The Internet Movie Database will be eliminating all their message boards as of Feb 20th.
Dammit. :mad:
Great. Watch for an influx of brain dead Truthers on 2/21.
Too bad, but the IMDB boards were filled with 12-year-olds who never saw a movie released before 1980.
OTOH, Fark.com has added a topic for discussions, which seems pretty good.
That’s disappointing :mad: Granted, one could never expect to encounter particularly intelligent commentary but it was somewhat better than nothing. I’ve often wished we had a forum here devoted solely to movies and tv shows. I realize anyone can start / respond to any thread at any time but because the board isn’t dedicated to movies, they’re only a fraction of what gets discussed here and it feels awkward and kind of useless to resurrect a two year old thread.
this is gonna happen more and more as its easier just to turn off boards and comment sections rather to endlessly fight trolls and morons
MSN has had to recently let its content suppliers pick on whether they allow comments below their news stories … apparently a lot of websites are going back to having their own comment section where you sign up with them as opposed to just posting with facebook … or scraping them all together
There were lots of trolls and disruptive posts on the boards, especially for popular movies/shows, but it was usually easy to spot the junk by the thread titles and bypass 'em.
On the personality boards, the die-hard fans are great at policing ‘their’ boards and would usually run off disruptors fairly quickly.
I’m disappointed as well. It was nice to go to the boards and read discussion of a movie I just saw, or to bring up some point I didn’t understand. People discuss movies and TV shows here as well, but some movies never get enough interest here to sustain a discussion.
But yes, there are many trolls on the IMDB boards.
Could be worse. Could be YouTube commenters.
IMDb long ago became a tool of the entertainment industry. It relies on information and pictures from publicists and studios. I’m sure they don’t like the Matt Damon sux threads.
Or Twitter users.
This is my feeling, too. I never actually joined discussions on IMDBD, but it is interesting to read what others thought about a movie that might not be popular enough to be discussed elsewhere. Or you can learn something about an obscure actor in their message boards.
There is a Movies discussion section on previously.tv:
Dammit. I loved discussing movies there. Bunch of lousy trolls ruining it for the rest of us. (Like the Marvel/DC diehards who acted as if it were impossible to appreciate both, and as if the existence of the other camp’s movies were a threat to the existence of theirs.)
Or local news site responders.
I guess the perv[s?] who starts hundreds of threads about actresses’ feet will have to find a new venue.
I consider IMDb the original killer app for the web, so yeah, disappointing.
First because even a few people discussing an obscure movie or episode could be useful and fun, and it’s hard to imagine a suitably compartmented replacement. I had some conversations there that went at a slower pace than some recurrent zombies here… and even years later, got some interesting answers and insights.
Second because I’m fuckin’ sick unto death of a user base that can’t understand the concept of topic and has to treat every comment box as fuckin’ open mike night at the RantATorium.
Dang. I enjoy the IMDB message boards.
It won’t cut down on traffic to the site. I’m guessing it’s a financial move-- don’t want to store all those messages and don’t want to moderate them. Interactivity is a PITA. Just ask the mods here. 
Exactly. And as we’re now entering the censorship/surveillance age ( with threats to sue for any of one’s actions lurking ) rivalling the Soviets, they will prefer not even the faintest criticism, at the cost ( to them ) of the thoughtful, nuanced praise of the average viewer giving acceptable Sainte-Beuveian understanding of the cinematic art: "Doom is the Greatest Masterpiece ever filmed. Me liked"
Also, I suspect, Amazon execs believe firmly that every person engrossed in posting messages on the boards would, if no boards existed, spend that same amount of time purchasing streaming content or DVDs.
That seems a questionable proposition. I know I’ve paid Amazon for content that I never would have bought if not for intriguing discussions about it on their IMDb boards—and I bet I’m not alone. I will NOT be upping my spending on Amazon due to their shutting down the boards; probably the reverse. I’ll look for ways to buy content from other suppliers, whenever possible.
Yes, IMDB is home to too many trolls, and the 14-year-old contingent that’s so well represented there is overly predictable in their reactions.
But as others have said: it’s been the only place to find substantial numbers of people discussing the thousands of less-than-blockbuster movies and television shows. I will miss those boards (on which I’ve posted for many years under a different screenname).
Curses!!!