[jd4540]

Completely agree. It’s a shame as there was tons of great info here…Looking for a replacement forum. I only quickly glanced at Reddit. Seems like a different type of animal but perhaps I am not navigating it properly…SDN has some active forums but rads is not typically one of them

[Unknown Member]

This content has been hidden as the member is suspended.

[NachoLawyer]

I really don’t enjoy coming to these forums anymore. Not easy on the eyes, at all. It used to be my go to for the latest discussions in radiology, but now it is frustrating to say the least.

[fabraddad]

Hopefully can be fixed. Was an enjoyable medium, but I dont know if will survive without a change.

[required]

It looks like AM ‘fixed’ it. With the lack of organic discussion, they have now started to post a thread on every article they put on their AI fanboi frontpage. Suddenly there is a bunch of ‘activity’. Problem solved.

[kurosh1]

Well after weeks of trying to reset my password so i could log on, i’m finally back. I’ve found this site incredibly helpful for learning about practices in the country as I’m looking for a new job. It looks like most have left this forum out of frustration. Aside from redditt and facebook, is there another forum where one could get helpful info on things like jobs and home tele equipment? AM really screwed this up, and I suspect that i’m one of the few who persisted in getting their password renewed so they could come back on.

[jd4540]

I occasionally visit SDN (student doctor network). While some specialities like ED, anesthesia have decent activity , radiology does not…However hard to see this as a replacement for the prior AM forums which I also found very helpful.

[acpce1]

Man, what a shame. But I do have a lot more time on my hands.

[acpce1]

Administrators:

Would you consider keeping the rest of your site in the new format, but change the forums back to the original version? This is literally unusable. Tried searching for some needed information and I was unable.

[Erik_Ridley]

Hi acpce1,

I’m sorry to hear that you have found the new forums to be unsatisfactory. Although it won’t be possible to go back to the old forums on the new platform, we’re working to improve the new forums. In addition to improving the searching functionality, what other features would you like to see added or changed? We’d love to receive specific suggestions from you and any other of our members so that we can enhance the forums experience for everyone.

Thank you.

Erik Ridley

Editor in Chief

[NeuroJewDo]

Can start by deleting all the spam posts by Aunt Minnie linking to their articles.

[RoleCall]

Improve the contrast. Pull reddit up side-by-side and you’ll see. The text there is slightly larger, thicker, and darker (phrasing). The filler space on the sides of the text is gray compared to the white background of the text space. There are vertical lines separating replies. etc. The current format is a poor man’s copy of reddit.

This is my first post here in a month, mostly because I forgot the email associated with this account. It doesn’t seem like you can still log in with your username, only email. The damage may be done though. This space had become a safe-haven for right-wing maga trolls without any moderation and getting away from it has been therapeutic.

[dergon]

Make the actual forum posts use *much* more of the screen. On my laptop the posts only use roughly 1/3 of the horizontal space.

Pull the “advanced search” function (if one even exists) onto the front page or as a drop down from the basic search

Make member logins permanent so that we don’t have to sign in again for each visit/comment.

Change the font and the screen contrast. It is currently a very unpleasing combination to the eye.

______

If you really care about radiologist/medical trainee engagement in the Aunt Minnie forums you have a *lot* of work to do. There was zero outreach to the community ahead of the change, the down time was so long that you killed off traffic (switch over should have been overnight a few hours, not measured in weeks), and the lack of responsiveness to what were loud, clear and nearly universal complaints over the course of a month has generated bad blood.

I’ve been engaged in this community for 2 decades now. I am bitterly disappointed. This forum launch has been so bad that I seriously have considered the possibility the actual goal was to kill them.

[robotrad]

I second the reddit forum r/RadiologyForDocs

Reddit is an incredibly user friendly interface. SDN does not compare.

[RadCog]

The new layout is absolutely terrible and unusable. It looks like all of the users have gone away and now it’s just the AM staff posting their garbage articles to the forum with no replies. Erik Ridley managed to destroy the website within a year of becoming editor in chief.

