Big post - LJ, DW, Russians, with helpful links!

[elisi]

First of all - you can download your LJ:

BlogBooker

In days past there used to be something called LJ Book (which was free!), but it seems to have vanished or morphed into BlogBooker, which will cost you if you want to download more than a year. But at least it's an option! :)

~

For safety, this is an excellent resource:

Encrypt the web: Install HTTPS Everywhere today.

Simple extension. Keeps you safe(r). ETA: Important caveat about HTTPS Everywhere: it cannot encrypt sites that do not have an https version. So this won't help anyone with LJ unless they reinstate their https. (With thanks to Promethia)

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If you want to make the leap to DreamWidth wholesale, here is an excellent guide:

How to Move to Dreamwidth and Like It

If you just want to back things up/cross post for now, simple guides under the cut:

To Import:

Go to Organize -> Import Content

https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/importer

Click 'Start Another Import' and follow the instructions. Literally as easy as clicking a button. Also quick.

To Organize crossposting:

Go to Organize -> Account Settings -> Other Sites

https://www.dreamwidth.org/manage/settings/?cat=othersites

Click on 'Add new Account' and sort out the different options. You can customise the footer that appears on the LJ f.ex.

Click Save and it's done. :)


ETA: Extra tip - if you name your DW icons the same as your LJ ones, the crosspost will choose the relevant icon.



Now, DW posted a news update yesterday, and they have had a large influx of new people (100,000!). But let's not forget that LJ is one of *the* platforms for blogging in Russia, and still is free and open for them. I wish I knew more about their side of it, how they are seeing the future. If they all want to go to DW or if they want to stick with LJ despite everything...

And this is probably as good a time as any to remind people of anniesj's story:

A Word to the Wise
Because of a (public) post ranting about the then President (Dubya - this was 2004) the Secret Service paid her a visit and she has an FBI file. And not because of snooping or google searches or anything like that, but because someone (on LJ) reported her.

Please read the whole post. It's increasingly relevant.

~

Anyway, I'm gonna keep cross-posting for now. Being on DW wouldn't have helped anniesj any... (Not that it existed then.)

I wrote a post on LJ vs. DW last year (or 2015, rather). Although I have since found a new analogy for DW. It's from Buffy Summers Diary, a fic in the style of Bridget Jones where Buffy writes about her birthday party (S6, the one where they're all trapped in the house). And Xander & Anya bring a friend they try to set her up with:

'...Xander brought in Normal Richard at that point. Normal Richard pleasant and rather beige, like tapioca pudding or similar.'

So, Imma gonna stick with Spike for now, but keep Normal Richard on hand in case Spike does something unforgivable...

ETA: Other point - DW has no galleries. Yes I have a photobucket account, but LJ is about a million times easier and more convenient. (I use the old style which is far superior when it comes to images.) So that's a major stumbling block when it comes to moving... Hence, staying put for now, with caveats.

Comments

[promethia_tenk]

Important caveat about HTTPS Everywhere: it cannot encrypt sites that do not have an https version. So this won't help anyone with LJ unless they reinstate their https.

[elisi]

Good point. I shall add that.

[livejournal.livejournal.com]

Hello! Your entry got to top-25 of the most popular entries in LiveJournal!
Learn more about LiveJournal Ratings in FAQ (https://www.dreamwidth.org/support/faqbrowse?faqid=303).

[ragnarok-08.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the links!!

[elisi]

My pleasure. :)

[debris4spike]

Great links, although I am staying here. I have actually downloaded my LJ onto DW, so there's my back-up.

[elisi]

Well, it helps to be prepared. And backing up on DW is so easy, I imagine a lot of people have gone that route. :)

[sea_thoughts]

I've imported. :) Will think about setting up cross-posting this week.

[elisi]

It's a useful thing! :)

[teragramm.livejournal.com]

Not to sound like a stupid old lady but what would encrypting and Installing HTTPS do? And why is it important.

[promethia_tenk]

HTTPS secures the connection between you and the website you are on so random people on the internet can't see the data you are passing between you. It's absolutely essential on things like payment pages with sensitive information, but available and recommended more and more on all kinds of sites. Most browsers will have a lock icon or other indication in the URL field to tell you if the page you are on is currently using https, particularly if that page has any entry fields.

An apparent casualty of the LJ server move was https. I will admit I'd never really looked before at what parts of LJ did and did not have this option, but I can confirm it's not there now, and a number of people are saying it was an option before but has now disappeared. Which means any information you send back and forth to LJ is viewable in transit by anyone (payment pages are apparently still secure). That won't necessarily be a deal breaker for everybody--https is by no means the default for all websites yet. But removing it from LJ, if it is gone for good, is a regressive and user-hostile move.

