Tis a happy day for NBC. At long last the can put down their Rolaids, cap off the TUM's bottle and stop drinking that pink stuff. That burning sensation in the pit of their stomach is about to be gone.

                                                                                      WHY?

Just when is it that the new Vine will be sold?Let's think for a moment.

The very moderators that people complain don't do their job, show prejudice and take political sides are the ones designing the new Vine. Does that make sense?

Take a hard look at these nations. Notice anything about the social leanings of the nation leaders (how about we use Obama's name for these people. Czars) and the members of the larger nations. There is already a definite imbalance. People on the right will be kept in small groups. Centrists? Kind of scratching their heads, saying "WTF we can't talk to both sides at the same time anymore?

Newsvine/NBC moderators are not hired to run a fair site. They are hired to make sure the liberal slant dominates. Our current moderators weren't up to the task, so now they have been commissioned to change it, make it more controllable and pretty(?), thus all of the color and font changes. The insidious part of this is that S&T probably don't know they are just packaging a product for sale. Nobody in the major market wants to touch the old Vine, not even FOX, we are way too balanced, especially for them.

The root cause of our problems has been the format. It is too good.  (link)

                                                                          BLAME THE CREATORS

     The designers of the Newsvine format did an excellent job of designing a site that was easy to navigate with lots of perks for it's users. One of these perks was in the writing of a COH and User agreement that was designed to be fair. Talking to individuals,groups and being able to comment on any article you please. New users can jump into the fray.The door was left wide open for any opinion to be heard. Don't forget that nice caveat about having your own little minisite. In other words they designed a truly wide open social site.

     Good formats for getting the people's voice heard are hard to find. When the media big boys find them they destroy them. It isn't just NBC nor just the liberal media. They don't want the inmates running the asylum. You especially can't have a format that lets independent authors moderate their own stories.

     To media moguls, free press means they are free to do whatever they want, it does not mean that you and I can practice free speech in their space. It does not mean that views that oppose their own should get equal exposure.

     It does no good to complain about the elimination of the old Vine or the foibles of the new Vine, NBC is getting what they want, a new Vine with total control and a pretty package they can unload.

     We are up against a media which is driven by business and politics. What's good for society isn't what's good for business and transparency isn't good for politics. It really is that simple.

                                                                              VINE PRIDE

     Personally I have been proud to have been part of the old Vine. Proud to have been a thorn in the side of controlled media.The Vine may only go down as footnote in future history. A footnote filled with more freedom of expression than any other major social network. Pride goeth before a fall? In this case the pride will remain despite the fall.

                                                                              WIN THE LOTTERY

     Please Mr. Clerk, sell me that winning Powerball ticket. If you do I will use a chunk of it and start another site based on the same Format as the old Vine. The hard work part is easy. Dang money anyway.