[ThePACSman]

I dont think it’s fair to put all or even part the blame on Erik Ridley or any other individuals on the AM staff. Decisions like changing the format of the forum and journal in general are not made at his level;. All Erik can do- which I’m sure he did- was provide his input and hope those responsible for the changes listened to the decades of expereince he has in medical journalism. You can decide for yourself if he was listened to or not,

Since AM was launched decades ago Erik Ridley and Brian Casey were the dynamic duo working hand in hand to make AM what it was. Working alongside some of the best journalists in the industry helped as well. I agree what has been done to the site, especially the forums, is a travesty. That said there is nothing Erik can do but wake up every morning and provide AM readers with the information they want and need and fit it into a format that he seemingly had little to do with designing.

Erik- I appreciate you and the efforts you are taking to keep AM relevent and informative sometimes even in spite of itself.

Illegtimi non carborundum

PACSMan

[dergon]

The guy is editor-in-chief of a media company.

Making sure the website works well in order to drive engagement is a part of his job description. Managing the website design, layout, tone, etc is all part of that gig.

Sure, maybe he’s being hamstrung by idiots higher up in management. Wouldn’t be the first time. But *someone* screwed up this transition six ways from sunday and may well have completely destroyed the product in doing so.

[dysdiadochokinesia]

I used to pop onto AM each day between cases to see what was being discussed. I now don’t bother to look. I’m done. The page is tedious and full of banners and ads. The layout is not good. You can’t just skim through a discussion and people’s comments. It was good while it lasted, but this new page design has done nothing but irritate subscribers to the point of finding somewhere else to discuss radiology. It’s a shame. Sayonara AM.

[jd4540]

It is a shame-such a popular site for our field and at times a great resource. Lots of wisdom but I suppose all things come to an end.

[ThePACSman]

I agree that making sure the website drives engagement is a part of Erik’s job description but managing the website design, layout, tone, etc is far from being a unilateral decision especially considering the time and financial resources that this “redesign” took.

As to your comment “Sure, maybe he’s being hamstrung by idiots higher up in management. Wouldn’t be the first time. But *someone* screwed up this transition six ways from sunday and may well have completely destroyed the product in doing so.” I’ll just smile and say “Ya think?”

We all want to blame someone. Like you, Dergon, I have been on AM since day one and have known Erik (and Brian) since well before then and celebrated the successes they both were a part of in their past and pre-redesign present. I, like you and so any others, also hate to see what has transpired here. And while you (and others) may feel Erik is to blame remember that a fish stinks from the head down.. The guy is doing the very best he can with what he is given to work with. PLEASE CUT HIM SOME SLACK. Lastly, while he is, in your words, the “editor-in-chief” of a media company, this isn’t JAMA or Forbes- its AM- and his input is limited. I’m sure he, like all of us, was fine with AM just as it once was.

PACSMan

[RadCog]

Although I don’t work in media so I don’t know the exact amount of blame the editor in chief bears for a catastrophic redesign that has driven away 99% of the users I would guess it is substantial. I would love to hear from Erik to know:

1) Why has there been no substantial changes to this mess since the update?

2) Why did they start spamming garbage articles to the forum each day (looks like 5-10/day)? Literally no one is responding to these threads and this is a new policy.

[ThePACSman]

You guys really like putting Erik on the hot seat dont you? You want him to say he had nothing (or everthing) to do with the web redesign? Ask yourself- was it the tech’s fault that you missed a call (except maybe in the case of ultrasound where the pathology may not have been visualized) or yours? The image was borderline or completely unreadable but hey, doc, give it your best shot and tell me what you think anyway. And by the way, whatever you say one way or the other I’m holding you accountable for even if getting a sh&tty image to read wasn’t technically your fault. And your response is “Well you wanted it read… so I read it even tough I wasn’t comfortable with it”. and you live with that decision. Changes were made here so….those making it have to live with that.

Magazines dont have malpractice insurance. They only have readers and advertisers who vote with clicks and dollars. If the clicks and dollars go down then someone is going to ask what happened. Hopefully that was asked over a month ago but then someone has to say we screwed up and no one likes to hear or say that. So I’ll say if for everyone- you screwed up.

I have worked in the media for nearly 40 years- many of those with Erik (and Brian) but also with nearly every journal in the marketplace as well. I know how the game is played. I also have a degree in journalism as well so I’ll try and answer your questions.

