Journal deletions and insecurity

[sparkindarkness]

Damn I go away and you all had a big drama llama without me *sniffs* and I do so like a drama llama!

So it seems that the witch hunters known as the Warriors of Innocence (ETA: After much waffling, I'm not going to post a link. I'm not adding to their hits especially since there is some indication of them tracking where links come from) decided to go on a crusade.

Actually, crusade and witchunt are both appropriate word because it seems a lot of innocent people got caught up in the gears and hundreds of journals were deleted. Wrong it seems.

This isn’t really intended to be a rant about the insane loonies. there are enough insane loonies out there and we all know they’re insane loonies. A gathering of Helen Lovejoys isn’t even that high on the looney list. Though what they hope to achieve I don’t know - the chances of these people catching any real paedophiles are pretty slim - there’s a reason why various law enforcement agencies have special training for this kind of thing. What did they manage in the end? They pissed off a lot of people. Pissed them off a great deal. Now, if those people come across a more legitimate and effective anti-paedophile organisation

No, this is a rant about LJ who have now come out with a grovelling apology for screwing up big time and nuking that many journals.

Well, I’m still feeling uncertain here, LJ. Because you went out and suspended/deleted journals on the say so of a fringe group. That was IT. That’s all you had - you didn’t even bother to read what you deleted. Talk about judging a book by its cover!

So what protection do we have? If some fanatic group finds my journal objectionable (and there’s plenty of stuff in my journal to keep your fanatic frothing) and decides to report it - what guarantee do I have that LJ won’t do just that? I’ve let my paid account lapse, but should I bother renewing it? I mean, if LJ may lay about with the big choppy axe because a fringe group says so and do no investigating of its own, what reassurance do we have that it won’t happen again?

And no, an apology ISN’T reassurance. I’ve already ranted about how useless the word “sorry” is. This apology only means “oh shit, these people are really angry with us and all moving to journalfen or wherever.” C’mon, if you thought that deleting journals without investigation on the say so of an unknown fringe group was a BAD thing (and gods alone know how you came up with the idea it was a GOOD thing!) then you wouldn’t have done it. But you did - and we have no guarantee it won’t happen again.

I’m backing my journal up onto my hard-drive and asking LJ to clarify exactly what they’ll do next time a group approaches them asking for mass deletes. I like it here, but I’m not going to lose everything because LJ panders to noisy bitching.

Comments

[hanks-lil-pit.livejournal.com]

I can't believe you missed the party!!! Damn. It was great fun, really. The very fact that this happened is...well...fucking ridiculous.

26 fucking thousand (at last count) fannish people registered at fandom_counts, to prove our numerical worth LJ. I think that's so awesome.

Yeah, you have to not only wonder about it happening again, but what's next on the list? Right? That's my question. What on my questionable list of interests will be next in their queue of things that must no longer exist.

Man.

I hope it's not cock.

*laughs*

Hank

[sparkindarkness.livejournal.com]

I know! it's sooo unfair!

It is beyond unreasonable (I've added my own name to the list). This is what forced six apart to finally apologise - they realised just how many people they had pissed off - how many people they just ignored and had not the slightest respect for.

That's the point - you think groups of the ilk of these witchunters would be much happier with the word "cock?" It worries, yes, it worries.

[logophilos.livejournal.com]

I hope it's not cock.

They're coming after the chicken farmers now?

[sparkindarkness.livejournal.com]

yep! beware random fringe veagn extremist activist group!

[thisdaydreamer.livejournal.com]

Over 30k now.

[slice-of-nick.livejournal.com]

Exactly! LJ didn't do their research on this group. This group clearly has more than one agenda and LJ did much to further these and all under the guise of 'protecting kids'.

[sparkindarkness.livejournal.com]

LJ didn't do their research on anything - not the group they bowed to, not whether they had a legitimate complaint, not the journals they deleted. That's what worries - how many other repressive groups out there are chortling over this? LJ was a tool - an obedient tool who showed no respect for their users

[jrho.livejournal.com]

If you check out the most recent post on news, you'll see that they are going to reverse some of the suspension/deletions. I'm not saying that makes everything all sunshine and roses now, but it is a step in the right direction.

