I have no idea what you can expect to find here, but if it ever turns out that my sanity is one of those things, would you be so kind as to gently lay it in a nice box, dim the lights, speak in a soft voice and return it to me? Ever so grateful!

• 5Oct 08

  Who took part, Where we stand, What's next.

  Hi guys,

  I am going to put up a list of everyone who has left a message on my "Top 5 Changes" blog saying that theirs is up too.

  Please look over the list and make sure your name is on it. If it isn't make sure I know that you have a list also.

  It would also be a great help if you could keep your eye out for any of your friends who you know took part.

  I did my best to crawl through and find any stragglers, but I know for sure I missed some people.

  One user here Ocean58 has jumped in and is now going through all your lists and compiling a spreadsheet to list the changes and the number of votes each gets. This is a HUGE task and an amazing help to the already working their butts off staff. Thank you Ocean58!!!!
  

  At the time I first posted this, we have 157 (*edit 194*) confirmed participants in Blackout Day, with 87 (*edit 114*) blogging about it. There are some users who took part in Blackout that don't have any blogs (and don't post them), there are some that indicated they took part, but still have not posted a blog, and there some that took part and have already said they think their list is totally redundant after reading what others have already written. This last group I want to urge again to post a blog "Top 5 Changes" still. It is not too late to get yours up and it is actually powerful that so many of us have so many of the same items on our list. This is one case where being redundant is valuable!!

  Clearly of course I blogged about this, the 86 others I now know who did are:

  Angus_Mac, a_spod, AprilFox, Arrowhokie23, ascaffo, AuntArlene, bbntom55, Bjbler2396, blufuzycow, Cenina, Cubtracker, DemonSlayerZea, DisNick, dmjg, eMetiB_101, enervator, Finalsequel, Finnegan77, FrakkingFrakker, GIVElove, gmvail23, harihudson, HimekosAhoge, historyseeker22, HockeyFan78, Hoeech, ihatefamilyguy, IndianaMom, Iphigenie72, jekyll, Jeric-Ho, JessWH, jimmy_the_pipe, Kimba66, la_survive, latinblue, lisagraham, madison1314, Mer-Joy, millerem99, MovieMark, mtjaws, mscraftee, no1thinker, ocean58, orangemann327, paulwj, petewrigley, PikeBishop, portuguesemarta, pumacat7, PunkNerd5, queerlybeloved, Ramona87, ravenswood13, revbucky, RHam_01, sajwest, SARAHmcrmy, scooterstarr, shawnlunn2002, Sherasbear, sluggmunki_tx, spaci, SparkleFarkle, spideynerd3, stellarchick86, supering, SweetPeaSurry, sylent_asassin, talent_knower, The_void_68, tish4dw, tjaman, ToxicAngel503, Tru_Slayer, tuckgraph, tursiopsseries, tv_lover066, twopratt, uncle_mark, vampiredawn, winterbehaviour, xlovedust, youtube_tv, 9393usak,

  PLEASE MAKE SURE YOUR NAME IS IN THE LIST - IF IT ISN'T, LET ME KNOW! IF SOMEONE YOU KNOW BLOGGED ABOUT IT ISN'T IN THE LIST, LET ME KNOW - THANKS

  NEWLY FOUND Participants (will add as we find them):

  shazza62, phf3947, Chanouel, marwash, pixie9696, GiX_MiX, lynn138, noahcrash, YamiNarutoBrief, cjhtwo, TaquaDeldrant, Julsus, hikinggirl70, abdullah2220, fieke, Miles65UK,StarbucksAddict, wanted23, radrobd, danharr, Shana868, big_haircut82, DarkKnight313, tvchick033,

  3 Things make us a very special group

  1. We were organized into a protest and took part in it, in less than a week

  -most protests that are successful require significantly more planning and far more resources than ours did.

  2. Most of us did not know each other and still came together to protest

  -while you could argue that "friends" would help a friend to protest something, most of us had never met/talked before this. I know my own friends list here on tv.com tripled in the last 2.5 weeks.

  -many times people will say they agree with something and even say they will take part, the fact is, our group did BOTH!

