The LiveJournal Advisory Board election is underway. It’s really just started… but I think most of my readers will agree… the initial figures are not merely disturbing… they are very disappointing.
I’m going to make some comments that in an election are probably damned inappropriate. They could seriously affect my chances. But then, what is LiveJournal if not a blog that affords social networking over shared topics of interest.
The voting has really just started… but I think most of my readers will agree… the initial figures are not merely disturbing… they are very disappointing. I’m not talking about my electability. I feel competent for the job. I feel there are other candidates just as competent.
What I shouldn’t comment on (but will) is the number of strongly supported candidates who really aren’t working to add any value to what this position is for.
LiveJournal has become (to some) a rather poor joke. It is the trappings of the depressed teenager who wishes to unload the confusion and (dare I say it? Dare! Dare!) drama of their lives in an exhibitionistic manner to the world at large. Is this untrue? No. Is it the only truth? No.
Sadly, many users are not in this class. If you look at the statistics the bulk of our users (who actually put in a birthdate) are between 20 and 30. Interestingly the number of under 18 users is almost identical to the number of users in their 30s.
So, why does the user base treat this election like a joke? Why is it a game? One could suppose that the company knows the user base as a whole better than the user base wishes to admit. A user base that is comprised of thousands of small independent voices that are too apathetic to care. One that is more interested in the shiny new meme, than caring about the service they play on. People want to go on complaining about frivolities rather than seeing the tool survive and climb to the next level.
The voting has made this clear. Currently Jameth carries 1622 votes. This is over 18% of the votes cast. This is frankly shameful. And I don’t think it’s shameful because Jameth is making the election into a popularity contest about having fun. There are loads of people that I personally don’t think really care about helping the users to have the best voice they can as a whole.
What makes me feel horrible is that in the first 24 hours of voting there have been (by those numbers) just shy of 9,000 votes. Go check that stats page again. That is barely 1% of all the 19 year olds. And it’s barely .02% of the active users. Let me spell that number out for you. .02%, not 2%, Point zero-two percent. That means jameth is likely to win because only 2 of every 10000 users cared. To put this in perspective… The US Election gets a better turn out.
I made it very clear in all my posts. Don’t just vote. Read what people are hoping to do in the position. Don’t just vote. Make it clear to everyone who reads your journal how you feel about having your voice heard on the Advisory Board by the Company. Don’t just vote. Make sure everyone who uses LiveJournal votes.
Sure, I want to be that voice for people. But I’m more than happy to see someone like rm do that as well as her convictions and platform are admirable.
But if we as LiveJournal users let this process be turned into a joke… Then the inevitable laugh is on us. The company will very easily learn that the users really don’t need a voice. And then… you can simply accept what happens to the LiveJournal as a service. Because… your voice won’t matter.
I don’t want to politic. I don’t want to slam candidates. (Well, no.. there are one or two I really want to slam. I mean… one person was under 20 and planning to travel to Istanbul from Canada in her 8th month of Pregnancy….. Don’t get me started)…
It’s not my job to say who is good or bad in the position. It’s my job to hear the voice of the end user and act on it. And right now the end users are ‘upset’ because more people are playing a game than trying to find a good representative.
For the sake of everything you hold dear. When someone puts the reigns to your future in your hands… pick them up and ride the horse.
It’s your job to not merely vote, but to get others to vote, and get others to get others to get others to….
To repeat:
My platform is here.
The most important thing you can do besides vote is to pass this along and make sure that everyone else passes it along.
Consider this the most important Meme LJ has ever had.
——-
No snappy pictures, no sexual innuendo. No joking ribbing along with groups I don’t participate in.
I’m a LiveJournal user. And I intend to continue to be one.
« Live Journal Advisory Board Elections today for a week Neither an attempt at drama nor pathos »
Hmm..
I’ve remained rather silent through all of this for varying reasons which we can discuss at a later time.
But this particular post illicits a response from me. And at the risk of creating drama, I’d like to share it: Aren’t you being a little melodramatic?
By in large, LJ IS a toy and it is treated as such. And given the age group of the majority of the users, it comes as no surprise to me whatsoever the results that you’re reporting, both in the lack of votes and in the “quality” of the voting that is taking place.
For me, LJ is a service that I pay for. My votes for LJ come in the form of the money I pay for it. And much like with any other service, if I become unhappy with it, I can take my monetary vote to someone else who will better provide me with what I want. Or if I really am feeling ambitious, I can go Brad’s route and build my own damn community.
Is it nice that LJ is offering the ability for its users to have a voice? Certainly. Does it mean that this fact alone changes how I will use LJ now or in the future? No.
This isn’t a democracy. It’s a company making money by offering us and advertising folks a service. It’s their job to figure out what we like and need, and cater to it within the realm of their business model and their ability to satisfy the most paying users. They don’t stand to make much money if nobody is using the service. And if users are truly unhappy about it, they’ll leave.
