November 8, 2011
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The Product Council speaks again! The Xanga Front Page
We've been talking to Xanga Product Council members over the past few weeks. (Thanks again, guys!)
Without any prompting, about half of the people we talked to brought up the Xanga frontpage. We've been showing an auto-generated list of Top Blogs on the frontpage for about a year-and-a-half now, and the results have been mixed. People love that it drives traffic to a lot of member blogs... but we also got feedback that:
- Top Blogs doesn't always showcase the highest quality blog posts.
- People wish that there was more of a human touch to the posts.
We actually used to have humans involved back in the day...
1) FEATURED WEBLOGS
Many moons ago, we selected blog posts by hand for the frontpage. This was successful in maintaining a high quality of posts.
But we got some feedback that people would like to see the frontpage update more frequently. Also, there was a request to see more democracy in the selection: in other words, to let the Xanga community participate in the selection of frontpage posts.
2) TOP BLOGS
To address these issues, we started featuring our auto-generated list of Top Blogs on the frontpage in May of last year.
That helped address the issues with the frontpage not changing frequently enough, and involving the community more. But so far, it hasn't done as good a job in terms of quality of posts.
---------------
Based on the feedback to date, the ideal solution would:
- Update the frontpage fairly regularly
- Involve the Community (but not allow voting fraud)
- Maintain a high quality of posts
We have some ideas on how we could achieve all three of these things... but first, wanted to make sure that list sounded right.
- Frequent updates
- Community Involvement
- High Quality
That sound right?
Comments (96)
Sounds about right. I really hope that Featured Weblogs return.
Yes.
And if you could unblock the gateway proxy for the ENTIRE AIR FORCE when you have a moment, that would be nice. Bluetooth tethering isn't the fastest.
I liked featured weblogs.
I don't like the front page as it is right now. I hardly go to it because I know what's going to be on it and it's usually awful.
Yep.
great!!!!!!!
it will do Xanga well.
@TheSecretLifeOfPandas - i agree. i don't go to top blogs often because of the blogs that usually make it on there.
i have some ideas for the xanga app. i should have appliedddddd! *sad face*
Sounds like a good plan. It'll be nice to see good-quality blogs reach the front page again.
Wow, I almost forgot what Featured Weblogs were
lol
You're doing a great job. I don't think you will ever make everyone happy.
@blonde_apocalypse - it is impossible to please everyone.
@grizzlybearr - I'm terrible. I have no ideas for making it better. I just know I don't like it. lol. ugh.
and overhaul the featured user module. Make it more representative of real featured users.
community involvement? perhaps. but if it's not weighted properly (and dynamically) it'll tend to keep the poor...well, poor.
it'll probably work if you develop and implement it as a variable in a good algorithm -- something i don't think you've really done yet, no disrespect howyadoin.
love always,
phil
Have categories of top blogs as well. So allow me to select a category of a theme (like with tags) and show me top blogs in issues that interest me.
By the way, I love the changes made to the Xanga Mobi.
Yes.
Personally, skip the community. Steve Jobs was right, customer doesn't know what they want. You just have to make them want what you want. But yes, that's about right.
@Zeal4living - YES!
Xanga's front page is actually ... the only front page that I bother to look at (on most websites, I tend to ignore the front page, login, and do whatever I inted to do on the website) ... but Xanga's front page has some interesting posts up front
... so it's always nice to click around. Although I tend to see the same sets of bloggers over and over again ... would be nice to get some variations! And of course, quality posts are very appealing to me, personally. I don't have any good suggestions/solutions to the addressed points ... but I do think that these coming changes will be positive! Frequent updates, community involvment, and high quality sounds good 
Keep up the awesome work, Xanga!
It seems like half of the "top blogs" that end up on the front page are personal mating entries... not your best ambassadors xanga!
I rarely go to the front page. Frankly, there are some people who are always there and if I wasn't interested in them last week, I won't be interested in them this week. I see the same people there and I just have to wonder doesn't Xanga have more bloggers than the same few who seem to show up so frequently???
Also, when I see blogs that are written to create controversy, I skip them. I suppose that creates traffic but not interesting to me.
agreed. there is a lot of crap on the front-page. i doubt that somebody who is looking at xanga for the first time would be interested by just seeing what is there.
