LJ is for . . .
There seems to be some confusion circulating among many users, so we wanted to take a moment to try to clear some things up.
All of us who work here at LJ and at Six Apart, the parent company of LiveJournal, believe that journals, blogs and online communities can truly enrich all our lives. We know that people use journals and blogs in different ways, and we're trying to support that by making the world's best blogging tools. Six Apart has already created the software of Movable Type and the hosted service TypePad, and they acquired LiveJournal in January 2005. Six Apart is also launching a new service called Vox, based on learning from all three of these blogging tools.
LJ & Vox
We'd like to clear up the relationship between Vox and LiveJournal. They are two separate services, and will remain so. LiveJournal users won't be forced into using Vox. You're welcome to visit Vox in its preview stage right now, but note that accounts are being opened up gradually until it's launched to the public this fall.
Some users are concerned that Six Apart's energy will be focused on Vox to the detriment of LJ, which isn't true. On the contrary, all of the teams here are communicating knowledge so we can share features and innovations. For instance, LJ is in the process of helping make it easy for users to post videos from YouTube and photos from Photobucket, which is an idea that started on Vox. We'll roll out those features in the coming weeks.
Another point of confusion came from some wording on the Six Apart website, which states that "LiveJournal has grown to be an amazing community of fiercely independent bloggers, primarily teenagers and twenty-somethings." We know the first part is true, but some people are questioning the second part. Though a few different sources confirm that the largest group of LJ users falls into the ages of around 18-24, a lot of LJ users feel that description just doesn't describe LJ's diverse community. We want you to know that we've heard your concerns, and now we're challenging you to help us make our statistics more accurate. The way you can do this is by following this meme that you might have already seen: Go to the profile page and specify your full date of birth, including your year of birth. If you don't want everyone to see how old you are, make sure the box that says "show your birthday to other users" is unchecked. The important thing is to get yourself into the database. Then tell your friends about it, and ask them to do it too.
Finally, we want to reiterate that LiveJournal is a place where you can be yourself. We welcome users of all ages, with all interests, and we know that LJ's unique and diverse community is what makes it special. All of us on the staff have made friends on LJ who are totally different from us, live in different countries, have different points of view, and we wouldn't have it any other way. Our intention as we make changes to the site is to make LJ a better place so our current users and new users will want to use it. Sometimes we'll make mistakes, but we'll try our best to fix them. It stings when y'all yell at us, but we love that you're passionate about how you feel. :)
So we mean it when we say it (and we will take our own advice): Be A Goat, Not A Sheep!
All of us who work here at LJ and at Six Apart, the parent company of LiveJournal, believe that journals, blogs and online communities can truly enrich all our lives. We know that people use journals and blogs in different ways, and we're trying to support that by making the world's best blogging tools. Six Apart has already created the software of Movable Type and the hosted service TypePad, and they acquired LiveJournal in January 2005. Six Apart is also launching a new service called Vox, based on learning from all three of these blogging tools.
LJ & Vox
We'd like to clear up the relationship between Vox and LiveJournal. They are two separate services, and will remain so. LiveJournal users won't be forced into using Vox. You're welcome to visit Vox in its preview stage right now, but note that accounts are being opened up gradually until it's launched to the public this fall.
Some users are concerned that Six Apart's energy will be focused on Vox to the detriment of LJ, which isn't true. On the contrary, all of the teams here are communicating knowledge so we can share features and innovations. For instance, LJ is in the process of helping make it easy for users to post videos from YouTube and photos from Photobucket, which is an idea that started on Vox. We'll roll out those features in the coming weeks.
Another point of confusion came from some wording on the Six Apart website, which states that "LiveJournal has grown to be an amazing community of fiercely independent bloggers, primarily teenagers and twenty-somethings." We know the first part is true, but some people are questioning the second part. Though a few different sources confirm that the largest group of LJ users falls into the ages of around 18-24, a lot of LJ users feel that description just doesn't describe LJ's diverse community. We want you to know that we've heard your concerns, and now we're challenging you to help us make our statistics more accurate. The way you can do this is by following this meme that you might have already seen: Go to the profile page and specify your full date of birth, including your year of birth. If you don't want everyone to see how old you are, make sure the box that says "show your birthday to other users" is unchecked. The important thing is to get yourself into the database. Then tell your friends about it, and ask them to do it too.
Finally, we want to reiterate that LiveJournal is a place where you can be yourself. We welcome users of all ages, with all interests, and we know that LJ's unique and diverse community is what makes it special. All of us on the staff have made friends on LJ who are totally different from us, live in different countries, have different points of view, and we wouldn't have it any other way. Our intention as we make changes to the site is to make LJ a better place so our current users and new users will want to use it. Sometimes we'll make mistakes, but we'll try our best to fix them. It stings when y'all yell at us, but we love that you're passionate about how you feel. :)
So we mean it when we say it (and we will take our own advice): Be A Goat, Not A Sheep!