Friday, December 30, 2005
Saturday, December 3, 2005
Exodus Report #3
I just wanted to update you all of what is happening at this point with the report. The first one to respond was Vince. He’s linked to the Exodus report from over at his place, as has done Gabreael. You two are too wonderful! Thanks! In addition, Gabreael has not only posted the report on the AOL Journal message board, but she has also emailed a copy to 50 other “moved” journalists. What a girl! Thanks, thanks, thanks. I have emailed the report to a few special people. This list included: TSGERKIN, DEABVT, VivianSulliNwank, His1Desire, Judith HeartSong, GabreaelInfo, Pattboy92, ArmandT, LAB2401, Muse nLA, NICURNmama, RepublicanJen, SisterCDR, Upseted
From what I could see these are either just some of the important people I know, or people who have gone an extra distance in presenting their views as to why they have moved. I have heard back from Tianka and Vince their unparalleled support. Viv said, "I thought it was an excellent idea to give them something quantifiable. I think many people feel the Exodus is just something emotional...but it's much more than that!" Pam wished us good luck, Armandt has stated that it is a “Great Report,” Jen passed along a Thanks, and Judith let us know she has passed on the report to the Washington Post. Jen has invited people who left AOL to join a web ring, I'll post her address below. Also, I’ve written a couple of additional comments this morning. The first was a post at the AOL journal message board, and the second was a response to “Bill” over at Joe’s smoky place. I invite you to volunteer your efforts to further communicate out the message. I’d like to think the numbers represented are of value to the community and a clear communication to AOL.
That’s it, V is pretty sure, I should be getting back to some school work. Thanks for all the support you give just by being here. SMOOOCH!
Us
AOL Journal Message Board this morning:
Thank you Gabreael for posting this report. At first glance the report may not seem significant, however the numbers are very telling. I’ve read some of what has been going on with the message board, and there seems to be confusion with numbers as journalists try to figure out their significance after AOL’s claim to a “600,000” number. It is, I imagine, hard swallowing, because there is simply not a shred of evidence to support that claim. It is somewhat threatening and demeaning, which I believe is AOL’s intent on our emotions.
Although, we can know not everyone has registered over at Pam’s directory, we can trust that the 995 people (journals) that had one time registered ARE real. It is a good representative survey. I believe that it is a first of its kind, in that, there has been no report, thus far, on AOL Journal numbers, or our impact representing the time and heart AOL journalists have devoted at their journals, or in visiting their peers as a byproduct of community spirit, or for that matter customers for AOL's advertisers.
I hope that more people take the time to read the report and that it gets passed around. In summary of the report, approximately 1/3 of the AOL community is staying with or without anger over the ad banners and treatment from AOL. 1/3 of the population hasn’t bothered to comment in their journals for over a month, and many of these have given clear intent on not coming back. In addition 15% have quit the AOL journal experience directly. That reduces the number of journalists either having gone private or in having moved to 8% and 6% respectively.
While the 6% movers may not seem a large number, it needs to be pointed out that is a number in addition to other obviously dissatisfied customers. This is something we are asking you to help communicate to AOL. Not only have they grossly misrepresented themselves to the media and us, they simply aren’t recognizing their damage to the spirit of their paid constituency. Good will is hard to come by, and in this factor they have and are failing miserably.
Our best,
Ayn
From Smoky Joe’s Place this morning:
Hi everyone. Bill Schreiner, VP for AOL Community Programming (he's something like my boss's boss's boss) would like to address the ad banner situation:
Hi Bill,
I'm Ayn. I have been an AOL subscriber under Aynetal, Aynetal2, or Aynetal3, back to '93 when you were all charging per minute. This last week a few friends and I put together, what we are calling the Exodus Report. It can be found on my new Blog site over at Blogger, or at my old AOL Journal site, which I had maintained for 27 months. The report can also be found at a few others such as the message board, Vince's, and Gabreael's. It is my hope others will pick up the report, to know better where we are at as a number on your ledgers and sold to advertisers.
Basically, what I am saying is giving you all the most benefit of doubt and according to the numbers generated by looking at 995 journals(journalists), AOL's number of 600,000 journals is highly inflated even if it did include worldwide numbers. The representative number of journals that could be counted at Pam's directory suggests that about half the journalists have turned away from your Journal product. I invite you to look at the reports, and to speak more clearly on your relationship with the declining number of journalists (customers of your advertisers goods).
