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December 1, 2004
Quixtar Blog Fumbling
By QBlog in
I was excited when Quixtar launched The Real Quixtar Blog this summer because I believed that a historically secretive company was embracing a very open and democratic form of communication (blogging). And the blog succeeds in providing a nice little glimpse into the mind of a Quixtar employee. However, the blog is also a demonstration of "what could have been" and I'd be remiss if I didn't say that it's fallen short of my expectations.
I just expected the official blog of a billion dollar corporation to be... well... better. Maybe my expectations are too high? After all, the Quixtar Home Page Creep has been mutating unchecked for about two months. But still, wouldn't you think the folks at Quixtar would take a little pride on their official blog? Frankly, I'd be embarrassed to have the "Real Quixtar Blog" as the showcase blog for IBOs. But I'm not Ken McDonald am I?
What's Wrong?
So what's wrong with the "Real Quixtar Blog?" Where to begin?
- The blog does not have a true archive. After I sent an email complaining about this, the blog author put up archives for August and September but now October and November are missing. This leads me to believe it's not something that's automated and not very "blog-like."
- The blog doesn't have permalinks. C'mon. A blog without permalinks? That's just plain lame. L-A-M-E.
- The design is... well... amaturish. I don't generally knock design because one man's Rembrandt is another man's Fridge-Art. But seriously, there are a bunch of free templates out there that are far better than the design on the official Quixtar blog. I know, the creepy eyes on this blog annoy a lot of people but at least the image isn't "muddy." You designers know what I'm talking about.
- Until today, the blog was down for around two weeks. It's back up without so much as an explanation. That's just sort of sloppy but maybe IBOs are used to such neglect?
- It's infrequently updated. That's not a crime but if a billion dollar company starts a blog don't you think it would be updated more than a few times a month? Maybe that's just me.
- Lastly, there's no RSS feed. No feed of any kind. I can't dump this blog into my favorite news reader or include it in any syndication pages. How lame.
I've been patient. I held back these criticisms till now. Blogs change and sometimes blogs that begin humbly, evolve into something spectacular. But a few months have passed and not much has changed, which makes me wonder about the whole legitimacy of the blog. Maybe it's not really supposed to be a blog but something else entirely. What that "something else" is, I can only guess. Do you have any ideas?
Comments
Don't take this the wrong way but how do you know this is a quixtar corp. controlled blog and not just some ibo out there wanting to say good things about quixtar?
Aren't you assuming too much here? Maybe I need to take a closer look.
Sure. Take a closer look. You can start by following the link I provided in this post, which goes to my "Real Quixtar Blog" exposed post explaining this.
The domain is owned by Quixtar. It's hosted by Quixtar. It's run by a Quixtar employee. That employee, on the "about page," admits as much. The blog is linked on the Quixtar.com home page. It's listed as an official Quixtar Blog Index. Other employees have admitted as much on their own blogs.
So yeah, I guess you could say I'm assuming too much... if you have your head up your ass.
;o)
Is it possible that these guys have learned to blog from Qrush? They don't allow public comments and they use an alias with out disclosing who is the actual author.
I don't have as big of an issue with the design but it is sorely lacking features that make blogs more informative and interactive.
I just think it's funny how IBO's as a whole do not want or allow for any feedback whatsoever. I don't get that. Are they like bible beaters? The first underlying rule of western religion is "there's no question that can't be asked". I guess Quixtar likes to pick and choose what serves there needs.
Just a thought
There are some pro Quixtar blogs with comments open (Dave on the road, Marcpossoff). There is even one pro system blog with comment open...and a real blog, not a fake dummy like that of big pins. My personal favorite is pluck news. I just love it. Comments open, a brave heart dude :D
Here is a big surprise: He is still ALIVE, his blog is alive and nobody has filled his comments section from Spam.
Must be a miracle eh!
What's ironic is they can just use some free blogging software while having their domain name and have a real blog. C'mon! A monkey could have a blog. Every thing is ready to go!
Btw they are showing debug info at the bottom. YUCK! do Dev at your Dev server, not at live?
Posted by: MO | December 1, 2004 9:52 AM