The Front Page...tells everyone what we're all about.
Do it right, Do it well. There is no reason for you not to.
@TheSecretLifeOfPandas - Agreed! I made my homepage my new bookmark instead of the front page. I'm always nervous that some photo/title is going to come up that I really don't care to see.
yup!
YES!! Those sound like good criteria!
Top Blogs, and being Featured...it really meant something. It really did.I was PROUD when I was Featured.I'd get messages congratulating me, it meant something.It meant a lot to me.
Question now is....why doesn't it now ? Xanga is not Facebook, or Twitter.
Xanga is better, more special. Xanga is for writers, and for a community, friends.
Hard to go wrong with frequent updates, community involvement and high quality. Though it seems to me that community involvement and high quality have not proven...compatible...in the past. I mean, one person's high quality is another person's YAWN is another person's NSFW!!!
@Bricker59 - If I could I would "like" your comment!
@skanickadee - Thank you. Thank you very much.
sounds about right to me.
@ordinarybutloud - Exactly.
so long as it doesn't turn into a promotional platform for the asme high traffic bloggers all the time. i'd like to see high quality posts from people who don't get very much regular traffic.
LET THEM EAT CAKE!
sounds good, but do hope you can control the voting fraud ~ a lot of yuk seems to show up on there ~ could do without that ~
I knew you were going to use the "product council" as a reason to change the front page.
You said you wanted to throw a few ideas out about products but it is interesting you have not addressed products. The first issue was "footprints." You were already dealing with the phone app so there was nothing to address. So I thought you were going to just go back to the same issue which was the front page. No big deal. It is just interesting that nothing changes about xanga.
I think it very, very odd that a lot of the time, one of the top three featured blog posting is concerns someone who has come to dislike Xanga so much that they declare that they are leaving Xanga forever.
I don't have the 'frontpage' bookmarked for xanga. I have friends featured there some but there's too much that I'd just as soon not see or read about. That's OK too, we all have our places and I enjoy the quality of writing and the photos of the folks I subscribe to. The bottom line is that I appreciate this forum a lot and I'm glad Xanga is here. I don't see how you can make everyone happy but kudos for trying.
Well, the one point about "frequent updates" that need to be kept in mind is that quantity doesn't equal quality. Yes, we want to feature people who write regularly, but I'm not sure that weight should be given to someone who writes every day over someone who writes once a week. Both can have important things to say and write well.
In other words, maybe there needs to be a bar above which frequency is considered sufficient. Maybe two updates a month?
How do you define 'good quality'? Good master of English and grammar? Unfortunately there are a lot of us out there where English isn't our everyday language and we prefer to post photos, videos or recipes instead of addressing issues like a scholar. Personally I found serious, semi professionally written blogs dreary and boring. You expect us youngsters to come here and discuss about philosophies, theories, politics and religions? Give us a break. We like blogs that are whimsical, funny and entertaining. And we don't want people to give us lectures and thesis or people parading boobs. This isn't education.com or sleaze.com.
@archangel4eternity - If I may respond to your comment, I agree that whimsical, funny, and entertaining are an important part of what makes a blog entry good. At the same time, we sometimes get posts featured on the front page that are incoherent or are just pointless rants. Nothing wrong with writing those but I'm not sure they really appeal to other people as potential readers.
Why does the front page have to be some kind of contest. Simply list blog titles for content and usernames and allow us to browse easily to those sites. Right now if you are new to Xanga with no friends the Top Blogs is the only way you can navigate easily anywhere. When users post their blogs have them tag with key words in the subject line or catagory of crowd they want to attract. Then we could sort for the content we are interested in. Everyone would get traffic.The Xanga team could track search hits to see what readers are looking for.
Next get rid of "subscription reading" that doesn't leave footprints. Xangas are reading posts through the "subscription" option and the bloggers think no one is reading them if they don't select comments, go to their site and leave a word or two.
Simple: Better search by Topic/Username for better navigation and make sure everyone gets a footprint when their words are read, by any method.
Sounds pretty good, I guess.
