[As part of Cultural Learnings’ Jericho Fridays, I think that it is necessary to perhaps be able to state certain things that might not be seen as “positive” or popular. I, admittedly, began this campaign by pouring salt in the wound of Jericho fans, and while I have since been inspired to drop this position I think that being open and honest is still an integral part of the process.
These are things that need to be said not because they’re undeniably true, but rather so that it is out there and able to create a reaction that could spark something new. This week on the Jericho Forums at CBS.com, there was a thread about how more people should go onto the forums, and all of a sudden a huge flow of ideas emerged. That needs to happen again, and here’s some things to perhaps start it off.]
No Holds Barred:
What Needs to the Said About ‘Jericho’
1. CBS’ Fan Central is Worthless
I spent last week analyzing Fan Central at an indepth level with the assistance of fans, and kind of hoped that some of that might be taken to heart. And, to an extent it was: they ripped off JerichoMonster wholesale, creating the Jericho Fan Central Fan of the Week.
It’s clear that Shaun has essentially been brought in to run the site, but he doesn’t seem to be doing anything but rewriting forum posts out and then linking back to them. The problem with this is that, if one of the posts works in sending people to the boards, why would they need to be told what’s on them if they’re already there?
The answer is that they don’t: right now, the site is basically just a few blog posts a week that aren’t about bringing fans together, or providing some sort of new content, but rather reposting old content with a fairly slow reaction time thanks to a low volume of postings.
As it is, the site just sits there as Shaun’s not even daily blog, and one that isn’t offering any new perspectives. Unless they’re willing to bring someone in to raise actual issues and give fans a reason to return to the internet, the site is pretty much just wasting bandwidth. And that’s something that I think fans should be concerned about.
2. The Jericho Fanbase Needs Fewer Blogs
I have absolutely nothing against the large assortment of bloggers who talk about Jericho: they have been incredibly good to me, and I have tried to return the favor as much as physically possible. But, I’ve got to be honest with you: I think there’s too many blogs about Jericho.
For example, Jane is running THREE separate blogs about Jericho. While each has some good content, it seems as if they all serve the same basic purpose: promoting Jericho. Then you’ve got Jericho Lives, Jericho Rally Point, Radio Free Jericho, Jericho on CBS…the list just goes on and on.
While each of them have something to offer, wouldn’t a large-scale blog which allows all of these people to contribute on a regular basis be a better way to bring fan support to a central source? The Message Boards are fine, but independent blogs can operate in ways that official sites cannot, and I think that there is an advantage to having that presence.
A single site, however, would allow for everything to go through one source as opposed to a large multitude of them. If people find the internet overwhelming, having all of these sites to visit must be absolutely daunting. Having one featuring all of Jericho’s great contributors would be a fantastic way to corral that support in a real way.
What about you? Do you have anything about Jericho that you feel needs to be said in order to bring forward discussion? Leave it below in the comments, anonymously if you like.
Cultural Learnings 
I just think that as Jericho fans we should support the CBS message boards better. CBS is losing traffic on the board everyday. I’ve seen message threads from early July posted on the second 50 messages! That would have never happened a few months ago. So my two cents is use the CBS message boards first and then go to the others. Also, think that was a good idea about fewer blogs or to consolidate them.
Excellent observations! Critical analysis of these things is definitely needed, and I’m so glad that you took this opportunity to adress these issues. Thank you!
Thank goodness for people who have the moxy to stand up and say when something just is not right. Good points on the CBS site!
As far as the many blogs – from a strictly search engine point of view, the more good content on a site the better. Many times it is better to have one large site with tons of relevant content, than many smaller sites.
Because I enjoy Jericho and would love to see it continue, I appreciate your effort to give thoughtful input on the challenges facing the promote Jericho effort. Hopefully, it will inspire additional thoughtful dialogue. Thank you.
Memles, thank you for your insightful article. I actually don’t have a problem with the multiple blogs about Jericho. As maybei pointed out, it creates a larger Internet footprint with regards to Jericho-related content. I am intrigued with your idea about a central blog, but who would run it? Who would take care of sifting through what would most likely be an enourmous amount of fan-submitted content? Are you volunteering? 😉
As for your comments about Fan Central, I agree 100%. As something that is presented as a way to draw new viewers and message board users in, it’s not really fulfilling that purpose. Add to the fact that it’s fairly static, and not even that interesting; I think it’s falling short of its goal. I can recognize that CBS brought Shaun in as a “voice of the people”–which is a job he’s performed well–but they should consider asking other bloggers to try their hand at writing Fan Central too. This would keep the content fresh, and would at least give the appearance of being more fan-interactive. As it is, Fan Central is just static and un-dynamic.
Thank you for putting into words some of the same things I have been thinking, particulary regarding the large volume of Jericho blogs and websites. I am not the most savvy of internet users and do find having so many different sites rather daunting, so much so that I don’t go out to them unless someone provides a direct link to a story or entry on the CBS board (which is the main site I visit). As much as I would like to visit all these different sites because they do have a lot of different and interesting information about Jericho and the campaign, I just don’t have the time to do so. Having one central site would be fantastic.
LisiBee, I’d actually be more interested in running Fan Central than a ginormous fan blog, but a Thesis stands in the way of me and other commitments.
