When I retire, maybe I'll start my own free blog site.  No frills.  No ads.  Just a place for you all to be creative and associate with one another.

Ok 10 views, and just me commenting.  EEEK.  Maybe I left some people out :/

Eh, I never click on the ads or anything...and I'm not a fan of them peppering my blog....but I don't really see it as a huge annoyance.  I can live with it.

I suppose I"m just 'meh' on the ads, really. I don't have plans on abandoning JU,...but I do have a blogspot set up...and if a decent bit of the people I know move on to some other place, I'll be sure to keep tabs on ya'll.  I'm a creepy stalker like that.

JU still fulfills the blog function...and while the ads are a little annoying at least there aren't any of those fucking popups.

~Zoo 

You are not alone in being concerned about a paradigm shift in the nature of something you care about. I'm from a different environment, totally foreign to yours but I do believe we share a similar complaint.

In my case I play GalCiv2 and therefore have been a frequent visitor to the GalCiv2 forum. For most of the last two years  I've been able to come to a site that was virtually 100% dedicated to the one thing Stardock had that was of interest to me and that is GalCiv2. But within the last few months there has been a dramatic shift. Our GalCiv2 forums are inundated with issues related to Impulse and a whole bunch of new people whose interests, age, temperament and dispositions are totally different.

Complaints have been made and heard at the highest levels but it has been made clear that this intermixing of disparate groups of people is intentional and is not going to change. The basic argument is that it's felt that overall the free exchange between these groups is a good thing. It's become apparent to me that to try and argue against this is futile. Plus I've come to agree that some sharing probably *is* a good thing.

I still think that if the intermixing of 11 different forum sites and two separate blog sites is a done deal that's not going to change then at the very least there should be some level knowledge of who's sharing what with whom and at least a minimal ability to chose the audience that you wish to address.

I am compliling a list of *all* of the many hundreds of "forums" (and all Blogs end up in some forum someplace) and which sites from which they are accessible. At the least this will provide folks with the knowledge of who you're talking to. It's not much but even this little bit of knowledge gives you some control over your audience.

The ads don't bother me at all.

I wouldn't mind seeing just JU blogs in the articles tho at Joeuser...hahaha I just typed HOEUSER....

I've left my stuff here (I'm far too lazy to migrate 300+ articles to a new site), but I'm exclusively using my Blogger site now.

While there's not quite the level of interaction from JU, it's becoming better and better.  And hey - it actually feels like YOURS, because there's no ads, no cross-posting, and you can play with the layout, formatting, features to high heaven and truly customize it.

The waters may be less crowded over there, but they're warmer and friendlier.

Do you not like that I've wandered into the realm from WinCustomize, Ock?? I try to steer away from advertising any of my work, which I haven't been doing much of over there as of late.  My true purpose for starting up here at JoeUser is to talk about other things that are on my mind or to stick my nose into what others are chatting about.  I hope I'm a welcome intrusion...

In coming over here, I was glad that this is an extension of other areas of Stardock so that I can be at one website to catch up on news from others here and in that skinning world.  That's another good thing about Impulse now that I've jumped on that bandwagon.  

I just started a Blogger site too, SanChonino, so I'll be keeping my eyes peeled over there.  You've always had some interesting posts and responses since I arrived.

Some of you are kind of missing my point.  The ads don't bother me at all.  Being used does.

Used, eh?  Milked like a common dairy cow?

Hmm...I figure being used for marketing is like paying rent for my blogging.  I don't really draw a big audience though...and if I do get outsiders it's probably because of my animal features...and I do those for spreading knowledge, so that works out.

I wish JU would be a bit more fine tuned...like the disappearing edit button thing.

~Zoo

I believe this was just patched up today, Zoo.  Thankfully too, since I was getting annoyed that I wasn't able to edit any of my posts, and now I can get to all of them if ever necessary!  

I agree, and that's exactly what it is.  I'd like the option to pay.  Note, I didn't say I wanted to pay.  I said I wanted the option.

No no...it isn't that at all.  But the feel of the blog is gone because JU is so interconnected with so many things that as a blog site, it has nothing to do with.

I still have to refresh the page to see an edit button, but at least it's working.  Last night I tried to edit a response and was getting some pop up error.

How exactly are you being "used"? 

As far as your comment about skinning and other stuff someone doesn't about, I'm looking at all the front page articles on JU, not one about skinning.  I'm looking at recent comments, not one about skinning.  Recent articles....same thing....not about skinning.  I'd really like to know what you would like to see in your eyes to correct the problem.

Having ads on JU, or most other sites for that matter, is a way to get income to cover the expenses of running a site.

The ads don't bug me much. It's as if they not there at all to me. Being used? It could be regardless of what anyone from this site says. In the end while Brad could care less if he loses a customer or not because he knows he has a products that will always bring in someone interested in it. He doesn't need every penny that's out there. But that does not mean he won't advertise his product and find any means to sell it, even if it means using the people of JU as a way to attract new comers and then crosspost articles from sites like wincustomize, galciv2 and the political machine with the intention of getting them to see the product, read about it and hopefully purchase it. Hey, it's business. Besides, aren't we used all the time? The trick is to find a way to benefit from it as well.

BTW, I have a blogspot page as well where I post my articles on as well as here and I am also bringing to life my myspace.com page and blogging over there as well. I look into expanding myself to reach as many people as I can because I am curious to know what people think about anything I blog about.

I still love JU and hope it sticks around. It's where I got started.

They might not be about skinning, but the 12 articles above Ock's when i looked at the forum this morning were 7 on impluse or other stardock products and 6 on JU blogs.  That's a lot of wading for those folks who aren't interested in the other aspects of Stardock.

Ock--I think I understand your point and am in agreement.  There is a value in increased traffic to the site (and not only in clicking on the ads but in increased exposure to the business) and that value is often dismissed as being irrelevant (free ice cream).  In terms of the bottom line, maybe it is, I really don't know -- but it sure FEELS like there is some monetary value that can be placed on the contributions of regular JUers.

Tova -- Hoeusers is a completely different blog site.