New CNBC site misses great opportunity

A. Adam Glenn, an independent online consultant, has a critique of the new CNBC.com web site on Poynter, and he argues that the business news cable channel has missed out on a great opportunity of building a community.

Glenn wrote, “In neither the blogs, nor the postings, nor anywhere else on the site, does it appear that users can share their own views and news quickly, easily or in a straightforward fashion.

“As far as I could tell in multiple visits to the site, the only way for the public to post comments is to e-mail them to the various columnists. The site’s FAQ page does explain that ‘Blog comments are written by our registered users and selected and posted by CNBC.com editorial staff.’ And I suppose that overly clunky method could work, if someone were minding the store. Except no one is.

“When I scanned the site 10 days after launch, looking through the most recent posts on the site’s seven featured blogs, I found only a single comment. The Realty Check entry on the housing market had a user contribution — but instead of appearing with the feature, the comment was exiled to a separate page.

“I’m not exactly sure what the site’s Welcome Statement means when it describes the site as ‘the latest in online technology to deliver a truly groundbreaking Web experience,’ but at least when it comes to community, I’m pretty sure this ain’t it.

“Rival business news sites certainly have it over CNBC.com in terms of community. MSNBC.com’s business page, for instance, has dozens and dozens of business message boards where users, once registered, can freely post their thoughts. Although columns don’t allow direct comments, they do link readers to appropriate forums to share their thoughts.”

Read more here.