Jason ([info]squeaky19) wrote in [info]vote_squeaky,
@ 2008-05-19 19:08:00
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Entry tags:advisory board election

My LiveJournal Advisory Board Platform
As all of you already here know, I am running for the User-Representative seat on the LiveJournal Advisory Board. We have been asked to answer a standard set of questions, which are below.

First of all before I get to the questions I want to be open about who I am. I run a popular website named InsaneJournal. It is based on the open source software that LiveJournal is built upon. I am very popular among the users of InsaneJournal for being open about the issues the site has had and about the places I intend to bring the site. I do admit that I have some selfish reasons for wanting to be on the board. I want the open source engine the site is built on to be better maintained and to bring the open source community back into developing for it. I see this having benefits for not only all of the sites based on the LiveJournal open source engine, but for LiveJournal itself.

1) What do you think is the value of LJ?
LiveJournal serves as a great place for individuals to express themselves and communicate with their friends. It makes it easy for everyone to be able to have a place on the internet without having to learn what is involved in hosting your own blog.

2) What changes would you like to see LJ make in the next year?
I would like to see LiveJournal become more transparent in the way it does business. LiveJournal needs to listen to its users when it comes to what features are desired.

3) Why do you want to be the elected representative?
I want to bring openness to the way thing are done at LiveJournal. I think my experience running a website in this manner will be invaluable to opening up LiveJournal.

4) What do you think are the community's greatest concerns?
I think communication is number one and solving the communication problem. Solving that will allow all of the other issues to fix themselves. If LiveJournal is able to open up a meaningful two way dialogue with its users, they will know what the users want and will be able to deliver it to them. The users will also feel more comfortable knowing what is going on and what will be going on in the future.

These questions answered. I want to open the post as a dialogue for questions any of you still have for me.

Also since this election is being done in instant-runoff fashion, I want to let everyone here know that I also support [info]rm as a candidate in this election.


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in before cat macros!
[info]tick_wonderdog
2008-05-20 12:44 am UTC (link)
as a long-time livejournaler, i'm behind you [info]squeaky19!

EDIT: First!

Edited at 2008-05-20 12:45 am UTC

(Reply to this)


[info]azurehart
2008-05-20 01:37 am UTC (link)
I have no questions Squeaky, I just wanted to let you know that I am glad you are running, and that I hope you do get elected User-Representative.

(Reply to this)


[info]slyfoot
2008-05-20 01:49 am UTC (link)
No real questions here, as I think you've summarized your platform pretty well.

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[info]chichiri_no_da
2008-05-20 01:59 am UTC (link)
So glad you're running! Good luck, Squeaky!!

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[info]davensjournal
2008-05-20 04:52 am UTC (link)
Well stated. Thank you.

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[info]doingsoso
2008-05-21 08:40 am UTC (link)
Yay Squeaky!

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[info]ladybahiya
2008-05-21 02:31 pm UTC (link)
I have no questions...you've answered most of the ones I had. Again, you have my support. :)

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[info]right
2008-05-22 02:05 pm UTC (link)
I have some questions.

You talk a lot about how LiveJournal needs to listen to its users and become more transparent. My question is, in what way? Specifically, what does LiveJournal need to become more transparent about, and in which areas are they not listening to their users? What steps would you, as an advisory board member, take to create change in these areas?

(Reply to this) (Thread)

[info]squeaky19
2008-05-22 02:50 pm UTC (link)
First of all I feel that LiveJournal needs to let it's users know why they are making the decisions they are making, and let the users know in advance of pending changes to the site.

Also I feel that there needs to be a better way for the users to suggest and then possibly vote on new features on the site. It seems the SUP is only listening to the Cyrillic users and is ignoring the vastly larger English base of the site.

I would suggest to them to implement a feedback loop where new ideas were communicated to the community as a whole and reactions were gauged, even if this is done in a focus group fashion with a statistical subset of users.

Obviously being a member of a corporate advisory board, my power will be limited to making suggestions, but these are some of the suggestions that I would make.

(Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)
(no subject) - [info]right, 2008-05-22 03:28 pm UTC

[info]fangedsekhmet
2008-05-22 10:46 pm UTC (link)
I vote for thee!

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[info]etherealshores
2008-05-22 11:15 pm UTC (link)
You run IJ so well Squeaky, and I hope you win - you're very deserving of it.

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[info]cercenightshade
2008-05-22 11:50 pm UTC (link)
Awesome - Hope you win, Squeaky! I have an IJ account myself, and I have to say you run things so well there. (I'll be getting a paid account w/IJ here soon :)

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[info]agentbethbonsai
2008-05-23 12:40 am UTC (link)
I voted for Squeaky!

GO SQUEAKY!

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[info]ladyariana2094
2008-05-23 12:50 am UTC (link)
You're getting my vote, Squeaky! I know that you're precise with your work and let everyone know when things are down and when they'll be running again.

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[info]kayfkayluvsnick
2008-05-23 02:47 am UTC (link)
mine too

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[info]sarahj2222
2008-05-23 03:14 am UTC (link)
I support you. Hope you get it. Sarah

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[info]tigersilver
2008-05-23 03:21 am UTC (link)
This makes me wish I could vote for more than one person - IJ is the place to flee to if LJ gets too screwed up to use. Thank you for creating it, BTW. I too feel that LJ could definitely benefit from transparent communication - we are too often shocked silly by what the powers that be come up with next. A thoughtful and intelligent voice would be welcome and do much for the rampant paranoia. But, I must ask: is this open source improvement a vehicle to tie IJ and LJ together somehow? I think of IJ as the wilder, freer version - the groovy thing that LJ used to be. But LJ has some good user-friendly stuff going on still, which is why I'm here. IJ is for when I'm feeling snarky about LJ's motives. I'll decamp there when LJs chased all of my flist off. By improving the open source, your goal, will you ending up not only making life easier here, but also mix IJ and LJ in some deeper fashion that may change both? I would rather deal with certain idiocies than think that either LJ or IJ will become clones of each other. IJ does not need to be a LJ-look-alike, so I hope this is a one-way street and I'll not lose my IJ fortress to retreat to. There are already many LJers in IJ jonesing for LJish things, you know. I believe that, improvements of code aside, that the two Js should not be allied. The personalities of the comms are too different for that. If there is any intent to comingle, please make that clear.
Your platform is very clear and I appreciate greatly your definite expertise. I am still thinking, but you are definitely one of the two or three left on my list.

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[info]dharma_slut
2008-05-23 05:20 am UTC (link)
How much time and effort do you think the advisory position will take up?
Would you worry that it might eat into the time you spend tending to IJ?

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[info]squeaky19
2008-05-23 12:15 pm UTC (link)
The advisory committee involved a 1 time a year trip to Istanbul for a face to face and quarterly confrence calls. So, timewise it is very minimal.

(Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)
???? - [info]silkandstalking, 2008-05-23 05:30 pm UTC
Re: ???? - [info]squeaky19, 2008-05-23 05:34 pm UTC
(no subject) - [info]dharma_slut, 2008-05-23 05:41 pm UTC
(no subject) - [info]squeaky19, 2008-05-23 05:51 pm UTC

[info]potatogirl
2008-05-23 07:06 am UTC (link)
you are amazing. good luck!!

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[info]jesurgislac
2008-05-23 07:53 am UTC (link)
LJ needs to finally resolve the free speech issues that began with Strikeout and Boldthrough. While as a private corporation LJ has the right to decide what type of content it will and won't allow, my argument is for the broadest range of speech permissible under the laws of California (where LJ is incorporated). This level of free speech should be the right of all LJ users, regardless of location or topic. Political speech needs to be protected. Religious speech needs to be protected. Creative speech needs to be protected. If it's legal speech it should be permissible on LJ.

Since May 2006 - the rules got changed in a 1984-like mode in late April 2006 - anyone whose default icon depicts a baby at breast is at risk of being suspended from Livejournal.

