<![CDATA[And This Is Why Corporations Don't Buy Blogs - Gawker Comments]]> <![CDATA[And This Is Why Corporations Don't Buy Blogs - Gawker Comments]]> <![CDATA[And This Is Why Corporations Don't Buy Blogs]]> xfool92, I agree with you a great deal. You can't breathe without getting a warning on TWoP and you sure as hell can't express an opinion that goes against the grain of what the moderators hold to be truth without getting temporarily suspended. It's ridiculous.

TWoP could have been something great if they didn't overmoderate. How is it a community of expressed opinions when your opinions are not permitted.

JMRN

]]> <![CDATA[And This Is Why Corporations Don't Buy Blogs]]> Topic.
It is indeed quite strange that all three founders resigned at the same time and left the big cheese to stand alone. Soon after, she left and is now unemployed. Their droll power trip simply "jumped the shark," and in the final analysis they may have been hoisted on their own petard. It appears many "banned" former members are now grinning like Cheshire cats and were thinking: "Don't let the door hit your asses on the way out."
Topic? Good riddance.



FatTush

]]> <![CDATA[And This Is Why Corporations Don't Buy Blogs]]> Like many others, I lost interest in the site after Bravo took over. The re-design was poor and added video, weecaps and other elements created junk.

And really recaps are funny when you first stumble on the concept but after a few months or years, who wants to read 20 pages about a television show? The entire concept wears thin.

I can't help but say that if Tara, Sarah, David, Linda (aka "Miss Alli") and others have left because they didn't like the heavy-handed approach of NBC, well, karma's a bitch. Looks like they got a taste of their own medicine. After handing out years of dictatorial moderating for not reading 100 pages of posts, or starting a comment with the word "um" or posting in lower case, it appears Miss Alli has been banned from TwOP.

paperback

]]> <![CDATA[And This Is Why Corporations Don't Buy Blogs]]> Couch Barons' Veronica Mars recaps were great minus his editorializing. Also, love Potes recaps of Top Model and Biggest Loser. AB Chao got hired off the site to write for Eli Stone - at least the site was a launching pad for some of the recappers.

ithawtitoldya

]]> <![CDATA[And This Is Why Corporations Don't Buy Blogs]]> I've probably been reading the recaps for about 6 or 7 years now, although I didn't register until four years ago, and rarely post in the forums.

I've never been a big fan of change. And I've loved TWoP for so long that it's a little sad for me to realize that it'll never be the same again.

I miss the cartoons that they used to have representing each show, instead of the pictures they have now.

I miss actually reading funny and insightful recaps. These just don't do it for me anymore. They used to have a week to write their recaps, but now that they push them to have it up in only a few hours or the next day, they just aren't the same.

I always thought the forums were moderated fairly, and I liked that the recappers moderated their own forums. But when they got the new forum mod staff, everything changed. Things are a lot more strict now, to the point of ridiculousness, and the mods refuse to see that. In the Grey's Anatomy forum, I noticed that there is a thread where people were trying to list their problems with the new moderator, but they just kept saying they weren't doing anything different.

I'm sad that it changed so much, but I think everyone knew this would happen.

BayouKat

]]> <![CDATA[And This Is Why Corporations Don't Buy Blogs]]> I loooved MBTV in the Dawson's Creek days.

Part of the reason I always loved it was because of the rules. People weren't allowed to type in all lowercase, all the usual annoying internet-y language was NOT allowed. Also back then the commenters didn't seem so dumb.

Not so much anymore. . .

iamtall

]]> <![CDATA[And This Is Why Corporations Don't Buy Blogs]]> I discovered TWoP in about 2003, and I was amazed and intimidated. The recappers said what I was thinking, but in a way that was so much better than I ever could. I started writing TV news and recaps for another site right around the time TWoP was sold to Bravo, so I naturally stopped reading so much. I would go back every now and then though and I was shocked at the pure number of shows featured. It used to be I would decide what new shows I would watch based on whether or not TWoP recapped them, but now it's just about the numbers.

It was seriously one of the most organized and well-run sites out there, and to see it fall is sad.

Kona

]]> <![CDATA[And This Is Why Corporations Don't Buy Blogs]]> @Varina: See, I'm a purist. I appreciate Potes's take on ANTM, and she's grown into the role admirably, but I will forever miss djb at the helm of those recaps. I had such a crush on his brain.

