Heads-up: LJ functionality being removed

[tamaranth]

LJ are rolling out a change that, amongst other fabulous innovations, will remove the subject line from comments.

Translation of the original post (which is in Russian on a developer's journals) here.

Key concept: - comments no longer have Subject field and this is non-negotiable;

LJ have confirmed it on Twitter:

@greenwillow77 Yes, LJ will be removing the header field for comments in the next release.

My pennyworth: I use the subject line a lot, and rely on it when navigating posts with multiple nested comment threads. I cannot imagine how they thought this was a good idea. (Or why they thought it would be okay to implement without consulting user base, and inform said user base via such a ... wilfully obscure route.)

So! Time I resynced my Dreamwidth account, I think.

Comments

[fjm.livejournal.com]

Sounds like I may be out of here as well.

[muninnhuginn]

Oh dear.

[bohemiancoast.livejournal.com]

I have huge sympathy for LJ because they're being so seriously messed around by {nefarious people}. But at the same time, we can't all hang on forever. I am reminded of the process by which SF fans move pub... pub gets worse and worse, everyone talks about leaving, some people start to scout out new pubs, one day there's just a sudden mass exodus.

But recent LJ outages remind me again how Facebook *does not* provide a space where I can do what I do on LJ. Not only is it realname, and I'm pretty guarded when using my real name, but my Facebook is read by loads of acquaintances, relatives (including distant relatives), the odd person from work...

[lj_stowaway]

"I have huge sympathy for LJ because they're being so seriously messed around by {nefarious people}. But at the same time, we can't all hang on forever."

Yes, this.

[andrewducker]

Yup, this is why I have a DW account, as a number of people have taken to crossposting, and I wanted to be set up and ready to go if the migration happened in that direction.

I do wonder where the critical mass will end up.

[tamaranth.livejournal.com]

Not only is it realname, and I'm pretty guarded when using my real name, but my Facebook is read by loads of acquaintances, relatives (including distant relatives), the odd person from work...

Yes, exactly.
An unlocked post on LJ will reach a completely different (and more sympathetic) audience than an unlocked post on FB.

Also: there are many $myrealnames (as I discovered when prodding G+). There is only one tamaranth and it is meeeee.

[ladymoonray.livejournal.com]

Yes. I think I will actually sync my LJ accounts to DW this weekend.

[feorag.livejournal.com]

You might be one of the very few people who uses it, and that'll be why. Notice that of all the people who have who are mourning the loss of the feature, not one of them has used it.

it's really not just me

[tamaranth.livejournal.com]

Look at the original Russian post. Nearly a thousand comments - some even in English! - protesting and giving examples of how they use comment subjects. Charity auctions, for instance.

[darkamber.livejournal.com]

Oh, this is going to go over well in all the different fanfic and RPG communities on LJ...

The Comintern Speaks Out...

[hairyears.livejournal.com]

Some of the worst puns I have ever perpetrated have been in the comment header: I will miss it.

Time to look for archiving tools, I guess. I'm already crossposting from Dreamwidth by default.