The Globe and Mail

Recently, the Globe and Mail changed both their online and print look. The physical newspaper now contains colour on every page. For the website, the Globe decided to shift the immediate content to the left, perhaps to capitalize on the "F-pattern" in which people typically read websites. A few choice articles appear at the top, and then a heading called "Today's Must Reads" with four articles from different sections of the paper. And sometimes, in between these two, are reader comments.

Right there, front and centre: Reader Comments.

I am not keen on this addition to the Globe and Mail online platform. It was mostly ok, until the highlighted comments began to contain spelling and/or grammatical errors, and were signed by the likes of anonymousdoucheyuser345. Granted, some people have legitimate things to say, but I don't want to be face-to-face with them immediately when I visit the site. If I'm interested, I'll read the comments. Don't force feed them to me!

So what did I do? I searched for the "contact us" link and wrote the powers that be a little piece of my mind. I started off quite civil, but the power of the written word took over me and I became an impassioned website critic. I implored them to remove the Reader Comments and asked if a little part of them died whenever they posted a comment with a spelling error to the front page of the site. Can you imagine how newspaper editors must feel if I am this upset about it?

I was rushed in finishing my treatise, as I was late for a game of lunchtime euchre, so I quickly pounded out any remaining thoughts, signed my name and hit send. Ahh. Relief at lashing out against something you know you can't control.

I came back from lunch to a confirmation email from some Globe and Mail bot that my email had been received. I reread the words I had written, when...shock and horror! I found a spelling error. Embarrassment washed over me as I hung my head in shame. I should have taken the time to spell check before I hit send. I feel I have completely forfeited my right to complain. Le sigh. But if anyone else feels inspired to write to the Globe and Mail on their new look, I highly recommend it.

In other news, I feel quite unsettled. Not just about that debacle, but about life in general. I feel like I need some sort of change, but in what category I'm not sure. Maybe I just need a haircut.