Even the code is useless

[matgb]

Entry #5003 in the ongoing 6 Apart are useless series to be found on this journal. This time, courtesy of an unusual source:

Apparently comma-separated lists are too complicated now, so we give you checkboxes to ask if you're interested in emo or snowboarding:

http://www.livejournal.com/manage/profile/

Wow.

Also note the lack of <label> tags.

:-(

Typical LJer whinging about how Emo is a popular interest? Well, only if by typical you include the founder of the whole thing brad. FFS, interest searches worked badly in the first place, then they added in the userpic disply thing making it dial up unfriendly, now they're actively promoting the most popular interests so that there will be even more users with them. Ye gods, will they never learn?

brad's also not happy with the way it's coded, and is apparently no longer in charge. So, the solution? It appears to be a dynamic list of interests (I mean, who would select emo as a promotional tool for the site?). So, um, join the checkbox tyranny resistance by adding it to your interests? 'Falsifying statistics' is another good one as well, that's been going for ages though.

In fact, tell your friends. Tell all your friends. Meh, things continue going downhill.

Wonder when the venture capital runs out and the company gets split up as the loss making mess it is? Ah, wait, LJ is the only profit arm, ergo LJ'll be bought by someone like Murduch. We're screwed. Here's hoping firefoxfey's lj2wordpress project works off, so you can have all the utility of LJ but hosted on your own space and not relying on a datacenter built over one of the most famous earthquake zones in the world...

Comments

[js84.livejournal.com]

Don't forget to big up 'falsifying statistics' too.

If I 'join' the checkbox tyranny resistance does that mean I can't have any interests that are listed in the checkboxes? (fyi: the interest I added was 'photography', not 'emo')

I had a passing thought that a popularity cloud of interests, a bit like for tags, would be a cool feature. It actually wouldn't be and would be another way of encouraging people to tick the emo box.

[matgb]

Ah, no, you're supposed to add 'the checkbox tyranny resistance' and hopefully remove the popular ones. I removed internet, computers and something else, but kept reading, books and history as, well, without them I'm nothing.

Will edit I think.