Advice to those upset with LJ lately

Don’t waste time and energy fighting with, yelling at, and ganging up on the people who are assigned to deal publicly with “abuse” and “content review.” You may succeed in getting some of them fired, others of them to quit, all of them to feel like shit, and most of them to dislike you, but nothing will change.

Having been on both sides of this ridiculous scene at AOL, I can tell you that people at this level do not make policy. They are not allowed to change policy. Anything they communicate to their superiors about the impossibility and insanity of the policies will be at best ignored and at worst punished. They are not the secret police. The secret police would make you shit your pants.

Yelling at support people because their bosses are behaving poorly is misguided. It’s like beating up the Wal-Mart greeter because your downtown stores went under. Throwing a rotten apple at a meter maid might feel good, but showing up at every city council meeting and being loud there might get the meters moved.

If you’re angry about oppressive censorship and double standards, a concerted effort directed at the management of Six Apart might be effective, especially if you can enlist the support of Internet freedom of speech advocates and organizations. Six Apart has behaved very poorly, and the board and management need to change that situation in public and on record, rather than letting their first-line employees get roasted alive while they let the whole thing go to voicemail.

Even a real-mail letter writing campaign would be more effective than flamewars with people who can’t make a difference.