MovieChat Forums > Rogue One (2016) Discussion > I wonder why they just didn't spin off o...

I wonder why they just didn't spin off or sell the boards?

posted 8 years ago by homergreg
8 replies | jump to latest

I think Amazon missed the boat here. Couldn't they have just updated the user agreement to have allowed for the sale of the boards, and then moved it to something ad supported and run by a group of investors?

They could have had a link that ran from the movie page at IMDb to a forum site that someone else actually moderated to some extent.

To me, this was throwing out the baby with the bath water. Maybe it was just small potatoes to them, but I think some jobs could have been created.

"But I was so much older then, I'm younger than that now"

[–] skribb_Mk2 8 years ago

I just think they want to "get with the times" and adopt the social media approach. There's not much actual logic in that sense, just like actual people, legal persons want to be hip and cool too.

Please also consider http://thegotboard.com/

___
https://www.ipetitions.com/petition/petition-to-keep-the-imdb-messageboards-going

[–] autodestruct 8 years ago

Who, in their right mind, would pay money for this cesspool? It would be like buying an overflowing septic tank.

I have a very low tolerance for stupid so if I ignore you it's nothing personal.

[–] homergreg 8 years ago

As long as enough people click an can see your ads, it doesn't matter how much it stinks!

"But I was so much older then, I'm younger than that now"

[–] autodestruct 8 years ago

As long as enough people click an can see your ads, it doesn't matter how much it stinks!

If Amazon was making a significant amount of money from this I they doubt they would be shutting it down, unless it's for other reasons. But, in that case, a purchaser would just be inheriting that problem.

I have a very low tolerance for stupid so if I ignore you it's nothing personal.

[–] homergreg 8 years ago

Well all I can say is that the 2.0 site has 679 members already, with almost 6,000 guest visits, and I imagine that number is going to grow exponentially over the next couple of weeks if things don't change. ProBoards is surely enjoying the revenue from the banner ads, we'll see if they are considered a problem or an asset.

I do understand it's all a drop in the bucket for Amazon, but it's all relative, and they could have had a lot better PR over it if they acted in a little more graceful manner and transitioned their "problem" into someone else's asset.

JMHO

"But I was so much older then, I'm younger than that now"

[–] autodestruct 8 years ago

Well all I can say is that the 2.0 site has 679 members already

I think that a lot of those registrations are in protest against IMDb for shutting down the boards. I've visited the 2.0 site and all I can say is, it's not IMDb. I thought the layout was less than user-friendly. Also, I don't think that everyone from here is going to migrate. I know that I'm not going to go--the trolls are already setting up shop. Lol. Plus, there aren't individual boards for each movie so a lot of people that like indie, obscure, or less popular movies won't find much to like. Like I said, it's not IMDb. It was nice having an intelligent and reasonable conversation with you, this is what IMDb was meant to be and look what it's become. Maybe I'll run into you again before the 20th...who knows?

PS. If you do migrate don't pass up any opportunity to tell Joby to suck it!

PPS. Felicity Jones, so it's not off topic. Lol.

I have a very low tolerance for stupid so if I ignore you it's nothing personal.

[–] Sunny_Nelson 8 years ago

Well there are message boards, comment sections, user reviews and other community areas on Amazon, so maybe they'll just enhance or modify that? 

[–] ARCtrooper-5555 8 years ago

I tend to think Amazon's vision for the IMDb message boards was for it to be the "Amazon" of message boards. In other words, like the Amazon site it would be the most all-inclusive, the largest... there would be nothing they wouldn't cover and be unrestrictive as possible. But full-time trolls gradually began to take root. And over the past decade there seems to have been a number of growth spikes in troll infestation. And now it's become somewhat of a troll haven.

Looking over a few internet reports and articles on the subject, it gave the impression that the IMDb message boards have gained a well known but notorious reputation for being considered as overwhelmed and dominated by trolls. Some outsiders have labeled it as a completely negative experience. So outside complaints may likely have been much more of a factor than the inside complaints and flags piling up on the boards administrators. Perhaps some of those complaints even came from advertisers, studios, and even celebrities peaking in on boards or participating. Of course that's speculation on my part as to how much or whom outside complaints came from.

"The mission... the nightmares... there... finally... over." - ARCtrooper Fives