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Why does MR report on Twitter's company drama?

belvdr

belvdr

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Aug 15, 2005
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I mentioned before it seems more like SlashDot news.

Maybe a "More like this" / "Less like this" button for each article would help MR in the search for news readers enjoy. It appears most forum activity centers around the News forum.
 
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WildCowboy

WildCowboy

Administrator/Editor
Staff member
Jan 20, 2005
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We have a long history of covering topics like those because they're among the most widely used apps and services on Apple devices, so they affect a lot of our readers.

We certainly do monitor how our stories on various topics perform and adjust our editorial approach accordingly over time to reflect what our overall readership is interested in.
 
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Juicy Box

Juicy Box

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Sep 23, 2014
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At least Twitter is something that can be used on Apple Devices.

I remember asking a similar question when MR had what seemed like an excessive amount of Samsung phone articles, back when they were catching fire. For a few months, endless articles about Samsung phones, about new designs without exploding batteries, etc. It was like the site turned into Samsung Rumors.

The response I got back then was that MR was a tech news site, that tend to focus on Apple related products, but also covered non-Apple related tech stuff.
 
erikkfi

erikkfi

macrumors 68000
May 19, 2017
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If MacRumors keeps giving Elon Musk his much-desired headlines, and covering Twitter like it's all palace intrigue, I'll delete my account and won't be back. This isn't Slashdot or The Verge, and thank goodness. Be better than this.
 
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Phogro

Phogro

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Aug 13, 2015
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NY Guitarist said:
Serious question for MR admins:

Why is MR reporting on Twitter's business strategy? Or Fakebook/Meta for that matter?

The only connection with Apple is that these companies have apps that run on Apple hardware, nothing more.
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The short answer is - for the clicks.

A longer answer is.

The editorial staff at MacRumors likely debated whether they wanted to cover it because it is a trending topic that many of their readers will be interested in as well as having a more broad appeal to people that aren't core readers here. As a business MacRumors has to balance their current viewership's interest with attracting outside viewers to their site and trending topics like this one is one strategy that can do that. If all MacRumors reported on was rumors around Apple and Apple news there would be a lot of quiet days.
 
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NY Guitarist

NY Guitarist

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Original poster
Mar 21, 2011
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Phogro said:
The short answer is - for the clicks.
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Exactly!
Phogro said:
As a business MacRumors has to balance their current viewership's interest with attracting outside viewers to their site and trending topics like this one is one strategy that can do that. If all MacRumors reported on was rumors around Apple and Apple news there would be a lot of quiet days.
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Again, I agree. However, it seems that an inordinate amount of front page 'news' has, at best, a tenuous relation to Apple.

I understand MR is a business, but I read MR primarily to learn about Apple, not Twitter, Facebook etc.

Anyway, all good, I've been reading MR since it first started and will continue.
 
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MysticCow

macrumors 68000
May 27, 2013
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Because Tweeeeeeter, FakeBook, and Orange People drive people to check things out.

When the market actually reacts negatively to this and stops coming, then things will change. Maybe we need an "ignore topic" feature to actually assess just how many people are fed up with this. (this means USE THE IGNORE FEATURE)
 
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ndouglas

macrumors 6502a
Jun 1, 2022
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Wow, I appreciate finding this post, and that MR staff allows you to keep the thread. After thinking about it more I surmised roughly what @WildCowboy wrote above, so thank you for that post.

Re: the previous OP’s post inordinate*** is the key word here, they really are going all-in with stuff lately re: twitter and other news that has no relation to Mac- or Apple-Rumors. I mean yes, duh, FB, Twtr, Insta, Tiktok, etc. are among the most used apps, but …. OK i’ll stop, no desire to tread on anyone’s toes again.
 
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ndouglas

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Jun 1, 2022
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MysticCow said:
Because Tweeeeeeter, FakeBook, and Orange People drive people to check things out.

When the market actually reacts negatively to this and stops coming, then things will change. Maybe we need an "ignore topic" feature to actually assess just how many people are fed up with this. (this means USE THE IGNORE FEATURE)
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Yep totally agree here… given the excessive number of front-page news of this, it’s a lot of work to be ignoring so many stories every day or even to be scrolling past them all in hopes of more relevant news/rumors.
 
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erikkfi

erikkfi

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Research tells us that news items and stories that provoke a negative response lead to greater site engagement, but at a mental health cost. I'm not at all interested in what Elon Musk does. Don't want to read about it, don't want to see it. When I do see it, it immediately brings up negative thoughts that I don't want in my life.

By the way, I just went to Cult of Mac and searching for "Musk" and "Twitter" on their homepage reveals 0 results (except for a promotion for following them on Twitter), so I guess they know what qualifies as Apple-related news.
 
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JM

JM

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Nov 23, 2014
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WildCowboy said:
We have a long history of covering topics like those because they're among the most widely used apps and services on Apple devices, so they affect a lot of our readers.

We certainly do monitor how our stories on various topics perform and adjust our editorial approach accordingly over time to reflect what our overall readership is interested in.
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I was thinking on the news reporting topics, and realized that it’s actually great and perfect for people (like myself) that just want topical news stories delivered without all the fluff of opinions. And then I can get a gauge on public opinion by reading the comments.

I like the reports.
 
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dylanthomas

Suspended
Nov 5, 2008
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WildCowboy said:
We have a long history of covering topics like those because they're among the most widely used apps and services on Apple devices, so they affect a lot of our readers.

We certainly do monitor how our stories on various topics perform and adjust our editorial approach accordingly over time to reflect what our overall readership is interested in.
Click to expand...
Why stop there? Post about the latest Netflix shows because people may watch them on their Apple devices. Start posting about U.S. politics as long as the articles perform well!
 
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JM

JM

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Nov 23, 2014
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applesith said:
MR has chosen to ignore the controversy regarding TikTok and potential ban by the US government due to alleged Chinese government's access to user data. That's something iOS/Mac users might find more helpful than who owns Twitter.
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Reporting what actually happens at Twitter is delivering factual information, that has zero relation to politics, and only becomes political in the comment section.

The TikTok (potential) ban is inherently political, and therefore MR would therefore be reporting on politics. (Which they wisely have not done, because reporting facts about tech happenings is one thing, but reporting on the latest political moves is not tech related.)
 
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nosnhojm

nosnhojm

macrumors regular
Oct 16, 2011
192
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dylanthomas said:
Many people watch porn on their Apple devices as well.
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MacRumors makes editorial choices. These choices are not new. You may not like those choices. There are many other Apple-centric new sites that make different choices.
 
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Juicy Box

Juicy Box

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Sep 23, 2014
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JM said:
Reporting what actually happens at Twitter is delivering factual information, that has zero relation to politics, and only becomes political in the comment section.

The TikTok (potential) ban is inherently political, and therefore MR would therefore be reporting on politics. (Which they wisely have not done, because reporting facts about tech happenings is one thing, but reporting on the latest political moves is not tech related.)
Click to expand...
The potential TikTok ban was reported a few times on MR, just not lately.
 
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