[LINK] "instead of chasing Ello, why not push LJ?"

[rfmcdonald]

I'm planning on posting an extended look at Ello later this week. I'm on there and I find the site interesting, but I'll reserve judgement. Meanwhile fengi's post suggesting that Livejournal fills a niche is worth noting. Livejournal's ongoing efforts to reestablish itself in the non-Russian blogosphere might come to fruition. Or, they might not: as one ex-Livejournaler noted on Facebook when I shared the link, people left LJ for a reason.

It has the features ello testers and disgruntled Facebook users want now. After 15 years of experience, it has slowly learned from drama and errors. It survived the original dot bust and seems ready for the next one.

The free-to-paid membership model has provided ad-free, adult-friendly options for a decade plus, something earnest manifestos usually don't (see tumblr's broken promise).

So why deal with more inflated startup promises and fumbling? Say goodbye to Facebook and hello to Livejournal -- a customizable global social network that doesn't require real names and provides an easy, logical way to avoid ads. [Forgive me for the infomercial language.]

As a longtime user and occasionally harsh critic, I think LJ is flawed but less adversarial and predatory towards users than Facebook, Google and others. Yes, it has an "old meme" image and notorious past service dramas, but in the long term it's become a solid product.