Classic Film : I urge IMDb members not to give up the site entirely

I urge IMDb members not to give up the site entirely

I've read posts where some people have remarked about deleting their accounts entirely when IMDb boards close.

That's all well and good, if that's what floats your boat, but me, I'm gonna' stick around. I like to contribute memorable quotes (and sometimes goofs and other trivia, if it would help) to the various movie and TV pages. You have to be logged in as a registered member in order to do that.

In spite of the Boards going away, which I consider a big loss, I would still encourage registered IMDb members to continue participating in making contributions and continuing with rating movies and TV shows and the like. I realize the Boards have largely been a big benefit to us all, but the contributions that members can still make to trivia/memorable quotes/FAQs/filming locations/soundtrack listings etc. are and should continue to be a big benefit, too.

So, if you're able to contribute in those areas, I urge you to stick around.

As a matter of fact, I've sometimes learned things from a Trivia or FAQ page, or had questions answered, that were NOT discussed anywhere on the message boards.

So again, if you CAN contribute useful stuff, please continue to do so. I know I will.


Don't mess with me, man! I know karate, judo, ju-jitsu... and several other Japanese words.

Re: I urge IMDb members not to give up the site entirely

Relationships are best when both parties contribute. If you're giving and they're only taking, not only taking, but also taking away. Then that's a pretty crappy deal in my opinion.

Whatever floats yer boat though.

Re: I urge IMDb members not to give up the site entirely

I rarely add data like that on here. I probably will continue to add reviews on occasion, though. The withdrawal of the message boards will though severely affect my trust in IMDb and my sense of security in using the site. I will use it as a platform to save my thoughts on certain films but I will be careful to save them elsewhere. Who is to say that Amazon one day won't withdraw the review function if it can't be monetised. Yes, I will continue to use it but I will be more aware and I will feel more exploited and less in love with the whole process.

That's all, folks!

Re: I urge IMDb members not to give up the site entirely

Most likely I will be closing my account. I don't see much reason for sticking around.

~~~~~
Proud to be Canadian! 🇨🇦

Re: I urge IMDb members not to give up the site entirely


As a matter of fact, I've sometimes learned things from a Trivia or FAQ page, or had questions answered, that were NOT discussed anywhere on the message boards.


Trivia, Goofs and Quotes have always been my favourites! I rarely read the user reviews (too many, too long, too subjective or too boring) but I devour those three sections and I've learnt thousands of interesting, enlightening, instructive, curious, amazing and funny things about films and actors thanks to them! I own scores of film guides and encyclopaedias in four languages, but nothing is comparable to the TGQ!!

So, I assure you that I won't "give up the site entirely". As for my account, I almost deleted it (I did once), but it was because of the Message Boards (or rather because of the numerous and apparently incontrollable trolls, baiters, stalkers and sockpuppets there), but when they are gone I don't see any reason to delete it and it can be useful for a number of things, as you explain.

🔺


Re: I urge IMDb members not to give up the site entirely

Thanks, Aloysius. Your thinking seems to be in line with mine. I just enjoy contributing what *I* think is useful stuff, and I'm always happy to find interesting or useful stuff that some other member took the time to contribute.


Don't mess with me, man! I know karate, judo, ju-jitsu... and several other Japanese words.

Re: I urge IMDb members not to give up the site entirely

You're welcome, Zolotoy. Yes, though from different directions, our approaches seem to be pretty similar. I understand you: to help and guide others whenever you can is an enjoyable experience. I do it as well on the threads. That shows that you care about your fellow posters (and other people in general) and their interests. But there are persons who just want to look continuously at their own navel...




🔺


Re: I urge IMDb members not to give up the site entirely

I CAN contribute 'useful' stuff - I've added cast/titles to filmographies, a bio, maybe 8 or 10 reviews, a few corrections here and there I think. - but if there's no community to make use of it, I doubt I will in future.

It won't bother those running the site as its really all about current hollywood and that stuff's pretty well covered.






If to stand pat means to resist evil then, yes, neighbour, we wish to stand pat.

Re: I urge IMDb members not to give up the site entirely

If nothing else it's sort of fun to watch your "badges" change color and then the numbers getting higher and higher.

Reviewing is fun and sure helps typing skills even if you know that no one will read them but yourself. They focus thinking about the films.

I kinda wish I could go back to just watching a movie .. I keep putting them on pause so I can write down a good quote .. only to find that it's so good that it is already posted.

Re: I urge IMDb members not to give up the site entirely

I'll be keeping my account open but with the boards gone I'll only drop by for occasional information (cast lists, etc.) and perhaps the home page news. But most of what I'd like to know and read won't be around any longer, so to me, IMDb's utility will be severely limited.

I agree with Aloysius that the goof and trivia sections are fun and I used to contribute lots to each, especially goofs, though not so many the past year or so. The problem is that the people who'd read such things are probably also posters and when there are no more posts to be made attendance on the sites -- particularly those of older films -- is likely to drop to little or nothing.

Still, cancelling will solve nothing. Better to have the option to log on than not.

Re: I urge IMDb members not to give up the site entirely


the goof and trivia sections are fun and I used to contribute lots to each

I love perusing all that stuff. True, it would be even better to have the Boards available to be able to then go and discuss those things in even greater depth. Be that as it may, I'll still be here checking out trivia, quotes, filming locations, goofs, etc.

That's why I urge people to keep contributing, because there *are* many of us who will still come here to look up those things in one compact location.

And thanks for your previous contributions, hobnob. I still remember some of the goofs we discussed, a long time ago. You've got a good eye and really know how to search out that kind of stuff.


Don't mess with me, man! I know karate, judo, ju-jitsu... and several other Japanese words.

Re: I urge IMDb members not to give up the site entirely


You've got a good eye and really know how to search out that kind of stuff.


Say, thank you for that, ZR. It must be my editor's eye -- I can almost always spot mistakes. Except my own, of course!

We did have fun talking about that kind of stuff, didn't we?! But that'll be the trouble -- we can post it, but can't discuss it...at least, not where it counts.

Re: The more I think about it…

The more I think about it, the more I like the idea of just closing my account. Time to move on. Other sites (with information) exist out there.

