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Epitaph for Newsvine from a Founder

  

Category:  Other

Via:  tig  •  7 years ago  •  59 comments

Epitaph for Newsvine from a Founder

Newsvine.png

An interesting perspective from one of the Newsvine founders.

An Epitaph for Newsvine


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TᵢG
Professor Principal
1  seeder  TᵢG    7 years ago

A view from the inside.

 
 
 
Freewill
Junior Quiet
1.1  Freewill  replied to  TᵢG @1    7 years ago
A view from the inside.

I left a post on Mike's page there thanking him for helping to create Newsvine.  I think his simple formula "Newsvine = AP Wire stories + Citizen Journalism + Discussion" is exactly what you and I discussed as the very basic building blocks we are seeking in a new venue.

 
 
 
Buzz of the Orient
Professor Expert
1.1.1  Buzz of the Orient  replied to  Freewill @1.1    7 years ago

On Mike's article you left a comment asking what might rival your experience on Newsvine. I answered your question.

 
 
 
Freewill
Junior Quiet
1.1.2  Freewill  replied to  Buzz of the Orient @1.1.1    7 years ago
On Mike's article you left a comment asking what might rival your experience on Newsvine. I answered your question.

Saw that thanks!  So far I tend to agree.  This place appears to have the best potential for sustained discussion.  A bit tough to track though.  The email alerts drive me crazy, had to turn them off.  Need a better conversation tracker on our profile pages.

 
 
 
Raven Wing
Professor Participates
1.1.3  Raven Wing   replied to  Freewill @1.1.2    7 years ago
Need a better conversation tracker on our profile pages.

Hi Freewill, and welcome to NT. IF you only want to be notified of replies to your own comments and not every comment made on an article you have posted on, you can use the Account settings to set it up to only notify you when someone replies to your comments.

Put your cursor on your username in the upper right corner of the screen and a drop down list will appear. Select the Account settings at the bottom and then select the Notification tab at the top. Use the down arrow on the area to select which kind of notification you want to change. Then How you want to notified. Here is a snippet of what to look for. This will enable you to get notices only when people reply to your own comments and should help cut down on the number of email notices in your email inbox.

I hope this helps. (smile)

Notification.JPG

 
 
 
Buzz of the Orient
Professor Expert
1.1.4  Buzz of the Orient  replied to  Freewill @1.1.2    7 years ago

Raven Wing gives good advice.  I activate only the ones for responses to my comments and group messages from groups I belong to.  As well, I administer 3 groups so I'm notified of any activity on them.  That way I don't get a page full of emails, but I am kept aware of things I shouild be aware of. 

 
 
 
Freewill
Junior Quiet
1.1.5  Freewill  replied to  Buzz of the Orient @1.1.4    7 years ago
Raven Wing gives good advice.

Yep - Thanks to both of you!  I had disabled the alerts entirely but just went back and took the time to pick and choose the ones I wanted.  I had tried that earlier but was still getting flooded with email alerts.  I turned a few more of the items OFF and will see if that does the trick.  Thanks again.

 
 
 
Raven Wing
Professor Participates
1.1.6  Raven Wing   replied to  Freewill @1.1.5    7 years ago

You are most welcome, Freewill. And if you no longer want to get any notices at all from an article  you are participating in, just click on the Yellow circle like tab on the right side of the article heading and you will no longer get any notices from any comments on that article. (smile)

Notice.JPG

 
 
 
user image
Freshman Silent
2      7 years ago

Tyler Needed a few more years of " Practise " :/
"

LOL and I remember Sally saying " I will Never get married and NEVER have a child "

" After 800,000 articles, 65 million comments, 11+ years, thousands of new friendships, and at least one marriage and child from the site that I’m aware of, I’m confident it has fulfilled its mission for at least some who roamed its jungles. "

After doing BOTH, she could NOT wait to have More children, so what does science say about " The Female Brain and Child Birth "? :-)

 
 
 
Pedro
Professor Participates
2.1  Pedro  replied to  @2    7 years ago

It says that you clearly aren't interested in the actual article.

