Why MyLot Needs to Change
By jrkcmw
@jrkcmw (255)
United States
December 4, 2006 7:01pm CST
I think the idea of MyLot is a good one but I think they will never become what they set out to. I am sure when they started this company they intended for it to be a place where people could ask real questions about life, business, world news, etc. But instead it has turned into a place where people are leaving 2 word replies and asking questions like "what's your favorite color?". They do pay people who contribute good content more than the people who just reply with short answers that don't make any sense. But what I think they really need to do is to separate and categorize more. Separate the ages 16-20, 20 and over, etc. And separate the languages - English, German, Spanish, etc. I am not saying this because I wanted everyone to be separated but it make sense for people with common interest to communicate with each other. I know most of the spelling errors on this site is because of where English is not their first language. Why not give them a place to speak their own language? Also a teenager discussion is very different from an adult discussion. Why not let the teens have a place to discuss their topics? These are just my thoughts. What do you think? Visit my blog http://www.timetobudget.com
4 people like this
26 responses
@imadriscoll (2228)
• United States
6 Dec 06
I think that though you have some valid points about separating interests. I disagree about separating the people. Anyone living in America knows the dangers of segregation. Can't we enjoy people's opinions of all ages, races and nationality? Don't all people deserve a voice? If you can't read someone's answer because of spelling errors then move onto the next person's comment. I have really enjoyed learning more about people of Arab nations, hearing the things that they are concerned about, and having discussions with them. I don't think that I would have ever thought to go into a discussion of Arab people if they were placed in a different category.
As for the immature discussions, let it be ... maybe the teenagers will learn to think deeper by being involved in conversations that they might not normally engage in.
1 person likes this
@jrkcmw (255)
• United States
14 Dec 06
Why does everyone think I am saying segregating. I am saying providing a category for people to communicate in their own language and age level. Of course someone different cultures could communicate with each other. This site is more than a chat room or regular forum, it's giving people to opportunity to get paid for discussion. If someone can only say a few words in english and don't know where to find others that speak the same language then they have no hopes of making money. As far a teenagers go, I agree that they can offer sometimes much more intelligent conversations than many adults but honestly wouldn't most of them be more comfortable talking to other teenagers. They also would probably have more to say.
@ajhenloc (35)
• United States
6 Dec 06
Do you think a 35 year old mother or 55 year old grandmother might offer valuable insight to a 20 year old mom? And you are observant about the teenager or the foreign language speaker but aren't they free to write in their own language if they want? I'm not sure that this cannot be a good forum.
1 person likes this
@jrkcmw (255)
• United States
14 Dec 06
I am just suggesting that myLot needs to make some kind of change. I agree with you completely about all ages and languages having something to contribute. That is not the issue. The issue is that would the conversations be richer (in content) if the people could easily find the language they are comfortable speaking or the teenagers to be able to chat with other teenagers. You have to agree that when people of like minds are together they communicate better.
@Ambur25 (1006)
• United States
5 Dec 06
This is a good idea. However, there are "Interests" that you use in categorizing your discussions. I don't see any "rules" here that say "German posts not allowed." These people may post in their own language whenever they wish. They choose not to. That's not on Mylot. I haven't been here as long as most, however, from what I've seen so far, putting people in their own "category" will not only lower the number of posts to topics that you start, but will in turn slow everything down. Teens talk with Teens everyday, and in most places online. Sometimes it's good to have a teen who posts a [valid] discussion, and have an adult reply to it. It gives them more insight.
I think Mylot is doing the best job they could do, and this place will be as big if not bigger than most "famous" chat sites.
If you would like to talk further, join me at...
http://www.justanotherchat.com
@smilekeith (248)
• United States
5 Dec 06
Off topic, but how old are you? I am impressed with your arguments and your blog talking about debt. However, you look like you are sixteen, but your topics are a bit older.
@moneytree (188)
• India
6 Dec 06
Well you have an interisting opnion, and i think mylot may do this when they get more members and a little more richer.
Also why dont you try the interests link on mylot, just ensure you add all that interests you in the tag provided, this will ensure you are connected with content that suits your likes, what say?
@jrkcmw (255)
• United States
14 Dec 06
I have tried this and it's not as easy as it sounds. I think the issue is more that people don't start very many meaningful topics. And I think that is because people won't respond to them. This is the problem. Good topics don't get very many responses.
@Lovelylilpeapod (110)
• United States
5 Dec 06
You could be right. Chat lines tend to seperate catagories. But, you never know, the poor english might be from english persona who isn't as well educated. it wouldn't be fair to exclude them for that reasons. But, good ideas:)!
@jrkcmw (255)
• United States
14 Dec 06
I am not suggesting we exclude anyone from any category. I am just suggesting that they allow a place for like minds and cultures to communicate. If someones first language is German then would it be nice if they could communicate with other German speaking people? Spell is not the issue it's being able to communicate in the language you feel comfortable.
@Jshean20 (14348)
• Canada
5 Dec 06
You make some very good points, have you considered sharing your ideas with mylot? Being a member of mylot for over two months now I have seen them make many positive changes which have all made the site more enjoyable in my opinion. I wouldn't be surprised to see them make more changes as per request and demand in the future..
