Change to Video Schedule
11Heads up, people who watch videos on meh.com -- starting soon, we'll be trying a different schedule.
After a year's worth of daily videos, we've proven we can indeed grind out new video content every 24 hours. Hooray! Unfortunately, we've also shown this demanding pace results in more than a few duds. So we're going to try something different: taking a little more time with each video in hopes of improving average video quality.
So don't be surprised when, probably sometime next week, vids start hanging around on the front page longer than one day while we make this adjustment. It will be not a bug! We're trying something.
Just how long will videos stay up on our main page? Just how often will new ones be posted? Just what other changes are in store? Is this the end of the line for Glen? These are good questions.
I don't know; we're making this up as we go.
Thanks! And be meh-xcellent to each other.
- 21 comments, 25 replies
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This sounds... a little ominous. Looking forward to seeing the new non-earthworm content, but there's something about this that just sits uneasily somehow.
@Starblind I'm glad the earthworms are going away (hopefully) but I'd love some more Ask Irks... Irk gets me going so much.... :)
@Starblind Well, you know who to blame for it.
The duds were the Doug Stamper of the daily video. Say it ain't so!
@Pavlov Hey. Doug Stamper is no dud.
@joelmw @matthew @rockblossom
Perhaps a clarification is in order . . . Doug Stamper was considered by many, myself included, the best part of (and perhaps the only reason to continue watching) House of Cards.
IMHO, there has been more value added to the site with the misses than the hits. The mere fact that the daily video was, well, daily, has to be responsible for driving traffic to the site and frankly, it made the site, again IMHO, more unique. Over time, had the pace been kept up and a new video added every day, Meh would have benefited more from exploiting that fact and gaining a cult following.
Therefore; Had the schedule been kept up - as a marketing tool and for sheer bragging rights, the misses would have added more than the hits.
Plus, some of the misses were just damn entertaining.
I'm a huge fan of @matthew, and lament this decision.
I believe that a huge opportunity is lost by not keeping the schedule - even if we're subjected to three days of Earthworm Dance Party that changes only slightly in every incarnation as they grind out what they might feel is better content, having a different video every day is much better than letting the daily video go . . .
@Pavlov You have a point. I'm not sure that I fully agree, but I'm at least on the fence. I'll be good either way thought.
I definitely appreciate your clarification re Stamper, and while Doug was often my favorite character on the show, I like Frank, I really do.
No! I'm an old lady! Don't you know old people are afraid of change??? How will this effect (affect?) my social security and Medicare?
@Teripie Just think of it as Part B.
@Teripie Old people are afraid of many good--even great--things. People in general are afraid of change. I don't know anyone who isn't; the ones who brag about not being afraid of change tend be control freaks, but even when they aren't, they'll have one or two big Achilles' heals (yeah, that metaphor may not quite work here, but you know what I mean and I'm brain dead, so that's as good as it gets) and they actually freak out more than the normals. In any case, anyone who says she's not afraid of change is lying.
I'm old. And apparently a person. And a big part of my job and larger mission in life is advocating for change. I have these problems like everyone else; I just try to mitigate against them and remind myself that the evidence is on the side of Change.
@joelmw Ahhh now I know who moved my cheese...
@Kidsandliz
This is scary, but have I have faith it will be for the best. Moar Hyram, please.
@KDemo 100% agree. Our dear singing cowboy is not nearly in enough videos. @matthew, maybe you can convince him to be a little less shy.
I'm looking forward to it. And I have confidence in you guys.
Of course you might fuck it up, but we'll be sure to let you know if you do.
Honestly, as I've mentioned elsewhere, I don't like a few categories of videos at all. And I don't do a very good job of keeping up. I most certainly vote in favor of higher production values and better content on fewer days. IOW, I approve. You were waiting for that, I know.
It'd be cool if you had them organized, with thumbnails and categories and labels and shit. That'd be really cool. I have ideas and/or would be happy to elaborate upon request. But I'll just say that I'd like video collections and enhanced search capability and a big album with everything arranged by date, with maybe a little blurb and some indication of the product and smiley for the day. I've got a ton of ideas about this. But surprise me.