 
 
 
Dulay
Professor Guide
2.2  Dulay  replied to  @2    7 years ago
and at least one marriage and child from the site that I’m aware of

So you are assuming that Sally married at least once and had one child? 

Pretty petty...

 
 
 
TᵢG
Professor Principal
2.2.1  seeder  TᵢG  replied to  Dulay @2.2    7 years ago

Sally did marry and did have a child.   I think Eagle is (in part) just reporting this - Sally wrote an article on both events.   I will not comment on the balance of his post.

 
 
 
user image
Freshman Silent
2.2.2    replied to  Dulay @2.2    7 years ago
So you are assuming that Sally married at least once and had one child?

Petty? wow Ignorance must be a Pinnacle, thanks  for your in-depth knowledge.

                                                         END

 
 
 
Spikegary
Junior Quiet
2.2.3  Spikegary  replied to  @2.2.2    7 years ago

I believe Mike was talking about his marriage and his child.

 
 
 
Kavika
Professor Principal
3  Kavika     7 years ago

Very interesting insight into NV. 

Thanks for posting this TiG.

 
 
 
TᵢG
Professor Principal
3.1  seeder  TᵢG  replied to  Kavika @3    7 years ago

I suppose it is a morbid curiosity at this point, but there were quite a few aspects of Newsvine management (in the later years) that left me dumbfounded.

 
 
 
Gordy327
Professor Guide
3.1.1  Gordy327  replied to  TᵢG @3.1    7 years ago
but there were quite a few aspects of Newsvine management (in the later years) that left me dumbfounded.

You're not the only one TiG. But then, during the last few years, I don't think there was any real management at Newsvine. We all seemed to be left to our own devices, as it were.

 
 
 
TᵢG
Professor Principal
3.1.2  seeder  TᵢG  replied to  Gordy327 @3.1.1    7 years ago

True.   It is like they launched the new version and could never achieve the results they wanted with volunteer admins so they just gave up.  One of my points was that the NV mods should have been grooming the admins and should have had oversight over same.   Instead they created a wild west environment and explicitly told everyone that the admins can basically do what they wish.  How foolish was that?   I probably will never understand what went through their brains at that time.

 
 
 
321steve - realistically thinkin or Duu
Sophomore Participates
3.1.3  321steve - realistically thinkin or Duu   replied to  Gordy327 @3.1.1    7 years ago
We all seemed to be left to our own devices

Some people liked the uncensored unmoderated mess. It happened gradually while I was there and I adapted OK although I knew it was happening at the time and even commented on how different it was becoming. 

There is something to be said for truly free uninhibited expression. Even trolls need a place to vent was my opinion. And better on a newsvine than in the streets. I figured that's what the make the scroll button for. LOL 

 
 
 
Gordy327
Professor Guide
3.1.4  Gordy327  replied to  TᵢG @3.1.2    7 years ago
One of my points was that the NV mods should have been grooming the admins and should have had oversight over same.   Instead they created a wild west environment and explicitly told everyone that the admins can basically do what they wish. 

Agreed.

How foolish was that? 

Very!

 I probably will never understand what went through their brains at that time.

Assuming anything was going through at all.

Instead they created a wild west environment and explicitly told everyone that the admins can basically do what they wish.

And now we saw the inevitable, and unfortunate results.

 
 
 
Gordy327
Professor Guide
3.1.5  Gordy327  replied to  321steve - realistically thinkin or Duu @3.1.3    7 years ago
Some people liked the uncensored unmoderated mess.

Perhaps the trolls did.

It happened gradually while I was there and I adapted OK although I knew it was happening at the time and even commented on how different it was becoming.

The turning point was when they adopted the Nations format.

There is something to be said for truly free uninhibited expression.

Unfortunately, it tends to result in a mess.

Even trolls need a place to vent was my opinion. 

Too bad they couldn't pick a different one than NV.

And better on a newsvine than in the streets. 

Nah. I doubt any rational person would troll like that to anyone on the streets.

I figured that's what the make the scroll button for. LOL 

And the 'ignore' function.

 
 
 
TᵢG
Professor Principal
3.1.6  seeder  TᵢG  replied to  321steve - realistically thinkin or Duu @3.1.3    7 years ago
There is something to be said for truly free uninhibited expression.

