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Friday, February 11, 2005

More About About.com
Now I know Alice said, "Personally, I never liked the strategy that About.com used with the little photos of no-name "experts" on everything from frying pans to surgery. It insulted the people who really worked as experts and who on earth where all those heads anyway? No surprise that Primedia is putting About up for sale..." But, you see, that's a generality. What makes it a generality? Well, it's a principle applied in general to a given topic or group that may not be valid for each and every occurrence in particular. In one particular case, I happen to know, for a fact, that at least one of the About.com no-name experts with her little photo on the page actually does know of what she speaks. She's been an editor of mine for longer than we'd both care to admit. So, keep in mind, when painting with a broad brush, that you're bound to miss a spot now and then.

Alice Responds: Hey it's Barbara Krasnoff. We used to work together at Shopper. Hi Barbara! But I'm sticking to my presmise that putting up pictues of a range of mostly unknown people and calling them all "experts" is not the same thing as having a Barbara in every seat. As the About.com guidelines say: "Our Guides are real people - just like you. They include professionals, educators, students and stay-at-home moms. Our Guides are as diverse as the sites we offer. We believe that one of the key components of our success is the fact that each Guide is a person, as well as an online expert."

To me that is not a good strategy when I want serious advice. I want a Barbara Krasnoff telling me what to buy, not a stay at home mom or a student. I have nothing against either one and they are often a good source of user review info, and tips and so on, but grouping the professionally trained tech journalists with the average Joe and Jane and calling them all "experts" is not fair to the people who worked so hard to build a journalistic career.
# Permalink Posted at 6:36 AM 2 comments Email this Link

Comments on this Item:

Hi, Alice! How's it going?

I appreciate your thoughts on About.com. However, I think you underestimate the expertise of many of its "Guides." Many, if not most (I haven't taken a full survey) of the tech Guides are actually professionals in their field. (The stay-at-home moms are more likely to be giving advice on child care, crafts, or political organizing.) They may not be professional journalists, but they are consultants, telecom pros, etc.

Remember, these sites aren't for IT staffers or tech enthusiasts -- they're for people who can't figure out where their printer drivers are located, or why their home 802.11b network suddenly stopped working, or what notebook to buy now that they've suddenly been downsized. Those of us who have been in the business for years tend to forget quite how confusing this can be (although I remember every time my mechanic tries to explain to me why my brakes are making that weird noise). Our sites don't tend to talk to them.

I'm not saying I don't have problems with About.com. I do. But their basic premise -- letting people who know their subjects well through personal study or professional background offer advice to an inexpert readership -- is not, IMHO, a bad one.

# posted by Barbara Krasnoff 9:20 PM

Hi Barbara,
Thanks for writing in - and if you ever want to post something here let me know because we need more experts like yourself.

Again, my issue is the lumping together of true experts like you with a range of other disciplines and skill levels all under the same name (exper)and format (picture and lnk to newsletter, etc.). I think it waters down the impact of the true professionals on the site.

Maybe it's a question of tiers. Like you get the skilled doctor in the Emergency Room and certainly expect him/her to have passed some sort of skill level, but you also have specialists to call in and use on really tough topics or sub-topics.

I also don't think that means someone like you would not be able to talk to the average person who just wants some basic help muddling through, but that the site should call out your background as being extra special because you are. So maybe you deploy your general experts in cars for example on issue like haggling, and the best time to buy a car, but then you use a specialist to help you understand when to lease or own, the various trends in car technology and what to look for, and things along those lines.

I do think there is a need for helping people who don't buy car, home theater, and computer magazines, but if you have a true pro in the chair, you need to make that extra clear. If anything it makes the investment in the big names more prominent, and it allows the others to gain a following in the same space.

I liked the premise of about.com just not the execution. Putting a face and an expert to a subject espeically in the cold online world, is a major plus. But calling everyone an expert just waters down the word.

# posted by Alice 11:52 PM

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