blog ethics umm...

[2eclipse]

i really like lj. i enjoy using it. it is conveinent, links to MANY of my friends. however
this post has got me thinking about the ethics of supporting a business that engages in dishonest business practices. i am thinking of leaving and supporting some other blog.
any thoughts on the linked post?

Comments

[ashoe.livejournal.com]

If I learned nothing else in my stint in a trade association, it's that most businesses has dishonest practices in one way or another.

This to me means only that I will not BUY an LJ account, or allow them to advertise via my journal. I'll continue to use the bare-bones free service. If they demand money at some point, I'll have to re-examine the issue then.

:hugs;

~a

I've already decided to go

[boztopia.livejournal.com]

Over the next two months I'll be archiving my best posts and setting up a Wordpress-theme blog on an independent domain.

I DO have a paid account, and I'll be damned if they use my money for either shady dot-com glad-handing or supporting the censorship of journalism in any country, be it Russia, the U.S. , or Guam.

LiveJournal is no longer what it was, and the entity it's becoming is not one I want to support in any tangible way.

[rumpleteazaer.livejournal.com]

Here comes my foray into diplomacy. i would love to be more candid, but can't right now. here we go:

I firmly agree with the comments of beloved ashoe on the dealings of small not-for-profits. Giving jobs to ones friends or determining business needs based on relationships seems common practice in my experience. sometimes that is due to need (friends work cheap) but it tends to degrade into general business practice (I will do something financially stupid because I want you to like me and be my friend.).

As a former journalist, the potential chilling effect in Russia and globally to ANY journalist covering events in Russia is staggering. Reality dictates that no piece of information is truly safe once it is online. There is no true annonymity, merely degrees of difficulty.

personally, I treasure LiveJournal as a place where I can vent, keep connected with my dear friends across the county, and generally feel like I am having virtual tea with you all. but I am conscious that words and information placed here are still public and still can be used nefariously. The sale of this site just gives me one more reason to sensor some myself a bit more in the future.

[tyratae.livejournal.com]

since they don't get any money from me, i don't feel particularly invested (implicated?) in their business dealings. me, i just use their shiny toys for free to engage in my preferred ways of conducting my personal life. :)