I agree.   But to balance things out it would have been brilliant if they offered an ignore nation capability so that each user could not see nations that a) they were blocked from or b) they just flat out did not want to ever see on their user interface.

But ... that is no longer an issue.  :)

 
 
 
Raven Wing
Professor Participates
3.1.7  Raven Wing   replied to  Gordy327 @3.1.5    7 years ago
There is something to be said for truly free uninhibited expression.

There is a group here on NT called Heated Discussion. There is no moderation at all in that group and Members who want to verbally duke it out and get down and dirty that would be the place to do that here on NT. However, the rule is they must be a Member for 3 months before they can join. And....however rank they choose to behave in that group, they cannot bring that kind of behavior into the main forum and not expect to not be Moderated. 

But, you see, NT also provides a 'safe space' for those who don't like Moderation or hate to have to behave in a civil manner. (grin)

 
 
 
Spikegary
Junior Quiet
3.1.8  Spikegary  replied to  Gordy327 @3.1.1    7 years ago

Agreed, from the 'Nations' then to 'anarchy'.  The management killed Newsvine by making bad decisions, repeatedly. 

 
 
 
zuksam
Junior Silent
3.1.9  zuksam  replied to  Gordy327 @3.1.5    7 years ago
The turning point was when they adopted the Nations format

I hated the Nations, most of them were little cliques that parroted the same point of view. I liked the mish-mash of everyone on the old Vine (like it is here) where people argue and debate different points of view. Sometimes it wasn't pretty but it was fun and interesting. On most of the nations you couldn't express a different point of view or play the Devils Advocate without getting ganged up on and insulted or called every name in the book. I like to see all sides and many times I'll play the Devils Advocate just to stir the pot and get the debate going but it's no fun if you're stuck in Cliques (nations) that have no interest in debate or anything that goes against their opinion's. I like the format here and it will be nice to have some rules for a change, I'd like to see a larger listing for the news stories (like the front page of a News Paper) and I hope more news stories will be posted now that so many former Newsviners have joined (I see more names from the vine everyday).

 
 
 
zuksam
Junior Silent
3.1.11  zuksam  replied to  Have Opinion Will Travel @3.1.10    7 years ago
Most of the people that hated the Nations format did so because they were unable to exercise the same degree of censorship they were allowed under the prior format

I always felt that the nations were a form of censorship. Safe spaces for like minded people. I like this type of format better, all the commenters on the same board and the threads go off into different discussions on different aspects of the topic or even different topics altogether. I just find it more interesting and fun to read and I'm more likely to add my two cents.

 
 
 
sandy-2021492
Professor Expert
3.1.12  sandy-2021492  replied to  Have Opinion Will Travel @3.1.10    7 years ago
Most of the people that hated the Nations format did so because they were unable to exercise the same degree of censorship they were allowed under the prior format.

I disagree.  Many Viners rarely seeded or wrote articles, preferring to comment on others' articles, instead.  I was one of those.  And most of those folks hated the nations setup, too, even though we'd never had any deleting or blocking capabilities under the old format.

I hated posting a response in opposition to the prevailing view within a certain nation, and having it deleted, despite having committed no COH violation at all.  I found that to be cowardly, and it seemed to me rather an increase in censorship by admins than a decrease in censorship by everyone else.  And some admins were terrible.

 
 
 
sandy-2021492
Professor Expert
3.1.14  sandy-2021492  replied to  Have Opinion Will Travel @3.1.13    7 years ago
At least under the Nation format you could comment in properly administered Nations with far less risk of blocking

"Properly administered nations" being the operative phrase.

I never had a single comment deleted before nations.  I had several deleted after the nations rollout.

And the rest of your comment is an unwarranted and dishonorable personal attack against someone who isn't here to defend herself.  I seldom had a problem with the mods, as I felt they were fair.

Why were you banned or suspended?

 
 
 
sandy-2021492
Professor Expert
3.1.16  sandy-2021492  replied to  Have Opinion Will Travel @3.1.15    7 years ago

Enemy to whom?

