We got a new "Askville Blog" post earlier today, yet I haven't seen any discussion about it?

We got a new "Askville Blog" post earlier today, yet I haven't seen any discussion about it... "July 02, 2009Happy 4th of July! It's been a while since our last update so we thought that this is a good time to let everybody know what's been going on. We've been working hard over the last few months to figure out how to improve the Askville experience for everybody.

The new Askville awards that were introduced in April have been a hit for many users, so we're currently creating many new awards that will make the the Askville experience even more fun and rewarding. We're also looking at improving the user experience in some other areas beyond awards. So rest assured that we haven't left town!

On the contrary, we're very excited about some of the cool new features that we intend to roll out in the coming weeks and months. So have a good 4th of July weekend, everybody, and thank you for helping to make Askville a fun place to be! The Askville Team"Surely someone has *something* to say about this?

Katherine Asked by ***caseycat*** 30 months ago Similar questions: Askville Blog post earlier today discussion Amazon > Askville.

Similar questions: Askville Blog post earlier today discussion.

Elementary, my dear Watson Tempting as it is, I’ll hold back comments about the humor and irony in that blog and give you some actual content to chew on. Those of you who like to sound doomsday alarms can take a break from declaring that the sky is about to fall. Those of you participating in the Askville dead pool would be wise to pick later dates.

The lights at Askville aren’t going out anytime soon. But prepare yourselves for a few changes. I don’t work for Amazon or Askville.

I have no insider knowledge. I am just a person who reads annual reports, trade publications, and business news. You bump into things.

If you bump into enough things and have a good memory you can connect the dots. Start with this announcement, made in December 2008: techflash.com/Amazon_creates_mysterious_... Now look at this ad. It appeared two weeks after the beginning of the new quarter: seattle.computerjobs.com/job_display.asp... Apply business logic, history, and deductive reasoning: Projects that are likely to axed within a year seldom get headcount for hiring new directors from outside.

Existing people might be shuffled in an effort to recover a failing project, but the expense of bringing in new blood for that purpose is nearly impossible to justify to the people who make financial decisions. Listings for the position say it needs to be filled ASAP. That indicates that the individual(s) who were previously filling this role have already been reassigned or have left.

The ad isn’t widely listed but it has been appearing in a number of places for several weeks. The ad content is basically the same everywhere but the business categories they have chosen to list it under are interesting. In the example above it’s listed under the category "Retail / Fashion / Grocery".

Others are listed under categories like "E-commerce/Internet". I have yet to see any that list it under "Social Networking", even on online sites where that category is one of the menu choices. The Askville product vision to date seems to have been unfocused and technology-centric, fueled by the backgrounds, enthusiasm and optimism of its founding members.

A freshly hired product director given ambitious turnaround goals needs to prove early on that they can get things done that head the product in the intended direction. For an interactive site as small and simple as Askville, that usually means noticeable changes to the product and strategy in their first six months on the job, and bigger ones within a year. The primary responsibility of this new position aside from managing the de is "making Askville a core part of the Adzinia selling proposition".

If you still have questions about the ultimate purpose of Askville and the general direction they’re taking this, research Adzinia. You will get some insight if you look the nature and timeline of Adzinia announcements since December 2008. Here are several to get you started: http://www.techflash.com/Will_economy_dent_Amazons_hiring_spree37005374.html http://www.nyconvergence.com/2009/05/adzinia-media-group-expands-in-nyc.html URL5 Map the timing of the Adzinia ramp-up to Askville milestones in recent months.

Focus on things like sharp declines in on-site activity by Askville staff, increased mTurk involvement, the timing of the Mayor’s appearance/disappearance on the mTurk forum, the scramble to automate the BQ system, Amazon’s fiscal year and reporting schedule, and things that changed near the ends of first and second quarters of 2009. This won’t give a complete picture of the plans for Askville, but when you combine it with the details in the job description it is easy to see the general implications. It also won’t tell you what has really been going on behind the scenes at Askville in the past months.

You will never find that out. But the inside scoop doesn’t matter to anyone on this site. What the Mayor is doing now, why he’s no longer leading the team in developing the long-term vision and product roadmap for Askville, or whether the old team members are still around is unimportant gossip fodder.

You never had much interaction with them anyway, so at this point the presence or absence of particular individuals doesn’t affect you. The only thing that’s important to site members is what the new product manager will do. A few clues to that can be gleaned from the job description in that ad.It indicates that in the coming months Askville will probably start marching more purposefully toward something.

Probably something different from what it has been in the minds of its members. Probably something different from what its founders originally envisioned. How different is speculation, but there are plenty of clues about what kind of differences they might be.

They probably won’t be lavish changes. The ad indicates that the budget and team will remain small. They probably also won’t be the kind of changes that will appeal to the present core group of die-hard squatters.

A free-for-all chat group doesn’t fit well into the Adzinia scenario. It didn’t fit well in the original scenario, either. Entropy led Askville in that direction but historically, the company has devoted far more money and effort to encouraging non-social activities than they have to supporting the social aspects of the site.

Compare the effort they have put into Bonus Questions, search engine optimization, and mTurk automation to what they have put into community management and moderation. Poor execution aside, that move toward a less personal, more automated experience makes some business sense. On a shoestring budget, social problems are more difficult, less predictable, and more expensive to sort out than technical ones.

