Miles In Speaker’s Corner

dididave wrote:

drewboy wrote:

But The issue of having a SC is not what I am talking about. It's the prominence of it.

Yes, it is needed. But no, not any more than it is now. And to re-vamp it, is making more prominent. Clearing it up however, may be worthwhile.

Cleaning up, would be enough of a revamp for most members I would imagine. Getting rid of the crap categories and stramlining it into a more political type section would do more to encourage people to write and rate there than anything else IMO.

Well, then maybe there is the answer then?

Has there been any sort of interaction with the dooyoo staff yet to the discussion about this topic that Rachel said she would bring up at the Guide group?

In short, no. Illness has meant that staff are still not up to full complement and things are getting overlooked.

kenjohn wrote:

Has there been any sort of interaction with the dooyoo staff yet to the discussion about this topic that Rachel said she would bring up at the Guide group?

I would oppose any such clean up. The other categories need the attention first.

plipplop wrote:

I would oppose any such clean up. The other categories need the attention first.

Frankly, that doesn't surprise me Phil. Your opposition I mean.

kenjohn wrote:

plipplop wrote:

I would oppose any such clean up. The other categories need the attention first.

Frankly, that doesn't surprise me Phil. Your opposition I mean.

Don't get me wrong, in an ideal world, the whole site would get a lick of paint. I just think it's hard to justify that when there's only one can of paint, so to speak, that it's used on that part of the site.

plipplop wrote:

Don't get me wrong, in an ideal world, the whole site would get a lick of paint. I just think it's hard to justify that when there's only one can of paint, so to speak, that it's used on that part of the site.

The suggestion I'm making would actually SAVE dooyoo money Phil, and could be implemented very easily. So not only would it not use any of the existing paint, it might even mean they could splash out some cash and buy an extra can!

kenjohn wrote:

plipplop wrote:

Don't get me wrong, in an ideal world, the whole site would get a lick of paint. I just think it's hard to justify that when there's only one can of paint, so to speak, that it's used on that part of the site.

The suggestion I'm making would actually SAVE dooyoo money Phil, and could be implemented very easily. So not only would it not use any of the existing paint, it might even mean they could splash out some cash and buy an extra can!

Or some paper to cover the cracks. We could decorate this comment thread for ever as long as no one brushes it under the carpet

kenjohn wrote:

plipplop wrote:

Don't get me wrong, in an ideal world, the whole site would get a lick of paint. I just think it's hard to justify that when there's only one can of paint, so to speak, that it's used on that part of the site.

The suggestion I'm making would actually SAVE dooyoo money Phil, and could be implemented very easily. So not only would it not use any of the existing paint, it might even mean they could splash out some cash and buy an extra can!

Oh, I think we're at cross-purposes here.

If dooyoo will pay for crowns in SC, more for reads or whatever, then I think that's good - it's up to them to pay what they can afford.

What I don't like the idea of is techie people restructuring Speakers Corner when other categories are equally messy. There are tonnes of example (HotBabes asked me to get a category for a Yorkie bar months ago - it's still pending, for example). PC World is listed as a software provider, not a shop. There are literally thousands of examples of this in the product guide, which should be the techies' priority, IMO.

(As an aside, the assumption that the payment change would save money, might be flawed if based on current output because you can't predict how behaviour will change after you make a payment change. It could cost them a lot more if there is a sudden increase in crownworthy SC reviews.)

kenjohn wrote:

plipplop wrote:

Don't get me wrong, in an ideal world, the whole site would get a lick of paint. I just think it's hard to justify that when there's only one can of paint, so to speak, that it's used on that part of the site.

The suggestion I'm making would actually SAVE dooyoo money Phil, and could be implemented very easily. So not only would it not use any of the existing paint, it might even mean they could splash out some cash and buy an extra can!

Oh how I love it when people ignore what they don't agree with.....

plipplop wrote:

It could cost them a lot more if there is a sudden increase in crownworthy SC reviews.)

.....by making SC more prominent.

drewboy wrote:

.....by making SC more prominent.

How does dropping all payment in SC apart from for a Crown make SC "more prominent"?. Certainly it makes it more attractive to those writers who enjoy writing in the Category, while at the same time discouraging those who simply want to post to gain a few extra pennies for reads. Is that a BAD thing??

