Livejournal, currently owned and operated by Russian corporation SUP, has been making strides to recapture the trust of its userbase. Both Basicgate and Interestgate ended quickly, with everything the users protested about being restored to the site with apologies by the administrators. The creation of an Advisory Board was announced, with two user-elected positions to join Brad Fitzpatrick, danah boyd, Esther Dyson and Lawrence Lessig. Elections were held for English-speaking users and Russian-speaking users. The English elections were decided in instant runoff fashion, with first, second and third-choice votes allotted to a slate of over twenty candidates. Amid allegations of ballot-stuffing, trolling, involvement in unsavory activities, and death threats, fandom rallied around LegoMyMalfoy, who was declared the winner of the English-speaking elections on May 30th.
The Russian-speaking election winner was Mr. Zafar Khashimov.

Andrew Paulson, CEO of SUP, said, "LiveJournal is a precious and important community made up of talented and passionate individuals. We are privileged to have one of those members now join the Advisory Board to represent the user base, challenge the management and suggest improvements to the service. I'm very much looking forward to working with [the winners]."

Once the reps take office starting tomorrow, the Advisory Board will meet to discuss proposed Livejournal policies via quarterly conference calls and a yearly meeting in Istanbul.

While announcing the new members of the board, LJ also posted changes to the Terms of Service. Non-photographic images of minors are no longer banned, nor are breastfeeding icons. According to the post, "Non-graphic, non-sexualized nudity is no longer considered a violation of our default userpic policy." Further research is being conducted into pro-eating disorder and other potential self-harm communities to determine what LJ's policy should be. SUP seems responding to user concerns, both new and ongoing, not with kneejerk opposition but with measured, thoughtful actions that line up with what the users want. Livejournal users are not used to being listened to in this fashion, and it bodes for interesting times ahead in a not curse-like fashion.

(Source: Livejournal Press Release)