@hannelore: They used to have a rule against recapping sitcoms -- a good rule, at that. What will always exemplify MBTV/TWoP to me is the memory of Jessica's Dawson's Creek recaps -- witty, disparaging, and hilarious. The sitcom recaps just seem weirdly out of place.

Colonel Mustard

]]> <![CDATA[And This Is Why Corporations Don't Buy Blogs]]> My user account at TWoP is almost eight years old. That's what, 77 in internet years?

When it comes to the Uber Interactive crew, there are so many memories. Hilarious, bizarre, confusing memories. Remember when the name changed from MBTV to TWoP and Wing, Glark & Sars refused to say why? Or the time that a group of established commenters were all summarily banned? (Including fox1013, who was in the top ten posters and had even written a guest recap or two.)

The site's content has definitely suffered since its sale to Bravo. Would Make Me a Supermodel be recapped if it weren't a Bravo show? I adore 30 Rock, but what ever happened to the idea that it was stupid to try be funny about shows that were supposed to be funny? (That said, they do also recap How I Met Your Mother, which is a CBS show.)

Everyone who's said that Bravo bought the user base, not the content, is right. Unfortunately, for the more discerning internet denizens out there, TWoP has long, long passed that tipping point of having a large pool of witty, engaged users and is now into the fanboy/girl free-for-all territory.

hannelore

]]> <![CDATA[And This Is Why Corporations Don't Buy Blogs]]> I found MBTV by happy accident when I was in high school and I wasted many a free period reading Kim's "Real World" and the "Dawson's" recaps and cackling like a madwoman to the point where my friends would demand to see what I was reading. I've been pretty loyal for almost 10 years now. I got warned once for talking about the "next week on..." promo on the current week's thread without spoiler-tagging. And six months later? Six months later that stuff wasn't counted as spoilers anymore.

I think the site has indeed suffered with the sale to Bravo and I agree that it was better when it was a select group of shows. The Weecaps are horrible and pointless. I wish they hadn't moved "Idol" to Weecap status. I suspect it's because they figured that a lot of people would be interested to read the recaps the next day, but Jacob's crazy anecdotes and psychoanalysis of contestants really seems to suffer! As long as Potes is still on the ANTM beat, I'll be happy, though.

Varina

]]> <![CDATA[And This Is Why Corporations Don't Buy Blogs]]> Even though it's gone more mainstream and there are more and more recappers I don't like, I was still a little heartbroken when I saw that yesterday. 10 years of reading MBTV/TwoP is a lot.

Still, I'll survive as long as pamie doesn't stop blogging. Dan occasionally remembering that he can post there too would be awesome, too.

btrp

]]> <![CDATA[And This Is Why Corporations Don't Buy Blogs]]> The leaving is never as abrupt as it seems. Insiders knew about the leaving for weeks. Don't be surprised to hear of more leaving as well, including writers and mods.

I know some current and former recappers and this is what I've been told.

Re the weecaps: They are sucky and the recappers hate doing them. They apparantly take way too long for what they are paid and the turnaround is something ridiculous, like by 7 AM for shows that air the night before. More than one recapper has left because of being assigned them and nothing else.

Re:the founders, they decided not to renew their contracts with Bravo. They're leaving of their own volition because changes are being made that they don't agree with to appeal to the masses. I don't think its what they saw happening a year ago when the sale went through. Corporate overhang always ruins shit.

jsteele

]]> <![CDATA[And This Is Why Corporations Don't Buy Blogs]]> And also, MissAlli is a sanctimonious douche.

Given the timing, I would say the trio had a deal to stay for one year. Not surprising since they have hated their membershp for oh, about six years now.

TootieFields

]]> <![CDATA[And This Is Why Corporations Don't Buy Blogs]]> Miss Alli is taking over? And to think, she started with Dawson's Creek fanfiction.

TootieFields

]]> <![CDATA[And This Is Why Corporations Don't Buy Blogs]]> @SeeingI: I too loved Jacob's "Dr Who" recaps, and would read them over and over. He's also written some of the all-time great "Mondo Extras" (if that's what they still call them), some Dr Phil specials, an awful miniseries of "A Wrinkle in Time" and my favorite, an ITV movie starring Chris Eccleston about the second coming in which Christ comes back to earth in Manchester. I think it's called "The Second Coming."
It's available on Netflix, but almost not worth watching without that genius recap.

