SB Nation Reader Survey
by Dave Clark on Oct 4, 2011 8:33 AM PDT
in Life in the Sound
Email
PrintAs SB Nation continues to grow (remember when this was the only soccer team site?) they want to get feedback from you about what you like/don't like/etc. They've set-up a survey to make this happen. It is important to the writers here that you can provide them with some direct responses because we want the SBN backbone to be as strong as possible. A large part of why I moved here rather than remained an independent blogger is because of the technology behind the site. That is what let's me (and now so many other writers) focus on writing and interacting with you.
Plus if enough of you participate a donation will be made to America SCORES Seattle. Here's some data from the main offices.
SB Nation would very much like to hear your opinions and feedback on the user experience on this site. We are always trying to improve user experiences, navigation and brand integrations and your feedback is valuable in this process. All responses will be kept confidential and the entire process will only take a few minutes. Also, as incentive to participate, for the 3 SB Nation sites with the highest percentage of completed surveys, SB Nation will make a $500 donation to the charity of our choice, in our name. Do it for the kids...
The link again.
42 comments
|
0 recs |
Do you like this story?
Comments
There's a survey that could have used an editor...
Rate as “A little”, “Sometimes” “A lot” or “Constantly”:
“I sometimes….”
Shaking my head….
by bmvaughn on Oct 4, 2011 8:41 AM PDT reply actions 2 recs
worst survey ever written
Ive seen 12 year olds on livejournal write better and more coherent surveys than this.
-Ben R.
by reesebw on Oct 4, 2011 8:46 AM PDT via mobile up reply actions
I'll pass that up the chain
and they’ve probably read it here
I am not a Supporter | I am not a Fan | I am a Sounder
Sounder At Heart
Basically
they need to understand the importance of mutual exclusivity in options (and even questions in some cases)
define what they mean by “know” as an answer, because “know” “visit” “never heard of” make no sense. are you supposed to be able to answer multiple options for that question? options should be “heard of, but never visited” “never heard of” “visit multiple times a week” “a few times a year” etc.
“I like to read what other people say but do not comment” is not answered by “sometimes” “a lot” “constantly” and that entire section should be revamped to say “after reading a blog I like to…” and have check boxes that include options like “commenting online” “tweeting” “discussing at work” etc.
I wonder if the surveyors even know what they want to find out. I think the important question that they need to ask is how much time readers spend looking at general/non-team-blog specific articles and portions of the site. For most Sounder at Heart readers I am guessing they hardly touch SBNation and focus just on this one blog. Comparing SBNation to ESPN is silly when I consider myself a Sounder At Heart reader and hardly make use of the site other than fanshots posted by you guys. Those might as well be links to external sites for all I care.
-Ben R.
by reesebw on Oct 4, 2011 10:05 AM PDT up reply actions 2 recs
I shook my fist at the screen
when I read that. But then again, I’m a copyeditor in my day job.
"It's scintillating, it's sensational, it's Seattle Sounders FC soccer."
by LoiteringWithIntent on Oct 4, 2011 9:31 AM PDT up reply actions
I like how on the last page
it says “Other (Please Specify)” but they left out the text box to actually write in other things
No general comments box
Not that it would make a difference if they included one… but I still have major issues with mobile browsing and posting on my WP7 phone. Works fine on my wife’s Android though.
I took the survey
Quick feedback:
1- Last page, I put “other” and didnt have to specify what other meant. Sorry bout that.
2- Said it before will say it again: I don’t care about 99% of the whole SB Nation empire. I read Sounder At Heart to follow …wait for it .. the SOUNDERS. I somewhat care occasionally about what other teams bloggers say (section 8, stumptown, 86 forever, etc)… but thats pretty much IT.
Here’s a short list of what I don’t care for, and specifically came to alternative media to avoid:
East Coast Bias
Idiot Big Market Sports Writers From Old Media
ESPN (see above)
As those start to seep into SB Nation, and as SB Nation starts to seep into Sounder At Heart, I begin to lose more and more interest in participating. Please keep Sounder at Hear about the Sounders, Awesome Cascadia, MLS if absolutely required but from a west coast perspective… and leave the stupid Peter King quality noise to the 99% of the rest of the sports media world. Thanks.
by luckystriker on Oct 4, 2011 9:58 AM PDT reply actions 1 recs
Can you give examples of how those things are starting to "seep into SB Nation"?
