I am not the longest member on this site, in fact I only discovered it about 11 months ago but I have noticed a big change even in that time.
I dabbled in writing some articles while I was off work with a back injury and I really enjoyed it - right up until I wrote an article with an updated high resolution image from an article previously written by an editor who had uploaded a shot taken from a camera phone on his article - only to have my article deleted and the image added to his own because his appeared first on the news page. Fine, I was annoyed, but if those are the rules... But what really annoyed me is that they went on to post a number of 'UPDATE' articles where they uploaded high resolutions images that other members had shared in low resolution and made that an article.
The trouble with CBM at the moment is the amount of articles added that are not relevant to CBM's, the main page is saturated with them - just looking at the main page right now I can see:
-Shawn Levy Updates On Frankenstein & Fantastic Voyage, Could We See Him Direct A CBM?
-Another DVD Cover For Super 8 Revealed!
-First Blu-Ray Featurette From Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2!
-Seven Amazing New Real Steel Clips Released!
When I started coming here this was the place to come for news on upcoming CMB's, full of relevant information and fun editorials. There is a site, run by the same guys called EarthsMightiest that I visit, and these articles would be much better suited over there I think.
Nothing against the people who wrote these but while these articles have some relation to the type of thing you will generally also have an interest in as a CBM fan - they are not main page material in my opinion, and 11 months ago this wouldn't have happened... They would have been kept on site, but under the 'News' tab only.
The trouble with the site is the power and influence the editors have - if they like something its main paged, if they write something - regardless of how relevant or irrelevant it is, it will inevitably get main paged. Some of the best and most interesting articles I have read have never been main paged, why not? Because someone has to deem that article good enough. This website is touted as a community of CBM fans, and to some degree it is - but if anyone speaks out they will generally be flamed by everyone else. In reality CBM has become very elitist, run by a handful of people who really hold the control.
Not wanting to be someone who has a moan and has no alternatives to offer up - I have a suggestion.
Why not main page an article once it has generated enough buzz? You could main it once it has enough thumbs up or comments, and this should be done automatically - not by a person. That way the main page would be populated by articles/editorials/scoops that people are really interested in. Is this a hard thing to do?
Editing is about preparing articles to be main paged, fixing grammar, spelling etc, and there is a need for that on a site like this - with so much traffic the articles on main need to look good - that’s what an editor should be doing...