What the HTTPS Everywhere extension does is request the https version of a site from any site that offers it. For example, Dreamwidth currently has both secured and unsecured versions of its site. As far as I can tell, they still consider the secure version to still be in beta, which is why it is not the default, though I've never had any problems with it. Using this extension keeps all of Dreamwidth in https for you.

[promethia_tenk]

Here's a post with some better information.

[elisi]

I see Promethia has already answered far better than I ever could... :)

[shadowkat67.livejournal.com]

According to DW, the vast majority of people who jumped over were Russian and Ukraine. DW is struggling with the influx, because they don't have any Russian speakers on their staff.

It's the Russian and Ukrain and Belarus posts that have been compromised or deleted by moving the servers to Russia. US and UK posters don't care all that much because we aren't really discussing politics in our journals, while they are. And they discuss it, because they can't really do it elsewhere. That's the reason for all the DDS attacks -- their posts are political. Unlike us, they live a country that would put an anniesj in jail for ranting on the internet, shut down and delete her journal, and attack the service she's posting on, as opposed to just checking it out and slapping her on the wrist.

I've spoken to Chinese and Russian immigrants, recent ones, who basically told me that you can't discuss politics openly in their countries without being arrested or having your lives compromised. And by openly, I mean that they can't have a discussion about it over coffee in a cafe or at a restaurant. They can't protest. They can't do a personal blog on a service. LJ was great for them, because it was on a US server and protected by US copyright and constitutional laws which protect their privacy and freedom of speech. Under conflict of laws, where the servers are physically located dictates which laws must be followed. This is true under international copyright law. That's why people who have a background in copyright and intellectual property law for the most part, have moved over to DW. They know that Russia can delete and shut down their journals. Not only that -- use their information against them.

It's why I'm moving mine.

There is a huge difference between what happened to anniesj in the US and what is currently happening to bloggers in Russia and the Ukraine. Annie lives in a country where her freedom of speech is currently protected. She was contacted by the FBI because her speech fell within that foggy territory of "hate speech" and it was not clear to an outside observer whether her speech incited bodily harm. And by the way it's a difficult test. You really have to prove "intent" to harm and that the speech is "most likely to cause harm" for it to be "hate speech". (ie. I can wish DJT would have a heart attack. What I can't do is detail the means that I want him to die, and how -- that starts to fall within that foggy territory of harmful speech.)

It's important you understand this distinction. Russia law does not have the same privacy protections, intellectual property protections, etc that US law does or UK law.
It's far more restrictive. Also it does not matter from a copyright perspective if you are a US citizen, if your blog is located on their servers. It's the "location" of the property that matters. And whether you knew about it. It's where your property was published.

I don't mean to scare anyone, just explain that there is a reason many of us moved over to DW. And why I'm considering not cross-posting content I care about.

[shadowkat67.livejournal.com]

A bit of good news, from a copyright perspective, you are the owner of your content under Russian copyright law:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copyright_law_of_Russia

They changed since the fall of the USSR. And the compulsory uses that granted free reproduction and use prior, have been restricted.

However, they do not have the first amendment protections that the US does.

[promethia_tenk]

Yeah . . . this.

I'm no IP lawyer, but I do have an amateur academic interest in copyright, freedom of speech, and the whole complex that is technology/culture/privacy/security/law enforcement/etc. I wish LJ was of any interest to anyone in the US because if it was all my feeds would be flooded with tech-sphere analysis of what's going on right now and the deeper implications. But nobody does, and they aren't, and I feel a bit blind.

IDK, I've used shady sites on the web before because it was convenient or because I wanted to or I just didn't care. I've lingered on platforms whose policies I distrust because that's where everybody is. And every platform you do embrace is always a decision of what you're willing to compromise or risk in comparison to what you get in return.

But everything about this makes me feel gross and angry.

[sohryu-l.livejournal.com]

>And they discuss it, because they can't really do it elsewhere.

LJ is unimportant in Ukraine because everyone here discusses politics on Facebook.

>Unlike us, they live a country that would put an anniesj in jail for ranting on the internet, shut down and delete her journal, and attack the service she's posting on, as opposed to just checking it out and slapping her on the wrist.

All of which is not applicable to Ukraine.

>There is a huge difference between what happened to anniesj in the US and what is currently happening to bloggers in Russia and the Ukraine.

Nothing is currently happening to bloggers in Ukraine. Oh, and it's simply 'Ukraine' without 'the', thank you very much.

I would appreciate it if you did not conflate us with Russia. This is kind of important because Russia, like, invaded us and occupied a piece of our country, like, four years ago now.

Seeing you equating Russia and Ukraine does not help in any way.

[shadowkat67.livejournal.com]

That second sentence, should have stated that DW doesn't have any Russian and Ukrainian speakers on staff. (I was being lazy and did not write out both, so apologize. It was not my intent to conflate the two or combine the countries. I am aware they are separate, having worked closely with immigrants from both.)

