Dumping wisdom on design and the web
When you’re creating a website, the most important thing to consider from a design standpoint is who your target market is. Without this in mind, you could be creating a website that might not be functional for those that you’re intending to have come to your website, especially if those people are of an older generation. [Read more…]
Originally posted on February 20, 2020 @ 2:23 pm
Most people admit that they could use a little extra money for their lives. Whether they’re trying to pay off credit card debt, student loans, or even just have a little extra money for life’s pleasures, having an extra job on the side can make a big difference in your bank account. The key is finding something that’s flexible enough with your own schedule that it doesn’t overtake your current job and family life. [Read more…]
Originally posted on March 25, 2020 @ 8:52 pm
Nothing seems to be safe from politics or political correctness. Gizmodo posted an announcement yesterday which was followed up by pretty much the same announcement from Lifehacker giving rules on how they view Digging “properly” on their sites.
-No big yellow Digg badges for articles unless they have original content, new reporting, treatment, or photos. It’s not fair when we get the Digg for someone else’s work.
This has to be one of the more ridiculous rules, statements, whatever that I have seen in a while when it comes to the Web. First of all, good luck enforcing your so-called rules. Yes you can control the badges that appear on your site, however the community as a whole are not going to conform to your rules. As you saw with the “Digg Spam” article itself, putting in place barriers just fans the fire. If your not a believer about that statement take a look at how removing the unlock codes for Blu Ray sent the Digg community into an almost rebellious state posting the code over and over again.
Digg is a social bookmarking site that doesn’t take in regard for original work, it is simply a link to something that someone finds that is cool and wants to share with the community. Sharing shouldn’t be frowned upon when it is in fact the basis for the internet as a whole. Users of Digg are not going to track down the origin of specific content, that is not the goal of the site and it is nearly impossible in many instances anyway.
The Web has become a place where information is written, massaged, replicated, re-replicated, and fed to any number of locations, tools, and readers. Who knows where in the chain someone finds the information. At whatever point the user comes across the information there may be zero indications of who the original author was, or even that the site they are reading is in fact not the original author. It’s not right, but it’s the way of the world.
Why is it that Digg was singled out on this one? How many times are Gizmodo’s articles linked thousands of times on Del.icio.us, Reddit, or other similar services? Why are these services not mentioned and why is it ok for these sites to link to content that is not original, but for Digg it is not?
The Digg badges that are places on the site are helpful tools to get the story promoted by people who find it interesting. Why would you take the abilities of the user away? Yes they can still Digg the story but the convenience is gone. So really what are you proving other then making it more difficult for your own user base?
Many of the stories that get high marks on Digg are often prefixed with the sites name which gives the stories weight immediately. The Gizmodo story about Digg Spam is a prime example of this. The headline on Digg read: “Gizmodo: Digg Spam Sucks”. Many of Gizmodo’s stories get heavy numbers of Digg’s because it is in fact a very credible site when it comes to news.
Not putting the Digg badges on the stories really means a few less Digg’s because people are inherently lazy and probably won’t go find the story on Digg.com. Who is this dis-servicing though? I would have to say it’s the contents originator. Even though Gizmodo or another is getting the Digg’s the content author knows that it’s his content and can feel pride in the fact that it’s getting such heavy views.
If a site wants to help the person who created the content then they should give them credit more prominently so that users know it came from another source, even if they got to the site that replicated it through Digg. Without the giants like Gizmodo some of this content wouldn’t be seen by a large number of people.
Originally posted on June 14, 2007 @ 11:00 am
MySpace has long been the dominant social networking tool with a huge numbers of users, endless news stories surrounding it’s use as well as mis-use, and almost becoming a buzz word itself. Those days are eroding as MySpace loses it’s news coverage, and begins to become more of an annoyance then a benefit. Users are beginning to see enough reasons to move their online persona’s to other sites and Facebook has been working extremely hard and is poised to cut the head off the MySpace monster, and here are 10 reasons why:
Originally posted on June 11, 2007 @ 12:10 pm
Yesterday I was taking the usual 15 minute drive back home from the office, taking time to relax, listening to Zero7 and taking in some of the great views of the river front as I drove over it when seemingly from out of nowhere came a rust speckled older model ford swerving wildly around me. A quick glance that direction brought me to realize very quickly that this man had a fire to get to and I was prohibiting that by not moving at the pace that he wanted. After a quick finger gesture he gave me a look that the devil himself would be proud of and sped up again quickly disappearing into the mess of vehicles ahead of me.
As I thought about his actions a little bit I began to take a look at the constant rush that people are in as we lives our lives at a 160 kilometers per hour. Although I would venture to bet that most of the Web community is not this way, I think typical users take this same behavior from everyday life online. A prime example of this might be the almost constant need for the MySpace generation to constantly see who might have dropped them a message or what event might have been planned in the 2 minutes since they last checked their profiles. On for a quick second to check, then off again.
I would venture to guess that most of the “typical” users don’t often deviate from their everyday routines. Most I would bet have a routine similar to this:
Most of us (Web folks) have many other methods of finding new and cool information on a day to day basis. Tools like Digg, Techcrunch and Slashdot are largely unrealized by the average user population because most of the information presented on those sites doesn’t pertain or interest them. Even something as simple as WebMD doesn’t hold the attention of the average user as they are going to get on, research their condition or ailment, print that information and move on.
Is there a way to eat up more of the average user’s time online? Let’s face it; the group that I am considering average users is a considerably larger group then the tech savvy or Web group of users. That larger base equals more dollars, so why don’t we try harder to bring them in? This lends directly back to the lack of time that we all have in our lives.
As technical people most of us have hours in front of or near the computer. Time we get to spend working, playing and learning on the internet. Most people are not afforded this convenience, and once work is done many go home to children, spouses, workouts, television and any number of other things that take up their time.
It can be said that until the Web makes its way even further into the fabric of things like television and appliances to where the average Joe is more exposed to it we may not gain that user base. As media center PC’s and home automation become more prevalent people will be forced to become more reliant on technology and become better users of it. It’s at this point I think people will slow down a bit to look around. If not maybe the technology will relieve the time stress that we put on our lives.
Being that this is my first post on Wisdump and most of you are going to notice a different writing style then that of Scrivs, Ryan, and Lee I figured some sort of introduction would be appropriate.
My name is Kyle P. Johnson a writer and developer from the Omaha area. I have been working in the Web industry for nearly 7 years on a number of different projects and with a number of different companies. I have been writing on my personal blog for about 3 years before Lee gave me the opportunity to write for him and Wisdump.
I hope that you all can appreciate my writing and writing style, and although I am definitely not Scrivs hopefully my writing will strike a chord with the reader base that has decided to stick it out.
Originally posted on May 26, 2007 @ 12:52 pm