Or how SB Nation has begun to “seep into Sounder At Heart” any more than it ever has?
by Aaron Campeau on Oct 4, 2011 10:01 AM PDT up reply actions 1 recs
I really and honestly want this question answered
If anything SaH has bled into the SBN/soccer community.
I am not a Supporter | I am not a Fan | I am a Sounder
Sounder At Heart
No, I want to know how that stuff has started to 'seep into SB Nation'
Considering that, you know, I’m in charge of that programming.
by Graham MacAree on Oct 4, 2011 2:41 PM PDT up reply actions
A comprehensive list of things that SB Nation Soccer is biased towards:
David Luiz
Napoli
Fredy Montero
Non-bullshit
by Graham MacAree on Oct 4, 2011 2:42 PM PDT up reply actions
You cited some of the exact stuff I did
I stopped reading ESPN and others primarily because of East coast bias, big market sports writers being too dense and anti-soccer, and mixing politics into their writing. I absolutely cannot stand when sports writers get on their political soapboxes in their columns.
I’ve seen very minimal political stuff here. I waver back and forth on whether to keep reading Prost because of the blatant political nature Steve sometimes sticks in there. I come to SBN to escape that.
I am also a very regular reader of RSL Soapbox and Black & Red United, both have excellent writers. B&R especially I feel are Dave & Jeremiah caliber.
by chrisperry1983 on Oct 4, 2011 10:10 AM PDT up reply actions 1 recs
This post reminded me of when ESPN brought Rush Limbaugh in as a football analyst.
Blecch… although it is funny when I have higher qualifications on analyzing sport than a guy on one of the major sport channels, who is paid to analyze it.
You do all the work for us, Honey Badger, and we'll just eat whatever you find.
please explain what the hell you mean
How is Sounder at Heart becoming anything like the places you are talking about? Find me more than the occasional link that talks about the national scene in a way that doesn’t pertain directly to teh sounders. Feel free to ignore surveys and iphone apps if that’s your desire, but save the generalities unless your prepared to back them up.
Editor/writer at Sounder at Heart, MLS editor SB Nation. Follow me on Twitter. You'll Never Yacht Alone.
by Jeremiah Oshan on Oct 4, 2011 11:12 AM PDT up reply actions 1 recs
A shorter survey would be better
Four screens is too long. They should focus on just a few questions they care the most about.
SBN...
I read SBN because they ACTUALLY COVER THE TEAMS. ESPN is good if you love reading about the SEC and BIG 10 in college, and if you want to read generaly awful and regurgitated garbage about soccer. I don’t like baseball or basketball, and I can’t remember the last time ESPN wrote a legitimate article about the Seahawks.
by jacobcda on Oct 4, 2011 11:07 AM PDT reply actions 2 recs
Jeremiah, SB Nation seeps into Sounder at Heart when
I read Sounder at Heart and its all about cross promotions to SB Nation. Maybe thats important to SB Nation, but it is not why I became a reader of SaH.
I support the Sounders. While I appreciate that you want to grow SB Nation into a mighty empire, you’re stealing my attention away from the Sounders without my consent every time you insert shit into SaH that is about SB Nation. I get it — hey look, I might even want to open my tab up and read SB Nation some day. But not if you keep shoving it in my face on SaH. Kind of the opposite. I started reading SaH in 2009 because it was a passionate, truthful, honest and fan-based blog about the Seattle Sounders FC. If I wanted some guy in South Carolina’s view of the Gamecocks, I’m sure I could consider a blog on SB Nation as my go-to source.
I agree with what someone said about Prost, I dont know what happened to him, but he was great 2 years ago, now he seems like he’s more about his politics than coverage. Sad. His view that the tackle on Zakuani wasnt dirty lost me, and was disappointing. If you cant get behind your local team when theres an assault taken place, what business do you have even commenting. And I wish he’d quit pimping Portland, or at least take down that “Seattle perspective” if he does want to be Mister Regional Fairness Guy. I hate portland, most of my friends hate Portland, and I did not start reading Prost for him to be “Fair” to portland. Eff them..
I just double checked
We’ve never linked a story to the Gamecocks. We also have about 90% Sounders themed content, 8% other soccer and 2% other stuff that is sometimes SBN related.
