An Ode to magicalsummer . Review on General Thoughts About MouthShut

HAPPY NEW YEAR everybody! The New Year feels good. It smells good too. There is a special feeling down there in my bones. I feel like this every year this time of the year.

Have been away from MouthShut for a long long time. Apologies. I did log in at times, posted a comment here and there but never got down to actually writing stuff. The Muse had deserted me. Now wicked, wicked people, Laila is still with me. We’re still together. I am talking of the Muse that made Vyaas carve Mahabharata, Shakespeare write his thirty six plays and hundreds of sonnets and Milton pen Paradise Lost.

Some reviews that I read during the last few days have left a lasting impact. Happens all the time. Most of the stuff that you read just drifts away into no man’s land, but some stay on, linger on, tease you, provoke you to some action. One review that comes to mind right away is magicalsummer’s Faisal, it’s not about money, honey. Well written and confrontational. These are the kind of reviews I love. Though I may not agree with them all – in fact this review of mine is a rebuttal of magicalsummer’s review

In this one she criticized MouthShut’s or rather, Faisal’s penchant for placing google ads at all the wrong places.

I quote: “But what on earth happened to good sense and to keeping your readers happy?”

I quote:  “When you ask your readers to hunt around ’in their face’ ads for their daily dose of information and whatever else they come here for, they might indulge you for a bit, but sooner or later will get fed up of the exercise.”

Her point is clear. Have the ads, it is necessary for Faisal and his company to make money but place it in a way where the readers do not feel discomfort wile reading the reviews. Reminds me of the time when good old Doordarshan was ruling the roost. Remember the Sunday movies? Initially there were no ads and suddenly commercials filled up the tube at all points. A song was about to start and bang you have “Washing Powder Nirma … sabki pasand Nirma”; the hero is about to deliver the climactic punch on the villain’s ugly nose and the condom commercial goes “Zara si savdhani zindagi bhar aasani.”

The entire nation was irritated. Slowly, we got used to the concept of commercials between the show. The television industry thrives on these commercials and do we complain about them now? NO!

Who are we to tell Faisal where to place the ads? My dear magicalsummer, Faisal is running a business, an online extravaganza where we need him and his platform as much as he needs us. I have noticed in a lot of reviews that members actually try to dictate terms to MouthShut. “Do this, do that, how the f%^%^ did you do that?” Come on guys, MouthShut does not charge money for anything we do online. So at least we can allow them the discretion of deciding where to place what? The guys are polite and courteous, that does not mean we have to start belting orders.

I quote: “Please take these offensive ads off the centre of the page; they sure don’t belong there. They not only chop up the reviews, interrupt thought flow, and look ugly, they also make me feel like you are using me and the rest of your readers/writers to make your money - not a nice feeling at all.”

I quote: “Get a bit more subtle. Find some other place to park those things so that your advertisers feel happy that they are getting enough eyeballs, and your readers are happy that they don’t have to play hide and seek with words on the page anymore.”

Fine. Why don’t you tell Faisal where exactly to place those ads, a place where he will earn maximum revenue and darlings like magicalsummer and all her supporters are not distressed and inconvenienced.

I have noticed magicalsummer has not stopped writing reviews on MouthShut. This means one thing – she has got used to the ads. Why do we react immediately without giving time for a new experience to sink in?

The comments that followed were as impulsive and immature(if I may say so). Come on guys, let’s give MouthShut all the credit and support they deserve. And they deserve a lot more than they are getting write now.

Faisal! Put on your thinking cap. Look at more inventive ways of earning money. If this site crashes due to lack of funds a lot of us will be babes lost in the woods. Do not pay heed to your detractors. You are doing a damn good job. Keep it up.

Guys, I do click on ads that I find interesting. This way, I not only fulfil my curiosity but also contribute to MouthShut's revenue. I suggest, we all do the same.

Awaiting brickbats.

Btw: magicalsummer's review can be read at https://mouthshut.com/review/General_Thoughts_About_MouthShut-87815-1.html.