It's that time again, folks. Time to wash our red socks with our underwear? No. Time to honestly debate the real issues in the struggle for the presidency of the United States? Alas, not that either. No, it is once again time to talk about Livejournal.

As previously reported on this website, Livejournal was purchased last year by SUP, a Russian-owned company with a history of running the livejournal.ru site and a penchant for reporting users to the government. Much consternation, much gnashing of teeth, much flailing of hands and wondering where the Harry Potter porn was going to go. Then came the Basic Account debacle, which was followed (most unusually) by the Basic Account Apology and Suggestions for Change. One of the changes is the creation of the LJ Advisory Board. Two Livejournal users, Brad Fitzpatrick, and a chosen handful of others will meet regularly via telephone and once per year in person to discuss SUP's plans for the site, thoughts for growth, and proposed changes in the Terms of Service. As SUP discounted Fitzpatrick's voice in the Basic Account flap, many users are leery of trusting the user members of the new Board will have any greater say. Others consider that any step in the right direction is a good one, even if it is a baby step.

The question is, for whom do you cast your vote? The process is being conducted by instant runoff voting. If the first round winner doesn't take more than 50% of the vote, the candidate receiving the fewest votes will be eliminated and his/her votes will be given to the second choice candidate for those who voted for him/her, and the process is repeated until someone has 50% or more of the total votes.

As Firefox News is a fannish website, we support the candidacies of those we believe will advocate for fans and fannish pursuits. LegoMyMalfoy, while being a member of the LJ Abuse Team and thus the subject of some scrutiny by those who blame the team for Strikethrough 2007, is an active member of Harry Potter fandom. Vichan founded Fandom Counts, the still-growing LJ community that exists to say "We're here, we're fans, we don't want any more bears." (Um, something like that anyway.) RM is active in Doctor Who and Torchwood fandoms, and seems to have the clearest plans for how to improve the climate at Livejournal. Squeaky19 is the founder of InsaneJournal, where many fans migrated after last year's problems. Daniidebrabant is a longtime member of various fandoms, including Who and Naruto. Read through the profiles and decide for yourself, but if you want fandom to have a seat at the table, you may want to consider three of the above candidates.

The page to vote for Advisory Board members can be found here. If you have already voted and wish to change your votes, you may go here until May 29th. The candidates' views can be found from links on this page.

Vote early, vote often, and tell your friends.

(Note: All comments on this website are moderated.  Comments which make unsubstantiated allegations or personal attacks against any of the candidates will not be approved.)