I think I've got reasonable karma on here and the very few who recognise my login probably think I don't post total drivel *all* of the time, so I'd like to put in my two bob's worth. I don't like the beta as it is at the minute. The front page looks fine to me: lots of white space, but I can live with white space and it's no different from other websites, although I could very much do without the constant targetted videos from advertiers; but it's the comments pages that are distinctly compromised compared to the present setup. It's far harder to close an entire thread; it's far harder to close sections and leave others open and see quickly which comments have been added since the last refresh; far less content is onscreen at one time; and the comments screen is far too narrow, which compounds the previous issues. I'm sure that with more reflection I could think of other issues with the comments, but those are probably my greatest complaints.
Over the last few days the comments pages have been increasingly dominated by childish anti-beta messages. I understand these are probably born out of frustration and irritation (even anger on some parts), but they've made the website far less usable than if the beta had been rolled out without argument. This is the flipside of it: no redesign is worth fucking up a website over, and certainly doesn't justify the sheer amount of petulant whining the boards have been filled with.
And that said, over the last couple of days, when I've had mod points I've tended to use them to at least reverse the modding down of people protesting the new beta, since there seem to be no other avenues for people who genuinely care about how the comments sections of slashdot are presented. I have no issue with a redesign, but diminishing the usability of a service is a pretty hamfisted way of increasing its profitability.
The reason so many people are "spamming" the comments section is to highlight how much comments actually matter to this website. At the moment people are coming and posting, but posting anti-beta stuff. Next week, well, with many fewer comments, the management ("no smoking or spitting") can compare and contrast the numbers. Perhaps they'll realize that it is actually the commentators that make the site, and not the "editors" (who can't edit for shit).
Over the last few days the comments pages have been increasingly dominated by childish anti-beta messages. I understand these are probably born out of frustration and irritation (even anger on some parts), but they've made the website far less usable than if the beta had been rolled out without argument. This is the flipside of it: no redesign is worth fucking up a website over, and certainly doesn't justify the sheer amount of petulant whining the boards have been filled with.
Yeah, I think that was kind of the point. The message I got was, "Fine: If you want to act like you're listening to us but then completely ignore what we're saying, we can be just as childish. In the process, we'll demonstrate why you should value the comments so much. You'll probably misconstrue or ignore that message, but fuck it, we have to do something."
I guess it's kind of debatable whether this is commenters putting their money where their mouths are, or just being bratty, though. But why can't it be
Maybe it's just me, but I'd like to think that I have at least a few percent more of a chance of swaying the direction Slashdot goes than all the other things that are going off the tracks these days like Unity, Windows 8, the U.S. government...
I don't like being told "we're doing this for you"/"we're representing you" and then they do the exact opposite of what we've been telling them we want them to do. It's more galling than never soliciting feedback in the first place.
Over the last few days the comments pages have been increasingly dominated by childish anti-beta messages. I understand these are probably born out of frustration and irritation (even anger on some parts), but they've made the website far less usable than if the beta had been rolled out without argument.
Congratulations, you just figured out what made it an effective protest.
Two comments (Score:5, Insightful)
I think I've got reasonable karma on here and the very few who recognise my login probably think I don't post total drivel *all* of the time, so I'd like to put in my two bob's worth. I don't like the beta as it is at the minute. The front page looks fine to me: lots of white space, but I can live with white space and it's no different from other websites, although I could very much do without the constant targetted videos from advertiers; but it's the comments pages that are distinctly compromised compared to the present setup. It's far harder to close an entire thread; it's far harder to close sections and leave others open and see quickly which comments have been added since the last refresh; far less content is onscreen at one time; and the comments screen is far too narrow, which compounds the previous issues. I'm sure that with more reflection I could think of other issues with the comments, but those are probably my greatest complaints.
Over the last few days the comments pages have been increasingly dominated by childish anti-beta messages. I understand these are probably born out of frustration and irritation (even anger on some parts), but they've made the website far less usable than if the beta had been rolled out without argument. This is the flipside of it: no redesign is worth fucking up a website over, and certainly doesn't justify the sheer amount of petulant whining the boards have been filled with.
And that said, over the last couple of days, when I've had mod points I've tended to use them to at least reverse the modding down of people protesting the new beta, since there seem to be no other avenues for people who genuinely care about how the comments sections of slashdot are presented. I have no issue with a redesign, but diminishing the usability of a service is a pretty hamfisted way of increasing its profitability.
Re: (Score:2)
The reason so many people are "spamming" the comments section is to highlight how much comments actually matter to this website. At the moment people are coming and posting, but posting anti-beta stuff. Next week, well, with many fewer comments, the management ("no smoking or spitting") can compare and contrast the numbers. Perhaps they'll realize that it is actually the commentators that make the site, and not the "editors" (who can't edit for shit).
Re: (Score:2)
Over the last few days the comments pages have been increasingly dominated by childish anti-beta messages. I understand these are probably born out of frustration and irritation (even anger on some parts), but they've made the website far less usable than if the beta had been rolled out without argument. This is the flipside of it: no redesign is worth fucking up a website over, and certainly doesn't justify the sheer amount of petulant whining the boards have been filled with.
Yeah, I think that was kind of the point. The message I got was, "Fine: If you want to act like you're listening to us but then completely ignore what we're saying, we can be just as childish. In the process, we'll demonstrate why you should value the comments so much. You'll probably misconstrue or ignore that message, but fuck it, we have to do something."
I guess it's kind of debatable whether this is commenters putting their money where their mouths are, or just being bratty, though. But why can't it be
Re: (Score:2)
Maybe it's just me, but I'd like to think that I have at least a few percent more of a chance of swaying the direction Slashdot goes than all the other things that are going off the tracks these days like Unity, Windows 8, the U.S. government...
I don't like being told "we're doing this for you"/"we're representing you" and then they do the exact opposite of what we've been telling them we want them to do. It's more galling than never soliciting feedback in the first place.
Re: (Score:2)
Over the last few days the comments pages have been increasingly dominated by childish anti-beta messages. I understand these are probably born out of frustration and irritation (even anger on some parts), but they've made the website far less usable than if the beta had been rolled out without argument.
Congratulations, you just figured out what made it an effective protest.
Childish messages (Score:2)
the comments pages have been increasingly dominated by childish anti-beta messages
They may be childish, but if they're the only thing that gets Dice to hit the brakes before driving over the cliff, they will have been worth it.