EugenieRose

]]> <![CDATA[And This Is Why Corporations Don't Buy Blogs]]> @St. Francis: Did you really just whine about getting a free $150+ iPod in exchange for snarky pop culture writing you did totally on spec? Nobody likes to be kept at arm's length and (debatably) misled for a year, but you've got some serious grudge issues . . .

As far as whether Bravo was buying the "content" (i.e., the recaps) or the "talent," I'd say they were buying neither. They were buying the community, and the reliable and frequent page views that community would provide. They needed the talent to create the community in the first place, and keep them reassured through the transition, but they probably think it can chug along just fine without the founders now that it's got sufficient mass of its own. There's no way the three of them were doing significant quantities of writing or moderation on the site any more anyway.

Crunchbird

]]> <![CDATA[And This Is Why Corporations Don't Buy Blogs]]> @dinergirl: Oh God, please no. She's like everything I hate about TWoP rolled into one, horrible bitchy preten... oh I'm creating a syllogism here aren't I.

I read TWoP still, mostly for smaller shows like Pushing Daisies and Ugly Betty (which I suppose are "smaller" in the sense that their viewership amongst TWoP visitors is not high). And the Heroes discussion is some of the only smart discussion on the subject I've seen on the internet. But posting about shows like Project Runway has become genuinely painful.

Nunya B

]]> <![CDATA[And This Is Why Corporations Don't Buy Blogs]]> @Smackdown: God, me too. I would often crack up just reading the titles of the forums. And to this day I mourn the fact that I didn't memorize every post to the fake cussing/censorship board.

solaana

]]> <![CDATA[And This Is Why Corporations Don't Buy Blogs]]> @Colonel Mustard: This is spot on. Funny that I was just mentioning here the other day the TWoP board for the first Rock Star show, and what a great time that was. TWoP used to be a must-read for me, when it was how the Colonel describes. After the buy-out, I started going less and less, and now I just never go there anymore. It feels like a shame, but I can definitely understand why the 3 would leave.

DorothyMantooth

]]> <![CDATA[And This Is Why Corporations Don't Buy Blogs]]> You know all, this is the best commentary I've read in months! It's like TwoP without all the warnings.

xfool92

]]> <![CDATA[And This Is Why Corporations Don't Buy Blogs]]> @PimpMyCouch: Tardy, but HAH!

In Other News...

]]> <![CDATA[And This Is Why Corporations Don't Buy Blogs]]> I heard that Linda Holmes (Miss Alli) will be taking over as TWoP overlord. If that's the case, then I'm really done with that site, because she's kind of a cuntbag.

dinergirl

]]> <![CDATA[And This Is Why Corporations Don't Buy Blogs]]> Yeah, it's what happens on the 'net. I've been there since MBTV days and totally fell in love with the site over The Amazing Race, (which they still recap) and ER and CSI recaps (which they don't anymore).

I'm still on a bunch of forums, but I haven't posted to AI in years (Shack was a wonderful recapper), and frankly I'm glad a lot of the recappers have gone on to their own success (Heathen and Jessica, djb, Pamie, and for that matter, Miss Alli, who now lives here fulltime and is a writer/editor)

I trained myself to keep within the FAQ rules, and only ever got warned once on Fametraacker. I must restrain myself, however, after I post on the Datalounge.

Oh, and I was also on Deadspin very early, but don't hang out there much because even satirical dick jokes/fag jokes wear thin after awhile.

kw

]]> <![CDATA[And This Is Why Corporations Don't Buy Blogs]]> I discovered MBTV during my "Buffy" Season 2 obsessiveness. I used to be a recapper for the "Survivor Sucks" web site back when it was Richard winning and Jeri getting all up in everyone's face.

ITA that MBTV is not the same with so many shows, and so many posters. It is (a) a victim of its own success, and (b) an example of what happens when Old Media wants to get "hip".

Does anyone think mediabistro is the same?

If you take something small and neat and try to blow it up, it looks like the same ugly McMansion everyone else has.

People think you can take something small and beloved and make it big and not lose anything in translation. And it rarely works.

FormerEnglishMajor

]]> <![CDATA[And This Is Why Corporations Don't Buy Blogs]]> @Wendy_Kroy: Exactly. Of course, some of the weird choices are obvious -- longtime recapper Pamie is a writer for Samantha Who?, and with the new and unwieldy size of the site they don't mind giving shout-outs to their own -- but they're really just courting traffic and hits now. Some of the best days were when they thought they were going to have to shut down, and the commenters banded together and started buying ad space to keep the place afloat.