Sincerely,
Ayn(Ann) Garvey
http://messageboards.aol.com/aol/en_us/articles.php?boardId=534372&func=3&channel=Computers+%26+Electronics&is_mod=1
http://aynetal3.blogspot.com/2005/12/numbers-like-friends-can-be-counted-on.html
http://journals.aol.com/aynetal3/AynsMPDWorld/
http://deabvt.blogspot.com/
http://gabreaelsbodymindandspirit.blogspot.com/
Comment from aynetal3 - 12/3/05 10:08 AM
(Web Ring Invite from Jen)
http://journals.aol.com/republicanjen/RepublicanJen/entries/1707
Exodus Report #2
In the wake of the storm, lighthouses have been lit for the safe return of the J-Land Community as it was once known. The following AOL Journalists have registered at Pam's Directory at one point over the last 29 months of Journal Service and have offered public opinions on why they chose to move away from AOL.
The first number represents the number of months the journalist had been using AOL Journal services. The second number in parenthesis represents the number of site visits that had been made to that particular journalist's journal up through the couple of weeks between November 15th and 30th. The comments are condensed, short-hand versions of the text, or at best paraphrases of what the journalist wrote. The statements are not quoted directly. Please visit the journalists to obtain a more pure, elaborate-spoken testament of their thoughts and feelings.
We did the best we could in trying to capture "the Essence" of what was being said of the reasoning journalists were leaving for Blogs outside what was once homeland.
Ayn
Aiibrat - 27(33,928), ads, and stupidsheetguy tos'd
Andreakingme - 27(unknown), ads, not enough good, AOL doesn't care, change good, people matter
Angelm0304 - 8(5,517), change good
Annalia135 - 19(43,182), miss the community, grown, 1 1/2 years, support, love, hope for return through Jason Calaconais
Anmyatt - 12(unknown), ads, subscribers already pay, non-endorsements, private use, exclusive, no respect from AOL
Armandt - 27(50,418), (months changed from 7 to 27 due to AOL error), ads without permission, without warning, canned statement from PR, journalists need human contact, prefer another blogger, no customer service, felt ambushed, AOL sold integrity, Exodus, boycott AOL journals, moral objectives against particular ads, ads "crap"
Aynetal3 - 27(34,005), boycott AOL Journals, anger at ads for services paid, principle
Astaryth - 13(7,920), ads, benefits of new journals, change good, moved with the movement, now enjoy bloglines
Angelm0304 – 8(5,520), don't know why
Ber144 - 22(11,674), ads, mobile, tired, AOL non-communication, dislike no choice in ads, boycott
Bettefan05 - 24(6,048), past loyalty to AOL over, time for change, miss friends
Blattman2005 - 1(149), metaphoric run away train, ads, village cannot support this extra weight, spell the death of J-land as we know it, forced us out, there is no turning back
Boycalleddare - 21(7,149), not amused, insufficient services at AOL
Chance2288 - 19(1,794), ads, I'm not disempowered, protest, thought being valued meant something, feel abused, feels unloved, sold-out, pimped us, choice, split revenue, cost/value, independence
Chasenkids - 18(52,369), not paid for advertisement, don't endorse product, last straw, ads, join friends
Chittarabunny129 - 24(8,425) ads
Ckays1967 - 26(35,125), love and respect for community, petulant, redirect energy
Coy1234787 - 20(30,468), ads, the Great Exodus
Cutebutpsycho028 - 15(31,270), people leaving, been procrastinating changing before, angry at AOL, want to get back to real life
Dazeychic - 27(32,196), ads, had postponed decision before, regret losing service, to better live, connecting to people, expression
Deabvt - 25(22,671), sadness, diasporas, ads
Dvlwitgrneyes - 16(11,204)
Emmapeeldallas - 3(7735), ads, don't get me started on AOL, AOL wasn't offering anything I would buy somewhere else and this confirms it
Ernhrtfanalwys3 - 4(3775), won't have my journal used as free bulletin board, sick and tired of AOL not putting customers first, we're not going to take it anymore, AOL sticking it to it's paying customers again, I wasn't surprised, AOL leader in screw-over
Freeepeace - 26(78,974), ads, don't endorse ads, nor condone or approve of customer disregard and disrespect, moving on with life, community, moving on
Gabreaelinfo - 12(unknown), AOL's wretched behavior, ads, paying for advertisements, expense of AOL
Gourneeaun - 26(7897), ads, protest, angry at AOL
Gypsytrader49 - 24(3956), ads, already pay for journal, infringement on community
His1desire - 28(41957), ads, angered at thoughts for sale, angered to make decision/take stand, journals invalidated next to Blogs outside AOL, journal meant recognition which was not for sale, angry at Blogs outside AOL laughing at us, not an AOL billboard, need to protest, torn, angry, sad, frustrated, not heard by AOL, pressure of negative attention after receiving VIVI award, stressed, AOL profiting
Iscribble4u - 5(663), disappointed, rocked by corporate action coming from AOL, extremely unhappy, banner ads
Jeffcomedy - 19(3524), ads
Jellogirli - 24(unknown), intolerable terms with AOL, angry AOL deleted adult entries, can combine two journals at Blogger (adult content), people better able to know me, let it "hang-out"
Judithheartsong - 19(51632), mass exodus, ads, sickened and dismayed, defiled, grieving loss of sacred space, AOL won't take protest seriously, take a stand against ugly and wrong, cost of support system, so will assist with tracking moves the community is making, AOL can you hear us?