~~~~~
Proud to be Canadian! 🇨🇦

Re: I urge IMDb members not to give up the site entirely

So true,ZR. I often contribute missing names to cast lists whenever I recognise someone in a smal role.

"Barney Sloane...That's my new name...My old one's a little more Italian."

Re: I urge IMDb members not to give up the site entirely

I will definitely not be leaving IMDb. I have been so enamoured of it's message boards that I haven't found time to contribute to the rest of what the site has to offer, so I look upon this as a new opportunity.

Why bother when the 'metrics' make us irrelevant?

No, I'm afraid that while I won't delete my account, I will be deleting all my reviews and no longer contributing. As with all sites or publications reliant on user generated copy, there has to be a quid pro quo: in the case of the IMDB it was the possibility to get feedback on what you had written and to communicate with other users in a way that wasn't possible with a print publication. With that quid pro quo closed down, all you're doing is providing free copy to a commercial site that's made its founder very rich and generates advertising copy for the corporation that bought it so that they don't have to hire more staff.

As Roger said, by shutting out the community, the element of trust has gone, and with it the sense of a mutual passion that generated all that free copy in the first place. For me nothing underlines it more than Col Needham's posts on the issue: he's always turned a deaf ear to complaints about changes to the site and his selective hearing has only been able to acknowledge those posters who agree with him, but it was his use of the word 'metrics' to describe the community. Not people, not contributors, not even movie lovers: to him we're just 'metrics.' And as a statistical irrelevance, he's made it clear that there's no worth in our continuing to contribute. To use an old English saying, the IMDB's prevailing attitude seems to be "**** you Jack, I'm all right."


"Security - release the badgers."

Re: Why bother when the 'metrics' make us irrelevant?

I have to admit that even before this, I've long been uncomfortable with IMDb's business model. I don't know how much revenue the site brings in, I assume its tens of millions a year. Even if it didn't, Amazon has more money than it can ever spend. They could easily keep the message boards and make them gold plated if they wanted.

"Contributing" has just become a tiresome chore anyway, especially since 2009 or so when they started inviting people to "edit pages" and all this kind of stuff. It was no surprise to me that quality took a nosedive. It's the real heavy duty contributors I feel sorry for, people with 100,000+ contributions, who wonder if they've just been wasting their lives. Some of them are drawn in too deeply and are in denial, but I know others are thinking of giving up, assuming they can break the habit now.

The best bit is that on the thread notifying the CH board of the shutdown, the staff were asking with enormous cheek (and irony) for people to become volunteer admins on GetSatisfaction, something that prompted one of my more colourful responses.


Re: I urge IMDb members not to give up the site entirely

This Site was built brick-by-brick by invaluable contributions from passionate and knowledgeable people such as the CFB posters. They were happy to give, IMDb was happy to take. Now the reward is to take away our way of communication with each other. How rude! Some great reward!
I'm not deleting but I am looking for a place to call home now. Letterboxd looked good but didn't see any way of communicating on there, just a bunch of people rating movies, I can still do that here.

That's right! You're about to be killed by a zamboni!

Re: I urge IMDb members not to give up the site entirely

I fully agree with you, Zolotoy.

Even without the Boards, this site will remain a favorite for many of us. A lot of resources were poured into this Internet home over the years to provide a place for folks like us who truly love movies and want to contribute in whatever way we can.

I'm not planning to go anywhere else.

E pluribus unum

Re: I urge IMDb members not to give up the site entirely

This place will be a ghost town without the message boards.

RIP IMDb. 2017

I'm planning to keep my account…

And I'll probably start using the other features more when us drama llamas have stopped fighting.



I'm not repeating myself. I'm not repeating myself. Oh, God, I'm repeating myself.
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