An Entry about Freeloaders…

free·load
intr.v. Slang free·load·ed, free·load·ing, free·loads

Def: To take advantage of the charity, generosity, or hospitality of others.

freeloader n.

Def: someone who takes advantage of the generosity of others

Source: The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

When I posted an entry yesterday about the situation with OD’s finances, some people took offense to the fact that I used the word ‘freeloader’ to desribe the 400,000 users on OD who are not paying for the service. Truth is I was a tad harsh in the way that I presented that term and will use this entry to clarify what I really meant to say. To those who think that I was just slandering all free diary users as a bunch of moochers, accept my sincerest apologies. There are a lot of people who use their free diary and make a very valuable contribution to our forum. There are people out there who make great contributions, but just can’t afford to pay the subscription and I can understand that and am not trying to make light of it either. To those people, you are not freeloading off Open Diary. Read the above definition of what a freeloader really is and it will clarify who I was talking about when I posted that word in my previous entry.

A freeloader isn’t someone who just takes something for free, it’s someone to takes advantage of either someone’s charity or generosity. So the people on Open Diary who are the real freeloaders are the people to take advantage of OD’s generosity. If you can’t afford to pay for OD, but would if you could… you are not taking advantage of OD”s free system. If you can afford to pay for a subscription and pitch in to help the system, but chose not to… then you are a freeloader and are part of the problem. That’s what I meant by freeloading, and by clarifying this point, I am attempting to explain that not all free diaries are doing that… but there are a lot who are taking advantage of OD’s generosity. Those are the people who need to stop being cheap and toss in a few bucks to show their appreciation for something they’ve been taking for granted for a while now. They are the freeloaders I was making reference to and that was the point I was trying to make in my previous entry. I apologize for not making myself clear, and will attempt to avoid making generalizations like that in the future when discussing this topic.

A message to those who are freeloading. You are getting the best out of OD, and if you wish to continue doing so… it’s in your best interests to dig deep and make a contribution. To those who have, accept our sincerest thanks, and enjoy the benefits that do come with being a paid member. I really think they are worth paying for and once you take advantage of the perks… you’ll never go free again. I know I haven’t and I will continue to pay as long as I can afford it. Right now I can, so I will continue to pay for it cause OD is a site that has helped me a great deal. It’s been my emotional anchor when I’ve got no one to talk to and a construtive place for me to vent my feelings out rather than letting them bottle up inside of me to later explode. This place has helped me deal with what have been stressful times, and I plan to use it as life goes on. This is one reason why I’m seriously considering getting the lifetime membership cause I plan to be here for a long, long time. Seeing from how many people have signed up for both regular and lifetime subscriptions, I can see that I’m not the only on who feels that way. This is the spirit and love that will keep OD around for a long time to come…

I would also like to thank most of the people who have left notes in that entry. Good or bad, most of you have been very constructive with your suggestions and comments and for that I am grateful. There are always a few people who can’t handle the criticism, and all it does is remind me how great some of these ideas really are and what a great service they would do to open diary. If anything, I think having Online Moderators would be very beneficial to Open Diary. I would personally volunteer to help Open Diary out because I like the site and would work very hard to make sure people are left alone and able to write without being harrassed. I know what its like to have someone badger you and try to make you feel bad merely for having an opinion so I would go out of my way to make sure people like that are not allowed to be here so that we can all write and post our thoughs in peace and free of harrassment. There is nothing wrong with disagreeing with someone or posting a dissenting opinion, but when you start calling people names and insult their family… that’s when you should get the heeve ho and lose your right to use this site.

There are a lot of people who have taken advantage of this and have not been removed from the site. That is also part of the problem that frustrates a lot of users and hurts OD in the long run. Removing these trouble makers from the free portion of this site will generate more income for OD and also make this a better place to be. I for one thing this would be benefitical for everyone and hope that something is done when this financial crisis is over. Until then, everyone have a great weekend and I’ll be around.

Peter