I'd like to see a Top Tags module on the front page. Maybe one that highlighted trending topics as well as old standards.
You should get back to featured weblogs. There are so many good writers here on xanga who deserve to have their posts featured on the front page. We see such mediocre at best, nonsense nowadays though.
Every time you leave it up to the community to decide what will be on the front page, the system gets gamed, the community loses interest and everyone complains. Every time you change the front page, I lose traffic. I don't know what the answer is, but this is one change I'm not looking forward to.
@Zeal4living - I like the idea of having categories. Give the individual options from which they can choose what they personally prefer. One top blog category could be based upon "views", another upon "comments", another upon "recommendations", another based on "rating"(such as 1-10, something you don't yet have, but can add). Another could be "random"(individual writers could opt out of being part of this option if so choosing). Yet another could be "content", which is fairly simple of course: The writer of the journal can choose from a series of basic topic sections, picking one or two of which her or his journal would best apply.
Under such a system, it would be community and individual friendly, and if the community at large wants higher quality of posts, the top blog categories which open doors and welcome such posts will lead the way.
xanga app, genius. now i can finally leave my house after 8 years of being in my basement.
iPhone app?!?
I am still waiting for those pop ups to be stopped that pop up even on the front page.
yes! i agree that the front page lacks high quality written posts. i dunno how to get them there, but it wouldn't definitely increase my affinity for writing on xanga if i were inspired by other bloggers.
I was once on a site that had two main features on their front page: top blogs (according to number of visitors registered and/or comments received) AND recently updated blogs. Sometimes,especially with new members, they get hardly any visitors because no one knows them. If a list of most recent updated blogs would appear, then theirs would make that list and other members might visit them out of curiosity.
I'd concentrate on quality. The problem is that there aren't anywhere near 100 blogs of quality at any one time anymore. So maybe 20 would be a better number to shoot for.
Also, the problem with the front page idea is that it tends to perpetuate itself. If a blogger has a good post, then the numbers just make it more popular by scoring high on the Top Blog, and that is initially based on the readership of that blogger. Take Theo Dan for instance, a blogger of rare quality who could get number one top blogs for just saying 'hi'. There is usually nothing special about his posts, they just appear to be interesting because people like to brown nose popular people.
If you want this blog to attract more people, you need to make sure some interesting stuff is on the front page, not BS, and I don't think you have the numbers to post 100 of them anymore, maybe 20 is a more realistic number.
Keep frontpage clean. Anything related to body parts (i.e. boobs, pussy) and sex should be automatically rated C or D. Ban profile pics with sex toys, genitals and boobs (Yes, I'm talking about you, VibratorRepairMan, you perv). We have Xangans aged below 16 here.
@galadrielspitcher - yeah I come straight to my universal inbox.
I agree, although I think quality should come first. If we want more people, or for people to stay, we should present our best face to the world. I don't think that trolling and trollbait are that face; yet it seems that by selecting posts automatically, that is often what shows up on the front page. It would be nice, for instance, if someone's blog that featured a thought-provoking analysis of something people like to argue about got more press than someone deliberately trying to upset people
@christao408 - So you think people who can't write because they have no basics on writing a good post or have a good command of English shouldn't be allowed to be featured or have traffic to their sites? I speak for people aged 21 and below here and also people from Asian countries. Teenagers write according to their whims and impulses. If you want them to be a good writers, then someone should start Writingish where these 'lousy' writers can learn to write better and in English.
Top Blogs isn't all about popularity. It's about traffic and it's about giving those lesser known a chance to be in the spotlight. Just because people's blog suck, doesn't mean they don't have readers. You talk about good quality, but not all quality blogs are fun to read. Some are even boring, lengthy and monotonous. You see these massive blocks of fonts and then your eyes get all glazed. You think teenagers care about politics and religions? No, they like fashion, gossips and trends, and if Xanga start featuring all these 'polished' blogs, they get bored with Xanga and move to Facebook or Tumblr.
If you want to feature quality blogs, you should keep these teenagers (age 13-19) in mind. They have different tastes in blogs than those in their 20s - 70s. Let's not forget what they want. Xanga isn't about a league of good writers or published writers. We also have awkward teens and geeks.
