Livejournal has a long history of mass departures. Some have been momentary blips. Others were a series of cuts that helped the long form of social media bleed out.
Throughout all of them, my rule was always the same. I'd listen to the people leaving and to those staying. Most importantly, I'd listen to the people who were actually impacted.
Because if there is one thing that a site that flourished with anonymous content is known for, it's the ability to make a self righteous, and dramatic exit. And let's not kid ourselves, there have definitely been some over the years. Of course, there were also some people walking away who really hadn't done much with the site in years and were just looking for an excuse for why they were reducing the number of characters in their interactions with the world.
There have been a lot more cases though where good people just decided "No" and walked away. I've always respected that decision, but in every case, there were more voices saying "please stay and fight for this place." So I did.
One of those major tipping points was when the company was purchased by a Russian company. There were worries about "what might happen?"... and then again those voices came when the servers moved. But, the counter argument always brought up, "Why was it OK for non-Americans to trust US servers and laws, and it wasn't OK for Americans to have to do the same?"
In the current global situation, it's easy to forget that it wasn't that long ago that Russia was seen as a changing culture and a potential force for good.
The war crimes being committed at the direction of Vladimir Putin are absolutely horrifying to anyone with the ability to comprehend the world around us. Even then though, there were enough voices who wanted us to stay and fight, to be that place where people could come together.
That changed when I heard that people within Russia were not able to access the non-Russian parts of this site. Paid accounts started being directed to pay in rubles, which go to the owners, who are a bank with direct ties to Putin's inner circle.
It was basically everything that people had been worried about for years, coming together in a "We told you so."
A few weeks back, someone I admire a great deal sent a simple message "It's morally indefensible to keep using LJ"
Livejournal is our home, and that sort of thing is worth fighting for... but you also have to have the sense to look around and cut your losses.
I was hoping to avoid this. I was hoping that the world could make sense again and we would, once again be able to enjoy this space. If we just held on for a little longer... but I've held this decision off for too long.
3 STRIKES IS CONTINUING - on Dreamwidth. I'm not wild about that site. I think it's a clearly inferior version. But at their worst, they still aren't directly funding atrocities.
What this means for this week - I'll answer that in a post over there.
Your decision is your decision, and I respect you doing whatever you feel comfortable. But FOR ME, and thus for Idol, it's morally indefensible to keep using LJ.
I googled "saying goodbye" in Russian, and one of the first sites offered a variety of options. I've spent some time considering what one to use, before settling on Прощай.
"You can only say it when it will be a really long time until you see the other person again, or if you’re not sure if you ever will see each other again. It’s a very heavy word, just like the English ‘farewell’, so be sure to only use it in the appropriate situations. "
I won't lie, there's a big part of me that also wants to say "До скорого" which is "Just like you would in English after saying goodbye to a good friend who you won’t see again for a long time, but wish you would."
The world is too much of an unpredictable place to ever completely close a door. But for now, I just can't justify staying here.
I hope to see you all over at
https://therealljidol.dreamwidth.org/ for the rest of LJ Idol: 3 Strikes.