 
 
 
Paula Bartholomew
Professor Participates
3.1.17  Paula Bartholomew  replied to  zuksam @3.1.11    7 years ago

Nations are groups here.  But I like the groups way better than the nations of NV.

 
 
 
Raven Wing
Professor Participates
4  Raven Wing     7 years ago

I was a Viner for several years starting in 2008. I had several really good Friends there and enjoyed the time I spent on the site, although I was not a daily visitor.

When it went to Nations I didn't care for the format so I stopped visiting. Then I learned about NT and came over.

While I am sorry to see NT go under, IMHO, they really have no one but themselves to blame for its demise. What it started as and what it was allowed to become in the end was not only due to the Members. It was the lack of interest by the people who operated it to maintain a higher level of civility and respect on the site. 

 
 
 
TᵢG
Professor Principal
4.1  seeder  TᵢG  replied to  Raven Wing @4    7 years ago
they really have no one but themselves to blame for its demise

They seemed to have great functionality to work with but the site management was abysmal.   They could not even formulate a coherent summary of the CoH.   Quite a few viners offered to assist in creating a few simple but clear rules for the CoH but ... silence.   It is as though they were trying to kill the site.  

That is what is so nice, in contrast, here on NT.   This site cares about its members and is clearly working to improve the experience.    Quite a change IMO.

 
 
 
Raven Wing
Professor Participates
4.1.1  Raven Wing   replied to  TᵢG @4.1    7 years ago

Yes, that is pretty much what I meant bu the lack of interest of the owners. Where there is no structure and management there is bound to be chaos. It seems that one they realized that it would not be the kind of place they envisioned, the owners lost any interest in it and simply allowed it to dwindle and finally just kill it off as it was of no further use to them.

 
 
 
Gordy327
Professor Guide
4.1.2  Gordy327  replied to  TᵢG @4.1    7 years ago
They seemed to have great functionality to work with

Indeed. The site was quite easy to use and was user friendly. Except for the obvious trolls populating the site that is. :)

This site cares about its members and is clearly working to improve the experience.

I've noticed they enhanced a few functions here. Still needs a little tweaking here and there. But it's getting better.

 
 
 
TᵢG
Professor Principal
4.1.3  seeder  TᵢG  replied to  Gordy327 @4.1.2    7 years ago
But it's getting better.

Agreed.  Plenty of tweaking opportunities and an R.A. with a plan and a great attitude (IMO).

 
 
 
Raven Wing
Professor Participates
4.1.4  Raven Wing   replied to  TᵢG @4.1.3    7 years ago

NT is getting some new features added even now. The RA and Tech team are doing a open beta with the Members. They are always working to find new ways to make things easier here for the Members and adding new functions and features. NT is pretty much Member driven in a way, and Members get to vote on changes to the Code of Conduct. That will happen again sometime this month. So there is a lot NT has to offer its Members. (smile)

 
 
 
Spikegary
Junior Quiet
4.2  Spikegary  replied to  Raven Wing @4    7 years ago

RW,

NT is still here, NV went under......just in case you thought no one read your comments....

Cheers.

 
 
 
Raven Wing
Professor Participates
4.2.1  Raven Wing   replied to  Spikegary @4.2    7 years ago

Ooops! Typo on my part. Thanks for the correction, spikegary. I sometimes get a bit mixed up when commenting on both forums at times. You are correct and thank you for pointing out my boo-boo. I'm glad you did so that I could clarify what I meant. (smile) 

 
 
 
Raven Wing
Professor Participates
4.3  Raven Wing   replied to  Raven Wing @4    7 years ago
While I am sorry to see NT go under,

That was a typo on my part, should read, "While I am sorry to see NV go under.."

 
 
 
Studiusbagus
Sophomore Quiet
5  Studiusbagus    7 years ago

 I spent 10 years at NV, sporadic use at times, addictive dependence at others. I always maintained a love for the place in terms of learning a better vocabulary, enhancing distant social skills which benefited my business, and had the comfortable feel I enjoyed from my days on the MSN chat.

