I am an avid watcher and reader of news and, to a lesser degree, sports. Okay, I’ll admit it; I’m a news junkie. I get much of my fix online and usually watch the local CBC suppertime newscast and national evening broadcasts from CTV and CBC. I get much of my early morning stuff from the web – primarily CBC/NL. I sometimes click the VOCM site, but it’s not my cup of tea. Same for NTV. I’m not saying the layout is poor (okay VOCM’s is a trigger for an epileptic seizure it has that much going on) or the reportage is bad (okay sometimes it is), but I don’t want to read the same story three or four times.
I usually wait to read The Telegram until I have a mid-morning cup of joe, but alas, that routine is changing. What in God’s name has happened to their site? I know it has been a while since their “soft” launch, but you’d think they would have the bugs worked out by now. It’s like stumbling through a maze. Parts of the page are updated at different times so it’s not uncommon to see today’s headline with yesterday’s editorial. The comment section seems dysfunctional compared to the old site – not that this is a bad thing mind you. Some of the comments by anonymous and gutless yahoos make me cringe. But still, the comment section is not what it once was. Some people do make great points and articulate them quite well.
And I do like reading the columns (well most of 'em) and the editorials in the Tely. But having to do back flips to find them, particularly older columns, is a pain in the ass. I hate to rag on the local paper or the person in charge of the website in particular, but I wish the site was a little more user friendly.
No question, the Tely is horribly borked. However, some of that is intentional. The current trend is to design sites that artificially increase ad impressions. The more clicks you have to make to get where you are going, the more ads you see. Doubtless that's why the Tely discontinued RSS feeds on the site. RSS feeds do not generate revenue.
ReplyDeleteIt's a very shortsighted strategy, as the less usable a site is, the more people will go find some other source for news.
Oops - I withdraw my RSS feed comment - seems the Tely has just brought them online again.
ReplyDeleteDoesn't seem to make much sense to make it more difficult to navigate just to see more ads. You're absolutely right though - people will get frustrated (like me) and go elsewhere. A friend and I were talking about the site last weekend and he rarely goes there anymore. Hopefully, things will improve.
ReplyDeleteBut I do believe the RSS feeds were down for quite some time. Glad they are back.