me & her

Holy Hell: Newsvine implodes! It’s all my fault!

A few days ago, I wrote a fairly simple article about Newsvine. I suggested it needs fixing (does anyone think otherwise?) and outlined several steps that could be taken to fix it. I didn’t and don’t see any of them as particularly controversial.

Read my suggestions here.

I happen to be Facebook friends with Mike Davidson (Newsvine’s CEO) as well as Calvin Tang (Newsvine’s ex-COO). I’ve back-and-forthed with Mike a few dozen times via email and my initial thought was that he might read my post and nothing much would come of it. Calvin and I have exchanged thoughts a lot more often than that, but Calvin doesn’t work for Newsvine anymore. At any rate, I didn’t even bother to say anything to Mike about my article, so I didn’t really expect much to come of it. I have no idea whether he’s read it, or not.

Something did come of it, though.

It was seeded to Newsvine by another of my Facebook friends (Viki Gonia) who also happens to work for Newsvine as a guide. (I don’t know much about what “works for” entails, really. If she gets paid, she’s never mentioned it to me. If she doesn’t, she should.)

If you’re a masochist, or have an hour or two to spare, read the comment thread appended to her seed, because that’s when the shit really hit the fan.

Over a thousand comments in just about two days. I haven’t been on Newsvine for months, now—not as a commenter/contributor, anyway—but it’s fairly clear that people are still…upset…about things I’ve said in the past. That doesn’t surprise me. I know I’ve ruffled a few feathers. (Feathers often deserved to be ruffled.)

Anywho…

Viki’s thread spawned at least two other articles, adding hundreds more comments to the mix. Somewhere amidst all of this, a popular user was been banned for (apparently) having two registered accounts and using both of them to vote for comments and articles. That’s a big no-no on Newsvine. (Ironically, she was calling out another person for the same offense.) There are allegedly extenuating circumstances, blah blah blah.

Curiously, despite the fact that the punishment (and even the lead-up to it) was based on a lengthy derail of the original topic that had absolutely nothing to do with my suggestions for fixing Newsvine, the banning is somehow my fault, and it has even been suggested that Viki orchestrated this whole thing to rid Newsvine of the “social chatters” I derided in my fix article. The plan, I guess, involved tricking someone into getting banned (we’re very clever) which would then cause a bunch of goofballs to leave Newsvine in order to protest the unfair treatment of one of their BFFs.

That’s not what I intended at all, but: Good riddance.

Most of the people now throwing a fit do indeed engage in the sort of worthless behavior I was referencing when I said that some people simply aren’t cut out for the internet. If even half of those people leave and never come back I’m going to campaign for a second Random Act of Vineness. I’d be the first person to earn two and also the first person to earn one while not actively contributing content. 

At any rate, I’m not sure if anything could have proved my points better than the current meta explosion has, and I really wish I could claim to have orchestrated it. Alas, no.

Viki also posted a “How We Would Fix Newsvine” thread, in a valiant effort to cull some of the ideas thrown around on her seed, back before people decided to derail it.

Here’s the thing, though: There’s almost no one I trust less to “fix” Newsvine than the current active community. (I use the term “active” very lightly.) This isn’t something that should or can be done by committee and it certainly shouldn’t be done by a committee comprised of those who are the problem.

The fix needs to be hashed out by 5-10 people who have the clout to get something done. They need to sit around a table and make some real choices about what can really be done to solve the very real problems facing Newsvine. Otherwise, you’re just going to get Newsvine’s version of The Homer.

I’m convinced that any effective fix that isn’t just lip service will involve some tough decisions that a lot of people simply won’t like.

In the end, I think my favorite part of this has to be the suggestion that I don’t have “the right” to suggest improvements to a website I no longer contribute to—even though I spent more time there (by a long time) than probably anyone involved in the ensuing discussion. (Not only do I not have the right, but my opinion is completely irrelevant. Apparently, though, that won’t stop them from yammering on and on and on about this and that and everything and getting all worked up to the point of threatening to leave.)

Does Calvin, a co-founder, get to have an opinion now that he’s moved on? Can he voice it? Is he irrelevant as well?

Ah well. If I’d have wanted their input, or thought it was valuable, I’d have posted my thoughts to Newsvine myself, instead of secretly asking Viki to do it for me.

Just kidding, guys! Put the tinfoil hats and pitchforks away. (Actual juice: I do have two accounts, and Dennis is wrong: I created the second one, not Calvin, as part of a joke, almost a year to the day after I joined. It’s a conspiracy.)

I still love the idea of Newsvine. I love the promise it never fully lived up to. At the same time, I hate what it has become and I hate that it is now filled with people who see it as a glorified chat room—and actually want it to stay that way—probably because that’s all they’ve ever known it to be.

These people have no imagination. They have no interest in making or being a part of something great.

Fuck ‘em.

How sad.