I'm sure that was harrowing for Sars, WC, and Glark, but the community atmosphere made it so much more enjoyable. I used to feel pretty recognizable over there, but now you have to be OCD just to get your voice heard over the Greek chorus of reflexively fanatical nutjobs. The problem with inviting two million people to a party is that two million people will show up.

Colonel Mustard

]]> <![CDATA[And This Is Why Corporations Don't Buy Blogs]]> I still miss djb the most... but I gave up on the forums years ago. Between the annoying rules and the endless threads, it was a waste.

I used to like Sars's tomatonation site, too, until she went all test-kitchen ("Susy has curly hair that she can't control. Readers, any ideas?") It was much better when it was Sars knocking sense into the idiots who wrote to her for advice on their pitiful lives.

nowmedusa

]]> <![CDATA[And This Is Why Corporations Don't Buy Blogs]]> The problem with noncompetes from a corporate point of view is, you can only really block them from one medium for a certain period of time. So, no blogs? But they can start forums? Or websites? Or get a tv deal of their own? Or book deal, magazine contract, newspaper column...When it's writing talent and a nose for what the public wants to read, that talent is hard to block. Wherever these guys end up, they will siphon people away from their former overlords, and good for them.

raincoaster

]]> <![CDATA[And This Is Why Corporations Don't Buy Blogs]]> @xfool92:
Yeah, they censored my comments too, for no good reason. Good riddance to bad rubbish, as we used to say in grade school (which is about the level of most of their recent recaps.)

WasatchMan

]]> <![CDATA[And This Is Why Corporations Don't Buy Blogs]]> As long as the Dude who recapped Studio 60 doesn't leave

rudeboy7969

]]> <![CDATA[And This Is Why Corporations Don't Buy Blogs]]> @WifeMotherCrip: Me too.

Smackdown

]]> <![CDATA[And This Is Why Corporations Don't Buy Blogs]]> @Wendy_Kroy:

I agree. I used to be obsessive about TwoP a few years back, especially when they had such amazing recappers like Stee and Miss Alli. In their FAQ's from way back when, they mentioned why they don't recap funny shows, noting that pointing out the funny in funny, just wasn't. . .well, funny.
But ever since they retooled the site, they've recapped shows like The Office, My Name is Earl and How I Met Your Mother--all comedies, and all (to a certain extent) intended to be funny. So it's that, plus with the volume of shows they've now decided to cover, the editorial quality has suffered.


Brawndo

]]> <![CDATA[And This Is Why Corporations Don't Buy Blogs]]> @xfool92: I'm so with you. I was a big fan, but a I rarely go there anymore. I've been "warned" so many times for mundane things; I was once even warned for mentioning one episode of a show in a post about another episode of the show! Once I was so confused about why I was warned that I actually wrote a message to Miss Alli, one of the moderators, asking her to please explain what I had done wrong since my comments didn't seem to violate any rules. I made sure to be civil because at that time I still actually liked the site, and didn't want to be banned. Of course, she never responded. She was quick to warn me but couldn't respond when I asked for an explanation. I have also noticed that several of my posts disappeared from the site if I happen to even mention or direct a comment to the moderator. I didn't even get warnings those times, they just took them down.

Ack

]]> <![CDATA[And This Is Why Corporations Don't Buy Blogs]]> @ADismalScience: They apparently have put in the non-competition clauses. Jacob used to do the most amazing analyses of Doctor Who - witty, literary, full of connections and allusions I never picked up on (they are still on the site). When the new bosses put the kibosh on his Who posts, he responded to a question about writing a book in the negative, as it would compete with the very recaps which had just been cancelled. I believe "fucktards" is the word I'm looking for.

However, I will say that to their credit, the buy-out hasn't stopped the recappers from ripping on Bravo or NBC offerings, or ladling steaming bowlfuls of contempt on "Top Design." Soooo, when's the second season of THAT coming? And will it be titled "Goil's Revenge"?

SeeingI

]]> <![CDATA[And This Is Why Corporations Don't Buy Blogs]]> Rumor has it that Bravo fired them, though I haven't heard the reasoning behind it.