  3. We represent a very diverse demographic

  -we have some of the youngest, and some of the oldest members

  -we have some of the newest and some of the longest registered users

  -we have some who have never blogged and some who blog everyday, some who have never edited a show/person guide and some who edit MANY (of both!)

  What these 3 things show is a consensus that is truly noteworthy. When you can get so many diverse people together in such a short time, representing such a diverse user base and have people who had never met before join together in a common cause, it is a POWERFUL statement.

  Sadly, that statement is we are frustrated with the new design of the site.

  Happily, we are united in our plan to DO something about it (not just sitting around complaining to the furniture)
  

  Most recently it was mscraftee who pointed out the significance of how quickly we all got on board with the cause and were willing to show support.

  Those of you who PM'd me with your email address (74 people at last count - *edit - now this number is 167!*) have already received the letter that went to CBS and CNET. You also received the next stages of the plan as I see them (should we not see results quickly enough).

  I have pledged to the staff here to be just as vocal in helping to mend the fence and bring us all back together should we see improvements.

  After all, that is, was and remains, the entire point of ALL of this - getting improvements.

  I'd be lying if I said I knew going into this just how much work it was going to be, but it is also absolutely true that I feel our community (and getting back elements that worked, made it special and - - - did not blind us!) is completely worth it!!

  I came so close to just giving up on this site, on this community and just leaving, the overwhelming support and solidarity we have shown each other showed me with absolute clarity that a change in design did not strip away the heart of our community. I am so glad that I posted my blog and floated the idea of a Blackout and I am beyond humbled by all of you who jumped into the water with me!

  If you want the letter and the outline for the next 3 Phases (should they prove necessary) PM your email.

  Please make sure everyone that blogged from your circle of friends is one of the names mentioned above, if they are not, their blog (and request for changes) may be missed!

  Thank you everyone for your amazing support!!

  Glenn

  Please find a chance to say a huge thank you to Ocean58 who kept up on all the new additions and made sure to include all "Top 5" lists in the spreadsheet he created for us.

  It was a lot of work and has made it very easy to show the staff the most serious issues.

  GREAT work Orhan!!

  • Posted Oct 5, 2008 5:21 am PT
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• 2Oct 08

  We've Been Heard!!!

  Congratulations to all of us for our determination to get some recognition. Our efforts have paid off.

  PLEASE continue to add your comment to my last blog (if you haven't already) that says you have made your "Top 5 List"

  This is VERY important since we have now received a very polite and direct response from tv.com staff.

  I am truly appreciative of the tone of the response, and as I am sure you can appreciate, the staff on the site have been putting in a lot of time as a result of the new design.

  I am quite content to now give them some reasonable "breathing room" to first cull through our collective lists and then give us a more detailed update.

  Again it is important that you make sure you have a comment in my last blog calling attention to the fact that you have created a "Top 5 List" since this is where staff will go to review our concerns.

  This blog is wide open for any and all comments!

  Please give danmod and the staff here some space to move now as they process through it all. We currently have 90 registered users of Blackout Day and the number looks closer to double that.

  This will now take some time for them to get on it and we need to give them a reasonable amount of time.

  If it drags out, we'll cross that bridge if it comes.

  Thank you all for taking part, it would have been useless without your support!!!!

  Glenn

  I will now quote part of the response I received:

  From: danmod

  Hi Glenn,
  
  I just wanted you to know that your letter has gone to the entire Community Team and up even higher than that. I would rather not respond to the blog directly because I'll be hit with a million questions I might not be able to answer. But you can pass this along and mention me by name - We are taking this very seriously and bringing it to the attention of everyone involved. I can't promise anything, that would be unfair because I'm not in charge of everything on the site. My job is to help get your voices heard and make sure things work and people play by the rules. To that end, I do the best I can, (the whole team actually), and I intend to get your message heard.

  • Posted Oct 2, 2008 12:18 pm PT
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• 30Sep 08

  Top 5 Changes

  And I'm back!

  PLEASE READ THIS CAREFULLY

  I apologise in advance since I know it will be long. I will do my best to be succinct.

  First not one staff member from CBS or tv.com have contacted me about the blackout. This despite sending my open letter directly to support@tv.com

  Second, one moderator, grailwolf, while not taking part in the blackout has been nothing short of amazing in terms of fast responses, with helpful information and accurate feedback.