@Hummingbird1950 - I think that's a really good idea, although I think it would also be good if people could opt out for a specific post. You don't post stuff on the internet you really want to hide very badly, but you don't necessarily want attention on it right away. Or something.
@archangel4eternity - I'm sorry, but I think you completely misunderstood the point I was making. It seems like you're looking for an opportunity to take offense rather than seeing my response as part of a dialogue.
As I wrote in my reply to you, there is nothing wrong with blogs that are fun, whimsical, and entertaining. That's part of what makes blogging at Xanga special.
There is a big difference, though, between "incoherent" (my word) and people who "[don't] have a good command of English" (your words). I agree with you that people have every right to have traffic to their site - I don't have a problem with anyone having readers.
I also agree that the "top blogs" should definitely feature a wide range of writers, a wide ranges of topics, a wide range of styles, and a wide range of voices. This isn't about fun versus not fun, young versus old, white versus Asian, long blocks of text versus posting only picture, native English speakers versus non-native speakers, or any other distinction you might try to turn this conversation into.
This is about the idea that the "top blogs" - the front page of Xanga - should be a reflection of the very best content that our Xanga community is producing. Right now, the automated system that picks top blogs chooses entries that aren't always a very good reflection of that quality - and diversity - that makes Xanga great.
@christao408 - "It seems like you're looking for an opportunity to take offense"
Apparently you also misunderstood me. I am not offended, not at all. I merely responding to your response to my comment. And I am explaining things the way I see it.
Leave me alone. I came here to express my thoughts to Xanga Team, and I am not interested in exchanging a dialogue with you.
The end.
@christao408 - Keep your opinions to Xanga Team and leave others alone. People have every right to express their opinions without somebody poking at them (like you did). Stop lecturing people.
Can I say, though, that this new "feature" of the ads that come up on the bottom left of the screen are heinous. I get that to keep a "free" site running you have to have ad revenue and I'm on board with that, but that box is really really annoying. And sometimes it comes up on top of the submit button or some other functioning feature and has no "x" to get rid of it. Very inconvenient. Is there any way we can do away with that? Or put it someplace else on the screen? (one of the top corners, maybe?)
Anyway, I'm not sure if this is the right place to bring this up. Apologies if this was not appropriate.
It has always been the same. Before 'Featured' there was 'Top 100'... which was also a joke, because people would solicit eprops in order to get to on the list, skewing the results. If I go to front page (which I don't)... I can guarantee you I will see Theologian's Cafe there. It's just a given. Nothing changes. This feature really can't work.
Once upon a time - when this site first opened - there was an alphabetical directory Of course there were only 5,000 or so Xangans, but I used that to find some really wonderful sites. But then people started opening accounts and never posting... or opening and meaning to post (but then abandoning them)... and then Xanga grew to gigantic proportions, and that was the end of that. I can't even imagine how many blogs could actually be shut down because the user hasn't been there in twelve years or haven't seen any activity in seven years, but since Xanga doesn't seem interested in freeing up space, it's rather moot.
Me? I don't care, as long as I'm not featured, e.v.e.r.
All I want from Xanga are three things:
1. The ability to post a blog (which, thankfully, I have).
2. The ability to utilize Xanga Skins (which I'm told is obsolete, and I pray everyday it won't be taken away from me. But for now, I have it).
3. The ability to upload pictures (which I only have 20% of the time. So far not at all this week. For a premium person, this rankles. And yet there's a committee discussing mobile options... while I'm screaming at a screen that doesn't work and leaving unseen and disregarded messages in the 'help' section, which is neglected and less than partially unmanned.)
I don't know, I guess I'd start with what is basic service and make sure it's all working, then from there move on to improvements in new or yet undeveloped areas. But that's just me.
Dear Xanga Team,
Thank you for reaching out and trying to please the community. I appreciate that you're working on making this a better site. I love things the way they are, but no matter how much you change it as long as I can keep navigating it easily, I'm here for life.
That being said, yeah, your list sounds about right.
Whatever you do, don't leave it to public vote; it'll just become a popularity contest based on who's hottest, or who's showing the most skin in their pictures rather than the quality of their posts.
