I especially appreciated our silent user representatives.

I'm fond of the "big name" advisory board members who were completely silent as well.

Without sarcasm: thank you to Kyle for at least trying to make something out of this total joke.

I'm not sure why this board was created in the first place. But why not 'retire' it, considering it never did anything to begin with?

LiveJournal users aren't stupid and don't appreciate being treated as if they are. Many of us have been here for years and are very familiar with the beginnings of LJ. We'll continue to expect LiveJournal to HEAR our suggestions, HEAR our needs and RESPOND to us. That's simply good customer service, after all.

And many of us do PAY for this service, so it's reassonable to want to be heard.

That's all I have to add to what's already been said by very observant people...

expect? Wish, perhaps...

Translation: LiveJournal in English is dying so we don't give a shit.

On the bright side, they're announcing an end to sham elections.

well, thanks for that.

We could never have gotten where we are without them. We have outgrown the ability to rely upon a part-time board of volunteer advisors to make efficient business-critical decisions.

Did I seriously just see you say that while you consider that it was only through the board that you got to the point where you are, you think it can no longer be relied on to give useful advice? Is that really what you're saying?

I would consider carefully what you say.

Edited at 2010-06-23 10:56 pm (UTC)

While the sentences you're quoting in this instance are pretty much tact-pablum rather than actual information, neither are they intrinsically shocking or insulting. In general, a person or organization can take great benefit from a situation that they later outgrow. Like living in your parents house while growing up, or using a really kickass virtual server service until you need your own dedicated servers, or somebody getting emotionally stable enough to no longer need to go a therapist, or having a really great friend in high school that doesn't translate well into college.

I'm very glad kylecassidy was elected into this position, and very sad that the apparent response to having a competent, active, pro-user board member is to dismantle the board.

Thank you, Kyle.

We will continue to welcome input from all of our users and are committed to being as transparent and responsive as possible to our users' evolving needs and wishes.

As a paying member of LJ for years now, the ONLY people I've ever felt listened to and responded to has been Kyle, zarhooie, and azurelunatic - all of whom are volunteers. I hope THAT is the lesson you're taking from the LJ Advisory Board experience.

But, hey. If you're saying you welcome input and want to be responsive, let me take this opportunity to repeat the request I've made over and over and over:

Inform your user base of changes you're making before you make them.
We shouldn't have to hear things through the grapevine, or because someone catches a change in code, or because you make a statement to the press before you make a statement to your users.

(And yes, I'm a paid user, and have been for years.)

I heard the Knights of Malta will also be disbanding. Anybody else?

I hear tell the government of the Confederate States of America is considering calling it quits.

Only you could show this much mealy-mouthed contempt for your users.

Not a PayPal user, I see.

*ripsnort*

zing!

I love how they don't actually protect against seller fraud at all, that's my favorite part of PayPal.

You do need a board of directors with users on it. This is just silly. Really wrong.

I cannot believe this.

We have outgrown the ability to rely upon a part-time board of volunteer advisors to make efficient business-critical decisions.
Have you ever relied on them "to make efficient business-critical decisions"? I thought they existed to offer you users' perspectives, which you often seem unable to anticipate until you've announced a decision and felt the backlash. Perhaps the key is to listen more to the Advisory Board, before making "business-critical decisions", rather than simply ending the Board.

Oh.

That thing's still around? o.0

No.

At least, not any more.

(Well, okay, technically it will be until the end of the term, but, meh)