Nicolarz

]]> <![CDATA[And This Is Why Corporations Don't Buy Blogs]]> @Wendy_Kroy: Also the weecaps are pointless; not funny or insightful, just a basic recap you could find anywhere.

katieb: in charge of the war on the poor.

]]> <![CDATA[And This Is Why Corporations Don't Buy Blogs]]> @Wendy_Kroy: Just wanted to add a "hell yes" to this.

ambitious

]]> <![CDATA[And This Is Why Corporations Don't Buy Blogs]]> @PimpMyCouch: I am with you, my friend. i also still read the recaps (though they aren't quite as funny as they used to be) even if I watched the show in question.

ambitious

]]> <![CDATA[And This Is Why Corporations Don't Buy Blogs]]> @Colonel Mustard: Well put. The site worked better when it featured only those shows that had cult audiences and/or had the kind of intricate plotting you needed help keeping track of (Buffy, Lost, Doctor Who, etc.). These days, is there really a pressing demand for recaps of Samantha Who? Since the scope of the site expanded, the quality of the recaps has dropped off, too, and the boards have gotten unwieldy. It's a shame - yet another story of media consolidation fucking up something good...

Wendy_Kroy

]]> <![CDATA[And This Is Why Corporations Don't Buy Blogs]]> @Constant Dater: Four, I think. I had just graduated from college.

St. Francis

]]> <![CDATA[And This Is Why Corporations Don't Buy Blogs]]> The site lost a lot of it's bite when the Bravo took over the site, though there was still a lot of good in it. You can actually track it. Part of the beauty of the site was that the people recapping really knew their stuff on a given show, they had strong feelings, one way or another. And the Glarkware TWoP tshirts? Awesome. Now, not so much. I swear, if Ms. Alli or M. Giant or Kekler leave, I'm washing my hands of it.

TWoP was building a larger and larger fan base. If Bravo had just left them to it, they probably would have given them the same number of eyes, and would have done so without the appearance of selling out, which they do kind of seem to have done.

Damn it, they broke my website.

cristobal

]]> <![CDATA[And This Is Why Corporations Don't Buy Blogs]]> @Colonel Mustard: To quote several TWOP commenters: wordy mcword. (Honestly. That is how they agree with one another.)
I do like reading the boards and forums after watching shows like "Lost", just to see how others reacted and what their theories might be, but I steer clear of the ones that nearly come to virtual blows over whether or not Jim said goodbye to Karen before leaving New York for Pam, and if he did he's a dink.


PimpMyCouch

]]> <![CDATA[And This Is Why Corporations Don't Buy Blogs]]> There was a tipping point where the forums got unweildy. When once it was fun to check in the morning after whatever show and read a few pages of amusing and sometimes insightful comments, it got to the point where there'd be 20 pages of frothing at the mouth about what a bitch Lorelai was to perfect Luke and what a slut Rory is. There need to be enough posters to get a discussion going, but not so many that keeping up with a topic becomes a chore--it's science.

The Fametracker forum meltdown was glorious. How many years is it now? Three? Four?

Constant Dater

]]> <![CDATA[And This Is Why Corporations Don't Buy Blogs]]> I have a LONG Telvision Without Pity story, but it's a juicy one. I emailed this to Denton under separate cover, but he asked me to post it in the comments.

This might be a good example of the kind of business Tara Ariano practices. Let me be clear; I never dealt with Sarah Bunting or David Cole, but from my experiences with her, I always perceived the power dynamic at Uber to be "we do what Tara wants."

Several years ago, I was a very frequent commenter on TWoP and Uber's once-good fame blog, Fametracker. I discovered TWoP when it used to be Mighty Big TV and aspired to be a recapper (big dreams, I know!) In one Fametracker thread, Tara opined that the same celebrity questions kept coming up over and over again so I emailed her and volunteered to do a Fame FAQ. She enthusiastically agreed to the idea. I figured I'd get my foot in the door and ingratiate myself with the moderators by offering to freelance (emphasis on the "free") the piece.

I spent about a week researching a number of stories, wrote them up pithily and sent them off to Tara. She quickly responded that she loved them. Since she responded so positively to them, naturally I asked her when they'd go on the site. She put me off for weeks, ultimately months, by saying that they were retooling the site, and once they were done the Fame FAQ would go up. I would quote directly from these emails, but unfortunately all this business was conducted via my college email account, which has been closed for several years.

