Tuesday, June 7, 2011

iTricks seems to have lost it's Spirit



For a so called news site on magic iTricks does very little news. It's more like a big sponsor post. And when they have news iTricks does almost nothing with the news, except posting it. Seemingly no research goes into the actual news. Let me explain. Take a look at this "news".

iTricks wrote:
Check out this super imaginative magic routine using the iPad. This is the only video on his channel but we heartily recommend subscribing to his YouTube account in case there is a sequel.

Big shout out to the always awesome Trey Ratcliff for passing this along to us.

And that's all. They didn't even bother researching who the magician in the video was. His name Simon Pierro. And he is by no means a no name in our industry.

This little bit of research actually makes an article more rounded and more like news. Just saying...

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

I totally agree. iTricks used to seem like such a community and an awesome place for magic news. I always checked it everyday, but now for the most part I just check it every few days.

The live chats and everything were so great, but now they don't even really do those anymore. All the review columns they were supposedly going to have on a regular basis fizzled out and remember the iTricks Clinic? What a great idea, but it's gone now. I miss old iTricks.

darkstar said...

Looking back I think it was always a poser site. From the start they would post things I think few to none cared about weekly. What Criss Angel is doing, how many tickets Criss Angel sold in Vegas....what to watch on your TV set. What is new and hyped at T11 to buy.

Dodd is all I follow these days. Truly grateful for one well done news/show site. What more do we need?

tompilling said...

Like that 70's dessert, iles flotatnts, the routine was a weird combo of fluffy sugar hits, separated by soupy weirdness. Not just shameless hype, weird and uncomfortable routining...

Justin Robert Young said...

Hey buddy,

Sorry to see I disappointed you. I am a regular reader of the site and have always defended it against others who view it as mindless bomb throwing.

Here is the truth: running a magic news blog for five years plus is taxing. Not unlike a long-term relationship, not everyday is a dream. Many are more like work than fun. It adds up after a while and the work can suffer.

It's ironic that you post this now as opposed to a few weeks ago when we tried to revamp some of the coverage. We've tried to bring more informational content (i.e. our Keith Barry Q&A or "How to get on America's Got Talent" feature with executive producer Jason Raff) as well as original reporting (the new Criss Angel site which if the staff is anything like the publisher will have little room for criticism and could impact ALL magic sites including this one) which we feel we excel in.

Long story short, a divided focus (WeirdThings.com, NSFWshow, working with Andrew Mayne, Online Ethicist and any personal life to fit in the gaps) has hurt the site and I personally feel terrible that I disappointed anyone.

I hope to do better.

Justin

MyMagicReviews, unfortunately we are a volunteer site and features like The Clinic and the reviews are dependent on folks looking to help contribute. Aside from Crow who is doing a great job on our iTricks.TV posts we are currently in a lul. However, if you'd like to help contribute based on your namesake please email JustinRobertYoung@Gmail. I love the iTricks community and believe that part of why it dissipated was a too lax policy for awful commenters who sidetracked good conversations with dogmatic nonsense.

Darkstar, agree wholeheartedly!