Google Groups no longer supports new Usenet posts or subscriptions. Historical content remains viewable.
Dismiss
Re: * * * Member feedback regarding decisions with AOL Message Boards
0 views
Skip to first unread message
Message has been deleted
laug...@googlemail.com
Apr 6, 2009, 2:40:58 PM4/6/09
to
On 3 Apr, 16:21, Animated GIF Man <abp...@ix.netcom.com> wrote:
> From: SGW7011
>
> April 2, 2009
>
> To: AOL
> From: Sharon Watson
>
> Subject: Message Boards
>
> There is no way to accurately convey the dismay at what has been done to the AOL
> message board system.
>
> The changes at AOL in the last three years have not been viewed positively by
> your users. Increasingly, it's been hard to understand where we have been taken
> into consideration at all, in any recent programming decision.
>
> When changes are made, it is always amazing to hear people being told that the
> disturbing change was made because users were asking for it. As an active beta
> tester for many years with AOL, as an active Message board participant with AOL
> for many years and as one who has communicated with AOL on many levels through
> the years, I have never been asked how I felt about an upcoming change, or had
> an opinion solicited in any way. I have had a far reaching acquaintance with
> many AOL users through the years when AOL promoted user Community, and no one
> with which I've ever spoken has wanted any change we ultimately have been told
> was user driven.
>
> We have just been faced with the demise of our profile system for the fiasco AOL
> has thrust upon us, Bebo. For AOL to think that would be accepted by those that
> use profiles, is so far away a thought in touch with reality that perhaps the
> company needs to crash and burn. It was hard to maintain hope for the future.
>
> I have often equated the changes that have adversely affected User Experience
> with the idea of AOL shooting itself in the foot, toe by toe.
>
> The destruction and demise of the AOL message board system has now cut out a
> vital organ necessary for the continuation of life. AOL has taken away the
> Community that has made AOL, AOL from the user experience leaving each of us an
> island unto ourselves, cut off from communication with friends, people we have
> felt become associates, and a specific reason to want to come to the AOL
> software on a daily basis to...Experience AOL.
>
> Your programming has disintegrated to that aimed at the youth to very young
> adult category of user. Feature stories have become more and more inane and
> even what promises to be a story on the Welcome Screen, leading to only
> silliness.
>
> As a 50something intelligent adult female, you've lost me. You'd think I'd have
> been a target audience. I have buying power.
>
> You have taken away message board categories of interest in favor of...auto
> enthusiast? Sports and Travel and Money and Finance all seem like good choices,
> for specific target groups, but you have left out such other important groupings
> it's hard to imagine how such a decision could be made.
>
> The Computing category of message board was such a gem of an area. Members...or
> users, as we have become, helped other people with their problems in not only
> their personal computers, but AOL issues long after AOL tech support became
> impossible to deal with or understand. The area of Health and
> Nutrition....gone. Personal and support area forums....gone.
>
> Those people will leave AOL.
>
> Those people are not interested in the Comment areas below Welcome Screen
> stories. That is not a community, but only a forum for hatred, prejudice and
> the unintelligent.
>
> People would have screamed and yelled at the format change of the Message
> Boards, but settled down, accepted it and moved on with AOL.
>
> What they do not and will not understand, is being kicked to the curb with no
> word, no warning, no reason to take away what has been part of AOL, what has
> helped make AOL for all these years. what has brought so many into AOL, day
> after day.
>
> The UK members were at least told that their message boards were closing as of
> 3/31/09. There were some areas of US message boards that users were told their
> message board area would be closing. I know that was reported from the
> Television board areas. But a great majority of us were not given the courtesy
> of that warning. There was no time to say goodbye, to set up alternate means of
> staying in touch and other communication avenues. We were told Changes were
> coming. While a change can indeed be a discontinuation, that is NOT was
> inferred and as active message board users, we had no reason to anticipate such
> an action. Frankly, that was cold, and cruel.
>
> If it is AOL's goal to become only a Web Portal with no internal client support,
> no community base of user, no loyalty to your user or user to your product, you
> are well on your way.
>
> As a user with three active screen names and a long history of those being my
> email addresses, I won't be rapidly abandoning ship. I have too much personally
> invested in those addresses. But, my use of AOL, my loyalty to AOL, my reason
> to come to AOL have otherwise been crushed, and you'll find my page views will
> dwindle. Many other non reactive, intelligent mature adult users have also told
> me they are pretty much finished here.
