mean-spirited gifts

[jasmineskie]

metamaura had a marvelous idea. She started a community -- no_nasty_vgifts -- solely for the purpose of petitioning LJ to no longer make nasty vgifts an option. Go here to sign the petition.

What's the big deal about getting a black rose or a broken heart (or a lump of coal or pile of doggy poo) as a vgift? I personally think a black rose is kinda cool and just as pretty as a red or yellow rose, but imagine -- if you're already down in the dumps and some anonymous moron sends you a black rose with a hurtful message, well, you might not think it was so cool. You might wonder who out there, a person who presumably reads your journal on more than just an occasional basis, hates you enough to spend money to send you a nasty message but doesn't have the balls to sign a name to the gift.

I've had three people on my flist be sent these things recently by cruel, anonymous senders. The gifts were meant to hurt. They were meant to make the recipient feel bad, and in a cowardly way since they were sent anonymously. LJ users can block anonymous comments in their journals. LJ doesn't currently have an option (that I know of) to block anonymous gifts. Sure, the gifts can be deleted, but the damage has already been done, hasn't it.

Some people probably think this is much ado about nothing. For them, it probably is. They can look at a mean-spirited gift, laugh about the loser who spent good money to send it, and move on. Some people just have thicker skins than others; what rolls off their backs might depress someone else for days.

Life (and LJ) already offer plenty of ways for us to be cruel and nasty to each other. LJ doesn't need to make it so easy to be cruel anonymously just so they can make a buck.

Comments

[jasmineskie.livejournal.com]

Money, I'm sure. And probably because someone thought it would be cute. And in the right kind of situation, when the sender and recipient both know each other and have a history of joking with each other, they probably are cute. But it's way too easy for anonymous senders to use them to be cruel, which is what I don't like about the anonymous sending option.

[laeglass.livejournal.com]

I feel very ill at ease with anonymity in any case (comments and such), and I can't imagine anyone enjoying receiving these "gifts" from an anonymous person. If it was from a friend and an obvious joke, yeah, maybe then. But the option of sending these anonymous should def be disabled.

When it comes to money, LJ should start thinking about us paying customers who are annoyed with their services...