MovieChat Forums > General Discussion > Do You Still Visit IMDb?

Do You Still Visit IMDb?


I know a lot of folks were pretty pissed at IMDb after they shut down the message boards and vowed never to go back or to buy anything from Amazon ever again forever haha. After MovieChat emerged as a replacement for the IMDb forums I haven't really been back that much. This site has basic cast and rating info which is all I really care about. Sometimes I'll visit to look at the Trivia section, but that's kinda rare. Amazon on the other hand I visit every day. I'm a stay at home girl so most of my shopping is online nowadays and there's really no alternative to Amazon...

So do you still visit IMDb? What about Amazon? Why?

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I used to visit IMDb almost everyday. Since they closed the message boards I think I have been there twice.

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I use Wikipedia now if I want to look up more information on a movie. I have been to IMDb only about three times since the closure, to find out more in Trivia or Locations, but that's it. I used to be on there every day, several times a day.

For Amazon, I haven't bought anything lately, although there are some things I may "have to" buy there. So unfortunately I know I will probably be using Amazon for something sometime again.

However, what I did do was to wipe all my reviews there. I had written feedback on every item I ever bought on Amazon, and since the positive ones act like advertizing and help people buy, I pulled all mine.

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Yes, because they have loads of good information about movies and TV shows. (the bastards!)



😎

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I don't visit imdb anymore.

I go to wikipedia for infos. I come here to read about movies I just watched, mostly archived discussion from imdb as this place is a far cry from the old message boards.

It's always disappointing to see that nearly all posts are "3 months old", even for 2016 movies.

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I hear what you're saying about how disappointing it is to come here and find that only the archived posts are there and nobody is adding new posts to those discussions.

However --- WE can change that! The way we can make that better is simply to post! Whenever I've come here to go to an individual movie or TV board, I just go ahead and reply even if I see that the post is pulled in from three months or three years ago.

Post anyway. Get the discussion revived. If each person who showed up on a title-specific board went away quietly, this place will never become active. But if each visitor just went ahead and posted a new reply or a new thread, there's the solution right there.

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Or just make a thread in the general discussion that alerts people to look for discussions on that specific message board. All it takes is a title "Discussion of _______ on Message Boards" and in the body of the thread, put the link of that message board. Since 99% off all the traffic is on General Discussion, there is a high chance a lurker or contributor will see it. It has been proven that this will increase the likelihood that someone will know you are commenting on a specific messageboard.

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That's good too, but in terms of the specific messageboard, they can organically grow and become active simply because people probably do visit them now that they are here ---- but don't post because they think "Oh, the most recent post is old.."

As long as people are still checking out a specific board -- and the guy I responded to above obviously is -- that board can get active again but only if you post there.

Yes it's also a great idea to post here about having posted there, kind of thing. That would get things moving faster.

But organic growth could happen gain too just like it happened on IMDb, but only if people do post on that specific board to begin with.

Most movies I see, I try to come here to the board in question and post away regardless of if I think I'll get a response because at least it's activity that will be seen even if the next person doesn't come along for another three months.

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Through the growth of this site, I can tell you that there is no organic growth here. I feel bad for being a downer; however, 3 months and people are still complaining that no one is willing to discuss a specific movie with them. If we have people complaining, it means that there is more of a chance of them leaving ( a leak we have to fix immediately).

I am trying to find other ways in which it could be a more natural flow; however, since the general discussion seems to be where 99% of the traffic is and people will probably respond to anything on here; they are more likely to go to that specific board. I mean, let's be honest. Most of the people on general discussion are bored out of their minds. Where else on this site can you see people talking about things that are completely tangential to what this site should be about? The only reason they would is because they know this site does not have an established network in order to write about their specific movie tastes and be heard for it. Since they know that, they resort to writing about other things that would grab other peoples' interests.

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Well I agree that anything that gets things happening on specific boards is good, including posting here about having started a discussion on a specific board.

I probably will start doing that.

But people do also need to just start posting on those boards, to be the solution to the problem. Clearly they do go to those boards, hence that person even saying he goes to specific boards but is "disappointed."

I go to them too but instead of being disappointed, I just post.

It's like I was saying to the person I posted to, above -- it's no good coming here, visiting a specific board for a movie or TV, noting that it hasn't been posted on since three months ago when the last IMDb post was made -------- then walking away!!

To be part of the solution instead of part of that very problem. .... you post. Post anyway. Because obviously if "you" went there, someone else is going to go there too. The same way the IMDb boards grew organically or grew for a new show.

