Close, But No Cigar

As we’ve seen, the Web means that anyone with access and knowledge can publish content. The Web also allows people to use written content, sound, video, animations, and images with much more ease than in other types of media. This has lead to an explosion of creative content online. For many in the industry, this explosion has lead some to question the staying power of the more traditional outlets like publishing houses, magazines, film, and television. I believe this content explosion will affect these traditional outlets in a negative fashion, turning attention away from these aspects of media and onto the Internet.
Despite affecting traditional media outlets negatively, I believe that the Internet will only make a small impact in this realm. What dictates the staying power of media content or technology is its transmission to the public as well as monetary factors. For film, there are only a few major studios controlling nearly all production and distribution of content. So, there are millions and millions of dollars spent on films through marketing, advertising, pre- and post-production fees, talent expenses, etc. The simple fact that the movie industry, along with television, is a multi-billion dollar industry makes it nearly impervious to degradation or loss.
In the case of magazines and publishing houses, I am hoping that these print outlets stay afloat in coming years since my career depends on them. My goal is to write scholarly works or write for a magazine on music, current events, religion, philosophy, writing, or anything that will pay the bills. The Internet seems to be a worthy foe for these print outlets, seeing as readership has plummeted and people are turning their attention to the cheaper, faster, and crazier Internet media explosion in order to get their fix of news, sports, comedy, and the like. Most of those producing the buzz-worthy content for the Internet are seemingly normal people with a bigger Best Buy bill than others. These amateurs will never topple the major media outlets, but can distract attention, pull in menial profit, or make a name for themselves as competent in production, film, recording, animation, music, etc. Most of the content being produced is sub par in terms of technique, technicality, and technology, but there are a few bright-shining examples from people we will surely hear from in the future.
The Internet has already shown us that it can tango with the fat cats of the media industry, as seen through the case of Napster. Since Napster's inception, court-ordered destruction, and then its miraculous shift to commercialism, record sales have steadily declined because of the Internet and its liberal policy on music. Besides the issue of music, I think that the only media outlets that should 'worry,' if at all, are the magazines and the publishing houses. Newspapers are becoming less and less prevalent in today's society, and magazines may be condensed the same way newspapers have. If this shift toward technology, speed and thriftiness continues, publishing houses may need to make use of Internet capabilities for a new generation of media users, seeking instant gratification and hilarity, which only the Internet can provide.
The beauty of the written and spoken word in all realms of life has now been replaced with a spirit of impatience, bordering on disillusion and discontent; a shift toward instant gratification and a ridiculously wide range of available media, in any format imaginable, may see the Internet getting stronger and stronger in the coming years.

There is, however, one issue I must raise before concluding. Though my arguments on the subject may be convoluted and repetitious at times, one counter statement must be assessed to gain full knowledge of the issue. The battle for Net Neutrality, a bill that attempts to limit broadband bandwidth usage, had been heeding much attention in Congress before their adjournment. The bill effectively seeks to make bandwidth and bit rates part of Internet service charges. Just as everything that one sees on television is paid for in some way or other, Net Neutrality opponents wish to do the same thing with the Internet, making anything downloadable or streaming, anything that requires a large amount of information to be exchanged between terminals an expense. ISP bills would, in theory, increase and all our activity of the Web would be tracked. If you like the Internet the way it is now, then oppose these bills and seek an end to these attempts by media conglomerates to make the Internet a brothel for more advertisers and scheming marketers.
Fight back here-->
http://www.netcompetition.org/
http://www.itsournet.org/

Digital Dinero

In Hot Text (and as quoted in Writing for the Web), the Prices describe attention as the “currency of the Internet.” In that, I believe they are referring to attention being the main economic factor driving the Internet today. To elaborate, I believe that a website must command and almost dictate the behavior, attention, time, and even decisions of its users for it to be profitable, thus tying in the currency element of the above statement. In order to make money, websites must attract, dazzle, or satiate users, driving them to expend the most vital thing about web browsing; time. In our world, time is money and the same goes for the Internet. The more time one spends on a website, the more likely they are to return/tell others/buy something/log on/participate. Just like they always say: "An inch of gold for an inch of time." While working in our web groups, or writing for the web later in life, I will definitely take into consideration the true attention-grabbing and -clutching elements of website design. In order to grab the attention of users, one's site should be organized, concise, excellent, correct, pleasant, and original. (Jeney 37) I have spoke of website design elements previously on this blog, and, as you may know, originality and organization are two principle elements sites must possess to be memorable and worth return visits. When making our website for class, publishing my own content to future Internet endeavors or blogs, I will forever keep the fact that "good Web writers know that the written content must satisfy the visitors." (Jeney 36) Therefore, no matter how much attention users pay to layout, text fonts, headers, borders, boxes, and text styles, the true power and clout of a site is derived from it's content ultimately.

