News Departments Thoughts

[Chippiewill]

Just a few things:

- Linking to the forum at the end of an article (As part of the article) seems somewhat petty, if the forum is really struggling or if people feel it necessary to add notices to the end of an article to promote the forums then have a dedicated thing that you can tell isn't part of the main content of the page. It's far less intrusive that way. (http://habbox.com/#/News/article/539)

- I get the impression that at times the articles in the "Real Life" section are sourced from newspapers or other news outlets. If they are sourced from other places then the writers should really be putting a notice at the end saying which websites/newspapers they've been getting their information from. Also if photographs are being taken from other websites then those also need to be be credited. Especially if they're under copyright.

[Inseriousity.]

I think perhaps the promotion for the forum should be more subtle but I wouldn't say remove it altogether. It's good to have 'dwellers' be moved into other areas of the community in an attempt to hopefully get them to sign up and stay. An example of this is perhaps linking them to the forum that the news article relates to: a technology forum link for a technology-based article. The reader obviously has an interest in said subject if they've read the whole article so it's not a big leap to say 'hey, here's a link where you can discuss technology with other people with the same interest.'

[Chippiewill]

I think perhaps the promotion for the forum should be more subtle but I wouldn't say remove it altogether. It's good to have 'dwellers' be moved into other areas of the community in an attempt to hopefully get them to sign up and stay. An example of this is perhaps linking them to the forum that the news article relates to: a technology forum link for a technology-based article. The reader obviously has an interest in said subject if they've read the whole article so it's not a big leap to say 'hey, here's a link where you can discuss technology with other people with the same interest.'
That's basically what I was thinking, it just felt very IN YOUR FACE to read in my opinion.

[Ajthedragon]

Maybe sourcing information in news could be an option. Although that can be a pain for the writers.

[Nuxty]

Just a few things:

- Linking to the forum at the end of an article (As part of the article) seems somewhat petty, if the forum is really struggling or if people feel it necessary to add notices to the end of an article to promote the forums then have a dedicated thing that you can tell isn't part of the main content of the page. It's far less intrusive that way. (http://habbox.com/#/News/article/539)

- I get the impression that at times the articles in the "Real Life" section are sourced from newspapers or other news outlets. If they are sourced from other places then the writers should really be putting a notice at the end saying which websites/newspapers they've been getting their information from. Also if photographs are being taken from other websites then those also need to be be credited. Especially if they're under copyright.


Hey there,

Thanks very much for the feedback!

Firstly, we've never told news reporters to promote other Habbox departments, or any other websites for that matter, so this is something I will be looking into as it seems a little odd as to why it has been done and I agree that it shouldn't really be there!

Secondly, all of the news here on the forum is written from scratch by reach reporter, yes they are allowed to use other sites and things such as newspapers to get inspiration for their writing, but it is a rule that everything has to be written by the reporter and nothing is ever directly copied from newspapers/other sites. If you ever suspect a reporter has done this then simply PM me and I can have a look into it for you as we don't take kindly to plagiarism.

Finally, in terms of sources and image copyrighting, for the past 8 years this has never really been a problem, so I don't see why there should be one now.

Thanks again for the feedback!

[Chippiewill]

Secondly, all of the news here on the forum is written from scratch by reach reporter, yes they are allowed to use other sites and things such as newspapers to get inspiration for their writing, but it is a rule that everything has to be written by the reporter and nothing is ever directly copied from newspapers/other sites. If you ever suspect a reporter has done this then simply PM me and I can have a look into it for you as we don't take kindly to plagiarism. I guess this is a bit iffy, but if you're sourcing your information from a particular location it's only fair to give credit where it's due.


Finally, in terms of sources and image copyrighting, for the past 8 years this has never really been a problem, so I don't see why there should be one now.
I was mostly implying that it wasn't correct in the first place to not credit the image source, from a moral standpoint and a legal one, I think you'd find it quite unfair if someone took your photo for an article and didn't say it was yours. If a website says copyright on it then just plucking images off the page is a no-no, maybe if you're a small time site, but Habbox hardly has tiny web traffic.

[Nuxty]

I guess this is a bit iffy, but if you're sourcing your information from a particular location it's only fair to give credit where it's due.

Well, as I said - I have no problem with this as long as what they are writing is their own work. They're not journalists, they don't go digging for real life news - they're teenagers. They're simply viewing other sites and looking at other reports that are written professionally in order to write their own reports. So credit doesn't really need to be given if we aren't directly copying things.


I was mostly implying that it wasn't correct in the first place to not credit the image source, from a moral standpoint and a legal one, I think you'd find it quite unfair if someone took your photo for an article and didn't say it was yours. If a website says copyright on it then just plucking images off the page is a no-no, maybe if you're a small time site, but Habbox hardly has tiny web traffic.

Well, as I said, we've never had any issues with this before, I stand by that. If General Management feel that this is an issue that needs changing, then I will make my staff give credit where it is necessary. What we have always said though is that if any website ever contacts us and aren't happy with what Habbox is doing, i.e. they might accuse us of using one of their images, then we will ensure that the image is removed from the site.

[Grig]

Yoyo that forum promotion shouldn't be there, it ruins the article and makes it look unprofessional. The policy that has always been in the news department is the make the articles more unique, maybe even a more laid-back yet professional approach to articles, which of course is what needs to be to appeal for our demographic- teenagers. I have in my days worked with a few reporters on not simply para-phrasing, because that would make things a bit dull and I would rather go to a site such as the BBC for the original. These things I am sure are mentioned and built up upon on the weekly reports. It was always banged hard upon, well at least I did that we should strive for uniqueness.

Also, bearing in mind these people are teenagers with no journalistic qualifications and are doing this for a past-time. You would not expect someone to win an award for outstanding journalism anytime soon. Souring was also never done for images and yes usually as a good journalist we need to source where we got images from if we did get it from places such as Getty etc. But this is Habbox and it's simply not going to happen, seeing that there has been no trouble at all in the past :p.

The read more section should contain more views on the issue to really stimulate some sort of debate and to get people to actually comment on the article, seeing as comments are low. The article you pointed out does contain a few SPAG (spelling and grammar) errors here and there with the misuse of commas etc. but is the level that the department is working on and considering the above everything is being done to a reasonable standard, remembering that they are teenagers.

[Chippiewill]

The article you pointed out does contain a few SPAG (spelling and grammar) errors here and there with the misuse of commas etc. but is the level that the department is working on and considering the above everything is being done to a reasonable standard, remembering that they are teenagers.
Although I'd argue that it's something which can be fixed at an editorial point.

[Grig]

Although I'd argue that it's something which can be fixed at an editorial point.

The editors are also teenagers, of around usually 15/16 years old :P. So you won't expect it to always be pitch-perfect, although they do a great job in general.

[myke]

i don't see why they need to put where they got their info from, unless it's exclusive or if anything has been copied.. it's just like they've been told by someone.

'bla bla bla bla'
Source: My Mum told me at dinner

It's just the same as that really, so unless they copy something don't see the need for putting the source :P

and the spelling and grammar errors aren't really things that can be fixed, just gotta bare with it. they're only teens like all of us sooooo