First off, let me say that i really like Messenger. Mostly because it gives me a chance to be witty and jocose without having to let folks know that i really don't know how to pronounce jocose.
Still, i'm not really sure i understand the idea behind this contest.
From the looks of it, it's seven pairs of people talking about… well… i'm not really sure what, for three hours while we, the voyeur viewing audience get to pick who we'd rather hang out with.
Anyone who's ever engaged me in more than a minutes conversation knows a few things, the principle being that most of them you really don't want to be part of.
So i'm wondering what sort of fundimentally compelling things these folks are going to be talking about for three bloody hours.
More importantly, i wonder if there's a way to heckle?
Mmm… group heckling.
Ok, note to all you marketing types out there. Putting bestest buddies on the air to chat and say how cool and spiffy they are is BORING. Seriously, i spent time watching these collective dingii pratter on and i swear i've seen more engaging conversations between houseplants. Oh, don't give me some crap about how you've gotten Fantastic Numbers because 40 people voted. This is a nation of 275 Million. Hell, i probably have more of an audience if you count the folks who are looking up Barbie and Skipper lesbian porn. (No lie, just pulled that from my hit queue.)
You got seven pairs of people chosen.. well, i have absolutely no idea how you chose them except for maybe using a Ouijia board and a pack of ninja pigmy warriors but for the sake of argument i'll suppose that there may have been some form of qualification, to sign up for seven nights, five hours rambling about "u r 2 Funny! i know let's dance! Yay!".
i tell ya, i'd offer to pay to fly them halfway to Hawaii, if you promised not to go back for them afterwards.
You want to get people actually interested in the product and possibly care about seeing people use it? How about you get the following folks for five hours one night and keep the transcripts.
- Two people who hate each other
it worked for Springer, it'll work for you. - Dennis Miller and Bill Mahr
- A respected theoretical physicist and someone who's convinced that his/her pants are possessed by aliens
Granted finding someone who's both is probably pretty easy, but i'm sure you can find two seperate people if you try. - A Trekkie and a Jedi
Dorkfest 2000! - Charlie Pierce and Adam Felber
These guys don't hate each other, by the way, but would do a killer job at serving up news of the day - trading links and commentary they found on Catch, Fark, Linkdump, and all the other places on the net.
- Two potted plants
i guarantee you that it will be FAR more entertaining than what you've currently got.
Ooh, and here's an idea, why not have those folks actually USE some of the new features? You know like those barrista avatars or maybe that nifty "s:query" macro that grabs the first search result.
GAH!!
Instead we have this snoozefest that combines all the fun of watching chess with the vague feeling that you're ripping off Survivor.
