The leadership has made noises about bringing back basic accounts, and there's some pretty good business-based arguments out there for them, from non-fandom-at-all sources. I don't think the strike per se will make the difference, but I get you even odds that (as long as people keep the pressure up in general) we get them back at least with invite codes within the next few months.
And at this point, them just *asking* the advisory board first would be a step up. You don't have to win it all, but getting them to give in on anything is a victory.
In strikethrough and boldthrough fandom actually *did* win back concessions - all the accounts that were suspended (and fussed about) got unsuspended, some people got fired or shuffled around, and there was some movement on the area of clearer policies and community accountability. Some of which is being moved back now, which is why staying loud is important. But that we got those communities and accounts (and interests) back is actually pretty amazing - apparently fandom *does* have the ability to impact lj's policies! Who knew! At the time I didn't believe it would work but it *did*. By the standards of most activism, that's a *resounding* success.
All activism is the result of a highly vocal minority that won't shut up. You're rarely going to get even a noticeable fraction of an affected population to really speak out, at least until the very end stages of change. But a highly vocal, heavily networked minority *is* all it ever takes to get things rolling.
Even if we don't win any concessions (and with this mess, the objectives aren't as clear) "We fought but the bastards were stronger - that time!" is *way* less demoralizing than "we were angry but we sat on our hands 'cause we couldn't've won anyway." That's about as demoralizing as it gets.
Sure - if you're intentionally building energy, you want to pick your targets carefully, because people do get demoralized if they spend enough time being dashed against a wall. But in this case the energy is already *there*; it's a question of letting it do *something*, or letting it fester.
no subject
And at this point, them just *asking* the advisory board first would be a step up. You don't have to win it all, but getting them to give in on anything is a victory.
In strikethrough and boldthrough fandom actually *did* win back concessions - all the accounts that were suspended (and fussed about) got unsuspended, some people got fired or shuffled around, and there was some movement on the area of clearer policies and community accountability. Some of which is being moved back now, which is why staying loud is important. But that we got those communities and accounts (and interests) back is actually pretty amazing - apparently fandom *does* have the ability to impact lj's policies! Who knew! At the time I didn't believe it would work but it *did*. By the standards of most activism, that's a *resounding* success.
All activism is the result of a highly vocal minority that won't shut up. You're rarely going to get even a noticeable fraction of an affected population to really speak out, at least until the very end stages of change. But a highly vocal, heavily networked minority *is* all it ever takes to get things rolling.
Even if we don't win any concessions (and with this mess, the objectives aren't as clear) "We fought but the bastards were stronger - that time!" is *way* less demoralizing than "we were angry but we sat on our hands 'cause we couldn't've won anyway." That's about as demoralizing as it gets.
Sure - if you're intentionally building energy, you want to pick your targets carefully, because people do get demoralized if they spend enough time being dashed against a wall. But in this case the energy is already *there*; it's a question of letting it do *something*, or letting it fester.