Krobbie67 - 24(unknown), blogger's benefits outweigh AOL, difficulty maintaining two accounts, breaking point offering free email without membership cost, already pay a Internet Access Server, selling farm on backs of loyal subscribers, have been thinking of leaving
Lab2401 – 23(3116), AOL incompetence, paying for space others get for free, ads, AOLs dysfunction, after 2 years, I find I don't seem to matter, AOL has lost my loyalty, been placated with assurances of improved service that have fallen short of promises, small pebble on their mountain, they can decorate our space their way, AOL does not respond
to emails, comments or calls, don't feel I'm wanted or needed, angry at AOL, feel disrespected, corporate greed
Lamove04 - 17(45062), hates Bank of America, boycott ads on my blog, sarcastic of AOL ad design/strategy person, disgusted with ads, people will leave, corporate greed
Levi1023 - 20(7632), on strike, AOL is terrible, journalists should be paid for the ads, most money grubbing companies don't care, AOL needs to here our complaints
Lights4me40 - 16(1122), AOL shutting me down, haven't had time to read journals, AOL makes me mad, will miss journal friends, no longer want to pay for it
Luckyaugustgirl - 19(10660), repulsed by offensive ads, more comfortable with the option of moving while things are controversial, desperately sad heart, good friends leaving, torn, don't want to lose community, afraid not to take a stand, ad ruins color scheme of journal, I hate AOL
Musenla - 25(14013), banner ads, subjected to indignities, invaded private writing space in middle of night, no permission asked, journal defaced by ads we don't endorse, AOL making money from space paid for by journalist, AOL made a big mistake, trying to attract advertisers at expense of paying customers, blatant disrespect, erode good reputation you may have, shameless ad fiasco, cancel subscription, not being treated by dignity and respect, abused subscribers long enough
Nicurnmama - 11(14156), Respect is a two-way street, love for journalists, ads, advertising at the cost of husband paying the bills, offensive ads, doesn't want the bitter hateful feelings having toward AOL, sad life is like this, optimist, tore the community, genuinely care about other journalists, community accepts each other as all shapes, sizes, beliefs, sexual preferences, political parties, and international, the community will endure - somewhere beside AOL, ugly thing to have happened
Paisleyskys - 8(unknown), I have loved every moment with AOL journals, but it is time to move, ban the ads
Pattboy92 - 24(64028), won't put up with, saddened, no warning after community VIVI awards, sense of unity AOL's Swan song, refuse to pay for AOLs advertising, no control over the advertising, if anyone profits my words should be me who is paying monthly service, unacceptable, should have been informed, angry AOL created screen name just to take complaints, not swayed by promised of "nifty" things to come, made the decision to move
Promiseluv372 - 8(3299), Hey AOL remove that ad, disclaimers band-aid gag, want the ads gone, my journal my thoughts, do not approve of the ads
Realitycheckmco - 19(unknown), AOL should wake up, wrote to AOL as 7 year paid member, AOL has greedy coffers on regular basis, AOL doesn't care, ads, need to affect AOLs bottom line, had to think hard whether or not to move, need ad free of products we don't endorse and open expression of self
Republicanjen - 16, 18331, Other blogs are ad free, AOL bloggers angered, leaving service, AOL services now being offered free, ads now being added to paid and non-paid journals, uproar in J-land community, ads an intrusion, AOL dishonest with journalists, many either moving or leaving service, ads are not palatable, mood of J-land transformed practically in a matter of hours just after journalists had hosted the VIVI Awards, mood soured quickly, boycott AOL and their advertisers, AOL ambushed its paying customers
Ryanagi - 19(unknown), on strike, 10 years with AOL, makes me cry the way AOL has shafted their members by opening to the larger non-paying Internet, giving away free services some are paying for, whoring out my journal with ads
Sepintx - 27(45389), Black Tuesday, embarrassed, AOL monetized its AOL journal product with ads, ads highly annoying, distract from journals content, waste bandwidth, AOLs ads cannot be disabled or blocked, banners across top are a throw back, ads not effective - lazy marketing, my content is unique as is other journalists, we deserve better marketing
Sideshowjane - 25(unknown), hate the ads, angry, paying AOL and AOL adds ads on our journal, we should be able to speak our mind without corporate interference, my friend has moved, people I meet on Internet say AOL is bad, AOL another faceless, money-grubbing corporation to make money, displeased
