Why did (((they))) kill IMDB discussion boards?

Because of AMAZON which owns IMDB and also the pressure of movie studios and actors' agents. etc Negative reviews/discussion on films and actors equated to less money in a lot of movie people's pockets.

Or why do you think there were so many studio plants in the boards defending their 'star' or series or film? It bothered them that we had freedom of speech and we didn't buy into their b.s

So BOYCOTT AMAZON. And give 1 star reviews to big budget films in IMDB. Hit them where it hurts them! And in social media, only write negative things about IMDB and Amazon. Save your 'real' reviews etc for other sites. The better the rivals do, the more sucked in IMDB/Amazon will be.

Thank you for your answer!

A couple unfortunate reasons IMO:

1. We are living in an increasingly PC world where anything and everything is considered hate speech and/or bullying. Someone saying a movie was bad somehow equates to it being evil. Huh? Really don't like when they censor people for no reason. Someone dislikes something whoopdeedo! WHO CARES? Everyone is entitled to their opinion. The more we shut people up, the more we contribute to group think. What I LOVED about IMDB board was that you could say ANYTHING. I would come there for the only place you could really talk about movies/tv. To REALLY find out what people thought about things. I guess too many people got but hurt......grow up people

2. It was costly. Servers cost, and for them to host so many discussions was eating at their budget. Just like how you tube got rid of a lot of comments. Some videos the comments are straight up turned off. Businesses want to focus on what makes them $$$$. You Tube is officially a business not a thing of the people any more. Not want it was founded for. To share videos. And some ads would play to pay for the site. Capitalism....everyone has their price

3. Maybe there was some issue with the credit cards/lawsuit. In order to even use the boards you had to give your cellphone number or a credit card. Perhaps this was a lawsuit waiting to happen or already happened.....????

4. Possible pressure from companies. Now that imdb is rubbing elbows officially with hollywood, they have to cow tow and bow down to them. That means getting rid of pesky people (the general public) that are critical of them. AGAIN, grow up. The more you are against people TALKING about you the more you will be made fun of. The best celebs are the ones that laugh at this stuff. The one's that are like "THOU SHALT NOT EVEN speak or me or make eye-contact" careers fizzle out fast mostly. What director wants to work with said idiots?

I mean imo I think IMDB is really making a mistake. A lot of people traffic imdb to check the boards. To see what people are talking about. I see them taking a sharp drop in traffic. Maybe putting the boards up after seeing the error of their ways. Advertising people my not like it..... I mean really you mostly use IMDB to see a bit of info about a movie then leave. What KEEPS you there are the boards imo.

I wish I knew! I've heard lots of different reasons but the financial ones seem to be the genuine reasons. You know, "follow the money."

Actually I rarely went there to discuss movies. I hardly go see films in theaters. The nearest theater is about twenty miles away from here. I wait for a movie to come out on Redbox.

I doubt if my comments were hurting their bottom line anyway! Like a lot of people, I mostly posted about the old classic TV shows like Bewitched and I Love Lucy. Not like I was costing shows which have been off the air for years any money. And the cast members of have been deceased for years too. It was just a fun place to talk with like minded people about old beloved shows (and some old movies too). It's disappointing but well, hope to find new places to chat!

After writing to IMDb letting them know how I feel about the situation, here is what they wrote back to me...I call it BS!:

by - IMDb Help Desk (17 Feb 2017 05:43:16 AM)
Hi,

While we understand your frustration, this decision was made only after careful consideration and was based on data and traffic.

Thank you for your understanding

----
Regards,

The IMDb Help Desk

This post on Reddit (one thread within a larger discussion) offers an explanation: https://www.reddit.com/r/movies/comments/5ruzwc/imdb_message_boards_shutting_down_effective/ddawdo7/

The commenter says they used to work at IMDb.

' The commenter says they used to work at IMDb. '

Could be fake

The best answer would seem to be follow the money.