[webber27]

As a BlackBerry fan site, CB sure does its fair share of damage to the brand. Like last month when they prematurely reported that Chen might be ditching handsets totally out of context and without a link to the interview.

Now in 2 straight days they've prematurely done stories on 2 apps, Viber and Snap2chat, that clearly weren't ready for download just yet. Look in both comment sections, it's just hundreds of frustrated people not able to download these apps.

I get that new apps are exciting and there's a race to be first to report things, but this is very frustrating for tons of people and probably hurting BlackBerry. What's the harm in waiting 24h until the apps are actually able to be successfully downloaded?? Get it together please!


And let this thread be a PSA to frustrated people: if you're having trouble downloading Viber or Snap2chat, just be patient and try again tomorrow!

Posted via CB10

[SubCamp]

Ah yes I'd love to hear about things a day after they happen..

Posted via CB10

[Elite1]

Big name apps 100% confirmed as "coming soon" is news.

Btw the Viber article is edited with the following right at the top:

Update: Viber is now available in BlackBerry World. Link is at the bottom of this article. Please note that since it has just gone live it is still making its way through the BlackBerry World servers. It may show as unavailable for some or it may give you an unable to purchase error. Just check back later if this shows for you. Also, note that it is an Android port.

I'm not saying people aren't validly frustrated in these situations, but the fault is not CrackBerry's and censoring or delaying news isn't the answer.

[ShaneVich1]

Snap2chat is now available for download.

Posted via CB10

[webber27]

Big name apps 100% confirmed as "coming soon" is news.

Btw the Viber article is edited with the following right at the top:


I'm not saying people aren't validly frustrated in these situations, but the fault is not CrackBerry's and censoring or delaying news isn't the answer.

As late as yesterday evening that edit was not on the article. And I'd be fine with the story if it said "Viber coming soon" but the way it was titled and written clearly implied it was available now. That's bad reporting.

If you need proof of this, just go read through pages ~3-7 of the comments!

Posted via CB10

[Michelle Haag]

As late as yesterday evening that edit was not on the article. And I'd be fine with the story if it said "Viber coming soon" but the way it was titled and written clearly implied it was available now. That's bad reporting.

If you need proof of this, just go read through pages ~3-7 of the comments!

Posted via CB10

That's not correct. The edit was added around noon PST.

[CrackBerry Kevin]

Good feedback. Interesting.

Obviously there is a happy balance in here, that's more ART than Science.

The problem when we WAIT is that the forums and social do not wait. People are talking about the news immediately. So my viewpoint is that it's better for us to BLOG IT FAST as that creates a place on the CrackBerry homepage where people are informed, and then they have the comments on that post to straighten things out if things are a little bit premature still. That's an exception still, not the norm (this doesn't happen that often).

Also, I disagree with your brand damage comment. That's an opinion. People read the comments on CB (statistically proven).... so again, even if we're early or get a story temporarily "wrong".. there's no damage done. The community auto-corrects it.

[webber27]

That's not correct. The edit was added around noon PST.

Sorry I may be mistaken, I don't remember seeing it. I thought it was edited first to give the BBW link, and then again later to say that people were having problems. But if that was at the same time, my bad.

Still, it's not even a good edit. It says "some people" might be having problems when the truth is, as far as I can tell, not a single person was able to successfully download it. That should have been the title of the story. "Viber releases BB10 app - available to download SOON".

Posted via CB10

[webber27]

Good feedback. Interesting.

Obviously there is a happy balance in here, that's more ART than Science.

The problem when we WAIT is that the forums and social do not wait. People are talking about the news immediately. So my viewpoint is that it's better for us to BLOG IT FAST as that creates a place on the CrackBerry homepage where people are informed, and then they have the comments on that post to straighten things out if things are a little bit premature still. That's an exception still, not the norm (this doesn't happen that often).

Also, I disagree with your brand damage comment. That's an opinion. People read the comments on CB (statistically proven).... so again, even if we're early or get a story temporarily "wrong".. there's no damage done. The community auto-corrects it.

You're right, really what I should have posted is not that CB was too quick to report the stories, but that the content was wrong. Yes, this is a big BlackBerry community and the stories should go up ASAP. But they need to be accurate. Don't say that Viber is available to download and give a link to BBW that no one is able to use. Say that the app is coming soon, then do another story when people can actually get it!

The Snap2chat one is more interesting because actually CB was late to the story (it got approved yesterday) but when they do put it out it had about the same problems of misinformation. Looks like the issue was quicker to resolve, but that's just good luck.

The brand damage... yes some people read the comments and it's autocorrected. But there are over 7 pages of people saying the same thing over and over despite corrections, so clearly many people don't read anything past the initial post. Gray area!

Posted via CB10

[DJ Reyes]

In Viber post, it was clearly written in the post before the link became available that it was coming soon.

The edit at the top was added the same time as the download link was added. And it has since been clarified that there have BlackBerry World issues. This is not the norm, as Kevin said. When a developer hits publish, doesn't take long for people to be able to download.

As for Snap2Chat, while the app received approval yesterday, the developer did not publish it straight away. There's a difference. An app can be approved but until the developer has hit publish, we do not post. I'm very close to the Snap2Chat developer. He spread the word that it got approval but specifically said he would not publish immediately.

He only hit publish earlier today and we waited until we could actually see it in BlackBerry World before we published our post.

[eldricho]

*snip*
What's the harm in waiting 24h until the apps are actually able to be successfully downloaded?? Get it together please!
*snip*

Posted via CB10

The harm is that you'll then get a bunch of threads 'calling Kevin and the rest of the CrackBerry team out' for not giving the brand all the attention it needs and giving up on the brand

Posted via CB10

[anon(5906760)]

The harm is that you'll then get a bunch of threads 'calling Kevin and the rest of the CrackBerry team out' for not giving the brand all the attention it needs and giving up on the brand

Posted via CB10

Exactly, I think getting the story out there first is more important. If the app isn't available yet, then at least people know to keep an eye out for when it is.

Posted via CB10

[Bla1ze]

This post is too fast... this post is too slow.. this post is just rigggghht.

[Nemory Studios]

Snap2Chat is fine now

Posted via BlackBerry 10.3

[stabstabdie]

I used to read a certain newspaper. I didn't like the way they reported the facts. I no longer read said newspaper.
Do you see what I'm getting at here???

[VR6]

BlackBerry is a big boy/girl, they can damage their own brand thank you very much

Posted via CB10

[birdman_38]

This post is too fast... this post is too slow.. this post is just rigggghht.

Quick, get Kevin his porridge!