Eventually, a YEAR after I had sent her the as-yet-unpublished Fame FAQ, I got a cryptic email from Tara saying that I should add some stuff to my Amazon wish list. About a week after that, I received an iPod mini in the mail with a note that read (this is from memory) "Thanks for all your hard work. Sorry we never used your piece. --Tara" Shortly after that, Tara and the other mods announced that they were closing the Fametracker boards permanently.

I was very, very disappointed that she put me off for A YEAR. I never told her this. I was also disappointed that I let her buy me off with an iPod.

St. Francis

]]> <![CDATA[And This Is Why Corporations Don't Buy Blogs]]> I thought Nick's post from yesterday was the backstory.

thecomicscomic

]]> <![CDATA[And This Is Why Corporations Don't Buy Blogs]]> @Colonel Mustard: You put it very well, I think. I met a good friend on TWoP, he recapped something and I wrote to him and we have been friends ever since. When it was MBTV, it was actually my home page, and it had a feel of a very small, secret community that you didn't want too many people finding out about.
I stopped even trying to access the forums over there long ago, though. The level of discourse used to be pretty sparkling. Now it is, as you say, kind of on the text-message-y side. Buncha morons.


EugenieRose

]]> <![CDATA[And This Is Why Corporations Don't Buy Blogs]]> I actually sent an email to one of them hoping for some more info, but no dice. They responded just to say they were sticking to the story on the website. I kind of hate the new TWOP anyway. I liked it in its cheap old school days with the little scratchy drawings.

katieb: in charge of the war on the poor.

]]> <![CDATA[And This Is Why Corporations Don't Buy Blogs]]> TVgasm all over again.

B-Side

]]> <![CDATA[And This Is Why Corporations Don't Buy Blogs]]> The problem is that TWoP used to beautifully self-contained -- maybe a dozen shows were featured, all of which had been selected based on what they felt would resonate with their target demographic, and the recappers were all insanely talented at what they did. Sars, Wing Chun, and Glark would personally edit the recaps and check in on the boards, and yes it was a bit of a dictatorship, but those are the breaks.

Now it's just this great big flood of shows and all the crazed, obsessive, juvenile commenters that used to just stick to the official boards and leave the erudite and reasoned discussions to cooler heads. I used to be all over TWoP, but I can't get a foot in the door now between all the 'OMG SANJYA IZ SO QT!!!!!1!1!' and the 'I can't believe he got kicked off the show! I cried for six hours and divorced my husband and joined a cult because there's not justice in this world if Chris got cut from Project Runway!'

Colonel Mustard

]]> <![CDATA[And This Is Why Corporations Don't Buy Blogs]]> I stopped going, too. But most of it was the site redesign and the fact that TWoP just didn't seem to be as snarky anymore. It totally felt corporate.

Pete the Chop

]]> <![CDATA[And This Is Why Corporations Don't Buy Blogs]]> I always assumed TWoP got most of its traffic from the forums. I know NBC seems to be run by eight-year-olds lately, but I don't think they would have fired the three founders just because the site ragged on Hey Paula.

whitekidinflatbush

]]> <![CDATA[And This Is Why Corporations Don't Buy Blogs]]> @azi: I've read about that! And other stories about random banning of forum posters, mainly because they insulted the mods (who were all friends of WingChun and Glark).

@moff: Hee! Actually, it'd be better if he knocked off the arm and blood came spurting out instead. Like, walking and reading the Blackberry at the same time.

PimpMyCouch

]]> <![CDATA[And This Is Why Corporations Don't Buy Blogs]]> Since Bravo bought TWoP it hasn't been as much fun. The moderators are way picky. I got tired of being "warned" about everything all the time. I was told to keep my sexual fantasies to myself because I said that football players' butts look hot in their uniform. WTF? Anyway, I never go to that site anymore. Too many rules!

downlow

]]> <![CDATA[And This Is Why Corporations Don't Buy Blogs]]> @PimpMyCouch: It would be pretty funny if a Bravo exec walked into his office to find J. Walter Weatherman's arm on his desk.

Moff

]]> <![CDATA[And This Is Why Corporations Don't Buy Blogs]]> @WifeMotherCrip: I LOVED when the Fametracker boards imploded and everybody said what they'd been thinking about the slightly capricious whims of WingChun and then Glark shut the whole thing down. That was truly primo stuff.

azi

]]> <![CDATA[And This Is Why Corporations Don't Buy Blogs]]> @In Other News...: The headline is reminding me of the "lessons" on Arrested Development: "And that's why you always leave a note."

