Blog Review Essay, Part 1: Very Pretty, But Is It Interesting?
One important factor that must be considered when evaluating a blog's popularity is how the blog looks. One can't underestimate the value of visual appeal in the highly visual medium of the Internet. A website (any website, not just blogs) that looks bare holds less appeal for the casual web-surfer than one with a high amount of effort put into its appearance.* While blogs are certainly subject to this bias, they are also literary entities, and as they say, "you can't judge a book by it's cover."**
Out of the three blogs I've specified, PeterDavid.net is the most proffesional-looking. This not only applies to the site's general aesthetic, but also to the web address itself. By having its own domain name, the site presents itself as more than "just another [Blogspot, livejournal, Xanda] site." Beyond this the site is generally well organized, and relatively easy to navigate. David, however, is also able to back up this visual appeal with appealing content. One might expect a successful author to have a way with words, and this manifests in the blog.
Despite the initial advantage the visual aspect may give, it is not necessarily a requirement for a good blog. Both Book of the Gear and This Is Not My Life use livejournal, and as such the authors are limited in what they can do with their sites visually. This is made up for in the literary content of both sites, which serve to make these blogs stand out among others. In the case of the Book of the Gear, the author actually (very rarely) supplements her blog with associated artwork, and it was actually her initial intent for it to be a more fully illustrated blog. Even with this goal abandoned (or perhaps as a result of it), the literary content of the blog is engaging enough to let the blog stand without illustration.
On to Part 2.
* The content of these examples is not intended to reflect any bias among the author's interests.
** The author formally apologizes to his audience for the use of this cliché.
Out of the three blogs I've specified, PeterDavid.net is the most proffesional-looking. This not only applies to the site's general aesthetic, but also to the web address itself. By having its own domain name, the site presents itself as more than "just another [Blogspot, livejournal, Xanda] site." Beyond this the site is generally well organized, and relatively easy to navigate. David, however, is also able to back up this visual appeal with appealing content. One might expect a successful author to have a way with words, and this manifests in the blog.
Despite the initial advantage the visual aspect may give, it is not necessarily a requirement for a good blog. Both Book of the Gear and This Is Not My Life use livejournal, and as such the authors are limited in what they can do with their sites visually. This is made up for in the literary content of both sites, which serve to make these blogs stand out among others. In the case of the Book of the Gear, the author actually (very rarely) supplements her blog with associated artwork, and it was actually her initial intent for it to be a more fully illustrated blog. Even with this goal abandoned (or perhaps as a result of it), the literary content of the blog is engaging enough to let the blog stand without illustration.
On to Part 2.
* The content of these examples is not intended to reflect any bias among the author's interests.
** The author formally apologizes to his audience for the use of this cliché.
posted by Mithrandalf at 12:26 AM
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