Criticism of Internet Movie Database
From Wikinfo
IMDb has become a very restricted and hard tool to use for regular users, unlike the wiki system for example, as it needs confirmations over confirmations, and even paid accounts to have access to most of its facilities.
IMDb ranking
The validity of the Top 250 has come under scrutiny. The skepticism includes accusations of such things as ballot-box stuffing and voting ambiguity, as well as considerable objections about the overall placement of any given movie in the Top 250. [1]
The most recent example occurred in July of 2008 when The Dark Knight ended up taking the number one spot away from The Godfather. In addressing the controversy of the issue, CNET's Harrison Hoffman theorized that the hype surrounding the movie outweighed clear thinking. Hoffman also goes on to say that the number of "10" votes for the latest Batman movie and the number of "1" votes that have suddenly appeared in The Godfather's voting bin (that have knocked that movie down to #3 on the list) are the markings of a "drastic shift" that "hardly seems the work of a wise crowd." A "mob mentality", he maintains, can "greatly skew a product of its collective wisdom." [2]
Dave Thomas, blogger on E-Gear, says that he believes IMDb's Top 250 to be a better list than AFI's Top 100 since the board. Thomas notes that his admiration of the "always shifting" list is because it recognizes modern movies (giving the example of WALL-E currently standing at #30) and mixes them in with all-time greats which is a product of the Top 250 being "updated every ten minutes instead of every ten years". However, Thomas admits that the list is "imperfect", saying that users can "cheat like crazy", further adding that there is "no guarantee anyone who voted ever actually saw The Dark Knight, much less liked it." [3]
Message Boards
One of the most used features of the Internet Movie Database is the message boards that coincide with every title (excepting TV episodes) and name entry, along with forty-seven main boards.
As the IMDb expires older posts from all message boards variably, it is difficult to precisely measure traffic according to individual board, but the Soapbox and the Sandbox and Oscar Buzz are amongst the highest traffic boards on IMDb. The Soapbox is a general purpose discussion board, where users can go for "their more heated discussions" though there is still quite a lot of censorship. IMDb has received countless complaints over the years concerning the harshness of the censorship, a harshness not prescribed to films IMDb represents.[4]
Boards for various political persons (most notably President George W. Bush) have also been used for political discussion. On May 9, 2007, a "Politics" message board was created, after which the boards of George W. Bush and other political figures were cleared on a daily basis.
References
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