Along with other AOLers today, I found this notice in my email that AOL J-Land is finished. I knew this was coming when they let John Scalzi go. I figured it would happen fairly soon when they announced their photo service was ending. But it still comes as a shock.
The Announcement Reads:
Dear AOL Journals user,
We’re sorry to inform you that on Oct. 31, 2008, AOL® Journals will be shut down permanently. We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.
It’s very important that you save your Journals content before the shutdown. We're working on a way to easily move your Journal to another blogging service -- you can expect an email within the next week with more details about how to do it. We want the transition to go as smoothly as possible for you, so you’ll have two choices. You can either save your information manually and find another place to blog on your own, or choose to automatically transfer your Journal to a different blogging service we’ve selected.
In the meantime, please bookmark the People Connection Blog, where you can find out more about AOL Journals. You can also subscribe to the People Connection Blog RSS feed to stay informed about any changes. We’ll be updating the People Connection Blog often, so please check it regularly.
Thank you for your patience and understanding as we make this transition.
Sincerely,
The AOL Journals Team
J-Land was the last, best community AOL had going for it. AOL blew it up with their broken promises, forced advertising, and arrogant disregard for their remaining paying members. And still, they had a loyal core following who stayed true to the brand. Most companies would kill for that, not show them the door.
J-Landers, you were the greatest. AOL does not deserve you. I hope you'll all end up over here in Blogspot, and if any of you need help navigating the place I'll be happy to help all I can.
I intended to move over my old posts and photos some time ago, but kept putting it off. Looks like another thing I need to evaluate; do I add it to my to-do list or just let it go and move on? If you're faced with it too, what are you doing?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
3 comments:
I am an aol gal and I wasn't aware of the aol journals. That sucks that they are being discontinued. I wonder why?
You know what I have a problem with, when it comes to aol, I can't change my aol wallpaper. I tried to do it the other day and had to download a new aol browser. It was just like firefox. I don't want to use a browser like firefox. I like the ease of the old aol.
Why does everything have to change? If it's not broke, don't fix it.
I agree, Askew. I hate it stuff I like gets "improved".
The reason journals are going away is, I assume, that the cost to host and maintain them doesn't return enough advertising revenue to make it worthwhile.
AOL used to be of, by and for its members. Now it's of, by and for its advertisers. To management it's just a business, after all. They really have no idea what it means--or meant, I should say--to those who use the service.
I was on AOL too and I actually miss it.
Post a Comment