DISQUS

KMcGrane · 5 months ago

Here's a hilarious and disturbing example of canned content gone horribly awry. The Guinness Book of World Records used canned links to encourage visitors to break the world record for "Most Individuals Killed In A Terrorist Act” (via Fail Blog.)
http://failblog.org/2009/07/13/omg-u-fail-so-hard/
bencurnett · 5 months ago

KM, that's exactly what I thought of when I read this.

Meghan, nice use of oompa-loompa as a nasty epithet. I hope your dog is O.K.
dhutson · 5 months ago

Good advice, Meghan. The worst thing about "I hope you found this article enjoyable" isn't that it's canned (although that's bad enough), it's that it's meaningless. If you left it off, nothing would be lost. Next steps/how to contact us/where to get more info make sense; empty platitudes, not so much.
mbloomstein · 5 months ago

Such a small post about a small statement--but wow, can it have a big impact! You raise great points Meghan. Anyone who creates or manages content should be aware of the "quiet types," those bits of copy that seems to sneak in without invitation, a byproduct of the template or a long-forgotten setting in the CMS. Even if you don't notice it, your audience does--maybe in the form of instructional copy, unhelpful "guidance" beside search results, or a completely irrelevant sidebar focus area. Moral of the story? All copy should be intentional and appropriate, whether a person or CMS puts it there.