But, oh the drama llama. It has been a very busy 48 hours on LJ.

[sparkindarkness.livejournal.com]

Aye, i've seen it- but it's not enough. We have no assurance that they will use a different method in future, no assurance that another freak group won't be able to get them to do the same.

They apologised when it became huge - they ignored it as long as they possibly could before deigning to speak to LJ users. I'm really not impressed

[bladespark.livejournal.com]

They've lost our trust, and trust is a hard thing to restore after you lose it. I'm staying on lj, for assorted reasons mostly related to the fact that none of my business related communities are going to move elsewhere. But I won't trust them again, and I certainly am never going to give them another cent!

*sniffle* Goodbye extra icons, I shall miss you when you expire...

[sparkindarkness.livejournal.com]

I'm making huuuge back ups and eyeing the whole thing warily. I don't weant to leave here, all my friends are here. I even like it here.

But just because the sun is shining and the sky is blue doesn't mean I'm going to put up with earthquakes. I need to be confident that I'm on some bedrock. I don't want to get lapse on backing up my fic and have it deleted- or even my normal posting. It never occurs to me to back up normal posts that I may want to save

[bladespark.livejournal.com]

You should back up your other posts, some of them are absolutely golden!

[buddykat.livejournal.com]

But I won't trust them again, and I certainly am never going to give them another cent!

It will take me a long while, if ever, before I trust them again. I am willing to wait for Brad to return from his vacation and see what *his* response is to all of this. If he doesn't hand Six Apart their ass on a platter, you can bet I will be highly unlikely to give LJ any money in the future... and I was going to snatch up a permanent account when they became available again sometime next month. Now I'm going to have to think long and hard before deciding if I want to give them that kind of money (let alone the small amount for my paid account).

[amynnah.livejournal.com]

My friend Noa made a similar post the other day... I'm kind of shaken... :(

[sparkindarkness.livejournal.com]

I'm shaken too, which is why I commented even though it should be over

because the ramifications of it aren't over. We've been handed a big lump of uincertainty and a whole load of doubt and little trust is left.

[semiotic-pirate.livejournal.com]

they should give all those people lifetime accounts and anything else they want to keep them and make them happy, to at least partially make up for what they did to them.

what the hell were the "objectionable" things that this wackjob group report?

[thisdaydreamer.livejournal.com]

Interests in userinfo.

I wish I was kidding.

[sparkindarkness.livejournal.com]

they certainly need rather more than an empty apology rather late.

The objectionable was whatever fruit loop whack group decided was objectionable (in thise case it appears to be interests in the user-info). After all, LJ didn't actually bother to investigate so it could have been anything that the fring group threatened.

[jerril]

I think what really gets to me is purging based on "interests". The interests section isn't exactly enforced or policed, or whatever. It's Not Precise, it's not an inclusive or an exclusive definition of what might be described in a journal. The LJ Cops aren't out there making sure everyone enumerates what's in their journal on the Interests list, and they aren't preventing people from listing things that AREN'T discussed in the journal.

There isn't necessarily any correlation between the two at all, and yet here they are banning people based on them. ARG.

[thisdaydreamer.livejournal.com]

Today, I saw the whole mess described as a "riot". What a fiasco.

And that was definitely Drama. Major Drama. Hell, it even made Wikipedia.

But now LJ is so burned out I can't post to my journal. :( I keep getting the "problem loading page" message.

Oh, and thank you for not posting the link. I have read many reports of adware and spyware.

[sparkindarkness.livejournal.com]

Hardly a riot, but definitely drama. Much much drama.

Aye, I've been having to fight LJ to get any posts done

[thisdaydreamer.livejournal.com]

I've been trying to post for nearly three hours now.

Pretty soon I'm going to have to go to bed.

*sigh* I have an overdue post on the lying thief at the store, too.