It’s time we all do what we can for Open Diary

It’s a slow starting day at the center, and since I have a little free time I thought it would be a good time to add a little filler to my diary. Today I’m going to post an entry about the current crisis going on with Open Diary. I call this a crisis because I anticipated something like this might happen in the wake of the massive hacker attack that occurred in September of last year. The only thing that surprises me about the DM asking for donations with his hat in his hand is that it didn’t happen back then instead of now. I knew OD was going to take a huge hit and it has with lost users because of security concern from the attack, but many of us stayed and I think that is one reason why this plea for help didn’t come earlier.

I can only imagine the kind of work it takes to keep a site as massive as Open Diary up and running. The DM says he used to have a staff but is now doing the work on his own so that gives us an idea of out tight things are getting. I for one plan to do my part to help out the DM and the site for the sake of our unique and very cool community. At minimum, I plan to renew my yearly subscription as I have for the previous three years. If I could afford to get it, I would love to get my hands on a Lifetime subscription. I intend to be here for a long time to come, so I would make the best of that kind of subscription. And it’s nice to know that if something were to happen to me, my diary won’t disappear with me. I’ve seen diaries disappear after members have passed away, and keeping a lifetime subscription would prevent that from happening to all entries and the time I took to put this together. It’s something I’m looking into but can’t make any promises with. The lifetime subscription is a deal for those who are going to be long team for OD, and from what I have heard… people have been mostly kind in their response to the DM’s plea for help. This site is massive and I can only imagine what kind of dough it takes to keep this thing running and especially to keep it safe from the horrific attack we took last year.

But there are some who are receiving this plea as a chance to share their gripes with the DM about the state of the site. While there are some things that require attention, I’m glad that most of the criticism I’ve seen so far has been constructive and in good taste. I can’t blame some people for being a tad tiffed. I’ve made my fair share of complaints over the years, and the last few which are legitimate complaints have gone without response. I realize the DM is a busy person and let it slide cause he does keep a good site up and running as much as possible. But there are some things that the DM should do to help make this place a bit easier to other’s to stay and sign up.

Here are some modest suggestions:

Suggestion # 1: No more free diaries on OD

I know this suggestion will get a lot of complaints, but I don’t care. There are over 400,000 diaries and less than 5% of that are paid subscriptions. That means the majority of those who are on the site are freeloaders. Now I don’t think the DM shouldn’t force everyone to pay $24 each a year for the service, but to charge nothing is sucking the site dry and is the main cause of this problem. At minimum, the DM should charge anywhere from $1 to $5 a year for each diary. Call this an Open Diary Lite account. These diaries will still have advertising, strict character limits for both entries and notes and other restrictive rights.

If you can’t afford a few bucks to stay on open diary, then you don’t deserve to hang out here and enjoy the site. Not only would this generate a crapload of revenue fo the site, but it would solve a lot of abuse/stalker problems that are still ongoing on OD. If people had to pay for diaries, they wouldn’t go and create new diaries out of the blue to leave nasty notes cause their original diary is blocked from the person they’re trying to harass. It would also force the freeloaders to chip in for a change and not force all the OD+ people to carry the burden. Our subscriptions should remain at their current prices so that the DM can get a little stability.

This to me is the best way to solve all of OD’s problems and I personally think that $1 – $5 isn’t too much to ask for since you will get so much for it. Those who have been using the service for free should finally fork up at least a minimal amount or risk losing what they have forever.

Suggestion #2: Restrict Free Diaries to save space

I don’t think this idea will be too popular either, but if the DM wants to save money and not eliminate all free diaries… then this is the way to go. Restrictions on free diaries such as character limits of 4000 characters per entry and note limits of 100 characters will save space. Hell, if he really wanted to save space… he could restrict free diaries to have no notes at all but that would be going too far. By doing this, it would keep space gouging to a minimum and help stop the bleeding.

Suggestion #3: Enforce the Rules

The DM could clear off a lot of space if he just enforced the rules and booted out the troublemakers that are makinng this place unpleasent to live in. There are a crapload of Free diaries that are there to do nothing but cause trouble and harass people night and day. These diaries should be given the heave ho immediately, and their IPs banned. Getting rid of troulbe makers like that (prime example of such trouble makers: Ashleigh Banfield) would make OD a nicer place to hang out in and actually generate more OD+ subscriptions. In order words, tossing out the trash will generate more income for the DM. This needs to happen or people will be very, very hestitant to renew or sign up for a subscription for the first time.

Suggestion #4: Communcation and Vacations

I love the fact that the DM has a diary, and it’s a good place for him to communciate with us. It’s just that when he disappears every now and then (hey, I realize he deserves to have a life) some of us just get bummed out and frustrated when things happen while he’s gone. When he needs to be away (life happens), then it would be smart leave the keys with someone who he can trust to watch over the site to make sure things run smooth while he’s out. That way we feel left in good hands and things are on the up and up. Just an idea… cause we can’t expect the DM to be here 24/7 for us all the time.

Suggestion #5: Online Moderators

As for the communication part, sure we’d all like to have someone to talk with and mix things up with. We need to at least have the illusion that we are being heard. If the DM can’t communciate with us on a consistent basis, he should get someone else either in person or nominate a diary to be that voice for him. That we the person who does this will take in all the complaints/gripes/compliments and then that person will filter the important stuff from the crap and pass it up to the DM to be taken care of. This way communication is open and things get done. He shouldn’t have to pay someone to do this, I am sure there are a dozens of people on OD who would happily volunteer. Many sites, especially chat boards, have online Moderators, who have thepower to sheriff the site. Perhaps that is exactly what OD needs. A moderator or five to keep things in check that way the DM wouldn’t need to do all the site’s policing, which takes a lot of time I’d say. These moderators should have the power to enforce the rules at will, and freeze or delete accounts so that OD can be a more safe environment from harrassment. This would do a lot to boost OD morale.

These are the ideas I think the DM should consider. All of them are at least a little more acceptable than watching the entire site go down the tubes. If I was incharge of the site, I would do at least two if not all three suggestions to help generate more income to keep what is one of the best internet forums alive.

Now while I talk a good talk, I’m going to explain that I have every intention of walking the walk as well. Either this week or next week, I plan to renew my subscription. I will chip in to make sure that the DM doesn’t have to do anything drastic in the near future. How much I chip in depends on the kind of grounding Leah and I are on come next payday. I’d love to get the lifetime but we’ll have to see. I think the the DM does have options, but if you don’t want to see ideas like that implimented in OD and you’re currently on a free diary, you know what you have to do. Either pay now, or eventually in the long run… you will and there’s no guarentee you’ll like the options you get in the future.

To those who have free diaries, I want to let you all know that being a paid member is actually really cool. I’ve been a member for over three years and am going to fork over a forth if not more happily. The block feature alone is worth paying the full price, and there are other cool features we have access to as well. Open Diary is a site worth investing in, and I hope that you chose to do so in the hopes that we all get to keep our happy little community with minimal changes in the near future. Cause if not I can’t promise we’ll all like what happens in the future. I don’t mean to scare you, but I take the DM at his word. He wouldn’t say these things if he didn’t have to. He doesn’t seem like the kind of guy who would do that just to get a few bucks.

So do what you can to help out… anything you can do would be greatly apprecaited. Thanks for reading my little rant from the soapbox, I’ll get back to work now. Have a good weekend, and I’ll do my best to be around.

Peter