts out over here now. I'm going to try and get some paid time this week if my bank account doesn't murder me first.
prehistoricdanc: Damian Wayne/Robin-Batman (Default)

[personal profile] prehistoricdanc 2011-12-27 09:59 pm (UTC)(link)
I haven't really noticed anything different about LJ other then the comment thing. lol.
ashen_key: (locked and gated)

[personal profile] ashen_key 2011-12-27 10:14 pm (UTC)(link)
I'm still fumming that I was told by one commenter that I shouldn't sit so close to the screen, or that maybe I should turn a light on.

Um, person, I once got three migraines in a week. I live with them, and I think I know how to be careful. I ended up installing a quick hack someone created, which turns LJ's background a light grey (among a couple other things), and it's easier to read.

But, you know, I shouldn't have to use quick hacks to use something I pay for, JFC. Which you know, so I should stop...ranting in your journal. Just, argh.
ashen_key: (key in my hands)

[personal profile] ashen_key 2011-12-27 10:24 pm (UTC)(link)
Mine aren't always visually-triggered - sometimes random, sometimes stress - and I don't get them as bad as my mother does (she always said if she had a gun, she'd blow her head off; I'm more of the 'I WANT TO CARVE MY EYES OUT' variety). But, you know, I know the warning signs, I know when my eyes are starting to flare out warnings, and just the sheer abelism of the remarks....i2wjfksjfsdfdz.

It really freaking has.