Meta: Proposal for MGoReaders to help the MGoStaff w/transcripts
Intro
I'm not exactly sure what's going on, but I think the MGoStaff is overwhelmed. They've provided us with subscription-free content for years, so maybe we can give something back. There are already a few guys doing this informally, so this is an effort to organize and prevent redundant efforts and other time-wasting mixups.
Proposal
Here are some proposed steps to accomplishing this:
- ID Important Pressers/Interviews. I'm generally aware of these types of events, but I don't know which ones are important or exactly what date they show up. Maybe someone in the know (or even MGoStaff) can help with this. Or we could even crowdsource this part of the effort.
- ID Sources for Original Info. After we ID interviews, we need to find the sources for people to download and make a transcript or to transfer to YouTube to get a free transcript to correct. Again, maybe someone with experience from the MGoStaff could help with this part.
- Organize People to Help. Volunteers can do as little as 1 minute of a transcript. Maybe we establish some conventions for IDing speakers and have an 'editor' who overlooks the entire thing at the end, etc.
- Have people volunteer in this or another thread (perhaps this one is more to debate the merits of the idea)
- Set deadlines to complete stuff for pressers/interviews
- Create a Google Excel Sheet that assigns people to minutes of a particular transcript and parts of the transcripting process (for example: convert to MP4, Upload to YouTube, generate YouTube transcripts for user correction)
- Create a Google Docs Folder to Order Different Transcripts, where people can add the info simultaneously (while backing up their portion of the transcript to their personal account).
So that's the idea. I look forward to your feedback!
August 17th, 2018 at 5:05 AM ^
You know, that's an interesting idea, a Board at WolverineWire.
August 16th, 2018 at 10:01 AM ^
There should be a rule about multiple user names.
August 16th, 2018 at 10:49 AM ^
Impossible to stop.
August 16th, 2018 at 11:48 AM ^
You are a sad little man. Seek help, for your own good.
August 16th, 2018 at 12:45 PM ^
How do you stop it?
August 16th, 2018 at 5:02 AM ^
What purpose does a transcript serve if there is a video? Seems totally redundant.
August 16th, 2018 at 5:23 AM ^
It's often for people at break while at work or who are in loud situations (public transport, etc.). I think there are other applications, but these are the ones that apply to me.
August 16th, 2018 at 5:45 AM ^
Indeed. Plus you can find things in transcripts, and easily quote them. Hearing a Michigan fan say that they seem "totally redundant" to audio is... disappointing.
August 16th, 2018 at 7:27 AM ^
Sorry but I agree with bluebyyou. If a video is NSFW so is the transcript of one. If you are in a loud situation, use headphones. There are multiple postings of the videos these days, so you have many sites to get the material from. The word redundant is appropriate and the term "busywork" also applies.
August 16th, 2018 at 7:52 AM ^
Fair enough. I'm suggesting this because transcripts were pretty routinely offered on the site, so I'd think there was at least some value to folks.
To address your points: sometimes content isn't NSFW, but sites are (in this case, YouTube). As for headphones, these are just not good/safe enough for many loud public transport services (and this is almost any major city I've been in).
August 16th, 2018 at 8:10 AM ^
im in a situation where having headphones on at work is harder thing to do as most people don't do it and most of those videos are blocked on our work computers.
I like the idea but hard pass especially given the nuking of that thread for no reason. its clear how the mogstaff feels about the mgocommunity.
August 16th, 2018 at 7:28 AM ^
I agree.
August 16th, 2018 at 8:33 AM ^
I don't know if you know this, but many, MANY people hate the "pivot to video" and prefer to be able to read things...
August 16th, 2018 at 3:45 PM ^
This, among many other reasons, is why I stopped going to ESPN.com.
August 16th, 2018 at 10:41 AM ^
Reading the transcripts takes significantly less time than watching the videos. I'd much rather spend 4 minutes reading than 12 minutes watching a video to learn the same info.
August 16th, 2018 at 6:13 AM ^
Is it a money issue? Brian seems stressed about Ann Arbor housing prices and there are various health issues on the staff
Maybe we should just set up a premium tier where we get to read umbig11's posts a day early.
August 16th, 2018 at 9:16 AM ^
Logged in to the new site for the first time to upvote this.
August 16th, 2018 at 9:29 AM ^
Welcome to MGoBlog 3.0, where the mgopoints are meaningless and upvotes/downvotes don't matter!
August 16th, 2018 at 10:51 AM ^
I'd pay $10/month for moar football and less local election coverage.
Free, ad supported, media is in deep trouble these days .
August 16th, 2018 at 6:22 AM ^
It'd be nice. I almost never watch videos online, but I always read presser transcripts.
August 16th, 2018 at 6:37 AM ^
I prefer to watch offline, too.
August 16th, 2018 at 6:34 AM ^
Well we had a insider and half of the board ran him/her off.
August 16th, 2018 at 6:39 AM ^
Could you please clarify your post's relationship with the transcript idea? I can be a bit oblivious sometimes, so I'd appreciate some help in connecting the dots.
August 16th, 2018 at 8:31 AM ^
Not our fault that camp started and Shea couldn't spend as much time online. Hard to get a signal in the submarine.
