![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
To Strike or Not To Strike
Mar. 20th, 2008 01:03 pmThat is the question...
But not really. Yes, I know about the stike. Yes, I understand why people are planning to strike. No, I will not be joining them.
I joined LiveJournal 3 years ago for a very specific reason. I found myself in an alien land (California) with 90% of the people I loved and cared about, not only in a different city but on a different coast/time zone. Thousands of miles separated me from the friends and family that had kept me going for years. And starting a blog on LJ, where many of them were already active, was the best way to keep in touch with them. I did not join LJ to be a writer. I know I am not one. I did not think that my blog would change the world or right great wrongs or express my deep artistic longings. It was my way to let the people I love and who (hopefully) love me in return to know that, while I am crazier than I was when I lived amoung them, I was not, in fact, dead. I have also been lucky enough to accumulated some new friends along the way. I never would have met them without LJ as our common starting ground, and for that I am thankful.
I understand why people are angry. The new owners have broken several promises and have ignored the input given to them by the membership. I feel I have less to complain about, since I do not pay for my account, but I do understand the frustration of the paid members whose thoughts and feelings should have some effect. I am opposed to censorship and the earlier removal of accounts based on a vague set of perameters set up, not by LiveJournal, but by a small internet watch group, was absolutely ludicrious. There are many things that are going on right now that do not bode well for the community and the business side of LiveJournal and that is, on the whole, very sad.
Many of my reasons for not striking are the same as the ones![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
zoethe so eloquently wrote about earlier today. But I have a few other reasons to add as well. First of all, this journal exists as a source of information for my friends, far and wide. Recently I have been more restricted about my public content, mostly due to the fact that I did not feel comfortable discussing my pregnancy with the universe in general. This is not likely to change in the near future, but I hope that once the baby is born, I will feel more comfortable writing open entries again. Secondly, I simply don't have time for the drama. There are some fairly stressful things going on in my life right now, none of which have anything to do with LJ. My priorities have to be focused on the life of my son and his health and the steps I need to take so that he will be born without trouble. Whether or not you can start a new free account without ad content is simply not an issue for me at the momment. Going in to the doctor's office tomorrow and seeing if his heart is still beating trumps whether or not sex is listed as a viable interest in the list of personal interests on my user page.
Please understand that I am not poo-pooing the reasons for the strike. Also please understand that I am not actively opposing the strike, nor is it my intent to insult those folk intending to take part in the strike. I do understand that the issues are extremely important to you. But they cannot be important to me right now.
Will I post tomorrow? I don't know. I may, if I have time before I have to head to the doctor's office. Will I read? Very likely. I am sorry if this offends people, but that is the way it is.
But not really. Yes, I know about the stike. Yes, I understand why people are planning to strike. No, I will not be joining them.
I joined LiveJournal 3 years ago for a very specific reason. I found myself in an alien land (California) with 90% of the people I loved and cared about, not only in a different city but on a different coast/time zone. Thousands of miles separated me from the friends and family that had kept me going for years. And starting a blog on LJ, where many of them were already active, was the best way to keep in touch with them. I did not join LJ to be a writer. I know I am not one. I did not think that my blog would change the world or right great wrongs or express my deep artistic longings. It was my way to let the people I love and who (hopefully) love me in return to know that, while I am crazier than I was when I lived amoung them, I was not, in fact, dead. I have also been lucky enough to accumulated some new friends along the way. I never would have met them without LJ as our common starting ground, and for that I am thankful.
I understand why people are angry. The new owners have broken several promises and have ignored the input given to them by the membership. I feel I have less to complain about, since I do not pay for my account, but I do understand the frustration of the paid members whose thoughts and feelings should have some effect. I am opposed to censorship and the earlier removal of accounts based on a vague set of perameters set up, not by LiveJournal, but by a small internet watch group, was absolutely ludicrious. There are many things that are going on right now that do not bode well for the community and the business side of LiveJournal and that is, on the whole, very sad.
Many of my reasons for not striking are the same as the ones
zoethe so eloquently wrote about earlier today. But I have a few other reasons to add as well. First of all, this journal exists as a source of information for my friends, far and wide. Recently I have been more restricted about my public content, mostly due to the fact that I did not feel comfortable discussing my pregnancy with the universe in general. This is not likely to change in the near future, but I hope that once the baby is born, I will feel more comfortable writing open entries again. Secondly, I simply don't have time for the drama. There are some fairly stressful things going on in my life right now, none of which have anything to do with LJ. My priorities have to be focused on the life of my son and his health and the steps I need to take so that he will be born without trouble. Whether or not you can start a new free account without ad content is simply not an issue for me at the momment. Going in to the doctor's office tomorrow and seeing if his heart is still beating trumps whether or not sex is listed as a viable interest in the list of personal interests on my user page. Please understand that I am not poo-pooing the reasons for the strike. Also please understand that I am not actively opposing the strike, nor is it my intent to insult those folk intending to take part in the strike. I do understand that the issues are extremely important to you. But they cannot be important to me right now.
Will I post tomorrow? I don't know. I may, if I have time before I have to head to the doctor's office. Will I read? Very likely. I am sorry if this offends people, but that is the way it is.
