Web 1.0: How NOT to foster community on your site

Posted: January 26th, 2009 | Author: John Koetsier | Filed under: tags-not-categories | Tags: , , , , , | 2 Comments »

If you don’t really want people communicating on your site … you don’t really want feedback on your articles … you do really want to spam people … you do really want to “monetize eyeballs” … and you don’t really care that your brand is in the toilet …

Then you act very web 1.0 and have a comment registration form like ZDNet’s:
zd-net-registration

I wanted to comment on Michael Krigsman’s latest pay-attention-to-me-I’m-relevant flamebait article, only to be met by that monstrosity of a sign in form. And it’s only part one!

Note that all fields are required. Odd, for some reason they’re not asking for your credit card too! Perhaps a copy of your fingerprints or DNA would be appreciated.

Nothing says “we don’t care about our users” like a sign-in form that is so completely, so obviously, and so unashamedely commercial and self-serving.

How very web 1.0.

Related posts:

  1. Via Brian Cray: 3 eye tracking studies that influenced my latest redesign
  2. ZDnet blogs: asking for your life history on the first date
  3. Gifts from the grave
  4. Selling with 9/11: disgusting free Xbox 360 offer
  5. Site design: what do you optimize for?

Comments(2)
  1. Michael Krigsman says:
    January 26, 2009 at 3:43 pm

    I completely agree on the difficulty of being able to comment on ZDNet. This topic has been discussed before and I know they’re working on something easier for users.

    In any case, I did share your post with the folks at ZDNet, so please rest assured your thoughts are not being ignored. Thanks for reading my blog and ZDNet as a whole!

  2. John Koetsier says:
    January 26, 2009 at 7:34 pm

    Very excellent.

    Glad you shared it … even after I called your post flamebait!

    :-)

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