More interesting commentary regarding the pending 'merger' between LJ and MT....
apophenia: The Cultural Divide Between LiveJournal and Six Apart:
Live Journal is a culture, not simply a product or commodity that can be bought. From an outsider's perspective, it might appear as though they are similar properties - they are both blogging tools, right? Wrong.
Jump inside LJ culture. People who use LJ talk about their LJs, not their blogs. They mock bloggers who want to be pundits, journalists, experts. In essence, they mock the culture of bloggers that use Six Apart's tools. During interviews with LJ/Xanga folks, i've been told that MovableType is for people with no friends, people who just talk to be heard, people who are trying too hard.
LJ folks don't see LJ as a tool, but a community. Bloggers may see the ethereal blogosphere as their community, but for LJers, it's all about LJ. Aside from the ubergeek LJers, LJers don't read non-LJs even though syndication is available. They post for their friends, comment excessively and constantly moderate who should have access to what.
Like I mentioned before, I use both tools, but am ambivalent about which is 'better'. LJ seems easier to set up and post to, and has access to 'built-in' community; MT gives a lot more control (css templates, etc.), and access to info-porn data (site traffic stats, etc.). We'll see if LJ turns into geocities (post-yahoo purchase), or maintains its identity.
As part of Six Apart, LiveJournal will continue to operate as a separate division and will continue to foster an active community around the globe. Brad Fitzpatrick, Danga's founder, president and lead developer, will join Six Apart as the company's chief architect, extending his proven skills in scaling large services to the rest of Six Apart's products. The Danga staff will remain dedicated to LiveJournal and Six Apart expects the staff to grow as it invests in the service. LiveJournal will continue to distribute a large portion of its software under various open source licenses. Six Apart intends to invest in the LiveJournal software, which will remain separate from Six Apart's Movable Type and TypePad products, with dedicated engineering and support teams for each product.
