Noise To Signal: Readers' Forum

» Readers' Forum

Posted by John Hoare on Monday, August 7, 2006 @ 12:13 | Print | Responses (9)

Is the new name for the letters page in TV Zone. Nothing wrong with that, you might think. Until you start reading the introduction...

Missed a topic on the Internet?

Yes, I "miss topics on the internet" all the time. It's so easy to do!

Searching through pages and pages of off-the-point comments?

Go to the right forums and threads, and it's all on-topic. But off-the-point comments are often the most interesting stuff anyway...

Then send us your thoughts on the worlds of Cult Television to stay in the medium of permanent print...

Permanent, maybe, but a forum can be instantly accessible, and searchable. Unlike TV Zone, which will get chucked to the back of a cupboard and forgotten about - the letters page, at least. And permanent starts meaning less when you can only get three letters on the page. Learn some layout skills from SFX, FFS.

Before anyone thinks I'm being oversensitive about my beloved internets, the point I'm making here is - a letters page in a magazine, and an internet forum, are two entirely different things. If you're going to try and compare the two and try and make yourself look better than them, you're going to wind up looking an idiot. (Yeah, including me.)

Use a letters page as a letters page - don't try to make it look like something it's not. Anything else makes you look a bit... well, desperate.

Responses

> Anything else makes you look a bit... well, desperate.

Exactly. Although, maybe they are a little desperate. I used to get magazines but now I don't because various sites and forums provide just about anything. I'm guessing a lot of people are the same. Anyway, they've obviously changed it to 'Readers' Forum' because 'letters' sound old and 'forum' doesn't.

By performingmonkey on Monday, August 7, 2006 @ 15:41

It's TV and magazine getting all *obsessed* over feeling inferior to the internet. Wheras they'd be better playing up to their own strengths.

See also: BBC News desperately "wanting to know what you think! Email or TXT us now!" Instead of filling up their airtime with people who know what they're actually on about.

By John Hoare on Monday, August 7, 2006 @ 16:39

> See also: BBC News desperately "wanting to know what you think! Email or TXT us now!" Instead of filling up their airtime with people who know what they're actually on about.

^ This. Particularly on the BBC news web site, where you have a quote from Random J Person instead of somebody who knows anything about the subject and has something worthwhile to say.

By Jake Monkeyson on Monday, August 7, 2006 @ 17:23

Splendid.

By Tanya Jones on Tuesday, August 8, 2006 @ 11:33

Sorry for offtop, but what the best finance articles directory you know?
What you'll recommend me?

By flueneduh on Thursday, August 9, 2007 @ 06:55

Hello !
Sorry to bother you. I found this forum when looking through google for forums to use. I need
to install a forum on my website but I cannot find where it is sold.

Where did you get this one

Thanks for any assistance

By wepouys on Monday, October 15, 2007 @ 19:05

Hello
I bad gays
I here I with you .

By Matiweyth on Tuesday, October 23, 2007 @ 17:41

Hello.
I consume warmed cat, then release sailors on woman's donkey.
Please visit me.

By Andrew on Tuesday, October 23, 2007 @ 18:33

Filthy.

By Jonathan Capps on Tuesday, October 23, 2007 @ 20:43