Sorry, I was very drunk last night and making no sense. (mental note to leave the puter alone at these points!)

I think it will make it more prominent due to the fact that the potential for more money is there, even if overall, it isn't.

kenjohn wrote:

How does dropping all payment in SC apart from for a yCrown make SC "more prominent"?. Certainly it makes it more attractive to those writers who enjoy writing in the Category, while at the same time discouraging those who simply want to post to gain a few extra pennies for reads. Is that a BAD thing??

Ken, if memory serves (and I can't be arsed going back through all the posts, didn't you advocate a higher Crown payment than the rest of the site - £2.50? Is this still the case?

If so, that gives SC more prominence/importance by making the "quality" reward higher than the rest of the site when SC is still a sideline category in most people eyes, not a frontline one.

Anyway, Phil's right, the other categories should take priority as some of them are messy right now. telecommunications, for example, has a substantial amount of multi-function printer categories that should be in Computers.

I agree with Phil there are far more pressing priorities in terms of database organisation.

Plus, having read a bit of SC today - it will never change it is the Ciao Cafe all over again, and while there will occasionally be a blinder of a review, 90% of it is off topic and ranting what is usually a moot or outdated point.

SC will never change so long as neither dooyoo and none of the Guides (or very few at least) give a rats' ar*e about the Category. I just took a glance at some of the newest suggestions added to the SC Category.

Which hair products are the best?
Valentine's Day
Christmas Shopping Experiences
Owning a Cat in General

These are just four of the most recent additions by dooyoo.

I ask you, how can you possibly have a decent SC Category when dooyoo continue to add such inane topics as these, and then compound the error by paying out 1.5p per member read for the drivel that is written in them? Never mind the members who suggested them in the first place. It's surely part of the function of the dooyoo staff to ensure that such absolute sh*te never hits the database in the first place!

Ah well. If dooyoo are content to continue to pay out miles for garbage, then I suppose that's their business.

My suggestion of dropping all payment except for Crowned reviews would alleviate the problem somewhat and at least ensure that SOME decent reviews continue to get submitted at SC. It would also take no extra effort on the part of dooyoo staff or Guides, other than a change of payment method.

Cleaning up the SC database is another day's work.

The suggested higher £2.50 payment for a Crown is to make up for the loss of earnings a decent Crowned review would normally earn from member reads, and from the 50p posting payment that reviews receive in other Categories.

I agree that those topics are rubbish and shouldn't be in SC. I believe there's a new guy/girl doing suggestions at Dooyoo HQ right now and I'll see if these have slipped through the net or are deemed appropriate by Dooyoo.

I added "Owning a Cat in General". I think it is very important that people learn from my experiences

kenjohn wrote:

SC will never change so long as neither dooyoo and none of the Guides (or very few at least) give a rats' ar*e about the Category.

.

Most guides have enough to do in their lives without reading the stuff in these categories, which you agree are terrible.

I have had a look at the last twelve months of additions, and there are very few that really add much value to anyone really - even those that are interesting might be more stuff for blogs as I say. I have read the titles alone and I can identify that there will be many racist, sexist and bigoted reviews sitting behind them (because there is nothing to debate otherwise...!). And no I do not have time to read such articles (and that's a polite term)

I will personally comment in the guide forum to ask that these do not slip through the net in future.

All of them are *Bad Word* bar the cat one. Someone might have a new cat and want help or advice!

If people cannot keep cats without referring to the internet for advice, then they should be locked up for their own safety


(but I thought that cats kept people..)


In fact:
I would like to propose a new SC category entitled "Member Advice on Regaining Control of your Household from your Cat"

I would like to propose a new SC category entitled "Member Advice on Regaining Control of your Household from your Cat while surfing the internet... on Valentine's Day"

You can't get more niche than that. Bound to be added!

Do you not think that has a limited shelf life? I think you could at least extend it until Easter. My cat has never surfed the internet however, (apart from when he made those bids on ebay when I was logged on but out of the room) so I cannot claim to be an expert on the topic.

Oh.

What about "Happy Birthday"?

That's surely a winner?

It could be, might have been done already though.