>
> Perhaps AOL has its obituary written and there is an active time line working
> toward the release of that announcement. If it's not.........it's time to start
> writing. What was once such a great member based, user friendly, loyalty
> invoking product in our Internet market has shot off all its toes, dismembered
> its feet and is now cutting out vital organs of its life. Life support may keep
> things afloat for a while, but the rest of the body will begin breaking down and
> total deterioration will kill off the very heart that kept trying so hard to
> keep beating.
>
> It is with heavy heart I send this......these decisions have affected things I
> have come to enjoy and adapt as part of my life. Just as when a limb is cut off
> your body, even when the initial wound heals, what had been part of you, and
> where it had been, leaves a phantom pain that just won't go away.
>
> AOL has wounded many, and it will only be a double edged slash that won't heal,
> on either side.
>
> I have lost all hope.
>
> Sharon Watson
> Previously loyal AOL member
>
> --
> Bob Hare Jr aka Animated GIF Man
> news://alt.aol.tricks Contributorhttp://members.aol.com/AGMLiteForU/
> abp...@ix.netcom.com
>
> DISCLAIMER If you find a posting or message from me
> offensive, inappropriate, or disruptive, please ignore it.
> If you don't know how to ignore a posting, complain to
> me and I will be only too happy to demonstrate...
>
> Did you used to use Comcast news for USENET Newsgroups?http://lite.help.comcast.net/content/faq/Does_Comcast_offer_a_newsgro...
> Comcast discontinued all USENET access 25 October 2008
> Looking for the best USENET News provider on the planet?
>
> Looking for truly excellent news service for
> completion and l-o-n-g retention times? Try:
>
> http://www.giganews.com/?c=gn440514(English)
>
> http://fr.giganews.com/?c=gn440514(French)
>
> http://de.giganews.com/?c=gn440514(German)
>
> http://nl.giganews.com/?c=gn440514(Dutch)
>
> http://es.giganews.com/?c=gn440514(Spanish)
> From: SGW7011
>
> April 2, 2009
>
> To: AOL
> From: Sharon Watson
>
> Subject: Message Boards
>
> There is no way to accurately convey the dismay at what has been done to the AOL
> message board system.
>
> The changes at AOL in the last three years have not been viewed positively by
> your users. Increasingly, it's been hard to understand where we have been taken
> into consideration at all, in any recent programming decision.
>
> When changes are made, it is always amazing to hear people being told that the
> disturbing change was made because users were asking for it. As an active beta
> tester for many years with AOL, as an active Message board participant with AOL
> for many years and as one who has communicated with AOL on many levels through
> the years, I have never been asked how I felt about an upcoming change, or had
> an opinion solicited in any way. I have had a far reaching acquaintance with
> many AOL users through the years when AOL promoted user Community, and no one
> with which I've ever spoken has wanted any change we ultimately have been told
> was user driven.
>
> We have just been faced with the demise of our profile system for the fiasco AOL
> has thrust upon us, Bebo. For AOL to think that would be accepted by those that
> use profiles, is so far away a thought in touch with reality that perhaps the
> company needs to crash and burn. It was hard to maintain hope for the future.
>
> I have often equated the changes that have adversely affected User Experience
> with the idea of AOL shooting itself in the foot, toe by toe.
>
> The destruction and demise of the AOL message board system has now cut out a
> vital organ necessary for the continuation of life. AOL has taken away the
> Community that has made AOL, AOL from the user experience leaving each of us an
> island unto ourselves, cut off from communication with friends, people we have
> felt become associates, and a specific reason to want to come to the AOL
> software on a daily basis to...Experience AOL.
>
> Your programming has disintegrated to that aimed at the youth to very young
> adult category of user. Feature stories have become more and more inane and
> even what promises to be a story on the Welcome Screen, leading to only
> silliness.
>
> As a 50something intelligent adult female, you've lost me. You'd think I'd have
> been a target audience. I have buying power.
>
> You have taken away message board categories of interest in favor of...auto
> enthusiast? Sports and Travel and Money and Finance all seem like good choices,
> for specific target groups, but you have left out such other important groupings
> it's hard to imagine how such a decision could be made.
>
> The Computing category of message board was such a gem of an area. Members...or
> users, as we have become, helped other people with their problems in not only
> their personal computers, but AOL issues long after AOL tech support became
> impossible to deal with or understand. The area of Health and
> Nutrition....gone. Personal and support area forums....gone.