I certainly have no reservations knowing that I would.
So while I admire your enthusiasm and concern, I would say that perhaps it would be good to better learn who the users of Livejournal truly are, what they want, why they use it, and then figure out why people don’t find themselves concerned with this election. Otherwise all of this process has no meaning anyways.
I agree with you 100%! We need to have candidates that will do their best for LJ, not folks like jameth and others who seem to treat this more as a joke. This is especially important as we only get one representative.
I’ve done my part. Go ye and do yours.
just wanted to let you know that I voted. thanks for the reminder.
i voted for you
and I would have put you as my second and third choice as well, if it were allowed!:)
Re: i voted for you
Do you understand how tiered voting systems work?
Re: i voted for you
I do understand how tiered voting systems work, but with all due respect, you obviously don’t know that a smiley face at the end of a sentence indicates that I was joking.
Let me illustrate…
I voted for you
and I would have put you as my second and third choice as well, if it were allowed!:)
the second half of this statement is a joke. I did vote for Lord Andrei, and I read over the other candidates platforms, and voted accordingly.
How come no one has a sense of humor anymore?:( Oh well…
It is a sad day when one must acknowledge the truth of this.
“and I would have put you as my second and third choice as well, if it were allowed!:)”
Actually there is a rumored glitch that may be allowing some candidates (who need not be named) to promote doing just that. Sadly, I agree with much of what you are saying and I feel much of the same way. You’re one of my three choices, though ostensibly I’m a vocal backer of.
What is worse is that some allegations not even 48 hours into this are already accusations of fraud against no less than two candidates. There are several statistical arguments and voter election pattern arguments I could make with them, but I don’t feel like feeding the trolls right now.
It depresses me.
maybe we should all swing our votes to at the last minute.
Unfortunately that won’t work, as much as I’d love it to. The way I understand the system is that once you’ve voted your three choices you’re stuck with them, and as each voter block is eliminated your vote shifts no more than 3 times. Thus if you voted for Lord Andrei as #1, and he is the lowest vote getter, your vote for #1 would move to your number #2 as they removed his name from the list. This continues with each lowest voted #1 block being eliminated. Once all three of yours are eliminated it looks like your vote will not matter, and that disturbs me a great deal.
I also don’t think we can fairly change the rules in mid race and say that those running can withdraw and throw all of their votes behind a given candidate. While they may have voted for you, I’d know I’ve be very sore if RM chose to throw her weight behind someone else moving my vote to someone I didn’t agree with.
No, in the end we must hope for the best and pray that certain people never crest 51% overall, nor be the top overall #1 vote getter in the first round.
wandering by on waves of election-info surfing
The way I understand the system is that once you’ve voted your three choices you’re stuck with them
Not true, actually. If you go to the poll, then click back to the “fill out poll” tab, you can update and alter your vote. Though once voting closes, it does work like that, and yeah, once your picks are eliminated, your vote no longer counts. 🙁
I also don’t think that was arguing that the candidates should withdraw and throw their massed votes toward someone else, but that the voters could change their picks at the last minute, if they chose.
Actually, you can change your vote at any point before the end of the election period. No one’s eliminated from the reckoning until it’s over.
OMG: The poll started (early) on the 19th. It’s supposed to run until the 29th. Why haven’t more people voted?
Well, I suspect that those of us that want to do more than just the popularity contest thing are trying to find time to read the posts in addition to this thing that we call work which occupies much of our day (not to mention this little thing called a life outside of work and LJ)
We’ll get there. Let us find the time.
This is day two, right? And it goes on for a week? I think it might be a bit early to call.
I happened to find your journal because I got an email today saying it was election time, and I’m going through each candidate’s journal and reading his or her platform. Just because I’ve been too busy at work the last couple of days to sit on my friends list waiting for the post announcing the election to appear doesn’t mean I (and plenty of others) don’t care about LiveJournal.
Give it the weekend. Those 20-30 year olds you mentioned have jobs and college and kids to worry about. They have other things going on in their lives. But they’ll get around to it. I am. I just might not get it in tonight.
Hey…as of right now, has the lead at 20.1% of the vote.
This gives me much hope.
How do I get the code to post that supports you?
Check out my previous posting
It is posted at this link
The biggest problem with Jameth isn’t that he’s playing it like a popularity contest, it’s his former (?) activities with ljdrama and other entities and users that not only don’t line up with any possible goals of LJ, but actively work against it.
The guy’s been banned several times. Shouldn’t that have been part of the criteria: no bannings? That’s like letting a felon run for political office.
Oh, and it DID let me vote for you for all three. Nobody QA’s anything anymore.
thanks much
nice work, bro
well done
nice work, dude