Content is king. No doubt, but content takes time to create. Good content takes even longer – most of our blog posts takes weeks in the making. One element of digital solutions that we implement for some of our clients is the ability to create content automatically using a dynamic system. This means that websites, news feeds or any other content promotion tool can pretty much run itself, but you should never underestimate the power of rules. Rules are important in setting the framework for how the content is created. Without the rules you can end up with incoherent, inaccurate or offensive content.
Let’s take a look at two recent examples where large brands have left themselves exposed.
facebook error
On Saturday, a good friend of mine super-poked me on Facebook – he virtually drank shots with me. The application automatically generated a call to action in an attempt to prompt a response. The issue here is the developers did not apply a rule relating to actions vs sexual preference. Whilst Tom is a good mate, there is no way I would ever choose to snog, spank, suck or caress him. Part of me is quite shocked that this application would recommend any of those actions to me. The end result is that (as a user) I now feel very uncertain about the application and will not be using it again for the foreseeable future. Shame that such a basic error may lead to many users leaving the service.
yahoo! error
Yahoo! recently posted a news article celebrating the run-up to the Olympic games. The photographs were upbeat and full of tourists, performers and even Olympic mascots celebrating and dancing in the heart of the capital. Unfortunately, the headline above a picture gallery of musicians, acrobats and other entertainers, read: “Tiananmen Square Massacre Remembered.”
Yahoo! said that their news slideshows were automatically generated and added news images to topical albums according to keywords in the photo titles and captions – leading to this bizarre juxtaposition on the news site.
So, whilst scripted applications can make our lives much easier they are still dependent on the human-created rules that we program in to them. Failure to clearly define the application behaviour can result in lost traffic and users or worse – a political crisis.
Tags application Bejing 2008 coding content doh! error Facebook News Olympic games script Tiananmen Square Yahoo!