The same problems as IMDb supporter since nearly 25 years!

For over 24 years, I've supported IMDb as a data provider. Since then, I've repeatedly encountered the same frustrations due to the same problems: the rejection of submitted changes or additions for completely incomprehensible reasons. For example, incorrect content in synopses, which are clearly wrong in more than one language version thanks to automated translation. I had a case where I reported the same error in three languages, and it was corrected in two. But not in the third, supposedly because it was incomprehensible. Yet I had provided evidence.

Or just a few days ago, a change was rejected because the altered text was supposedly identical to the previous one—which, of course, wasn't the case. One word, an important one in this instance, was to be changed. 

What's really getting me today is that my submission (  #251231-122628-429000  ) of the birthdate and place of birth at https://www.imdb.com/de/name/nm10937541/ was rejected with the explanation: "Unfortunately, we were unable to accept your submission as we were unable to verify the information provided." And a little later in the text: "Please include evidence, or provide a URL which contains supporting evidence within this field." And then, to put it mildly, I feel massively mocked. Because I demonstrably provided exactly that. I supplied a link to the English Wikipedia article. And that article contains further links to other websites with evidence, should Wikipedia not suffice.

The trivia entry I submitted at the same time, detailing this Olympic champion's sporting achievements, was also rejected with the explanation: "Your contribution did not meet our formatting standards." And that's where it gets truly absurd. Especially since this isn't the first time. I don't know exactly what goes on behind the scenes at IMDb. But after all these years, I find such sloppy work (or is it even deliberate?) extremely frustrating.

As I understand it, IMDb thrives on the contributions of people like me; in fact, IMDb depends on them. To be treated this way is truly unacceptable. That my work and my time are so utterly undervalued is simply infuriating. Sure, I make mistakes too. But if I were to work this sloppily, I'd be truly embarrassed. Since I first encountered IMDb in 2001, it has been one of my most important resources on the internet, and as I mentioned at the beginning, I've been contributing ever since. But this is so often just off-putting. I want to support IMDb. And I will continue to do so. But I really have to ask myself if it's even worth it if I always have to expect my work to be trampled on for flimsy reasons. A commercially driven company that ultimately depends so heavily on the contributions of so many unpaid volunteers should simply treat them and their work better. So, this frustration has been simmering inside me for almost 25 years now; it finally had to come out!