Neuk Het Systeem. Translation: I apologize for this lenghty uncut post

[beelikej]

Postspam the sixth. Yes, I am enjoying my long weekend, why do you ask?

I noticed a banner scrolling on top of my TV-screen on BBC 2: the cable company is going to change the frequency this week. Guess when they will do this. Go on, guess when I will have to fiddle with my TV to make sure I don't loose BBC 2. ... ... ... YES, you guessed right: this Wednesday, TORCHWOODWEDNESDAY! Please send me good vibes so I don't fuck up, I don't want to miss my weekly dose of Torchwoodgoodness.

Another decision from other PTB that makes me frown: are you aware new posts are going to be on the front-page of the new LJ-feature Explore LJ? That explains why I suddenly had two total strangers commenting to my post about Ian Tracey. I'm happy they were nice people.
Now, don't get me wrong, I am totally aware this journal is public and anyone can walk right in. I don't mind, I'm not a people person, but I am fascinated by the dynamics and consider this my experimental playground. But if I hadn't accidentally checked my 'Inbox' before marking all the messages 'read', I wouldn't even have known about this new feature. I can turn off this automatically inclusion on Explore, but how could I have done that if I wasn't aware of its existence?

You would think LJ had learned from previous responses by its users.

Don't force people to use new features, no matter how funky you think they are: OPT-IN is prefered to OPT-OUT.

Tell people BEFORE you implement new features

Ask paying customers to TRY new features

(The whole Inbox is another thing I would like to be able to turn off, it seems a bit redundant, seeing as I already have all my comments mailed to me. That's why I don't even read the messages there. I bet you can attack me on this logic, I need this to be aware of the news, right?)

In case you missed it and don't know what I'm talking about: check the news.

I'm going to leave my settings as they are for now, but I was wondering about how exactly the posts are "analyzed electronically and then placed into the areas where they best fit". I can see how my bookposts would end up in 'Culture', but not everything I post fits neatly into either Culture, Entertainment, Life, Music, News & Politics and Technology.

Also, despite my occasional use of harsh language and posts about 'sensitive' subjects, I chose not to friends-only my journal or put an adult lock on it, since censorship is something I don't need to deal with in my country (hello world!). Doesn't this feature invite people who think they might be 'protected' against certain 'filthy' posts to be confronted with stuff they can't handle?

I'm tired of thinking about this. If you feel the need to comment, feel free to do so. Next post will be a music meme and might contain inappropriate language. You have been warned;)

Comments

[explorer0713.livejournal.com]

I didn't know about that new feature until about 30 seconds ago reading your post.

I came to you via a google alert I set up with the search term "Ian Tracey". The same way I came to this post.

I hope TIIC let us freebie customers opt-out.

Ciao! And feel the Ian!Love, dammit!(grins)

[beelikej.livejournal.com]

Ah, okay, thanks for explaining. I was pleasantly surprised by the attention:) Anyone can opt-out, it says how in the news-corner.

I could stare at that icon for hours, le sigh.

[explorer0713.livejournal.com]

*thinking* thinking*

*Should I reveal how much of an IanGeek I truly am?*

*What the heck. (http://explorer0713.livejournal.com/12929.html#cutid1)

Scroll down to the next to last item.

[beelikej.livejournal.com]

*follows linkie*

[tanisafan.livejournal.com]

All I can think of is the post my f-lister prehistoric_sea posted on this subject, which I have to agree with in full. These categories? Have absolutely fuck all to do with the interests that appear on my flist on a daily basis.

I don't think this'll affect me at all because my journal is locked, and if my posts show up, I will leave LJ so fast it'll make their head spin :P. But still, the categories I would divide my flist's posts in are probably:

Torchwood flailing
Man, my life sucks
Milo Ventimiglia picspam
Fraser/Ray ficathons
My life sucks some more
Posts involving hot men, naked and possibly tortured

None of these fit into the 'sports' category, dudes. *shakes head sagely*

[beelikej.livejournal.com]

That is a good post. After checking some of the lj-s that popped up on the Explore page, I decided to Opt-out, there are some seriously stupid people out there. I don't want to end up on the frontpage next to them. Yuch.

Oooh, I like your flist's categories. Are there any combinations of that last one and Milo? The thought alone makes me drool. Pls to be directing me to the hot men? *bats eyelashes*