The Feeling of Disaggregation

Today, I happened upon a Pokémon article with fascinating views. However, the article is in a "news aggregator" and was therefore collected from another web site. Worse yet, the article in the news aggregator seemed to be hastily put in, without much thought to the content. After re-examining the article as it was put in the news aggregator, I found that the article itself seems valid enough, but it contained "disruptive" bits and pieces that are more likely meant for the web site of the original article rather than the article itself. But the damage had been done.

I have an uneasy relationship with these so-called "news aggregators". I only trust them a little more than I do searching for articles myself. By my experience, whether automated or not, some effort has to go into making the articles fit for consumption. Otherwise, the result could indeed be like the Pokémon article that I encountered above; it wasn't helped enough by any means, regardless of the way the article was taken. And that makes me feel rather irked, as the article seems to be OK, but the presentation was terrible to say the least. Plus, it's not the first time - this particular aggregator had flubbed on quite a few articles prior to this one, and they weren't even related to Pokémon.

I thought about fixing up the article a bit or presenting a summary of its points in order to aid those that also felt the same way - and I can sense quite a few did, based on the way the comments section for that article in the news aggregator looked - but I felt that I would somewhat overstep the bounds of this blog by doing so. I don't want to be simply another "news aggregator"; I want to deliver something more unique, especially in regard to Pokémon, which is something I really enjoy. The article, though, could have been one of my posts if I had actually thought it up and fleshed it out.

(For those interested, the article in question discusses how some evolved Pokémon are actually weaker compared to their predecessors, at least game-wise and based on other factors.)

I love reading about Pokémon through articles on the web (and in fact, I may have to do so to double-check some of the stuff I put up on this blog), but something about this article as put through this aggregator puts me off. But then again, I can't really blame the article itself, seeing as it's fine the way it is... or rather, how it actually should be. I ought to be wary of anything put through aggregators like this one, especially if they concern Pokémon, lest I end up feeling "disaggregated" once again.

One year ago: Life with My Raid Group
Two years ago: Alola-Exeggutor - From Humanoid to Coconut Tree Dragon