Sieblonde - 14(16296), spam ad, intrusive unwanted, shoved down my throat, no longer trust AOL, looking at other blogs, angry at journal malfunctioning, resentful, paying to be a non-consenting billboard, refuse purchase from advertisers, extremely intrusive, annoying, want them off journal, no longer participating in AOL sponsored events, such as guest editor, Scalzi's journal, magic smoke, message board or other
Sistercdr - 24(3048), AOL appears to have miscounted complaints, hate some of the advertisers on my journal, neighborhood trashed, dissatisfied with ads on paid space, sign online petition to stop AOL from displaying banner ads on paying members journals, for every one complaint there are ten equally dissatisfied customers who don't speak, just leave taking money with them, complaints give companies opportunities to change and satisfy customers, insulted, question commitment to customer satisfaction, inconvenienced by maintenance requirements, people use AOL, but nobody seems to like it, customer service issues making people angry, stayed previously because of message boards and journals, but community destroyed with effectiveness of a tornado, while "your thoughts, your blog," will not support advertisers, rude, intrusive of personal space, permission not sought, AOL is a media company, more money in ads than customers, rates driven buy subscriptions, exodus of journalists, AOL forcing away draw for advertisers, more ads than most, dissatisfied customers dissatisfied with advertisers
Starbell2 - 25(8848), Have been blog shopping for a couple of months, following migration of J-landers, other blog, very professional and more savvy, be with bloggers who are famous, professional, teckkies, and more knowledgeable, which is growth, Google has the brain power and are Internet orientated
Thebludragoness - 1(unknown), I'll be nice, hopefully can call AOL and tell them where to stick it
Theresarrt7 - 18(19301), journals are hallowed ground where secrets cry aloud, journals defaced with ads, we do our living, laughing, loving, and dying on these pages. They are not billboards for advertisers, you have defaced by house, remove the ad banners
Txsguinan - 24(13634), feel jinxed, sad everyone left town in protest, I love it here, but it is time to move on, I don't want to leave, but I can and must, friends going or gone
Upseted - 7(21109), boycott companies providing banners on AOL journals, Angry at AOL, forced ad banners without notice, do not endorse any of these companies, AOL is not listening to paying customers, remove ads banners, AIM was supposed to get banners not paid members, neighborhood is going to get bigger, more diverse, members already pay highest cost on ISP, AOL profits more for ads than customers, are we redundant, take a stand for services, customer should be priority, but AOL considers the advertisers the customers not those subscribed for years, flashing ad banners aesthetically offensive, take time to load, garish, crass and annoying, what not given away isn't worth paying for
Virage65 - 10(6704), don't like the ads, left in support of my friends, almost everything you see on AOL is advertising, I would stand with my friends in a legal complaint, sign a petition, listening to your customers is an effective way to promote good will, welcome a peaceful resolution
Viviansulllinwank - 28(unknown), AOL waited until the VIVIs then they screwed us royally, take a stand, angry at AOL, disappointed, resent what they did to the community, resent customer service for not taking care us, no release or advance notice, ugly ads, biggest insult was waiting until they thought we were happy
Xasporated - 21(unknown), words, messages, photos and expressions belong to the author of this journal not to profit AOL, relocated (free-of-cost), no ads to paying membership, please do not click ads
Exodus Report #1
The Exodus Report Generates Something AOL doesn't have: Reality numbers of Journalists who do make a difference
In an effort to survey the AOL Journal Community in the wake of the Advertising Scandal, we divided the community into six categories. They are:
People we know are staying at AOL journals because they have written in the last two weeks since the brouhaha. These people we called “stayers”
People we are not sure will stay at AOL journals because they have written in the last month, but not since the last two weeks since the brouhaha started. These people we called “On vacation”
People who we are pretty sure aren’t too involved because they haven’t written in their journal for over a month. These people we can call “MIA’s” Missing in action.
