LJ Writers Union?

So there are calls for a strike starting today at 6pm MDT. The first one I read was in I read the geeks community. More informative that what is (apparently) the originating post by beckyzoole since it has example timezones and all. Will this change anything? I do not know. Do I support it? I like the idea but I would like to hear out some contrary points of view. If I do this it will take me right up to Karval Kon so unless I remember to voice post I won't be back until Sunday.

Additional question: does LJ need a Writers Union, Local 204.9.177.18?

LJ Like Cable Companies

I don't have cable television. I am unwilling to pay for television with commercials. I would rather wait and buy my television later without commercials. If there were some way to get just HBO by itself I might consider that, but that is a discussion for another day.

LJ is a business like any other business it has to make money. The thing is that unlike a great many other businesses it makes money by its customers generating content that interests other customers. This is not news. LJ is a written predecessor to YouTube where (in theory) the people watching the content produce the content. Though not everyone does produce content. The difference being that YouTube is paid for by advertisements and always has been. For a long time LJ was paid for by users who wanted more or just wanted to support the company. A sort of for-profit PBS model.

They are changing their model and I dislike this about as much as if I turned on PBS to find that they were now putting advertisements on for people who do not pay up. Perhaps more, because I'm one of the people doing the writing that keeps people around to keep them in business AND a customer who paid for an account. Even though I won't get served ads I find it irksome that they're doing so for new people who read my journal, as unimportant as it is. Worse, they handled the announcement of this change like we are children who cannot understand. Sure there would have been hand wringing and grumbling no matter what, after all this is a change to the way things were and that always provokes complaint and comment, but the announcement was made in a way that made me think of large corporations pissing down people's back and telling them that it is rain. We're not stupid, we can understand that the company needs to make a profit, just say so instead of hiding behind double talk of having three different kinds of accounts being too confusing to new users.

This is not the end of the world. This is a minor thing. But I'm still upset and I do not want to be. I want to be happy and enthusiastic about LJ and recommending it to everyone I know.

And the worst part is that the move probably won't make LJ profitable. Most new users already pick the ad supported accounts. Hate to say it, but LJ may be doomed for purely business reasons. You keep on unnecessarily upsetting your paying customers and pretty soon you won't have enough to keep the lights on.