It is done.

[sistawendy]

After 16 years and over three thousand entries, I have deleted my LiveJournal. I didn't, however, delete comments that I made because really, even if Putin's goons object - and they theoretically could object to plenty of them - what are they gonna do? I thought maybe somebody might want the comments, especially if they migrate.

I still have (a few) mixed feelings about abandoning a service that has, in the past, been a platform for Russian dissidents. LJ's management has, however, acquiesced to Putin's demands for one reason or another. The possibility of ending up dissolved in acid is an all-too-real reason that they might have considered.

Upsides? All other things being equal, my "reading page" should load faster because it doesn't contain a bunch of inactive users.

LJ is dead, but the dream lives on at Dreamwidth. Let's queer this joint up!

Comments

[sholanda]

I don't understand what LJ has done. I believe you, I just don't know what the deal is. Do you mind giving a quick rundown? It has something to do with the new TOS, right?

[sistawendy]

The part of the TOS that I object to the most is the compliance with Russian law against "promoting homosexuality". This means that any blogger who mentions queer or trans stuff, which I do regularly, could face penalties.

And oh by the way, the legally binding version of the TOS is in Russian, which I can't read. Is that creepy enough for you? It was for me.

[ximinez]

In addition to what sistawendy said, this article was a good starting point for me https://www.themarysue.com/livejournal-russian-federation-tos/, and it has links to others.

[solarbird]

I was 100% serious when I said that I had more activity notices on Dreamwidth than Facebook overnight. It's kinda nuts.

[sistawendy]

I'm not quite on your level, but I'm certainly glad to hear it! Dare we call it a revival yet? I put my entry in that community you posted.

[solarbird]

That's how I was teasing my post this morning - "Wouldn't it be funny if a Livejournal revival actually happened on Dreamwidth, but only because LJ immolated itself?"

I think what might actually happen is not a revival of old Livejournal culture itself, but the creation of enough critical mass that you get something new that draws a lot from it. A descendant culture, I guess? But it'll be different. And because of the form, different to Facebook and Twitter and Tumblr as well. I think that'd be nice.

[sistawendy]

Yeah, I noticed that the median age of the posters on 2017revival is somewhere in the thirties. I'm not sure that was true of LJ in its heyday. DW will be different, but I think it can be good.

[sistawendy]

Holy crap, you were right! It is way more active over here right now than LJ has been in about a decade.

[solarbird]

I know! I'm just hoping it has legs.

[parityanimal]

Well, I thought about removing my LJ account entirely, but I guess I'll continue to read in case anyone posts anything new...

Anything I posted there prior to the new TOS agreement was already there and what the hell can they do as a "penalty" to me other than toss me off the site anyway? I have a permanent account on LJ so I'm going to leave my existing posts up, and not bother to clean up anything that might be promoting homosexuality in their eyes.

The way I look at it, I've never "promoted" it anyway. I don't bother to hide it and won't, but I don't consider that to be
promoting it. Likewise I love and support my LGBTQ friends just the same as my non-LGBTQ friends and my posts are all locked to friends only anyway, not that this would keep the powers that be from reading them if they want.

They've probably already had them in their files for years anyway, so I figure WTF, just don't give them anything new to chew on...maybe just give them the finger!

Will, of course, try to keep up with those of us who have moved to Dreamwidth. I never posted all that frequently on LJ anyway and will likely post about as frequently here! LOL!

Mostly post on Facebook nowadays.

[sistawendy]

The way I look at it, I've never "promoted" it anyway.

Sheeut, none of us did. All we did was be our fabulous and often devastatingly attractive selves.

I find it curious that my Dreamwidth doesn't pop in a Google search on my full name. I migrated months ago, and I thought I'd set mine to allow crawling, which I think is the default.

[parityanimal]

Pretty sure I set mine to not allow crawling, as I generally do anytime I can. I like to pretend that I have some modicum of privacy on the web, even though, having worked in computer security for years, I know that there is no such thing as web privacy...LOL

[sistawendy]

Wayell, if a trans person or one of my extended family members (e.g. Evil Sister's kids) wants to find me, I'd like to have it out there.

[ximinez]

All my stuff has finally imported, but I'm still debating whether to leave it as-is, delete entries, or delete the account entirely...