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Some might have the idea that I don't take Strikethrough seriously. I have indeed joked about it in other people's journals and been genuinely flabberghasted by the comparisons to Nazi Germany. It's not like that - it's not that serious. In the end, all we lose is a journal. We can move on, start somewhere else. Though I do wish I could download all my entries in one easy step so I have them to look back on when I'm old and decrepit.
BUT - there's always a but! I'm not happy about it. And I think, not just for fandom but for everyone, there's cause for concern because we really have lost our wiggle room. I'm not a fan of rape, incest and paedophilia stories. I don't really know why anyone would really want to read about that sort of thing unless it were written about in a negative light. Loli? All that stuff? Over my head - I don't get it. So when I first read about this fuss, I wasn't all that bothered. Then I heard about all the other journals, like survivor journals and so forth, that got the shaft. And when I heard about the reasons for the mass deletion, I had to wonder why fandom was being targetted at all? It's fictional fluff.
This wasn't done to protect children. It is very clear by what Berkowitz said that this was done to clean up the site for investors. They are choosing how they want it to look to outsiders, and any journal that doesn't fall within their happy little venn diagram of puppies and unicorns gets the strikethrough. Sound alarmist? Don't take my word for it, take Barry's!
"We did a review of our policies related to how we review those sites,those journals, and came up with the fact that we actually did have a number of journals up that we didn't think met our policies and didn't think they were appropriate to have up."
I would really love to know what they consider 'appropriate'. For years there's never been a fuss as to what kind of crazy shit goes on on LJ behind a friends lock. Suddenly there is? With Berkowitz on the road for an IPO? The whole thing makes me leery.
So. There isn't much to do now. LJ have played their hand and all we can do is wait and see if they've actually learnt anything from this righteous fuck-up or if they're still interested in cleaning up shop for investors. I'm not in a panic, I'm not about to start singing pirate songs (I do that for the joy of it), but I'm not totally at ease. I'm keeping an eye on proceedings.
BUT - there's always a but! I'm not happy about it. And I think, not just for fandom but for everyone, there's cause for concern because we really have lost our wiggle room. I'm not a fan of rape, incest and paedophilia stories. I don't really know why anyone would really want to read about that sort of thing unless it were written about in a negative light. Loli? All that stuff? Over my head - I don't get it. So when I first read about this fuss, I wasn't all that bothered. Then I heard about all the other journals, like survivor journals and so forth, that got the shaft. And when I heard about the reasons for the mass deletion, I had to wonder why fandom was being targetted at all? It's fictional fluff.
This wasn't done to protect children. It is very clear by what Berkowitz said that this was done to clean up the site for investors. They are choosing how they want it to look to outsiders, and any journal that doesn't fall within their happy little venn diagram of puppies and unicorns gets the strikethrough. Sound alarmist? Don't take my word for it, take Barry's!
"We did a review of our policies related to how we review those sites,those journals, and came up with the fact that we actually did have a number of journals up that we didn't think met our policies and didn't think they were appropriate to have up."
I would really love to know what they consider 'appropriate'. For years there's never been a fuss as to what kind of crazy shit goes on on LJ behind a friends lock. Suddenly there is? With Berkowitz on the road for an IPO? The whole thing makes me leery.
So. There isn't much to do now. LJ have played their hand and all we can do is wait and see if they've actually learnt anything from this righteous fuck-up or if they're still interested in cleaning up shop for investors. I'm not in a panic, I'm not about to start singing pirate songs (I do that for the joy of it), but I'm not totally at ease. I'm keeping an eye on proceedings.
