Most message threads concentrate on a single film or actor, but users have expanded the threads to cover genealogical questions and international political relations. The messages create new and unexpected contexts for data about filmed entertainment. The database receives voluminous contributions from users every week. Instructions on the site itself allow users to add information via file transfer protocol or email. IMDb staff members verify accuracy and provide authority control for personal names and titles, but users decide what new categories of information they wish to add to the database.
User input is essential to the viability and growth of the database.
In true postmodern sense, users are taking from and contributing to the information flow. IMDb s approach to searching also reflects postmodern ideas. Access points are not static and constantly adapt to user needs. The focus is on user postcoordination of search terms rather than precoordination by catalogers. Through plot summaries, users contribute to the subject keywords that describe the aboutness of a particular item.