August 16th, 2018 at 10:13 AM ^
Are you referring to Higdon's HS coach? Granted people could have been nicer to him but things got kinda shitty from his end as well.
August 16th, 2018 at 10:51 AM ^
Which user was allegedly his HS coach?
August 16th, 2018 at 5:00 PM ^
MichiganMan14
Pretty sure it was confirmed too since he wrote a diary about the recruitment and the staff here promoted it to the front page.
Edit: Here's the story
August 17th, 2018 at 2:23 AM ^
That was awesome, thank you!
August 16th, 2018 at 7:18 PM ^
MichiganFan1984,
I don't know if 80% of the commenters here that upvote/downvote, and make antagonistic comments towards commenters that have substance and real content in their comments, can make heads of tails of real football.
August 16th, 2018 at 7:05 AM ^
I've always been curious about the relative traffic of the board vs main site. In my mind i imagine that the people reading/commenting/lurking on the board make up the vast majority of the clicks on the site.
August 16th, 2018 at 8:39 AM ^
Really? I would assume that it was the opposite. For the first 5 or so years I used the site, I never had an account and would just read the main page content. I have many friends who do the same and think it's funny that I created an account at all.
Edit: Though, you're probably right for the off-season, at least.
August 16th, 2018 at 12:06 PM ^
Years and years ago, Brian had a post talking about the whole reason for adding a message board is that it multiplies your traffic by several factors and it becomes a huge driver of revenue. Ads are calculated by page loads/impressions. So every time you post something, or click on a new message board post, that's a new impression and a new ad play. And for internet ads where you're only getting a couple of dollars for every thousand views, that adds up quick.
Front page content only gets posted 1-2 times a day, which only brings in 1-2 impressions if you're even interested in the content. But people come back multiple times a day for the message board. I'd bet the message board is like a 20-1 driver of traffic for this site.
August 16th, 2018 at 7:17 AM ^
I really appreciate the blog. So I would definitely volunteer my time to do anything to give back. I have limited time but willing to spend time transcribing etc. But I just Don't know how something like this can be organized. I often find training new staff is more costly, especially time, than rearranging the work for internal staff. I feel like this cannot be achieved without leadership being provided by Mgoblog staff and I am not sure if they have time. But I can spare some time every day.
August 16th, 2018 at 8:01 AM ^
Maybe we crowdsource as much as possible to east the burden on MGoStaff? Depending on their needs, it doesn't even have to be a full transcription.
August 16th, 2018 at 7:32 AM ^
Here is one version of transcription software if someone really wants the written word.
August 16th, 2018 at 7:48 AM ^
Honestly, it's not even necessary. Upload anything to YouTube and you get a free transcription service from them. All folks would need to do is edit the original. I don't think it would take too much time.
August 16th, 2018 at 8:07 AM ^
Cool - I didn't know that. It doesn't surprise me though.
August 16th, 2018 at 8:02 AM ^
How much does the job pay? Also, I have a few conditions,
- I only work from 10:45-2:30pm - As a swag-focused entrepreneur I work on my business ventures till 3am and need to nap-nap by 2:45.
- I'll need at least an hour and a half for lunch or ma tum-tums get the grum-grums.
- I don't know what Google docs is, but I can and will be on Insta, Snap, and Twitter most of the day
Now when do I start?
August 16th, 2018 at 8:57 AM ^
i really appreciate that you took the time to transcribe that
August 16th, 2018 at 8:20 AM ^
Let me just add that if anyone wants to volunteer some time to help moderate the place during the season, such help would be welcome lest I find myself engaged in some rather unseemly behavior as I did last season. Still rather ashamed that I snapped at some people.
Post here and I can DM a list to Seth perhaps.
August 16th, 2018 at 8:28 AM ^
I desire power. Unlimited, raw power.
Jokes aside, if it's for a pre-arranged shift, that's totally doable for me.
August 16th, 2018 at 8:29 AM ^
Though it seems at this point being a moderator doesn't actually give you the power to ban people, so does more powerless moderators mean anything?
August 16th, 2018 at 8:31 AM ^
I don't know. Maybe you can edit out offensive/political material or something? That could be helpful.
August 16th, 2018 at 8:51 AM ^
After a brief conversation with Seth, the glitch was fixed at about 1 PM yesterday - the bannings and the Bolivia can now continue.
August 16th, 2018 at 10:01 AM ^
This post needs far more meaningless upvotes!
August 16th, 2018 at 8:41 AM ^
Considering I made a post calling out where the mods are I feel obligated to volunteer. Even if I'm turned down, at least to show I'm not just complaining and not willing to help.
August 16th, 2018 at 12:04 PM ^
+1
I for one would love to see Bambi laying down the banhammer on this board. Don't mess with Bambi!
August 16th, 2018 at 8:51 AM ^
What's the purpose of being a mod anymore if they don't give you the ability to actually moderate the board?
August 16th, 2018 at 8:52 AM ^
LSA, beware. remember what the caesars did. they grouped their army, marched back into rome, and then took over the whole deal. our caesar seems like a great guy, but you might want to check his facebook page for chariots, shields, swords, that type of thing. could be a clever trap.