Occaissionally the writers here also write other places and we FanShot only those posts that are directly related to the Sounders.
I am not a Supporter | I am not a Fan | I am a Sounder
Sounder At Heart
I could be way off on this, but to me, that just meant he reads threads.
I’m pretty sure I’ve clicked through to MMA and a Gamecocks article (by the way, a few weeks ago I had the distinct pleasure of explaining to a Peruvian why an OSU-South Carolina game would be hilarious to a large chunk of the USA population) from here…
When you get way down on a page, on the right side, there’s that “recent stories” box from sbnation. The only thing that bugs me about that is the occasional Euro spoilers if I hit it at the wrong time of day. Mostly I notice it, realize, “THAT’s the big news to somebody,” (realizing how funny it would be if I were on one of those sites and seeing something about Mauro Rosales or Roger Levesque) laugh, and move on. That’s the only thing I’ve seen to fit the description of irrelevant stuff, and it’s not exactly intrusive. The main reason I even notice it is that usually there are football helmets, a different color scheme, or something else that is so different it just stands out, even though it’s tiny.
You do all the work for us, Honey Badger, and we'll just eat whatever you find.
I'm so lost
How does the occasional post talking about SBN remotely take away from S@H’s authenticity. Find me an outlet that doesn’t cross promote and I’ll find you an outlet that’s on its way to dying.
Editor/writer at Sounder at Heart, MLS editor SB Nation. Follow me on Twitter. You'll Never Yacht Alone.
by Jeremiah Oshan on Oct 4, 2011 1:08 PM PDT up reply actions
Don't let one person's complaints get you down.
I enjoy the cross-posted articles about the MLS power rankings, interesting comments from the blogs of upcoming opponents, and other MLS news. You guys do a great job of pointing out the Sounders angle when you FanShot something from another source.
I see being a fan of the MLS as a part of being a Sounders fan. To fully enjoy following my team, I want to know about the rest of the league, so I can watch the Sounders in a more informed manner. I absolutely love the Three Questions posts with upcoming opponents—those help me to know what to look for at the match. And now I’m subscribed to four other MLS blogs because I liked what I read when you cross-posted.
I see the value in being a part of the SB Nation—and that value is much greater than any downside that one sidebar of unrelated content could ever bring.
"It's scintillating, it's sensational, it's Seattle Sounders FC soccer."
by LoiteringWithIntent on Oct 4, 2011 3:31 PM PDT up reply actions
well thank you
Editor/writer at Sounder at Heart, MLS editor SB Nation. Follow me on Twitter. You'll Never Yacht Alone.
by Jeremiah Oshan on Oct 4, 2011 3:31 PM PDT up reply actions
the thing is
Sb nation in no way improved the content of your site. For most of us you just happen to be on sbnation. You can do opponent blog interviews w/o sbnation and you’ve done it before. If anything it turns off potential poster s that don’t want to register. And the survey is evident that sbnation doesn’t realized the importance of individual blogs when they ask questions of being a general outlet and compare you to espn and other major outlets.
-Ben R.
by reesebw on Oct 4, 2011 8:15 PM PDT via mobile up reply actions
.
“Sb nation in no way improved the content of your site”
Conjecture; wrong.
“sbnation doesn’t realized the importance of individual blogs.”
Conjecture; wrong.
by Graham MacAree on Oct 4, 2011 8:46 PM PDT up reply actions
if the goal is to compete with espn
Then they are wrong.
-Ben R.
by reesebw on Oct 4, 2011 8:54 PM PDT via mobile up reply actions
It's informative and helpful.
There was an assumption that the goal of SB Nation was to compete with ESPN. Graham is pointing out that it is not.
by Aaron Campeau on Oct 5, 2011 10:14 AM PDT up reply actions
No, it's neither
And if I left it at that, this response would be equally uninformative and unhelpful, because it would be an opinion thrown out there without any reasoning behind it.
What would be informative and helpful would be an indication of why the assumption is wrong. If it’s wrong that SBNation hasn’t improved the content, then how do we know that? If it’s wrong that SBNation doesn’t realize the importance of individual blogs, what shows us that? If it’s wrong that the goal of SBNation is to compete with ESPN, then what is the goal really?
Just saying “wrong” is dismissal, not discussion, and it doesn’t further the conversation. Where does it go from there?
