New Feature: Film Posts (and an Update on Film Reviews)

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The essential idea behind film posts is speed and ease. You can type in the name of a film in our database, using the new “SAY SOMETHING ABOUT...” box at the top homepage, and quickly write a short comment about that film.



This feature is not meant to replace reviews, but we did convert short reviews into film posts.

The problem we faced was that 90% of reviews were short-form disposable content. We wanted to embrace these short updates because that is how most people were actually using the site, but we also did not want to slam the door in the face of people who were taking the time to write out longer, in-depth reviews.

In order to get us off on the right foot we decided to split the existing reviews. The short ones were converted to film posts, and the long ones were kept as formal reviews. The difference in interaction should feel natural to newcomers, but is understandably confusing for people who had already written a bunch of reviews. Essentially:

Film Posts have a 420 character limit, can be posted directly from your home page or on the standard “wall” box in the left column of a film page. You can post multiple film posts about a single film, and they can be sent to Twitter and Facebook as well. There is not yet a way to see all your film posts in one place, but it’s coming.

Reviews must have a title and be longer than 420 characters. They have a full-page editing form with a preview button, and they accept full text formatting and images via textile. Reviews are displayed in their entirety on their own page, which means reviews can be linked to directly, and generally used as a more serious film-writing platform. For serious writers this is nice because you won’t get bumped off the page by the first four witty one-liners that come along.

Both features will continue to be improved, but in the mean time why don’t you give it a whirl?