The decision on the a site (or journal) design is made by those much higher up than the editor. You would have to be foolish to consider anything otherwise. Let’s take what isn’t broken off-line for 10 days, spend money doing a complete redesign without accepting input from anyone on the site and then unveil it as the “new” AM. Please pass that doobie this way and stop bogarting it…

Editors select and edit stories for pubication. Yes, they have some (very limited) input into the site design but the ultimate decision is made by those who control the purse strings. That is equivilent to buying a house without your wife (or hubby’s) input. “That’s a very nice house dear- I’m glad you like it. Now where are the kids are I going to live?”

PLEASE Stop blaming Erik. Those who are ultimately responsible for this travesty need to get on here and say- “Ya know what? We screwed up”- or “We feel we didn’t make the wrong decision with the redsign and are sorry you feel that way”. Just know that sites like radHQ would not have gotten the traction it has in just over a week if all was well. One way or the other though it’s called accountability.

Finally In answer to your questions-

1) Why no changes?- You first have to accept that a problem exists. That hasn’t been done yet by those responsible for the redesign. If it were they would be on here saying “Mea culpa” and not letting Erik take the blame. I haven’t seen that yet and Erik is politically saavy enough to know to say nothing,

2) Spamming garbage articles- It’s interesting that these werent consider garbage articles before but because they are now in the forum they are considered trash. Now your point may be valid- since no one seems to be talking in the forums anymore it may have been decided to make the forums look like they are busier than they are and the directive given to post articles there to make it look like the foums are busy. There is no other logical reason to do that. Just know that Erik is not trying to cover his assets. Editors have enough to do without what amounts to busy work like this.

I know it seems like I am Erik’s personal bodyguard defending him every chance I get but he really is a great guy trying to do a great job in spite of what he has been given to work with. Beating him up doesnt help solve the problem and only makes matters worse, at the very least for him personally.

If you have issues and some spare time then please take it up with the Science and Medicine Group of Arlington VA who own AM. I have no idea who, if anyone, is in charge- maybe you can share that with me- but here is the contact info I found on them: Phone: (703) 778-3080, Email: [email protected].

Good luck.

PACSMan

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google.com

Redirect Notice

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[Phil]

Mike – you may be right that Erik is not an appropriate target- but he is the only one users have any access to express their opinions. Presumably, he would pass this on to someone who can affect the site.

BUT – it is probably too late.

I took a screenshot of the main forum page this am. there were about 15 posts promoting (spamming, if you want) other posts on the site – some clearly ads.

There was a SINGLE post by a user. This one, complaining about the change. No dialog like we had in the past. Nothing at all.

“Blue earth Diagnostics inks posluma deal with sinotau pharmaceutical”

WHO cares at all? The answer – no one. No replies.

In fact, NONE of the 15 advertisement posts has a single reply. Only this thread has replies.

The users have left the building, voted with their feet. The forum is dead. The owners, or whoever has directed this thing have driven away all their users. ALL. I have to say, I did like to talk to my colleagues, but that is gone now. Won’t come back

[RadCog]

They were always garbage articles but they used to be easy to ignore. Now someone (but definitely not the editor in chief) decided to spam them to the forums in an attempt to make it look like the forums are dead.

[Almondchi]

Check out the Facebook Group “American Radiologists”. It’s a much more useful forum for general radiology discussion and you can post anonymously. I have stopped checking auntminnie since the forum change and I encourage everyone to use the FB group instead of AM going forward. This forum is a disaster and it’s imperative that radiologists still have an online resource to keep in touch now that AM is gone.

[dergon]

1) The goal is not to find someone to blame. The goal is to find someone willing to take responsibility and fix the Aunt Minnie forums.

2) In the past the “garbage articles” were not linked into the forums unless a member was interested enough to do so themselves. Combine the fact that AM is spamming these press release pieces of junk into the forum page with the other fact that since the transition there has been zero member generated discussion (with the exception of this complaint thread) and you get a front forum page that is absolutely worthless. A radiologist landing on that page is going to stay on the site for about 3 seconds before they conclude there is nothing of value here, and then they will leave.

[drgl]

I think this may have been only a financial decision, in some ways.

Since this forum now needs only minimal moderation… ergo less salary.