Users tell Sviners: AP = teh sux0r

The blokes over at Newsvine, or New Svine as I like to call it (affectionately!), have evidently been taking user feedback on baord as their front page has changed significantly. Gone is the huge photo and accompanying headline from the Associated Press feed which used to dominate the centre of the front page. In its place are lists of Most Comments, Most Chatters and Most Votes. The AP snippets are way down the page now - in fact the only AP content that is above the fold now is a tiny list of seven headlines on the top right.
UPDATE: As Mike D. says in the comments, the front page is now showing the big photo and headline again.

Will the Sviners end up dropping the AP feed entirely? It seems some users want the site to turn into a Digg clone without the botheration of a MSM feed getting in the way of user-generated content. The recursive user blog entries about New Svine continue to be among the most popular content on the site, such as this one which requests the ability to exclude AP articles from users' watchlists. Others specifically don't like Digg, or think the current mix is right. Here's a review of Svinish sites by a user named Kerro:

1. gather.com --- From what I can gather it looks like user-content reigns supreme. No clear distinction between what is user-written and what is "seeded"... but there is no seeds. There's no wire stories in the site. I'm outta there.

2. inform.com -- after tripping over the horrible clunky interface, I can't see any user-content in here.. its all a bunch of links to other sites-- but wait, the external site loads in some sort of frame in the middle. Ugh.... Avoid.

3. del.icio.us popular -- Um... it's a bunch of links on a page. This site blows. Avoid like the plague.

4. technorati.com -- If I ever get desperate to find a blog... any blog... I will go back. It's just links to blogs though.. Who knows where you'll end up... roll the dice at technorati and find out! Im over it already.

5. tech.memeorandum -- UGLY!....I will never go back. Ever.

6. digg.com -- I dig digg... but I want something more -- like the vine. Like my own column. Like a better site.

7. Slashdot -- Awesome site. If you're stuck in the 1990s and suffering from serious geek fever. Love the italic Times font. Love the scattered mess of endless comments and uber-geekness. But in moderation... like one visit every 6 months.

8. Wizlite -- In the 50 milliseconds I lasted at this site, I see its some sort of way to highlight text and do something with it. Great. Take note newsvine, this site could be serious competition!!

Ouch! :D