And I think what Maybei was saying is that the problem right now is that when people get to one Jericho blog via Google, are they really getting ALL of the information they need? They’re not: maybei is right that one site with a wealth of good information is better than having small bits in 15 places.
Oops, guess I misunderstood, sorry maybei. 😉
I have to say that I disagree with the fan central being useless… its new and needs to find its feet so to speak, and this will definitely happen when season two begins and new info is out. The actual structure might need to be worked on, but its easy enough to work the kinks out.
I actually think its pretty cool that Shaun takes the time to do this, since hiring someone to do a blog for the fans is expensive! If CBS needs to hire a professional blogger, then they will do so after season 2 begins in my opinion.
As for having too many blogs, I have had my blogspot blog since March and my WordPress blog since the end of September of 2006, some of us existed long before the May upheaval, which is what makes us so important to all this.
I think the more the merrier!
🙂
Lisa, I’m pretty sure that CBS is paying Shaun to do the Fan Central blog. Unless he has confirmed otherwise, I would assume that he isn’t doing it out of the goodness of his heart.
And I’m an english major, so I have defend my terminology. Useless wouldn’t be correct: it clearly has a whole HOST of uses. But, as of now, there is no WORTH in the structure, and therein lies the inherent problem. Not that it’s something to throw away, but something that isn’t doing anything.
While it’s fine for fans to have blogs, it’s another when there’s no unifying link. One’s blogtonomy, if you will, is incredibly important…but I think in this case it is spreading the message thin.
Myles
I have no idea if Shaun is being paid or not, I just assumed due to my knowing a bit about him that he is doing it from the goodness of his heart.
As for your point about the blogs “spreading the message thin”, well… that is what we need, as much info on Jericho out there as possible. As you may have noticed, we are NOT secure in another season, yet. I find reading Jericho Monster to be great for me, its worth is that the author sees things from a different stand point than I do, and gets info I may not see that day or even week!
If you calculate hours spent by myself, Jericho Monster and the others in just finding the information, that would equal a huge amount of effort and time. One person would not suffice it would need to be a team of writers.
I agree we might need to come up with a way of connecting our info for the fan in some way, this was one of my reasons for making the Blog and Website Ring, and maybe we could all come to an agreement that we have a short display of our info on each others blogs. I would certainly love to do something like that. As for Jericho Rally Point… that is not a blog its a forum and website. With its own special information and attraction to so many readers. This goes for each and every blog, website and forum out there!
We all do what we do for the love of Jericho and because we enjoy it.
You don’t see anyone saying there are too many football blogs out there do you? One blog on any topic would be boring, and one sided.
🙂
The more interactive the content, the more effective and appealing the content is. CBS fan central can be a way to provide more interactive content. In addition to Shaun, more guest bloggers could be invited by CBS.
CBS is doing a great thing by showing support for the different websites through fan central. It almost seems that the fan central blog has now strayed from what I thought was the original purpose…something that was meant to feature and showcase the different areas of the fan community.
We have had some success at RFJ in collecting ideas, input, threads, ideas from CBS and all over the place.
I think the one thing that has brought people together more than any of the other recent ideas is Jeritopia. All of us from the different forums can communicate with each other in real time. It’s great.
Myles,
It has been a long time since I beat you up over Jericho, so make sure you drop by tomorrow when I write up what you missing in presenting point 2.
On point 1, I cannot comment on at this time. (Just kidding about beating you up; I’m not going to beat you up in any literal sense … I think most people know I like you well enough to joke when I disagree with you.)
Congratulations by the way. I would have e-mailed you tomorrow, but I feel odd commenting without mentioning that your short story placed.
All my best,
Rich
I’ll be sure to tune in Rich, but I don’t expect I’ll be abandoning my guns at any point. Remember, my issue is not that there is too many voices supporting Jericho: rather, that they are too spread out to present to potential fans the true breadth of the show’s support. Too many Blogs. Not BlogGERS.
Important distinction that might well still not resolve your concern.
And thank you: I had checked it out earlier, and am most humbled.
Well my friend, as it turned out, it wasn’t such a smackdown after all. I decided that you were close… it’s only the solution that seems to miss the mark. But, if they are so inclined, they might fix it yet.
Best, Rich
The CBS site has all kinds of problems, and until they get their act together, thank god for sites like RFJ, NOL and JRP, becasue i would have no place to go. I feel like the more the merrier. And I seem to recall an attempt to make one central site for everyone that went down in flames because peoeple couldn’t play nice. Jericho has attracted such a wide scope of fans, I think having many differeent places for people to go gives everyone a chance to find a place that feels like home. Each of the blogs and boards have a different feel that has attracted their own group of loyal fans. I see nothing wrong with this. We already have a central place to meet, it’s the CBS board. If they ever decide to fix what’s wrong over there, I think this will be a moot point.
I think I am more insulted that I was not part of the ammunition.
My newsletter with 650 people.
I think everyone should post at the CBS boards FIRST and then visit where ever they would like.
I don’t have enough time to visit all the blogs, so I have to stay at CBS to show my support for
JERICHO.
Maybe if people want to get involved with Fan Central, they should get in touch with Shaun and ask him how they can help. I’m sure he would appreciate it.
Lastly I just want to say, UNITED we stand,
DIVIDED we fall.
COME BACK to CBS and THEN enjoy the other blogs……..PLEASE??
WE ARE ALL JERICHO RANGERS ARE WE NOT?