Aside from the emotional aspect, when MSN and NBC partnered in on this I knew it was to reap the technology that went in to NV, it happens all the time in business and that's a good thing. We don't often see the purpose for business decisions but the back story can be interesting. An example of this would be Volvo Cars, Ford bought them and people scratched their heads as to why, they weren't a great money maker and big business is not sentimental. No, Volvo was purchased because of the technology that could be reaped and used in Ford's primary focus of their brand for profits. They invented the 3 point seatbelt that is standard in every car which is just one item of inventions we use today.

Newsvine had one thing no other did or does is some of the software was unique and protected. NBC had to buy it to use it.

IMO Newsvine started as a great project that was also a great "start-up" company built on a need which is the best inspiration for a new business. What the article does not say was "Oh, and we made a shitload of money selling it to NBC"

The proving grounds for some of NBC's changing platform was Newsvine, the profit is the flip of a herd of consumers to their boards.

So many at the end were pointing fingers "Newsvine died because of...." when really the demise was just a sound business decision. It was the emotional reaction that created the drama of that demise. We were just the inhabitants of the Petri dish.

I had the good fortune of an exchange with Calvin before the closing, there was a bit more back story...

 
 
 
Buzz of the Orient
Professor Expert
5.1  Buzz of the Orient  replied to  Studiusbagus @5    7 years ago

I never knew Mike, but I had a great relationship with Calvin. I was surprised when he befriended me, because he never commented on anything I had ever written. I asked him why he did, and he told me he enjoyed reading what I wrote.

 
 
 
Studiusbagus
Sophomore Quiet
5.1.1  Studiusbagus  replied to  Buzz of the Orient @5.1    7 years ago

I didn't actually "know" any of them. But I did write a heartfelt note to Calvin thanking him and telling him in brief detail what NV meant to me.

He promptly responded with a very eloquent and grateful response that included patches of the impetus of Newsvine.

 
 
 
Buzz of the Orient
Professor Expert
5.1.2  Buzz of the Orient  replied to  Studiusbagus @5.1.1    7 years ago

Calvin was the nicest of them all.  He told me a lot about deep sea diving, which seemed to be his hobby. I never tried it - I was never a good swimmer, and always uncomfortabe if I was in water over my head.

 
 
 
Spikegary
Junior Quiet
5.1.3  Spikegary  replied to  Buzz of the Orient @5.1.2    7 years ago

Calvin and I are still friends on Facebook.  I'm happy they made money off their 'invention'.  Nice to see success stories.

 
 
 
sandy-2021492
Professor Expert
7  sandy-2021492    7 years ago

.

 
 
 
Uncle Bruce
Professor Quiet
9  Uncle Bruce    7 years ago

I seriously doubt any of you knew me on the vine.  I quit just before the Nations change, when Perrie opened this site.  I was AngryWhiteMan63.

 
 
 
Cerenkov
Professor Silent
9.1  Cerenkov  replied to  Uncle Bruce @9    7 years ago

I remember you under that name.

 
 
 
Queenie of the Castle
Freshman Silent
10  Queenie of the Castle    7 years ago

I was an active member of Newsvine for many years.  I found Newsvine after MSN shut down their message boards.  Then I was a Beta tester for the vine when they went to the new format in 2013 (I believe).  Once the "new" vine was put into place the site became unmanageable.  It was impossible to interact on most stories as they weren't in "your" nations.  That's when I left.  At that point, I came to NT for a while, but there were relatively few people here to interact with as NT was still in its infant stages.  And now, looking at it today, after a rather long hiatus, it has morphed into something that I'm quite interested in. 

By the way, QUEENIE is back.

 
 
 
Raven Wing
Professor Participates
10.1  Raven Wing   replied to  Queenie of the Castle @10    7 years ago

Welcome, Queenie. Hope you enjoy the forum. (smile)

 
 
 
Uptownchick
Junior Silent
10.2  Uptownchick  replied to  Queenie of the Castle @10    7 years ago

Related image

Very happy to have you back my Queen! 

 
 
 
TᵢG
Professor Principal
11  seeder  TᵢG    7 years ago

Test

 
 
 
TᵢG
Professor Principal
12  seeder  TᵢG    7 years ago

Another test

 
 
 
Perrie Halpern R.A.
Professor Expert
13  Perrie Halpern R.A.    7 years ago

test

 
 

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