“It’s wrong”
“No, it’s not”
“Is too”
“Is not”
From what I understand, this isn’t the level of discourse we’re aiming for.
The difference of course being that Graham can speak from a position of authority on this matter
by Aaron Campeau on Oct 5, 2011 11:18 AM PDT up reply actions
Then he should be able to articulate the reasoning
By just saying “wrong”, he’s not sharing with the community anything he’s gleaned from occupying that “position of authority”. So it’s uninformative. A dismissal without any reasoning behind it doesn’t further the conversation this community is designed to foster. That’s unhelpful.
Had he responded with actual information, then those not as intimately familiar with SBNation as he would now know more and understand better what SBNation is about. Instead, all we know is that Graham thinks those statements are wrong, for unknown reasons.
Maybe you'll just have to trust me, but...
Being a part of SBN has helped this blog immensely.
Editor/writer at Sounder at Heart, MLS editor SB Nation. Follow me on Twitter. You'll Never Yacht Alone.
by Jeremiah Oshan on Oct 5, 2011 1:18 AM PDT up reply actions
I definitely agree
But I think the point he was going for is he believes that the actual content, i.e. the writing, isn’t improved by SBNation. I don’t agree with that, because I think the editorial tools and process do make the articles better than where they start from, and a couple categories of content, the FanPosts and FanShots just wouldn’t exist without the SBNation platform.
Carlos has direct experience with what the tools were like before SBN
And while we had strong support from a wordpress expert it was nothing at all like what we have now.
Oh, and we have legal access to photos now.
I am not a Supporter | I am not a Fan | I am a Sounder
Sounder At Heart
You realize that this blog has been on SB Nation for three years, right?
And by visiting it you’re using the SB Nation platform?
This whole line of thinking is like complaining about a Netflix logo being on the instant streaming menu because that’s just how you happen to watch Breaking Bad.
by Aaron Campeau on Oct 5, 2011 9:51 AM PDT up reply actions
To me the point of the survey was to focus on the umbrella of SBNation
and to me that completely misses the point of the individual blog quality, or the fact that individual blogs not SBNation brings most people back. And I think there is a huge difference of perception when questions are framed do you visit SBNation in relation to visiting the Bleacher Reports, ESPN, etc. I visit Sounder At Heart, and I think most readers feel that way. If Dave, Aaron, and Jeremiah went some place else I think most readers would follow you guys. The point that I found odd is the survey seems to put readers in a framework where SBnation is the entity or body of information, when the reality is SounderAtHeart is the body of information that draws us back. And if SBNation poses questionnaires that frame SBnation as a unified media outlet I think they are missing the point and wrong in their assumption that readers even make judgements about SBNation as a whole
-Ben R.
I think the quality difference between MLS blogs is a good example.
I would never call SB-Nation a good source for MLS news when some blogs infrequently update, have terrible writing, or contain too much cheerleading or whining. I think that is one example why SBNation cannot be a general trusted source when there are so many individual levels of quality among bloggers. In fact I’d say that the SBNation survey is probably going to be erroneous if the opinions come primarily from good blogs that have solid reader base do to exceptional and not average writing.
-Ben R.
It seems to me
That the survey is trying to figure out if you see SB Nation, in general, as a good source of information. Maybe you don’t, and that’s a legitimate point to make. But you should also realize that Soundeatheart is very much a part of the SBNation family to the degree that it would not be anything like it is without the support of the network.
Editor/writer at Sounder at Heart, MLS editor SB Nation. Follow me on Twitter. You'll Never Yacht Alone.
by Jeremiah Oshan on Oct 5, 2011 12:25 PM PDT up reply actions
I read and religously hit F5 when I come to SaH.
I do it so much it probably affects my performance at work. I think I might have a problem.
I blame you all who post, along with all you who comment on posts. What can I say? I just get excited when I see new articles, and can’t wait until I see there are new unread comments!
If I lose my job, I partially blame you all!
Is there such thing as a “professional commentor” for a soccer blog? If so, can you point me to the job listing? :)
by SoundersForever on Oct 6, 2011 10:05 PM PDT reply actions
Comments For This Post Are Closed
Secondary Sidebar
User Tools
Related FanPosts on Sounder At Heart
FanPosts
Community blog posts and discussion.