>
> Those people will leave AOL.
>
> Those people are not interested in the Comment areas below Welcome Screen
> stories. That is not a community, but only a forum for hatred, prejudice and
> the unintelligent.
>
> People would have screamed and yelled at the format change of the Message
> Boards, but settled down, accepted it and moved on with AOL.
>
> What they do not and will not understand, is being kicked to the curb with no
> word, no warning, no reason to take away what has been part of AOL, what has
> helped make AOL for all these years. what has brought so many into AOL, day
> after day.
>
> The UK members were at least told that their message boards were closing as of
> 3/31/09. There were some areas of US message boards that users were told their
> message board area would be closing. I know that was reported from the
> Television board areas. But a great majority of us were not given the courtesy
> of that warning. There was no time to say goodbye, to set up alternate means of
> staying in touch and other communication avenues. We were told Changes were
> coming. While a change can indeed be a discontinuation, that is NOT was
> inferred and as active message board users, we had no reason to anticipate such
> an action. Frankly, that was cold, and cruel.
>
> If it is AOL's goal to become only a Web Portal with no internal client support,
> no community base of user, no loyalty to your user or user to your product, you
> are well on your way.
>
> As a user with three active screen names and a long history of those being my
> email addresses, I won't be rapidly abandoning ship. I have too much personally
> invested in those addresses. But, my use of AOL, my loyalty to AOL, my reason
> to come to AOL have otherwise been crushed, and you'll find my page views will
> dwindle. Many other non reactive, intelligent mature adult users have also told
> me they are pretty much finished here.
>
> Perhaps AOL has its obituary written and there is an active time line working
> toward the release of that announcement. If it's not.........it's time to start
> writing. What was once such a great member based, user friendly, loyalty
> invoking product in our Internet market has shot off all its toes, dismembered
> its feet and is now cutting out vital organs of its life. Life support may keep
> things afloat for a while, but the rest of the body will begin breaking down and
> total deterioration will kill off the very heart that kept trying so hard to
> keep beating.
>
> It is with heavy heart I send this......these decisions have affected things I
> have come to enjoy and adapt as part of my life. Just as when a limb is cut off
> your body, even when the initial wound heals, what had been part of you, and
> where it had been, leaves a phantom pain that just won't go away.
>
> AOL has wounded many, and it will only be a double edged slash that won't heal,
> on either side.
>
> I have lost all hope.
>
> Sharon Watson
> Previously loyal AOL member
>
> --
> Bob Hare Jr aka Animated GIF Man
> news://alt.aol.tricks Contributorhttp://members.aol.com/AGMLiteForU/
> abp...@ix.netcom.com
>
> DISCLAIMER If you find a posting or message from me
> offensive, inappropriate, or disruptive, please ignore it.
> If you don't know how to ignore a posting, complain to
> me and I will be only too happy to demonstrate...
>
> Did you used to use Comcast news for USENET Newsgroups?http://lite.help.comcast.net/content/faq/Does_Comcast_offer_a_newsgro...
> Comcast discontinued all USENET access 25 October 2008
> Looking for the best USENET News provider on the planet?
>
> Looking for truly excellent news service for
> completion and l-o-n-g retention times? Try:
>
> http://www.giganews.com/?c=gn440514(English)
>
> http://fr.giganews.com/?c=gn440514(French)
>
> http://de.giganews.com/?c=gn440514(German)
>
> http://nl.giganews.com/?c=gn440514(Dutch)
>
> http://es.giganews.com/?c=gn440514(Spanish)
Very well expressed, even though, if I say so myself, I fear it will
be falling on deaf ears.
I don't think AOL are interested in anyone these days.
Steve
Rose
May 31, 2009, 1:19:05 AM5/31/09
to
The original message was quite interesting! As an AOL member myself,
the changes they have made have been just terrible but I would like to
know how everyone feels about AOL getting rid of people's
memberspaces, you know like the members webpages and journals!
Everyone was so upset when it happened!
Rose
Shat T. Cat
May 31, 2009, 11:33:36 AM5/31/09
to
What do you think will happen after the divorce from Time Warner?
Will AOL make a come back, or will it finally die off?
--
Shat T. Cat
1 of the 1st 1,000,000 AOL members
Creature of Cyberspace
"In Fluffy We Trust"
/\~/\
(' ; ') n
/ \//
(,,, ,,,)
[best viewed in a fixed width font]
shattcat.hi5.com
0 new messages