@clownfish (3269)
• United States
5 Dec 06
Hi! Mylot just made major changes to deal with some of these issues, especially posts that consisted of one or two words or gibberish. I don't really see the need to make the other suggested changes. There are other places where people can speak other languages, and this isn't really a teen or youth oriented site. While your ideas are good, I don't think they really apply to Mylot. :-)
@jrkcmw (255)
• United States
5 Dec 06
I think my ideas apply if they want MyLot to be a quality discussion site. If they want the majority of the discussions to be worth reading then they need to continue to make some changes.
I posted this comment on another response:
But wouldn't it be nice if we could find common interests more easily. Having seperate sections doesn't mean people interested can't go different areas. If a teenager wanted to stop in a discuss topics with an 20+ section of the site they would be welcome too. Or if I wanted to stop in the German speaking sight and polish up on my German I could. I think that if MyLot implimented this people would be flocking to the areas of interest.
The difference with this site is they are offering money for discussion. The discussion would be richer in content if people found other people with the same interests. I think this is what they are trying to do with the "interests" section but it doesn't look like it's working. Maybe it just needs time.
@calvin222 (1606)
• India
5 Dec 06
your point regarding intrests has already been implemented. but i dont agree with tyou on segregation. a question asked by a teenager might better be answered by a grown up so essential that segregation not be implemented. also i find that i understand my daughter better now that i am seeing what problems her peers are facing. so i suggest no change in the existing format.
@mohdglobal (450)
• Singapore
5 Dec 06
its a good suggestion that you have brought up here. having said that, maybe they can also give more features to see if your friends are online and maybe we can add video or audio files in future. the list will go on and on. hope others can contribute a wish list for mylot to get more ideas.
@wmg2006 (5381)
• United States
5 Dec 06
But if they do that then you have the old chat room concept. This is a new concept and I think it is cool since it is so diversified and allows me to choose if I want to respond to a discussion with bad English grammar or I can just move on to discussions that interest me. The one word / two word thing sometimes just happens. Topics may be hard to come by for some but others really want to know the answer and the answer can be said in one or two words. I think this new concept is GREAT! Granted a little tweaking of the format would help.
@Pigglies (9329)
• United States
5 Dec 06
I don't think it's the ages that need to be separated, or the languages so much. I think the categories need to be better defined.
When you post, you should not just have to put it into a specific interest, but also into a category.
Some things do not seem to have an interest applicable to them, and they end up getting lost.
@iluvpeaches2 (170)
• United States
5 Dec 06
I don't think we should seperate people out. The whole idea is to get an answer/opinion from a wide array of people. Younger kids might have a different perspective than older and vice versa. I think it's great to be able to hear from different cultures too. The way we do thinks in America are different than other countries and it's nice to get new ideas wether I agree with them or not.
@jrkcmw (255)
• United States
5 Dec 06
But wouldn't it be nice if we could find common interests more easily. Having seperate sections doesn't mean people interested can't go different areas. If a teenager wanted to stop in a discuss topics with an 20+ section of the site they would be welcome too. Or if I wanted to stop in the German speaking sight and polish up on my German I could. I think that if MyLot implimented this people would be flocking to the areas of interest.
The difference with this site is they are offering money for discussion. The discussion would be richer in content if people found other people with the same interests. I think this is what they are trying to do with the "interests" section but it doesn't look like it's working. Maybe it just needs time.
@fwangaa (3057)
• China
28 Apr 09
i think mylot started for the world people have a space to communate to each other. we can learn the different knowlege from other counters. and no one can blame a wrong spell discussion or response. if he want to reply. it is doen't matter to spell wrong words. if you could see the most of meaning.
@SophiesMommy (1288)
• United States
8 Dec 06
I agree with you. I get tired of reading the ones that you post a yes or no answer to. They should separate by language because half of the time I can't figure out what people whose first language isn't English are trying to say.
@epizzahut (2078)
• China
14 Dec 06
because the website is changing every day,more and more new member joined coz many new problem.
hoping them better and better.
@thisisrightnow (537)
• United States
5 Dec 06
I agree with you, especially about people asking stupid questions like "what's your favorite color?" You can look over the questions and tell who are posting silly questions just to make a few cents and who are actually inquiring serious discussions. I've seen such ridiculous questions like "when was the last time you went to the bathroom?" Because it really matters when the last time I went to the bathroom was.. /sarcasm
I also agree about seperating the forum into the different native languages. I'm not really being prejudice cause I know people can't help that English isn't their primary language, but I get aggravated sometimes when I open a topic and it's just mumbo jumbo and I can't really understand what the person is trying to say.
@00fear (3216)
• United States
6 Dec 06
hmmm you may have a point there. i usually see more important questions from people than those curious questions though (like whats your favorite band, how are you, etc). but yea, either way i try to make sence as possible to every question as i can
@NeoComp (1316)
• United States
14 Dec 06
I agree. Many people just post short replies. Or don't make good topics. Some people seem to just say YES or NO. Or HELLO. And that is all. But This site can still be great. And I think it is a great site overall. I like your idea about separating things into age groups. This is a great idea in my view. Keep up the good work and make lots of money.
