Suggestion - credibility falling

[TigerMe]

I know this is a rumor site but I feel like things have gone downhill lately and every single thing anyone in the world hears is showing up on the front page. I think a bit more filtering of "rumors" needs to happen here.

The number of articles on the MBP update that were wrong are just one example.

Again - I know this is a rumor site but even some rumors aren't worth repeating because they are so ridiculous.

 

[miles01110]

Sometimes rumors don't turn out to be true. It happens. Nobody's forcing you to read the front page, you know.

 

[TigerMe]

Was waiting for that

I knew someone would come back with that.

I thought the point of this group was to give feedback on the site. So I gave feedback. You don't have to read this page if you are going to be defensive about any critisicm given.

 

[miles01110]

Your opinion will surely be noted; but understand this forum gets whining about what people think should be done without any real justification aside from "I don't agree with it." Obviously these get dismissed quite readily. No website can make everyone happy.

 

[TigerMe]

My feedback

I don't know what other people do. I'm simply saying that I frequent the site and I'm seeing a degradation in quality of reports. Maybe the sources are getting worse, I don't know.

My feedback is that the site is losing accuracy and becoming less of a "go to" place. I like the site. My feedback is to help make it better.

Feel free to ignore it or take the feedback. That's up to the folks who run the site I guess.

 

[Hellhammer]

You can't know beforehand whether the rumor is true or not. Apple is becoming more popular all the time and now with iToys, the number of rumors has gone up as more people are interested of them. That means more people will also post rumors and speculate about the next generation products.

Of course we all wish that every rumors MR posts was true.

 

[Blue Velvet]

I thought the point of this group was to give feedback on the site.

It is. Disregard those who characterise feedback as whining.

There's always room for improvement in any enterprise. MacRumors, being largely an aggregator, has the same tensions within it as other similar news models i.e. accuracy vs timing, reputation/brand vs traffic/driving the day's story etc.

On the whole, I think editorial are quite good at flagging what seems to be poorly-sourced or questionable rumours, even if they're posted, because after all, the heart of this site is the discussion of rumours, regardless of how accurate they turn out to be.

Personally, one of my favourite features are the wrap-ups, the rumour winners and loser threads where past predictions are put through the rinse, which isn't something you see very often in other news-gathering models, and which demonstrates an ongoing willingness to evaluate, share and comment on who seems to have a finger on the pulse without blowing sources wide open.

 

[rdowns]

My feedback is that the site is losing accuracy and becoming less of a "go to" place.

Rumor.

 

[vincenz]

One of the things that rumors are based on is doubt. You have to remember that part. There's nothing stating that this site has access to 100% truthful information regarding Apple products that haven't been released yet.

 

[TigerMe]

My lord

I cannot believe that even in a forum named feedback people are being defensive. I applaud the moderators of the site for having a forum like this.

Folks - criticism is not an attack. It is not an attack against the site, or macs in general...chill.

Some wonder why and where the term "fanboy" came from - it's because even with a place created for construcive feedback, people jump in with every defense in the world.

You really think I don't know the site is about RUMORS? You think I can't read? The name of the site is rumors. That said, even rumor sites and printed publications don't print everything. I'm not saying this site does, I'm simply saying as someone who as read this site very regularly for well over a year, I have seen the quality of the stories and accuracy going down. That's it...chill.

 

[miles01110]

I cannot believe that even in a forum named feedback people are being defensive.

You're the only one that's being defensive.

You really think I don't know the site is about RUMORS? You think I can't read? The name of the site is rumors. That said, even rumor sites and printed publications don't print everything. I'm not saying this site does, I'm simply saying as someone who as read this site very regularly for well over a year, I have seen the quality of the stories and accuracy going down. That's it...chill.

 

[TigerMe]

Thank you for the encouragement. I also really like the winners/losers posts. That's a good way to to see where the reliability "index" is for different sources.

Keep it up.

It is. Disregard those who characterise feedback as whining.

There's always room for improvement in any enterprise. MacRumors, being largely an aggregator, has the same tensions within it as other similar news models i.e. accuracy vs timing, reputation/brand vs traffic/driving the day's story etc.

On the whole, I think editorial are quite good at flagging what seems to be poorly-sourced or questionable rumours, even if they're posted, because after all, the heart of this site is the discussion of rumours, regardless of how accurate they turn out to be.

Personally, one of my favourite features are the wrap-ups, the rumour winners and loser threads where past predictions are put through the rinse, which isn't something you see very often in other news-gathering models, and which demonstrates an ongoing willingness to evaluate, share and comment on who seems to have a finger on the pulse without blowing sources wide open.

Really awesome contribution. Thanks buddy!

You're the only one that's being defensive.

 

[angelwatt]

You've provided one example, but could you describe more what you feel has lessened the credibility? You're perspective seems to be based on just the last year (your words), which is fine, but the site has existed for a little more than a decade so a trend based on a year isn't that big. Having specifics where you feel credibility has fallen could help better address any potential issue.

 

[chrono1081]

You are perfectly entitled to your opinion.

 

[neko girl]

I know this is a rumor site but I feel like things have gone downhill lately

MacRumors recently posted an article that evaluated the credibility of recent MacBook Pro rumors in a long list. Did you read it?

 

[TigerMe]

Examples.

Part of my feedback is also about the volume of rumors posted. The next generation iPad would be an example. There have been so many articles on this that I wonder if more filtering is in order.

Obviously we don't know what's in store but it feels like everything that's heard gets posted. Just my perception.

And yes, I've been using the site for a year, maybe 2 so that's all I have to go on.

You've provided one example, but could you describe more what you feel has lessened the credibility? You're perspective seems to be based on just the last year (your words), which is fine, but the site has existed for a little more than a decade so a trend based on a year isn't that big. Having specifics where you feel credibility has fallen could help better address any potential issue.

 

[WildCowboy]

Part of my feedback is also about the volume of rumors posted. The next generation iPad would be an example. There have been so many articles on this that I wonder if more filtering is in order.

Obviously we don't know what's in store but it feels like everything that's heard gets posted. Just my perception.

And yes, I've been using the site for a year, maybe 2 so that's all I have to go on.

Thanks for the feedback...we do certainly do keep suggestions like this in mind.

You should see the stuff we don't post...so yes, there is quite a bit of filtering already.

The Apple "rumor community" has been grown exponentially in recent years, so there is a growing number of rumors and growing interest in those rumors. We try to evaluate rumors critically when we can, but sometimes we simply don't know.

We try to make use of Page 2 for things that are getting lots of visibility but clearly bogus (see today's article), if only to dispel rumors that are getting wide traction on other sites and centralize discussion that is almost always already taking place in our forums.