• Mood: curious

This is ...spooky. (Brace yourselves. Ads on LJ?)

This hasn't hit news yet, but it has hit lj_biz. It's not exactly a done deal yet, but they're already coding for it. So now is the time to give feedback.


bradfitz a couple years ago: "OMGWTF NO ADS NO ADS NO ADS ADS BAD BAD BAD BAD BAD WRONG BAD!"
Users, friends, random strangers: "Um, chill, dude. Some people aren't the anti-ad Nazi you are."
bradfitz: "BUT I HATE ADS AND I NEVER WANT TO SEE THEM!!"
Users, friends, random strangers: *break out into wild babbling debate* "Dude. You're, like, the extreme end of the scale. Trust us."
bradfitz: "Really? Most people sort of tune out ads like I tune out other petty things that would annoy me if I really paid attention to them?"
Most People: "Yup. Plus we use things like AdBlock for the ones we can't ignore!"
bradfitz: "Well, holy crap. Plus, we are sort of running on fumes. But I personally still never want to see ads, ever!"
LJ Geeks: "I think we can do that."

bradfitz: *ahem* "OK, this is something that I had to say myself, instead of letting the people who are really good with words and PR say. We're getting towards broke. So. How 'bout a new ad-supported user level, with more features than free, but less than paid?" *disables comment e-mails*

Early Adopters: "What about the Early Adopters? (OMG FIRST COMMENT!!11!)"
Average LJ users: "OMG. You have got to be kidding us. Who replaced bradfitz with a pod person?"
Average Users of the Internet: "Guess it was kind of inevitable. Nice while it lasted, though." *coughwhorescough*

Paid Users: "At least we have more userpics features than the rest of you schmucks. And we don't have to look at your ads. Ha-ha. (OMG, please say we're still better than them. We are the elite! We have to be measurably better!)"
Free Users: "I'm too noble to whore myself out by putting ads in my journal, and too broke/young/cheapfrugal to get a paid account!"
Ad-Supported Users: "You don't understand. Nobody understands. When you're where we are, you've got to do what you've got to do to get extra userpics get extra features survive. ...Will that Christian bookstore whose ad banner I have now care if I post graphic pictures of tentacle rape in my journal? I know Ghastly kept losing sponsors... "
Random Ghastly Fan: "Um, he actually lost them over the 'Jesus having sex with his wife' comic, not the tentacle rape. (OMFG, what has become of LJ?)"
Permanent Users: "Still the prettiest!"

Paranoid Users: "Sellouts. This is just the first step to making EVERYBODY have to look at ads everywhere on the site! Next think it'll be pop-ups! And our firstborn!"
bradfitz: "This is the sound of me QUITTING LJ if that ever happens. Seriously. I still HATE ADS!!1!!"
Paranoid Users: "You quit LJ when you sold out to Six Apart. Traitor."
Cash-Strapped Users: "Um, can we put third-party ads in our journals now?"
LJ Abuse: "Third-party ads? Oh, fuck no. Brad, say it ain't so."
LJ Geeks: "Slow the hell down, guys. We're not even done designing all this yet. AIIIGH! FEATURE CREEP! FEATURE CREEP!"
Paranoid Users: "It's a slippery slope, and you're sliiiiiiiding!"
Average Users: "OK, explain this whole thing to us, with smaller words?"
ursamajor: "Look! A handy chart detailing who sees ads where!"

Random Trolls: *offensive images* "I love it. Way to go Braddy-boy!"
Average Users: "Why is it that LJ Abuse can banninate Evil Security Crackers and people who don't think they're breaking the rules but actually are, but can't kick this asshole the hell off the Internet?"
Random Trolls: "Ha ha you noticed me. I winz!"

New lj_ads staff: *braces for the comment storm and the mass defriending*
Support Volunteer: "Goat, green."
frank: "INCOMING!"
Support Volunteers: "Agghhhhh!"