Someone has to post.

Then by all means, that person could come here to General and post a link to what they posted -- that's a fine idea and probably yes, needed.

But post on the specific board, gotta do that to begin with.

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Prelude,

We need to look into this, do a little bit of IMDb research. What exactly made IMDb more organic? I wonder. Here, this site started out, yet all the traffic is on the general discussion. How was it that people knew to go to those specific message boards. You would think if general discussion was so convenient and people were lazy, it would have ballooned there as well. I really wonder what it was.

Maybe I am thinking too much into it, but there seems to have been some kind of incentive.

I know when I went to those message boards, it was because I was "looking for answers to questions I had" and soon, I became a contributor. But someone that usually goes there organically, what exactly are they looking for? I wonder if there was something Jim could do, to bring this incentive to light.

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Unfortunately I think the answer is "time." The IMDb title-specific boards probably grew slowly with the site itself, or should I say, with the instigation of the message boards themselves, as I gather that they weren't always there from the start.

I wasn't there but I imagine that at first not many people posted on specific boards there either, to begin with. That's only a guess, but it's based on how even while IMDb was still having boards, you would sometimes see that a particular movie or TV show was not getting many posts if it was new but "not buzzing."

I would see that for British stuff -- there would be a new UK show and the board would be dead.

So I think it's all about time, and which specific board too.

Also, with IMDb closing its boards still only relatively recently, and thus Moviechat still being relatively recent as an alternative to come to for specific boards, it stands to reason that the traffic isn't all just suddenly here in droves yet.

I think many people are still adjusting to the idea that they CAN still discuss a specific movie or show, and/or that they can do it here, and /or they shouldn't be put off by the fact that the archived posts obviously stopped at the "hiccup" of the end of IMDb.....but that we all have to power to take it up where it left off.

When I go to a specific board here, now, what I'm looking for is to see:

1) What people were ever saying about that movie, now that we have the archive posts here

2) If new posts are being made and I might get an active conversation -- but if not that's okay, you don't always get an interaction even on an active board.

3) Just to post my own thoughts if something is compelling me to comment; so I will either start a new thread, or respond to an existing thread or post. In those cases, I don't even think it matters that I responded to one that's years or months old, because someone coming there after me will at least see that there is a new post, and might post too.

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Definitely.

I would agree with those last three points.

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Look at the post below prelude. You have to be more proactive here, if you want someone to respond to you.

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To me, it doesn't even really matter if nobody responds to me on a specific board, unless I'm asking a question.

I think any posting on specific boards is "all good" even if only to show to subsequent visitors that the lights are on and someone's home. :)

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It will not matter to you; however, people are still complaining. That is the problem we have to address.

The only way we know you have visited that board is through trending and even with that, we still do not know who the exact person was, who commented on that specific message board.

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I think the Trending feature is a good thing for sure even though it doesn't give specifics. At least it's there to show people that stuff is indeed being posted.

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I still use IMDb. I find it useful to keep track of what I watch, and what I want to watch.

I've never used Amazon. Whatever I buy online (which is little) I buy from local retailers.

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I would love to see a watch list here. Many times I've discovered a show or film through Trending I'd like to see, and wish I had a way to put it on a watch list.

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I'll be a cool feature, indeed!

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Maybe Jim will get around to adding this :)

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If you click on the "watch now" tab of the feature of your interest, it takes you to Amazon. Once there, you can add whatever it is to a "watch list". You're probably already aware of this, and maybe you wish to avoid this particular option, but there is that option just so you know.

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I still need it to look up obscure movies and actors sometimes and to find the most popular episodes of tv series but other than that, not much.

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IMDB? What's that?

Ah, I do now remember. The reason I remember is that not only do I not visit IMDB, but I added an addon to Firefox that allows me to put in URLs of websites I do NOT want Google to return. When I search on a movie, IMDB is automatically deleted from the hits.

It's called "Hide Unwanted Results From Google Search 1.6"

Just copy and paste in the URL of any website you don't want returned in a search and an exception will be made. I won't even give the bastards the opportunity for me to click on their site.

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I still do. My favorite is the Trivia section, and IMDB it still does a good job organizing the stars and crew members. I can quickly find out what else they did that was noteworthy, and what won awards.

Wikipedia does that, but it usually lacks info when it gets to more esoteric cast/crew names, and it takes far longer to get your answers.

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