[info]msilverstar in [info]07refugees

LJ is ending the Basic account option

From May March 12 on, it's see ads or pay up:

Basic Account is an option available to accounts which were created before March 12, 2008. No account created after this date can be turned into a Basic Account. Basic Accounts will not have any advertising displayed on their accounts, but will have fewer benefits and features.

Source: FAQ 38

ETA: fix the date in my text.

ETA 2: Jason Shellen, VP of Product Development for LiveJournal" says it was to make the registration process "easier for new users to understand" To which I say, Apparently they think their users are STUPID. The new ones for needing it "easier" and the old ones for taking that crap.

Also, Brad says no one really asked him. And he's on the LJ Advisory Board -- that was the whole point of the advisory board!

ETA 3: Another advisory board member and "thought leader", Esther Dyson, says that no one talked to her either. And that the person who emailed her can quote her on that.

Comments

Even Brad Fitzpatrick is PO'd. And the new blood VP guy keeps digging his hole deeper . . .
http://brad.livejournal.com/2368071.html
Brad's advice being ignored, Brad's being kept out of the loop about the issue, and his being irked about the situation is simply proof that LJ's much touted advisory board is nothing but a means of attempting to appease users. Heh. Like any of us actually needed proof of that.
Well, any of us here. Maybe the additional light shed will bring some fence-sitters to Ij.
We can hope. :D My friends list over there is positively entrenched.