People who have stated in their journal they are moving out of AOL journals to another service. These people we can call “movers.”
People we are unsure of because they have gone private. These people we can call “private”
People who have quit entirely leaving only a blue box. These people we can call “quitters” (of AOL Journal Service)”
Ok, now … We surveyed 995 people (journals) – all the names were registered in Pam’s directory. This is a fair presentation of the J-Land Community. It is kept by Pam, who has been with the service the entire 29 months of operation. It can be assumed Pam has over the years already pruned from the directory, people who no longer maintain journals. Due to Pam's cancer, the Directory has added new people in the comment section, but the directory has remained fairly fixed for the last 8-9 months while Pam recovers.
Note that AOL provides no directory of journalists, although at one time, they had at least maintained a list of the last 500 people having posted an entry, so there had been a means of finding others. Now AOL service utilizes a front "Journal" advertisement listing Scalzi's and Joe's (Two AOL journal editors) sites and 5-6 regular journalists (Editor's Picks). The remaining credit for community promotion is credited to the individual journalists who gather as J-Landers to look outward and support others who post regularly, or are new to the community (posting and linking).
It has been stated that AOL hosts 600,000 journals. Even if AOL included all countries hosting the journal service, this number would seem overpowered and over-inflated by AOL marketers. The largest known gatherings of AOL Journalists in the US has been numbers closer to a thousand, but even giving AOL the benefit of the doubt by multiplying the known number by 100, which is to say 99 out of every hundred journalists are hiding, reasoning would still demand AOL isn't and hasn't been paying attention to their Journalists. This is what the numbers have to say:
Of these 995 journalists surveyed by having registered at one time in Pam's Journal and the most popular journalist in J-land:
323 (32%) journalists are stayers. Of these 323 stayers, 273 (85%) maintained visit counters. These people on average maintained AOL journal accounts for 15.44 months. These people have “rented” AOL journal space for a total of 4986 months. According to visit hits counted, these people represent 2,847,439 (52%) of the known visit business (representing activity for the advertiser). These journals average 10,430 visit hits.
84 (8%) journalists are vacationers. Of these 84 vacationers, 70 (83%) maintained visit counters. These people on average maintained AOL journals for 14.89 months. These people have “rented” AOL journal space for a total of 1,251 months. According to visit hits counted, these people represent 513,881 (9%) of the known visit business (representing activity for the advertiser). These journals average 7,341 visit hits.
298 (30%) journalists are MIA. Of these 298 MIAs, 244 (82%) maintained visit counters. These people on average maintained AOL journals for 10.54 months. These people have “rented” AOL journal space for a total of 3,141 months. According to visit hits counted, these people represent 1,177,942 (21%) of the known visit business (representing activity for the advertiser). These journals average 4,828 visit hits.
59 (6%) journalists are movers. Of these 59, movers, 47(80%) maintained visit counters. These people on average maintained AOL journals for 18.12 months. These people have “rented” AOL journal space for a total of 1,069 months. According to visit hits counted, these people represent 939,912 (17%)of the known visit business (representing activity for the advertiser). These journals average 19,998 visit hits.
80 (8%) journalists are private. Of these 80, no visit counts or months utilizing AOL journal service were able to be surveyed.
151 (15%) journalists are quitters. Of these 151, no visit counts or months utilizing AOL journal service were able to be surveyed.
Collectively, giving the most benefit of the doubt, we can calculate through Exodus Report:
Stayers, Vacationers, and Private people are more pro-AOL and amount to 487 (49%) of the people or a known factor of 3,361,320 (61%) site visits
Quitters, MIA’s, and Movers are more anti-AOL and amount to 508 (51%) of the people or a known factor of 2,117,854 (39%) site visits.
Discussion Posts to follow.
Ann and Tianka, surveyors
Link here to Acutual Numbers used in the Exodus Report