Is ‘Farmville’ worth your time online?

With technology evolving so fast, reporting has to evolve at the same pace. Unfortunately this has resulted in The Times Online starting to report on stories like how people are addicted to Farmville. A few facts are thrown around like, 69 million people play Farmville which is more than all the twitter users combined, and on average females aged 35 are more likely to play Farmville. Does this new style of reporting damage the reputation and image of The Times Online?
When I think of the Times I think of intelligent and informative reporting not reporting typical to The Sun’s style. The Times Online has proven it can report on new technologies without resorting to demeaning stories. For example the story published in early November on whether the internet is now a human right. This story reports on the dispute between the business secretary, Lord Mandelson wanting to disconnect persistent ‘internet pirates’, and the biggest British internet provider Talk Talk who threatened to take legal action under the ‘human rights legislation’. This story is much more typical of the current image of The Times Online and it keeps up to date with new media reporting. The story on Farmville does gain some credibility around the halfway mark where the reporting involves interviews with specialists from addiction treatment centres and the conclusion focusing on how advertising is scamming people out of their money. But throughout the story there is a feeling of confusion, this isn’t the typical reporting for The Times and yet no ones seemed to notice or take any interest.
Who is gong to complain about this new style of reporting? The Times Online can claim its keeping its reporting up to date with new media, Facebook isn’t going to complain because this story is free publicity. So we are left with a growing consensus that reporting on new media comes down to providing free publicity and stories on Farmville being relevant. I personally think that reporting on whether or not the internet is now a human right is far more credible to the image of The Times Online then a mediocre story about Farmville.