It's so hard to see what's disappeared

[nancylebov]

From a comment to rm, here:

For awhile, I was helping to maintain a veterans community.

Sometime around when LJ cracked down on fandom, they also quietly wiped out most military schools, as well as some journals of members currently involved in the conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq.

I've been a little baffled why even in the midst of the the fandom issues, LJ would leave "Starfleet Academy" and "Hogwarts", and "Miskatonic University" (which are great for fan communities to embrace), yet actual training like "Infantry School" and "Airborne School" (both of which actually exist) are now gone and unable to be re-added. Personally, I met close friends at both of those places, learned more than a few valuable lessons, and probably still carry a little scar tissue from my times there.

Additionally, when some of the soldier's journals disappeared, it's impossible to tell the reason. Did the government demand they be pulled for security/censorship issues? Did someone flag them because they disagreed with the political issues? Or were these journals actually deleted by the members for their own privacy? (In at least one case, I'd really like to know if that person is alive or dead.) If LJ is going to wipe out a journal, it would be nice to at least have a vague inclination as to why.

Since then, many members of that community have simply taken to blogging elsewhere.

Thanks,
-Christopher-Ian

Comments

[madfilkentist]

It would be interesting to check if any of them have said on their new blogs why they left LJ.

[nancylebov.livejournal.com]

This is all I've found in a quick search.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_LiveJournal

February 2007 — LiveJournal schools team remove military schools from their Schools Directory in accordance with the policy of listing only degree-granting and/or accredited institutions. In spite of this policy, High Schools and Elementary Schools remain part of the Schools Directory. To date no apology has been made to the hundreds of service members who use LiveJournal.

[avram]

That's an odd policy for LJ to have. If people want to get in touch with old school friends, why should Six Apart care whether the school is accredited?

[rm.livejournal.com]

Or apply a double standard. Or continue to allow fictional schools, but restrict real ones. It's very weird. I'm going to start poking at this one.

[twistedchick]

High schools and elementary schools are accredited; there are organizations that go around and rate them. But military schools that issue diplomas like high schools or junior colleges are also accredited. Something's off here.

[dcseain.livejournal.com]

Here in Virginia, All K-12 schools, as well as the colleges and universities, are accredited. So is the Virginia Military Institute, which along with The Citadel, are the only non-federally run military universities in the nation.

[kgbooklog.livejournal.com]

Checking my profile... oh good, they didn't delete my school:
Schools: Transylvania Polygnostic University - Beetleburg, Transylvania, Romania (2001 - 2005)

[madfilkentist]

I tried to add Unseen University a year or two ago, but LJ wouldn't go for it.

[gildedacorn.livejournal.com]

Perhaps they think it should be Unseen and not heard.

[dcseain.livejournal.com]

LOL :D

[pyrzqxgl.livejournal.com]

Actually, they did (http://www.livejournal.com/schools/?ctc=UK&sc=England+-+Wiltshire&cc=Ankh-Morpork&sid=28798).

[captain-button.livejournal.com]

I recall some story months back where the military was telling deployed soldiers not to blog, or at least not to blog about stuff that could help the enemy, which worked out to most things.