  Third, another moderator, gislef, has taken upon themselves to PM with messages basically consisting of passive aggressive *shrug* followed by criticism over our cause not being detailed enough, concise enough, etc. etc. etc.

  My response to that is basically *shrug* "it should be of great concern to the staff and owners here that so many people feel so unhappy, and rather than devote time and effort in criticism of their method of expressing that, your effort should go into finding out what the problem is and doing something about it!"

  The simple fact is that I am not some wizard capable of galvanizing people into a cause they are not invested in.

  This entire protest would have quickly fizzled out if people were not feeling as frustrated and let down as I was.

  Instead it grew exponentially in just under 7 days with participation growing literally by the hour leading up to the blackout.

  Think about that, how many "gone dark" avitars did you see springing up all over? Now imagine what the response can be if we take more than 7 days to launch our next step.

  And while I hope we simply all move forward and get the consideration, respect and changes we desire, I am fully prepared to launch the next step. And this one will not involve you having to stay away from your computer. Quite the opposite in fact! But let's truly hope it doesn't come to that.
  

  All I really want is to give the site a chance to respond. I want things to improve. I want our community back.

  So, here is what we need now, and I hope you can do exactly this.

  Put your next blog up with only this title "Top 5 Changes" just as mine is labelled here today.

  Be respectful and be accurate in your top 5 list. Avoid anything that can make them dismiss the message as coming from "complainers, whiners or sarcastic people"

  THEN, come back to this blog and leave a comment that says "My top 5 list is on my blog" and please leave it at that.

  I am then (at the suggestion of a couple of people) going to call attention to the fact that anyone from CBS and/or tv.com that wants easy access to the complaints can find it by visiting this blog.

  We will save all other communications and comments about blackout and what we do going forward for other blogs and comment sections.

  I have no idea how many of us ultimately took part, but I do know that those who did range in age from 13 - 60. They represent everyone from the most casual of users (and very new, newbies) to long time editors and contributors, some of whom have the highest point values and most significant contributions in all of tv.com

  It would be a huge mistake for staff here or CBS to blow this off, since not only is this a very accurate cross-section of their community, it is also truly an indication of "what the market wants"

  Plus, blowing it off will only serve to move people from dissatisfaction and frustration to just plain anger.

  I have no delusions of every change posted getting complied with.

  I have no delusions that changes will roll out overnight.

  I DO expect some recognition of our concerns and FAR more than *shrugs* and lip service of "we're working on it"

  I DO want to know WHAT is being worked on and WHEN it is likely to be rolled out.

  IF YOU RECEIVED THE PM FROM ME ENTITLED "WELCOME BACK - NOW PLEASE" IT WOULD BE A GREAT IDEA IF YOU COULD FORWARD THAT OUT TO YOUR FRIENDS WHO TOOK PART. BETTER SOMEONE GET THE MESSAGE TWICE THAN NOT AT ALL. THANKS FOR THIS HELP.

  I will leave the rest for my next blog. This one is about our change suggestions. Your list may well vary. I look forward to reading them all.

  Remember, for this blog, please just leave one comment that says"My top 5 list is on my blog"

  We'll make it easy on them for "one stop shopping"

  Thank you everyone.

  Glenn

  My Top 5 Changes.

  1. Get rid of the blinding white background.

  2. Allow me to track more than 4 of my friends and their blogs

  3. Allow me to see how many comments have been left in each of my friend's blogs and which of those are "new" since the last time I visited.

  4. Increase the default size of text for blogs and comments and put the default color back to black.

  5. When opening the "see all" function for tracked blogs, let the screen that opens be one that lists my friends by name, blog title, total comment number and new comment number ONLY" and let me choose which blogs to expand. The way it goes now, some of my wonderfully creative blogging friends take up almost all of one page (and take quite some time to load)

  Fair Warning: Comments for this blog only not limited to "My top 5 list is on my blog" are subject to deletion and/or moderation. Thank you for your understanding and cooperation. All of my other blogs are wide open for any other comments and/or debate. I am also open to unsolicited PM's. Thanks again.

  • Posted Sep 30, 2008 11:32 am PT
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