Eliminating management of humans on the operational side as much as you can isn’t a bad idea if all you’re after is advertising and sales revenue. The challenge is doing that in a way that doesn’t make it an unpleasant human experience. Moving forward toward the goals outlined in that ad will require a larger group of loyal users who will readily comply with Amazon’s vision and plans for the site.

Attracting and keeping newcomers will need to be a major focus. Doing that in ways that appeal to and appease a smaller, higher maintenance social group of old-timers will probably take a back seat.It’s difficult to grow any site where the regular contributors have set expectations, are possessive of their turf, snark at newcomers, engage in prolonged fights, and complain about change. New people with less baggage are easier to manage and retain.

The answerers on this site are here to do a job for Amazon. Recruiting fresh new contributors and grooming them to cheerfully do that job might prove faster, easier, and cheaper than rehabilitating a core group of old ones who are loyal to each other but not to the to the mission of the site. Because the stated of the business unit is growing unique user counts, it wouldn’t be surprising to see them allow or even cause some churn.

Exactly what the new product director will do with the site is anyone’s guess.It might appeal to you and it might not. What this new director probably won’t do, though, is create an enhanced version of the old Askville you remember or the ideal Askville that you have in your mind. A lot of the old Askville was accidental.It wasn’t sustainable, controllable or scalable, and it didn’t meet the business goals of its owners.

If it had, Questville would be here today and the site would be larger, more active, and more attractive to the masses than it is. All available clues indicate that what you’ll end up with is a much larger, more active, low-maintenance product that attracts a steady stream of unique users from the masses. Now that you have something to think about I’ll leave you on your own to speculate about what the next blog announcement will say.

If you’re wondering why I answered anonymously I can offer three reasons. Choose the one that you find most appealing: I have some silly, shiny gold coins here that can’t be used for anything else I am hoping to avoid PM requests for psychic readings It will give you another guessing game to play for a while if things are slow here Adios amigos. Have a nice ride.

;) Sources: opinion, logic, experience, public news sources, industry press Anonymous's Recommendations The Lost Cases of Sherlock Holmes Amazon List Price: $19.99 Used from: $4.59 Average Customer Rating: 4.0 out of 5 (based on 19 reviews) .

1 It was about as exciting as watching ice melt.....cars rust at the junkyard....grocery trucks unloading....etc. Etc. And as far as news value, it had less than none. I want to know what they're doing to improve the user experience - are they going to have a Moderator on here?

Are they going to make that wonderful Quest Gold worth something? Are they going to do away with Bone-Ass Questions? Are they going to do something......oh never mind, I think you get the picture.

Looks like they're just blowing smoke up everyone's you-know-what in observance of July 4. This blog should be entitled "Much Ado About Nothing" because it certainly doesn't address any of the problems that this site is experiencing.

It was about as exciting as watching ice melt.....cars rust at the junkyard....grocery trucks unloading....etc. Etc. And as far as news value, it had less than none. I want to know what they're doing to improve the user experience - are they going to have a Moderator on here?

Are they going to make that wonderful Quest Gold worth something? Are they going to do away with Bone-Ass Questions? Are they going to do something......oh never mind, I think you get the picture.

Looks like they're just blowing smoke up everyone's you-know-what in observance of July 4. This blog should be entitled "Much Ado About Nothing" because it certainly doesn't address any of the problems that this site is experiencing.

2 WOW Katherine, you were the only one to notice it...LOL It's been a looooong time coming. Maybe QUESTVILLE is coming...maybe the red curtains will be lifted....maybe the Askville Store will open and we can spend our gold.. I know, I'm a dreamer...LOL .

WOW Katherine, you were the only one to notice it...LOL It's been a looooong time coming. Maybe QUESTVILLE is coming...maybe the red curtains will be lifted....maybe the Askville Store will open and we can spend our gold.. I know, I'm a dreamer...LOL.

3 It doesn't say much, other than to remind us that the Askville Team is still alive. I guess that's nice to know, but I wonder why they bothered. Why not wait until they had something substantial to announce?

It doesn't say much, other than to remind us that the Askville Team is still alive. I guess that's nice to know, but I wonder why they bothered. Why not wait until they had something substantial to announce?

4 They announced that there would be an announcement. Not much to get excited about. But at least we know they didn't forget the password to login to the web site.

They announced that there would be an announcement. Not much to get excited about. But at least we know they didn't forget the password to login to the web site.

" "We haven't had a new Blog entry in a while. If the Askville Gods were to post something new," "Askville Blog Update today--any comments? " "Why can't Askville post to the blog when they change something?

" "What should you have done today that you didn't get done because you were on Askville?" "Askville Discussion" "What is with askville today? " "Askvillers - Please comment on the new blog post about Askville's proposed voting system. " "Has anyone started a Blog about askville, besides the one you find here?

We haven't had a new Blog entry in a while. If the Askville Gods were to post something new.

Askvillers - Please comment on the new blog post about Askville's proposed voting system.

I cant really gove you an answer,but what I can give you is a way to a solution, that is you have to find the anglde that you relate to or peaks your interest. A good paper is one that people get drawn into because it reaches them ln some way.As for me WW11 to me, I think of the holocaust and the effect it had on the survivors, their families and those who stood by and did nothing until it was too late.