Thanks.
Yes, to all. Especially featured weblogs. It was nice to see some very good, but very obscure, unknown blogs get featured on the front page occasionally. I really get tired of reading the same old blogs all the time. I'm sure there are some gems buried under the blogs that are getting hundreds of hits every day.
Sounds okay to me, perhaps if you have either a customizable frontpage that the user chooses (so they can have one of the three options, Auto, XangaTeam, Other users) or have three collums each containing a list of the recent features.
@NeverSubmit - there was a "block" feature... only blogs open for public reading were listed so no one with a private entry needed to worry. I have to admit, I was in the top ten nearly every day (brag) yet here at Xanga I just haven't been able to fit in. *pout*
@archangel4eternity - as someone who is 21, i think that maybe you should just speak for yourself unless you know you are representative of a large number of people that feel the same way. because i find blogs that are whimsical and funny good but i also think grammar and spelling are important, as well as informative blogs.
@PrincessOfTheOrient - My apologies. I thought it was called "conversing" but if you consider it "lecturing" or "poking", I'll stop.
@christao408 - That young man just wanted to give his opinion and you came out of nowhere and tore his opinion apart. He was minding his own business! You're not even a member of Xanga Team, it's not your job to reply to his comment. Let Xanga Team do their job. This isn't a chatbox or IM, don't bother 'conversing' to people who don't know you and don't give a damn about you. Just give your opinion to Xanga Team and leave people alone.
@livefastbleedslow - re: "...as someone who is 21, i think that maybe you should just speak for yourself unless you know you are representative of a large number of people that feel the same way".
I am 19, I feel the same way with archangel4eternity and like him, I am Asian. He's Filipino, I'm Vietnamese. It's funny that Top Blogs never show people who write in other languages. I have friends who said that Top Blogs censors blogs written in other languages such as Arabic, Russian and even Japanese. We write correctly in our languages but Top Blogs itself chose to censor our non-English blogs and titles because it doesn't recognise certain words, and couldn't even tell the difference between a crude language and a good one. I use the spell checker on weblog editor, and it totally sucks. It doesn't even have a complete list of suggestions for us to do the auto correct!
If people wants better spelling and grammar on blogs, then Xanga Team should fix the weblog editor and Top Blogs so that non-native English speakers can have traffic to their blogs and not marginalised by others who speak and write in good English. Some people are forced to write in poor English because that's the only way they can communicate with other Xangans around here. It's not they aren't good writers or lack ideas, they just can't express themselves well because of the language barrier.
@livefastbleedslow - I feel the same way with archangel4eternity. And I am 19.
@PrincessOfTheOrient - I agree. The last time I wrote in the Malay language, the Top Blogs tore my title in half and made it sound obscene! I was forced to rewrite the whole blog in English and that changes the content and message altogether because there are certain phrases that you can't simply translate into English. That in turn will confuse my English speaking friends, so I ended up scraping the whole blog. I need an online translator and grammar checker on Xanga and I need it now!
It's funny that Top Blogs couldn't recognise other languages other than English. This is suppose to be a global thing. How can we non-native English speakers have traffic to our sites if Top Blogs fail to recognise our languages? We don't even have a grammar checker on the weblog editor!
Why nobody suggests adding a grammar checker on Xanga? Hasn't it occur to Xanga Team that people need a grammar checker on the weblog editor? We only have a spell checker and that thing totally sucks! No online thesaurus or dictionary on Xanga either.
No wonder people are lost in translation around here.
Every time I write a blog title in Russian, the weblog editor censors it and cuts it in half or a third of the original title. Why it does that?
@Scarlet_Lipsticks - I wonder about that too. No grammar checker on a weblog editor? That is so wrong.
If they want quality blogs with good spelling AND good grammar, then give us a grammar checker and thesaurus on our weblog editor so that we can check on our blogs before submitting.
Hardly ever go to the front page...but first time viewers will.
Make it not read like a porn site, and I'll be happy. I usually competely avoid the front page because of the filth on there.
@blonde_apocalypse - Try using Firefox with Adblock plus. No more ads, ever.
