Livejournal was inwented by Russians!

Is it wrong that I keep slipping into a Chekovian accent each time I hear about this LJ/SUP acquisition?

My take, for what it's worth:

First reactions was: CHANGE BAD OMG, more for it seeming to come out of the blue (at least for ME, no matter it has apparently been in the works for a long time). My second reaction was still more negative than not, but a bit more tempered. This blog entry is useful in seeing how the different blogging sites/blogging companies stand in comparison to each other globally. The final graph shows 6A's popularity in Russia.

It makes perfect sense for a Russian company to want to buy LiveJournal, if it's that popular in Russia.(Friendster's popular in south-east Aisa? Who knew!)

The question is of course how will this affect me, and my friends, and my social interactions with all of you, all the people I love, the world, etc etc. Fandom lives on Livejournal, no matter the slow siphoning away to other LJ platform sites. I was amused by some of the comments on the LJ news comm that were all "Can't be worse than 6A!". heh. Of course it can, though. Or it can be better. Or the same.

I read the Wired article, which was interesting (and also a year old). I don't have any more information on SUP to come to any kind of conclusion about SUP's motivation, if it's purely a good business venture for them (which it is, no doubt) or some nefarious politico badness. If this were an episode of Alias or 24 we would know the answer! lol.

The company being Russian isn't a reason to bail, though. Russian companies have just as much right to play in the global market as any company anywhere; a company doing bad things to free speech either here or in Russia or anywhere is absolutely a reason to not give them any money, not to mention pulling up stakes and going elsewhere, but that stands for 6A just as much as for SUP, or our own dear government.

I'm not particularly sanguine about this acquisition, mostly because SUP is more an unknown entity than 6A was, and I have no more faith in SUP than any large company with money as it's goal. And it's hard to trust a company that's already been tagged as iffy and coming from a region with a reputation for corruption. But all in all I'm not going to jump ship just yet. However, I'm inclined to follow the herd, so, if my friends leave, then probably so will I eventually.

Incidentally, none of us want to hear it, but the internet is no longer free unspoiled territory -- it's a multi-gazillion dollar industry. It's less and less a good home for fandom. I know the OTW is working toward a goal in that regards, and I think all of us should seriously consider backing such a venture up. It's the way of the future.

This has actually motivated me to back up my journal, finally.

Livejournal was inwented by Russians!

Is it wrong that I keep slipping into a Chekovian accent each time I hear about this LJ/SUP acquisition?

My take, for what it's worth:

First reactions was: CHANGE BAD OMG, more for it seeming to come out of the blue (at least for ME, no matter it has apparently been in the works for a long time). My second reaction was still more negative than not, but a bit more tempered. This blog entry is useful in seeing how the different blogging sites/blogging companies stand in comparison to each other globally. The final graph shows 6A's popularity in Russia.

It makes perfect sense for a Russian company to want to buy LiveJournal, if it's that popular in Russia.(Friendster's popular in south-east Aisa? Who knew!)

The question is of course how will this affect me, and my friends, and my social interactions with all of you, all the people I love, the world, etc etc. Fandom lives on Livejournal, no matter the slow siphoning away to other LJ platform sites. I was amused by some of the comments on the LJ news comm that were all "Can't be worse than 6A!". heh. Of course it can, though. Or it can be better. Or the same.

I read the Wired article, which was interesting (and also a year old). I don't have any more information on SUP to come to any kind of conclusion about SUP's motivation, if it's purely a good business venture for them (which it is, no doubt) or some nefarious politico badness. If this were an episode of Alias or 24 we would know the answer! lol.

The company being Russian isn't a reason to bail, though. Russian companies have just as much right to play in the global market as any company anywhere; a company doing bad things to free speech either here or in Russia or anywhere is absolutely a reason to not give them any money, not to mention pulling up stakes and going elsewhere, but that stands for 6A just as much as for SUP, or our own dear government.

I'm not particularly sanguine about this acquisition, mostly because SUP is more an unknown entity than 6A was, and I have no more faith in SUP than any large company with money as it's goal. And it's hard to trust a company that's already been tagged as iffy and coming from a region with a reputation for corruption. But all in all I'm not going to jump ship just yet. However, I'm inclined to follow the herd, so, if my friends leave, then probably so will I eventually.

Incidentally, none of us want to hear it, but the internet is no longer free unspoiled territory -- it's a multi-gazillion dollar industry. It's less and less a good home for fandom. I know the OTW is working toward a goal in that regards, and I think all of us should seriously consider backing such a venture up. It's the way of the future.

This has actually motivated me to back up my journal, finally.