(no subject)

[minervasolo]

In addition to the removla of basic account, SUP have pulled another unannounced fast one: the removal of certain interests from the 'most popular' list, despite the number of users who have them listed.

The interests that, no matter how many people add them to their interests, won't appear on the most popular list include:

sex
girls
boys
fanfiction
yaoi
hardcore
porn
bondage
bisexuality
faeries
depression
pain

I can vaguely understand removing the non family friendly (and non corporate friendly) interests, but the last four really bother me.

(Also, list of everything LJs fucked up since April 05).

Comments

[87-degrees.livejournal.com]

The depression one is stupid. Loads of people who are depressed can't talk about it to be they know but find it helps to their feelings with complete strangers online. Depression support groups and communities will list depression as an interest. So will people who talk about depression on their lj.

It's playing up the stereotype, but if thousands of people rant on lj because they're depressed about stuff, depression should get into the most popular interest list.

And faeries. So, if you like four-inch high creatures with wings or mishchievous creatures who steal children, you're not supposed to say so?

[minervasolo.livejournal.com]

Faeries vageuly fits with the homophobic vibe of the whole thing, but I'd have thought that (a) fairies would be the chosen spelling and (b) it's not going to be a word used by pro-homosexual communities. Actually checking out the faeries list does come up with mainly pagan art and cute clothing links, rather than anything to do with sexuality.

[enyay.livejournal.com]

Incidentally, try logging out and reading your journal, or logging out and reading one of your friends' friends-pages. You get an automatic "You are about to view content that may not be appropriate for minors." lj-cut, since your journal is apparently marked 14+ only.

[minervasolo.livejournal.com]

I did that myself; I got bored while I was taking myself off the 'explore' function (any public post may randomly appear on the explore page under a heading that usually has nothing to do with it), and figured I may as well cover my arse a little further. The age rating thing and the flags never bothered me, since LJ was only providing tools that did what most people do for themselves anyway (and are as easy to get around as just writing 'this isn't suitable for kids' at the top of a post). I never quite got the sheer volume of outrage over LJ doing a bit of arse-covering after all the pervert justice stuff.

[rhube.livejournal.com]

Holy shit. This bothers me WAY more than the removal of basic accounts. I mean, I object to all of it (apart from anything else, they've immediately cast a much more heavy empahsis on the more sinister (and actually less likely) uses for 'girls' and 'boys') - but those last four... that's insulting, damaging, and borders on encouraging/outright supporting prejudice.

[prolixe.livejournal.com]

I am soooo flaming mad. That list is absolutely ridiculous!

1. not all fanfiction is sexual.
2. hardcore is a style of punk music (Black Flag, The Comes) and metal (Every Time I Die, From Autumn to Ashes).
3. what the fuck is wrong with bisexuality?! Am I supposed to hide my sexual preference because I'm not straight or homosexual? WHAT THE HELL. Who are you LJ Gods to tell me what sexual preferences are OK?
4. yeah, faeries spelled that way indicate the tiny magical creatures with wings. I'm sure about 9 out of 10 people ages 13-25 have that listed as an interest... but what's negative about it? 'fairies' is the spelling for the homosexual slur.
5. I can actually semi-understand the motivation behind taking off depression and pain simply because so many suicidal kids and/or those with potential to mimic Columbine list those keywords.. and LJ is all about covering its ass legally right now. But as someone above me pointed out, those are valid keywords used by support groups, medical journals, and people just needing to reach out to those who understand.