SixApart offered as a defense that they don't believe babies should be breastfed in public, and that in any case that kind of enforcement is something that LJ Abuse do and they don't try to nitpick LJ Abuse's decisions. (LJ Abuse say that the new owners have made no change in the old rules.)

For anyone following the anti-breastfeeding campaign by SixApart, their treatment of Livejournal users in 2007 and 2008 came a reprise: they lied, they were disrespectful, they made clear that their customer base was their advertisers and Livejournal members were product for sale, even Permanent or Paid accounts.

I doubt that this much-touted advisory board will have any power to do anything, but it would be nice to know that members elected will use whatever voice they have to make a thorough stink about the actions by Livejournal's owners - going back to their first cleansing of Livejournal, the purging of icons deemed "obscene" because they depicted a baby at breast.

Is this something you'll do?

(Reply to this) (Thread)

[info]renarde
2008-05-23 10:12 am UTC (link)
Fabulous question - I look forward to reading Squeaky's response.

(Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)
(no subject) - [info]squeaky19, 2008-05-23 12:30 pm UTC
(no subject) - [info]jesurgislac, 2008-05-23 03:31 pm UTC
ha. - [info]silkandstalking, 2008-05-23 05:39 pm UTC
(no subject) - [info]squeaky19, 2008-05-23 12:30 pm UTC
(no subject) - [info]jesurgislac, 2008-05-23 03:28 pm UTC
(no subject) - [info]squeaky19, 2008-05-23 04:51 pm UTC
(no subject) - [info]jesurgislac, 2008-05-23 04:56 pm UTC
(no subject) - [info]squeaky19, 2008-05-23 05:03 pm UTC
You are looking for a hero. - [info]silkandstalking, 2008-05-23 05:40 pm UTC
You have a limited idea of what constitutes heroism - [info]jesurgislac, 2008-05-24 12:59 am UTC
Re: You have a limited idea of what constitutes heroism - [info]lost_cosmos, 2008-05-25 06:21 pm UTC
Re: You have a limited idea of what constitutes heroism - [info]jesurgislac, 2008-05-25 06:34 pm UTC
Re: You have a limited idea of what constitutes heroism - [info]lost_cosmos, 2008-05-25 09:27 pm UTC
Re: You have a limited idea of what constitutes heroism - [info]jesurgislac, 2008-05-25 11:24 pm UTC
Re: You have a limited idea of what constitutes heroism - [info]lost_cosmos, 2008-05-26 01:37 am UTC
Re: You have a limited idea of what constitutes heroism - [info]jesurgislac, 2008-05-26 08:43 am UTC
Re: You have a limited idea of what constitutes heroism - [info]lost_cosmos, 2008-05-26 09:01 pm UTC
Re: You have a limited idea of what constitutes heroism - [info]jesurgislac, 2008-05-27 06:55 am UTC

[info]snapetoy
2008-05-23 08:50 am UTC (link)
Voted! Your communication skills make IJ fabulous, Squeaky and if you can bring some of that attitude to LJ, it'll be a better place.

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[info]alemaraa
2008-05-23 08:54 am UTC (link)
I vote Squeaky.

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[info]huojin
2008-05-23 09:48 am UTC (link)
I vote Squeaky!

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[info]papananook
2008-05-23 01:20 pm UTC (link)
This may seem like an odd question but bear with me..My son works for Sourceforge, an open source provider and he is dedicated to open source internet. Is this an integral part of your work? I admit I don't really understand it and he saeems too busy to really explain it with the Ol' man. Just a short answer would be cool. thanks!

(Reply to this) (Thread)

[info]squeaky19
2008-05-23 01:22 pm UTC (link)
Right now it isn't, but we are looking into something that we might use Sourceforge for in the future.

(Reply to this) (Parent)

[info]alyxreese
2008-05-24 01:24 am UTC (link)
I vote for Squeaky19

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[info]airolf
2008-05-24 04:37 am UTC (link)
You got my vote! You are doing great work on IJ.

(Reply to this)

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