![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
So LJ abolished basic accounts, and I, too, have an opinion about this! (who'd have thought? *g*)
Here's it:
Livejournal is a business. It has employees. It wants to make money.
In other words: somebody has to pay.
There used to be a statistic on the site showing how many people have paid accounts. I can't find that statistic anymore, but I remember that it wasn't much, maybe 2% of total accounts? I could be wrong, but I was surprised about how few people had paid accounts, when practically everyone I know has one. I doubt, however, that paid accounts pay for livejournal to work. Maybe they did once, but not anymore. And even if they did pay for the costs, they sure don't pay for the profit. Remember what I said above? Business. Profits. Money.
Somebody has to pay.
So who does? Well, advertising does. That's how the internet work, you either ask for money for the service you provide (ask the NY Times how that went) or you can provide interesting services for free, increase your traffic and charge (more) for ads that other people place on your site.
Personally, I can't see anything wrong with that.
Business. Money. Somebody has to pay.
Oh wait, but it's our dear livejournal! The place we hang out and meet aaaallll our friends every day! We don't want stupid ads in our favourite hang-out!
Newsflash: you don't need to see ads. If you have a paid account, you will never see an ad on lj (at least that's what they are saying right now, and it's still almost true, except for stupid sponsored virtual gifts - that you can opt out from, btw). I don't see any ads anywhere and have never seen them.
Yes, I know, it's so unfair that they make you pay. It's the InTErnetz! It should be free!
As it is, most of the time. That's why you see so many ads everywhere you go.
Now, I don't want to advertise for paid accounts here, but currently, you pay $ 19.95 for year of paid time. That's less than $2 a month. I think that's a fair price to pay for a place to hang out with aaalll your friends - without ads. (plus we all know that the dollar isn't actually worth anything any more. Now, if they asked to be paid in gold! Or gasoline! *g*)
Further advantage: Paying makes you a paying customer. Paying customers always have a better negotiating position than others.
Was the way they announced it stupid?
You bet it was. What else is new.
But I can understand them. If you were to come to lj today, would voluntarily choose the basic account or the sponsored plus account with more ads? None of us would ever choose more ads if they had a choice. But most of the accounts created on lj get abandoned right away or very soon. As a business decision, it's much more profitable to have these accounts created as plus accounts than to have them created as basic accounts that are never upgraded.
More plus accounts, more money. We will have to wait and see if more money turns into something good for us. Who knows, maybe they will finally hire a publicity person?
Conclusion: Good old LJ brings us yet another publicity disaster, somebody in a Russian subterrestran power center (think Absolute!Power) is leaning back with satisfaction at the additional traffic the wank brings his company, and anyone who isn't naive enough to think that lj is kept in existence only so that we have a place to hang out and talk about gay porn, cannot really blame them for it.
At least that's my opinion. Yours may differ. But only if you paid for it. ;-)
Here's it:
Livejournal is a business. It has employees. It wants to make money.
In other words: somebody has to pay.
There used to be a statistic on the site showing how many people have paid accounts. I can't find that statistic anymore, but I remember that it wasn't much, maybe 2% of total accounts? I could be wrong, but I was surprised about how few people had paid accounts, when practically everyone I know has one. I doubt, however, that paid accounts pay for livejournal to work. Maybe they did once, but not anymore. And even if they did pay for the costs, they sure don't pay for the profit. Remember what I said above? Business. Profits. Money.
Somebody has to pay.
So who does? Well, advertising does. That's how the internet work, you either ask for money for the service you provide (ask the NY Times how that went) or you can provide interesting services for free, increase your traffic and charge (more) for ads that other people place on your site.
Personally, I can't see anything wrong with that.
Business. Money. Somebody has to pay.
Oh wait, but it's our dear livejournal! The place we hang out and meet aaaallll our friends every day! We don't want stupid ads in our favourite hang-out!
Newsflash: you don't need to see ads. If you have a paid account, you will never see an ad on lj (at least that's what they are saying right now, and it's still almost true, except for stupid sponsored virtual gifts - that you can opt out from, btw). I don't see any ads anywhere and have never seen them.
Yes, I know, it's so unfair that they make you pay. It's the InTErnetz! It should be free!
As it is, most of the time. That's why you see so many ads everywhere you go.
Now, I don't want to advertise for paid accounts here, but currently, you pay $ 19.95 for year of paid time. That's less than $2 a month. I think that's a fair price to pay for a place to hang out with aaalll your friends - without ads. (plus we all know that the dollar isn't actually worth anything any more. Now, if they asked to be paid in gold! Or gasoline! *g*)
Further advantage: Paying makes you a paying customer. Paying customers always have a better negotiating position than others.
Was the way they announced it stupid?
You bet it was. What else is new.
But I can understand them. If you were to come to lj today, would voluntarily choose the basic account or the sponsored plus account with more ads? None of us would ever choose more ads if they had a choice. But most of the accounts created on lj get abandoned right away or very soon. As a business decision, it's much more profitable to have these accounts created as plus accounts than to have them created as basic accounts that are never upgraded.
More plus accounts, more money. We will have to wait and see if more money turns into something good for us. Who knows, maybe they will finally hire a publicity person?
Conclusion: Good old LJ brings us yet another publicity disaster, somebody in a Russian subterrestran power center (think Absolute!Power) is leaning back with satisfaction at the additional traffic the wank brings his company, and anyone who isn't naive enough to think that lj is kept in existence only so that we have a place to hang out and talk about gay porn, cannot really blame them for it.
At least that's my opinion. Yours may differ. But only if you paid for it. ;-)