PS: We are an insanely tribal and nationalistic world, aren't we? We really need to work on that -- all of us, or we will never find peace and will always be at war. I include myself in that "we".

[elisi]

According to DW, the vast majority of people who jumped over were Russian and Ukraine. DW is struggling with the influx, because they don't have any Russian speakers on their staff.
Yes, I read the news update. I just didn't want to copy & paste what most people probably knew already, if they were on DW (and my post was long enough!). So much is hear-say, and the LJ staff have (as always) been deadly silent.

And the situation is very complicated, so I didn't want to go into too much detail and maybe spread misinformation. (God knows there's enough of that.)

Bringing up anniesj was almost a counterpoint? No one stole her data or hacked her or anything. LJ was akin to DW in those days (as I'm sure you remember) - and she was quite simply reported by another user. This could happen to anyone, if you happen to write something online that could possibly be seen as a threat. Doesn't matter where you are, posting on DW can't protect you from the FBI knocking on your door.

This is a separate issue from the servers moving to Russia, which is a threat against your data, copyright etc etc.

But then, I am somewhat cynical - how safe is anything? The DNC was hacked, as you note below. And surely by now whoever has access to the Russian servers will have gotten everything they want already. I'm not saying that leaving is not a perfectly sensible thing to do, and I'm probably going to import my 'original fic' journal to a new DW and then delete the LJ version, but my social life is on LJ and since Theresa May can probably read all my emails already I'm currently just in 'wait and see mode'. Everyone has different thresholds, and I've just not reached mine (yet?).

ETA: Another thing - does giving money to LJ enable those that want to shut down dissenting voices, or does it help those that want to protest? We don't know yet. Ditto what'll happen to the non-Cyrillic side of LJ.

[curiouswombat.livejournal.com]

I think of DW as one of those furnished apartments you once booked for a week's holiday. Not really furnished or decorated the way you would like it, you don't know the neighbours, haven't got half your usual tools or utensils... nice enough as long as you can get out and about but it would need an awful lot doing to it if you were ever to think of living there and, on the whole, you would still prefer not to!

FB, on the other hand, is the car-park assembly point if you need to evacuate a building - you can make sure everyone is still OK but are unlikely to hold long meaningful conversations there!

[elisi]

I think of DW as one of those furnished apartments you once booked for a week's holiday. Not really furnished or decorated the way you would like it, you don't know the neighbours, haven't got half your usual tools or utensils... nice enough as long as you can get out and about but it would need an awful lot doing to it if you were ever to think of living there and, on the whole, you would still prefer not to!
Yessss. I'm sure that at one point my DW was named something like 'elisi's holiday cottage'. :)

FB, on the other hand, is the car-park assembly point if you need to evacuate a building - you can make sure everyone is still OK but are unlikely to hold long meaningful conversations there!
Ain't that the truth. Brilliant analogies.

[double_dutchess]

Ha ha, I love your Normal Richard / DW analogy!

Will be checking out the links (though I'm really planning on staying on LJ, and just using DW as backup, it's always good to be informed).

[elisi]

Ha ha, I love your Normal Richard / DW analogy!
:) I struggle to explain my lack of enthusiasm for DW, and this seemed on the money.

Will be checking out the links (though I'm really planning on staying on LJ, and just using DW as backup, it's always good to be informed).
Same here. Hence the post...

[a-phoenixdragon.livejournal.com]

Thank you for this, honey! I guess we should expect some bizarreness until things settle...

*HUGS*

[elisi]

Whatever 'settling' will come to mean...

All we can do is stay as informed as possible and make plans.

Is young, scared, and confused, what kind of sorcery is this

[(Anonymous)]

I was fucking right. Properly Paranoid, thy name is [confidential]

Join LJ, they said, it will be fun they said.

I TRUST NO ONE.


Should I do something?

Due to my massive, crippling OCPD, I usually *download* and *copy* posts and comments, because I *want* them, and I will lose them, and everything will get confused!!!
(With back-ups, after I lost half my stuff during the summer. Safeguards beyond safeguards).

So the past is safe. Or at least most of it, I'll have to work on some analyses and meta of other people, which I was originally gonna keep for later.

But what about the future? I like your stuff, I want to see it. I want to keep in touch. I want to occasionally offer fic and crazy opinions.

I don't think I can comment anonymously anywhere else. Please don't leave.

(Unless you judge that it's not safe, in which case do leave. And in that case, does that email offer still stand?)

Worried :(

Re: Is young, scared, and confused, what kind of sorcery is this

[elisi]

Well, I'm on DreamWidth (where you can post anonymously), and for the foreseeable future will be crossposting, so I'm not going anywhere!!

If worst comes to the worst, I'll just move to DreamWidth permanently.

You could always set up your own DreamWidth, import your LJ and then abandon LJ? That way you can keep up with things. See Promethia's post above for a handy guide. :)

EVERYTHING WILL BE FINE!