Might be interesting to ask why people don't have a paid account too - particularly those who used to :)
In like vein, asking people if they plan to RENEW their paid account might be useful. If I were up for renewal right now, I'd be on the fence. (Deleted comment)
Who is "we"? The community?
"We" in this context is "staff" - many of us had our own Paid Accounts before becoming staff, but the reasons might have been different.
I think that would fit into the "I like the status of being a Paid user" response.
It's interesting that there aren't more people picking comment editing.
I've had a paid account so long that I honestly didn't even realize that was a paid-only feature. However, it is in my top 5 reasons. :) (Deleted comment)
![[User Picture]](https://l-userpic.livejournal.com/116706581/15157319) | From:  qp
2009-03-19 05:23 pm (UTC)
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actually, now that I think about it (looking at the other answers under the last question), I also wanted to see if there was anything different with the server priority; however, I haven't noticed a difference. " dwer -- Hopefully, an "expand all" button at the top of every post for communities." I'd love that. Edited at 2009-03-19 05:34 pm (UTC)
The server priority comes into play when LJ's slow. A few times during this autumn the Express Lane showed I got pages before as many as a thousand free users.
Why do you want to know? If I click "userpics", will you start giving free users even less userpic spaces to "entice" them to pay up?
Oh God, I hope not! D: *Clings to her userpics* (Deleted comment)
Ooh, that sounds shiny - I didn't realise that was a feature! (Deleted comment) (Deleted comment) (Deleted comment)
It would be interesting to see a similar poll of permanent account holders.
Permanent account holders included.
A number of the things like ads and comment editing were added after I became a paid member. I originally got the paid account to support a service that I used.
Same here. It was $25/year and I really felt it was worth it to pay them for how much I used it. It was only when there was an error with my credit card renewal a couple years ago (I got a replacement card, so the security numbers were different) and I suddenly found myself, without warning (no emails) a non-paid member. Wow, did I HATE the site! Not just for screwing with my membership, but because everything I was used to was GONE and there were ads everywhere! After getting over my annoyance with being "broken up with" by LJ (I figured it was probably some computer screw up). I rejoined and have since bought a permanent account.
Huh. I don't have a paid account anymore and just realized I am still a member here.
I haven't actually needed one since my expiration ran out, but I do miss having my own journal style for comment/entry pages. (Deleted comment)
I agree. As I said above, I think this is a slightly different type of question, though - just about the impetus/motivation to get a Paid Account, in general. (Deleted comment)
![[User Picture]](https://l-userpic.livejournal.com/74931202/1194820) | From: daev
2009-03-19 05:29 pm (UTC)
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Around the time that invite codes went away, Brad defended his changes by saying that he wanted LiveJournal to be really free, to offer all the good stuff to everyone without ads. (Obviously that didn't happen...) He said that if only a small percentage of users paid, the LiveJournal business could afford to support everyone else. The benefits offered to Paid members were more in the nature of tokens of appreciation for their contribution to the LiveJournal cause.
Basically, Brad implied: LiveJournal = PBS.
I'm big on PBS and do-gooder causes like that, so I signed on. SixApart and SUP have made it a lot harder to see Brad's original vision, but I persist in contributing to LJ in hopes that the original project of "let's build something great and give it away for free" might re-emerge someday.
I didn't join until 2004 or so, but that was the same mentality I approached it with. At the time, there were no ads, no apparent focus on profit. I became a paying member to support that communal mindset. Since then things have seemed to change pretty drastically and frankly all the efforts at extracting more money out of people have just made me kind of resentful, and haven't made up my mind if it's worth sticking around or not with all the free sites available that do the same things (primarily facebook). (Deleted comment)
I probably would have said ads too but I've had a paid account since 2006. IE pre ads.
Well, when my paid account ran out, I realized I would have to see ads again and that was enough of an incentive to renew it. It wasn't the reason I originally paid back in 2002 but now it's a reason to keep paying as long as I keep using the site.
I would have been able to live on a free account no problem with 15 userpics and no ads, but even early users such as myself could only pick one or the other.
I was gifted a perm account now, but with all the features paid users are given, i would like to see more stuff for free users like my several roleplay accounts! :D
Also, I was gifted paid accounts for several years because I used to be a real layout-designing/icon-making junkie from 2002-2007 (under another LJ account) and my friends would upgrade my accounts so i could keep doing that. :3
Edited at 2009-03-19 05:35 pm (UTC)
Eh. All the fandom people are basically just waiting for the next shoe to drop. | 
