Sep 03, 2008 06:16 PM
2251 Views
Rediff, when it was launched some years back, was a good site which provided up to date news and the site had a clean, uncluttered interface. Down the lane though, it seems that something has gone wrong somewhere. The site nowadays looks like a e-version of the Times of India newspaper. Let me try to analyze the website in more detail by looking at the various sections it has.
Headlines - This tab most of the times contains news which can be classified as anything but a headline. News such as "SRK Punished Rani and Karan" makes headlines. When you click the URL it talks about how SRK punished Rani and Karan in the show which he hosts. What an absolutely important headline!
News/Business - These are the two tabs which till this date are being managed well enough. Most of the articles printed here are good. The only grouse is that the articles some time stay on the page for many number of days, without any updates at all.
Movies - This, according to me is the most abused tab in the whole website. I thought the tab about movies should include things like movie/music reviews or any interviews. But the reviews most probably go to the aforementioned "Headlines":-), making this section redundant. So how do these guys make up? By publishing rumours, polls and other such useless news. The reviews used to be good, but now the general perception is if Rediff rates it well, then dont go for it and vice versa.
Sports - This tab also does not have up to date information most of the times and the articles get pushed from the headlines tab to the sports tab once it gets "old" enough. The cricket articles at least, used to be very good. I forget the name of the person, but he does not seem to be around now, and hence the analysis has lost the charm it once had.
Specials - This is a decent enough tab which has decent articles sometimes. On the whole, on par with the business tab.
Another major drawback with the site has been the comments section. I dont know why the website has this section. Maybe its just for getting more hits . This section is easily the most badly managed section and all sorts of nonsense are printed here. There always seems to be a war going on here between the North and the South Indians, and I don't see any moderation happening. The comments which do get blocked can be viewed anyway! Also, the comments which would have been blocked would have been far more decent in content than the ones which still exist on the boards.
On the positive side, the site interface is still clean and uncluttered and the pages do load very fast. Sometimes the ads do tend to get in the way, but its not as bad as the other sites.
On the whole, the site was not it once was and it would be good if the site goes back to what it was once famous for - good news reported without any sensationalism. But, will such news sell then?