I like TWOP. I have a feeling the talent will suffer a bit now that the founders are gone, but it depends which recappers decide to leave with them.

PimpMyCouch

]]> <![CDATA[And This Is Why Corporations Don't Buy Blogs]]> @ambitious: I still miss the fametracker boards.

WifeMotherCrip

]]> <![CDATA[And This Is Why Corporations Don't Buy Blogs]]> Quick summary: "Staff changes at TWoP/Bravo. Send tips?"

Denton (4:56:23 p.m.): the ideal gawker item is something triggered by a quote at a party, or an incident, or a story somewhere else

Denton (4:56:55 p.m.): and serves to expose hypocrisy, or turn conventional wisdom on its head

Denton (4:57:03 p.m.): and it's 100 words long

Denton (4:57:08 p.m.): 200 max

Denton (4:57:19 p.m.): any good idea can be expressed at that length

BrianVan

]]> <![CDATA[And This Is Why Corporations Don't Buy Blogs]]> @VirusWithShoes: Stop scaring us like that.

In Other News...

]]> <![CDATA[And This Is Why Corporations Don't Buy Blogs]]> I say good riddance. I stopped enjoying TwoP long ago when their moderators were over-controlling about what people could and could not say. God forbid you made a comment like someone else did 20 pages earlier, it would get you warned. In fact, they liked to warn people over the tiniest things.

It was as if they didn't want people coming to their web site. A strange thing to do, by the way, if one hopes to make any revenue from advertising.

Because I turned away from TwoP,, I started a few TV shop blogs of my own, and get decent traffic. I really don't need them anymore.

xfool92

]]> <![CDATA[And This Is Why Corporations Don't Buy Blogs]]> Beware any media blog where the founders go by shitty nicknames. The only reason I'm here is because Nick Denton goes by the name "Nick Denton" and not "Mozza", "Mozz", "Mozzeltoff" or "Nickster". I'm also here because you can say what you want about anybody and not get execut

VirusWithShoes's ability to comment is not enabled.

VirusWithShoes

]]> <![CDATA[And This Is Why Corporations Don't Buy Blogs]]> Shouldn't the hed be "And This Is Why Corporations Shouldn't Buy Blogs"?

In Other News...

]]> <![CDATA[And This Is Why Corporations Don't Buy Blogs]]> I just can't wait for their bands, isn't that mandatory now when you sell your blog to the suits?

I hope one is called "...and you will know us by the trail of dead meta".

Otto-Reimer

]]> <![CDATA[And This Is Why Corporations Don't Buy Blogs]]> I'm not familiar with the site at all, but since Bravo was involved, I bet their leaving had something to do with being forced to think, say, and type "bravotv.com" over and over and over again.

lawyergay

]]> <![CDATA[And This Is Why Corporations Don't Buy Blogs]]> My guess? Someone at one of the networks realized that between them they know the plots of every TV show aired over the past 10 years, and therefore are in a perfect position to write "new" shows that seem exactly like the old ones.

TedSez

]]> <![CDATA[And This Is Why Corporations Don't Buy Blogs]]> Do people even read blogs anymore? I thought just commenting was where it was at.

Moff

]]> <![CDATA[And This Is Why Corporations Don't Buy Blogs]]> I've been a fan of these three nerd bombs since TWoP was Mighty Big TV and Fametracker had forums. Considering how essential their cut-throat, geek-loving editorial and organizational styles have been to the success of the site, I have a hard time believing it will have the same bite and appeal without them. I'm sure they were being pressured to include recaps of The Millionaire Matchmaker and to nice up recaps of Bravo shows.

Sad face.

ambitious

]]> <![CDATA[And This Is Why Corporations Don't Buy Blogs]]> When you buy a blog, you're after one of two things:

1.) The channel
2.) The talent

Since I've never really typed [www.televisionwithoutpity.com] into my Microsoft Internet Findy Box, I'd assume it's the latter here. And how stupid can old media be, really? Do they honestly think it's the SITE that matters, as if the WordPress plugins and graphics created by the pioneers are what draw people? They should have to write down the entire value of this investment. I wonder how they book the value of this business now....hmm, I think I need to call an accounting friend...

Sounds like NBC's lawyers need to start incorporating some creative non-competition covenants into their bloggy purchase agreements.


ADismalScience

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