There are two things about fans of HBO’s now-over show The Wire you should know: 1) They are rabidly loyal, and 2) There aren’t that many of them. Though the show was constantly praised by critics, it never came anywhere close to becoming a Sopranos-sized cultural phenom. And while HBO can be thanked for keeping the show alive for five seasons, it should be cuffed for missing the online opportunity it had, especially surrounding the series finale.

In conjunction with the last episode, HBO, perhaps finally recognizing the emotional bond people had formed with the show, created The Wire: Public Record. According to the HBO web site, Public Record is a place where people can “Pay tribute to the personalities, city and show that changed the way America views ‘the game.’” In reality though, this scrolling message board is just a place for people to say they’ll miss the show, albeit in a very grim setting that manages to be more morose than the show itself (see screengrab).

Here are three things HBO could have done to help The Wire (and some lessons it can learn for its next cult hit):

User-generated content:
The one thing you always hear about The Wire is how realistic it is — how it’s an accurate depiction of the drug trade, institutional corruption, and the never-ending cycle of violence. Why did its creators not invite people to share real-world experiences? It probably would have been advisable to exclude the copycat Omars of the world telling tales of robbing gangsters, but people could’ve told their stories of redemption (another one of The Wire’s themes), or what it was like being a cop, or growing up on the streets. Fans already felt an unusually strong connection to the show, this would have allowed it to deepen further.

Embeddable shows:
HBO is reliant on subscribers, so it keeps that sweet content locked up, only parsing some of it out for On-Demand viewing. It’s reluctant to do anything to derail the subscriber gravy train, but why not let the rabid fan base be your marketing department? It could have freed up even just a few full episodes from season 1 — not enough to hurt DVD sales — but enough to get people hooked on the show. Then they’d go and buy the DVD sets, and even subscribe to HBO. The network did release some prequel clips on Amazon earlier this year, but that was too little, too late for a show that must be watched from episode one to understand it. To its credit, HBO is putting episodes of In Treatment for free online now, but that feels more out of desperation.

Use OldTeeVee:
Perhaps the most surprising thing about last night’s finale was that HBO knew people wanted to talk about The Wire, but you would never have known that the Public Record message board existed from watching last night’s episode. It was never mentioned. What’s the point in putting it up if you don’t tell anyone about it? Use the reach of TV to push people online and free them to interact with the show; the two shouldn’t be in silos, hidden from one another.

This isn’t the first time HBO has had a baffling broadband plan. When it comes to the web, HBO winds up looking like the controlling, bureaucratic mess The Wire always railed against.