Open Diary (edited to add email) in Just in Case

Did anyone else get the OD email? Just curious.

Here’s the email. I suspect I got it because I had been a member for well over 10 years. Once it goes live, I think I will do the free trial. It says all our stuff will still be there. I’d like to download my earlier entries in a more readable fashion, and get the pictures from them. Here’s the email:

I hope this email finds you well. I am sending this same email to a number of prior Open Diary members, with some exciting news - and apologies in advance for the length of this!

I have been thinking for a long time about bringing Open Diary back, I have very much missed having it as part of my life for the last few years. With the state of the online (and real) world being what it is, I started to seriously consider this over the last year. I truly believe that the social networks of today have failed at what they were supposed to do - bringing people together - instead, they have driven us further apart.

I think the time is right to offer a new experience online, where people can write about their true selves, and interact with others based on their shared interests and beliefs. This new place would be based on the OD Rules of respect for each other, and forbidding the personal attacks that have made other social networks so ugly lately.

You are probably wondering how we hope to accomplish this, given the behavior people find acceptable online. There are several answers to that question, including improved filtering technology, better moderation practices, and so forth. However, the main goal is to build (or re-build) a community where every member values their OD experience, and has some investment in keeping the community respectful and clean.

For all of the above reasons, I have been working with a new team the last few months to rebuild Open Diary - with all the old diary contents still there, but built on new, modern, and secure technology. For the reasons stated above, the new site will be subscription-based, with members paying a small monthly fee to participate in the community.

I am very happy to say that we have the first version of the new site built, and that we are very happy with it - and this is where you come in.

I am looking for a few members who would be willing to try out the new site, and give us some feedback on the experience. Your old diary will be there, and you can pick up where you left off and start posting in that diary and reconnecting with old friends.

We have been testing for the last few weeks with a group of previous Lifetime subscribers, and that has gone extremely well, so we are excited about the evolution of the new site!

Please note - if you join the site, you will join like a regular user. This means that you will have thirty days of free use with full functionality except for leaving notes. After that thirty days (or before if you wish) you will have to pay the subscription fee to continue accessing your diary and the site.

If the above is not acceptable to you, and you want to wait until the site is live - that is totally fine! You will still receive an invite to rejoin the site once it goes live in a couple months. If you do want to join now and be a part of this group, please let me know.

Last updated November 19, 2017