I'm shutting the fuck up, but my mind and my fingers still wanna talk.
@joelmw ORGANIZED?!? LABELS AND SHIT?!?? Setting the bar a little high for the staff at Meh, dontcha think?
Have you seen their offices?! Like a frat house with cubicles.
I am looking forward to fewer/better videos, though. I'm not OCD enough to keep up with watching a new one every single day.
@pepsiwine In my experience, messy people are often capable of monumental feats of organization. At least that's what I tell my potential employers (and I have a fair amount of historical evidence to back that claim up).
i like my change in quarters or 1/2 dollars
does this mean we may finally get more "critter skull cleanin" videos?
if some one had asked me 2 years ago, if i would watch a video series called "the Possum head chronicles" about a half assed attempt to clean a rodent skull, i probably would have laughed, and then said HELL, NO.
yet last summer/fall, i couldn't wait for the next installment.
I dunno, I like knowing there will be some new little video every day, even if it ends up being earthworms.
But I am interested in seeing what more time could do.
Damn, you guys are getting old.
I thought only women underwent the change.
@KDemo
MOAR IRK
@thismyusername CONCUR
I don't mind you guys taking your time on the videos but I also really enjoy having a video everyday. It's sort of a consolation prize if the item that day is really meh.
Could you consider a compromise of just uploading a filler video for the "production days"? It doesn't have to be any longer than 30 seconds. Hell it could just be a bunch of Google images for whatever national day it is that day. (Every day on the calendar is some national or international day.)
@DrunkCat Hey, maybe have members of the community submit crappy videos.
@DrunkCat Yes, yes, a filler video… like, say, footage of worms wiggling around?
@DrunkCat I'd probably be happy if they just put up the Something Went Terribly Wrong video as filler on occasion. Or a slightly revised version indicating that the "daily video" ain't happ'nin' today, so deal with it.
@brhfl This makes me giggle extra, because, yaknow, he looks like a fish, and worms. But I see what you're doing there.
@matthew... This makes me has a sad.
As long as you promise it won't be like when we lost the woot daily podcast...
I have watched every single one of your videos to date.
Hey... What about doing a podcast?
:D
Willing to give you a chance, but don't fuck it up! Remember, we know where you live! (Or uh, in the general vicinity but I'm sure you wouldn't be hard to find.)
How about hiring in an extra person to increase the manpower going toward the videos? Such as, say, a currently underemployed Meh community member with close to 8 years of TV experience? ;-)
@jqubed Don't know if you're anywhere near @Pavlov, but maybe reach out to him if you are?
@dashcloud I'm not in his part of the country, but was figuring I'd try to pick his brain a little once he's feeling better since his side of the industry is a little different from what I've worked in but it's one I'm interested in jumping over to. I'll probably drop him a line shortly, seeing how active he's been recently.
@jqubed codenamepavlov@gmail.com - if you like, send your professional deets and a phone number - I'll put out feelers for you and give you a call and see if I can help you out. Happy to do it.
If Glen dies, we riot.
Maybe it's just me, but having videos up for longer than a day has caused me to miss more videos. I think I just assume I've already seen it and don't bother checking. This makes me feel both guilty and sad.
@medz I have the same issue. Sometimes I even put off reading the write-up because I know there is no new video, then I forget to read it all together. It's like the new video schedule is throwing me off.
@Willijs3 it's almost if they could change the video at 11:30 PM instead of midnight. Then I'd see it right away! :)
They're just becoming more Meh.
user submissions.
@marklog No
@marklog That was my idea... No one ever contacted me about... Send random users that sign up for it a product to review a week or 2 in advance of the sale. Have them do a NDA or something in case the item is delayed for going on sale at the site. Either way they could get a video of them doing something with it... A walkthrough, a blow up... a tear down... ifixit style... Something to keep the videos up... Thinking of which... where did the Irk's motivational weight loss series end up going to? I don't even remember who was in that.