After due consideration...

So I've pondered the 'no more basic accounts' issue all night. And I've come to a few conclusions, which I will attempt to articulate here (though I know I'm missing something!).

1. Livejournal is a business. All those people in the news post who say 'it's unreasonable to expect something for nothing' are annoying, but there's a smidgeon of truth in their point. I say only a smidgeon because they're forgetting the point Brad made - even non-paying users generate content, and without content, no one would come to the site. It's a balancing act, and, unfortunately, with all their recent screw-ups I think the see-saw has irrevocably tipped. People have bailed on their paid accounts, so that revenue is down. People downgraded plus accounts in protest, so that revenue is down. People aren't buying gifts and merchandise in protest, so that revenue is down. All around it's a bad deal.

2. Still, though the decision was theirs to make, not announcing it - yes, even after the fact - is unforgivable. I understand not giving us X hours to create a billion new accounts (and oh how that would have happened!) but it's been a whole day and still no official news post? At least there wasn't this morning, last I checked. That means unless someone reads through the comments on the news post or has a friend who posts it, well, they won't know. And that's just crappy business practice. There is no excuse for that. And the reason they gave? How insulting. They evidently think people are too stupid to choose between three whole options... wow. That alone is worth the hue and cry - anyone with an ounce of business sense should know that no matter how dumb you think your customers are you never tell them that!

3. And it occurred to me that in a way, I do have 'ads' on my site. I have links to some of my favorite stores in my sidebar. And here is the crux - for me - of the ad issue. I don't mind advertising for things I like and endorse. We all do it in just about every blog post. When you write about a great deal you got at your favorite store, or playing the latest computer game until the wee hours of the night, or the latest episode of your favorite TV show, or a great book you just read... that's all advertising. Would I object to a tasteful (perhaps designed by moi) icon-sized button advertising Barnes and Noble along my sidebar? No, I would not. Not if I got to choose where it went and how it meshed with my site. And that means lining it up in an aesthetically pleasing way, not having truly obnoxious colors, and NO FLASHING. But I do strongly object to pro-ana sites being linked by Google ads because I mention in a blog post that I'm trying to lose weight, you know? (I type as I'm chowing down on a Pop-Tart...)

So here's a compromise, LJ. You can get rid of Basic accounts, but have the guts to make the announcement and give us the real reason - you want to make more money off of advertisers. Then go ahead and put out the cattle call - get advertisers to sign on-board with 100 x 100 'banners' and let the users pick which ones go - permanently - on their site. They can pick based on what business they like, or which icons look best on their page, whatever (and some smart businesses would offer a variety of colors/styles to attract more people, I'm sure). You can even dole out user benefits based on the number of advertising icons on your page! But for the love of everything holy, let users control what's advertised next to their content, and get rid of the ugly. If we wanted ugly, we'd be at MySpace.

More musing...

But first, a reminder! Snerfflebarglast icons are due on FRIDAY! Maybe the fun (hopefully) of that will distract us from the LJ drama?

Anywho, furthering my idea, I present you three blogs.

Check out sue_doughnim - either in IE or with Adblock OFF and, if you have a paid account, logged out. Last time I looked there was a flashing, animated ad for Microsoft Office at the top. It changes every time you hit the page, though. So annoying.

Now, compare that to icepuke. Granted, were it a real, implemented style that first box wouldn't be an entry, it'd be a header of some sort. And somehow, that doesn't bother me nearly as much.

Finally, you can look at my page. I converted my links into icons, so they're basically little ads now. But pretty (ish, I was in a hurry) ads that don't blink and don't install tracking devises and spyware on your computer.