@PrincessOfTheOrient - Understood, and as I wrote before, my apologies and I'll stop. Now it is your turn to stop lecturing, too. Thanks.
Suggestions:
(1) Get rid of Top Blogs and Rec'd on frontpage. Less is more.
(2) Assign moderators on all Ish sites to control trolling activities.
(3) Protect the Xanga logo from abuses from sites that encourage trollings.
(4) Users need to seek permission before using the Xanga logo for contests/awards.
(5) Get rid of the Rec and Like button. People are abusing them.
3
Here's my suggestions:
Don't feature individuals who are already monopolizing the Top Blogs with troll or satirical blogs (i.e. TheTheologiansCafe - why is he featured on Xanga now?). I think Top Blogs should only be for individuals, and not for community sites run by multiple Xangans. People should focus on writing for themselves and don't you want people to write better? Community sites and individuals sites should be separated like those Pages on Facebook. I'm tired of people creating community sites for stupid troll awards, Post Secrets rip offs, e-magazines and tabloid-like blogs and have them on Top Blogs, thus robbing the good Xangans a place on Top Blogs. If the community site is good, feature it. If it encourages trolling, shut it down. Can you block those thinspos blogs from Top Blogs? They are bad examples to the community and create this false image that Xangans have an obsession on getting thin. People with eating disorders shouldn't even be on the frontpage.
I think Xanga should limit the usage of the rec button per day. When they reach a quota, they will get a reminder. There are some overzealous rec whores around here who rec every blog, comment and Pulse.
If getting rid of Top Blogs means the end of TheTheologiansCafe's ruthless domination, then I'm all for it.
When will Xanga Team address the blatant trolling and cyberbullying on Xanga network?Hello? Trolls have conquered the Top Blogs. People are abandoning Xanga because you guys never openly discuss about trolls and cyberbullies. I'm sick of all kinds of drama and anti-Malaysian cyberbullying. You guys are turning a blind eye on this very serious matter. All you care is about making money through ads. You can't make profit if there aren't any Xangans left.
Yeah fix the front page! I try to read there sometimes and it's always the same people with uninspiring posts. You want xanga to grow and to attract new viewers, right? For sure you need to fix the quality of the content! It's awful! It's like reading tabloids only that the people aren't famous, nor particularly interesting, and nobody really cares about their internal feuds or friendships with one other. At least I don't! hehe! Plus, I have this fishy feeling that many of them are the same person. Lonely and looking for attention, perhaps? A cyber playwright making a virtual show with lots of characters and little natural interaction with others? I dunno, I wouldn't be surprised.
Anyways, I just wanna be enlightened and such posts haven't been on the front page in a long time. Other than that 'though I like the changes you've made to xanga over the years! I think you guys have done a good job overall! Thanks!
Oh yeah and Metros! Those were excellent for meeting people in your area! You should really bring those back!!! I met so many people through them! Definitely those could reel in some new fish for xanga!! And you guys want new fishys, right!?
I am always on the lookout for new xangans to read and friend. It has become very disappointing how many of the same-old, same-old people show up repeatedly (and I mean repeatedly) in top blogs. There has to be a way to spread it around more. If you want xanga to grow into its potential, open up top blogs to a more diverse group.
Are the people who choose the top blogs legit or is it done by by a a computer system (program)?. I told my mom about Xanga because she likes to blog and upon reading the top blogs we saw a few really fun blogs like "seedsower". Also we had a lot of fun reading the Malaysian blogs but then.....we read a blog by someone named "Fuhkawf" and her blog was about "Who on Xanga would want to have anal sex with her" and the blog was quite graphic. This blog was on the top blogs for the entire day. Is this what Xanga thinks should be on the front page? Well this turned my mom and I off completely. Something has to be done about the quality of what goes on the front page because the front page is what represents Xanga and sometimes it represents Xanga as being some kind of porn/ troll site. Please monitor the top blogs more carefully, Xanga is losing customers by putting that kind of trash on it. Thank you
I rarely go to the front page, too. y8 love
So, when's the next council call?
Not a fan of the front page, I've never clicked on any of the blogs shown there
Not a fan of the front page, I've never clicked on any of the blogs shown there
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