I Love Suicide Silence

When asked to search a personal interest on the site that hosts our blog, I did a search on Blogspot for one of my favorite bands, a death metal/grindcore outfit from California called Suicide Silence. I saw them in concert on August 4th of this year, and it was one of the most wonderful and brutal shows I've ever attended. So, when asked, I thought I'd enter this fairly-obscure band into the search bar. Surprisingly, I received about 46,000 matches. They varied from suicidal gothic ramblings to concert venue postings, and even a decent fanbase with information for the five-piece itself. However, the majority of the matches ended up being off hits; I then quoted the phrase "Suicide Silence" in order to define it as the words together, ultimately referring to the band. I ended up with about 400 hits. I think this number is this low only because hardcore listeners tend to use Myspace rather than Blogspot, and Suicide Silence is not yet a popular hardcore act.

So, I clicked on the first link that wasn't a Myspace and found that it was a very hip, yet random blog featuring a random assortment of music from all genres. The music was progressive in nature, as I already own a significant amount of albums detailed on the blog. some albums even appear to have free downloads...(http://xxxemofreakxxx.blogspot.com/) So in searching for this assignment, I have definitely found a worthy source for more progressive music in the genres I enjoy. So, I have concluded that there is a small contingency of Suicide Silence fans that also operate on Blogspot, and most of their exposure has come from live shows, like me, or through 'word of web,' as in word-of-mouth but on the web. Other bloggers are mostly saying that Suicide Silence is one of their favorite bands, or they recently saw Suicide Silence in concert are were just as amazed and awe-struck and destructive as I was when I saw them. I obviously agree with their comments, and join them in their praise of one of the most refreshingly innovative and maliciously heavy bands to break onto the scene in a long time.

Suicide Silence: Check 'Em Out!
Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/suicidesilence
Website: http://www.suicidesilence.net/
Pure Volume: http://www.purevolume.com/suicidesilence

Paradigm Paradox

In "Web 2.0 for Designers," Richard McManus and Joshua Porter say:
In Web 1.0, a small number of writers created Web pages for a large number of readers. As a result, people could get information by going directly to the source: Adobe.com for graphic design issues, Microsoft.com for Windows issues, and CNN.com for news. Over time, however, more and more people started writing content in addition to reading it. This had an interesting effect- suddenly there was too much information to keep up with! We did not have enough time for everyone who wanted our attention and visiting all sites with relevant content simply wasn't possible. As personal publishing caught on and went mainstream, it became apparent that the Web 1.0 paradigm had to change.

After reading the above quotation, I can definitely say I have experienced the effect being described. Everyday I surf the web, I find another fun or noteworthy site, worth visiting again. My favorites folder is bulging, and the constant increase in independent website creation is a clear factor. To keep up with the ever-exploding content seen daily on the web, I tend to stick with websites that our dear to my heart, sites that I'm loyal to. Once I find a site that satisfies me, I will continue to visit it. The only exception would be if I happen to stumble upon a better substitute, or if someone showed me something better.
As far as web writing, web design, and especially web technologies, much can be said about these elements changing the landscape of information available on the web, and its management and control. With web writing, people are able to instantly publish content to a site from any word processing program and an Internet connection. Blogs, wikis, and even message boards allow users to publish literary pieces, provide scientific definitions, and interject their opinion at any given time. Furthermore, web design allows more creative and behind-the-scenes users to really make visiting certain websites an experience unto itself. By spicing up a once mundane aspect of the wweb web design has emerged as a visually dynamic and sensatiocharacteristicitic of the Web 2.0 paradigm shift. In addition, web technologies have allowed users to publish and edit content, text message, picture message, voice message, access the Internet, type in a word processor, all at one's fingertips at anytime, anywhere. These mobile devices, powered by wireless technology, are heading up this revolutionary paradigm shift into the realm of Web 2.0. We are seeing the future of media consumption in essence as well. With print dying off, many publications are turning their attention towards the web aspect of their business. With cell phones being able to do nearly anything today, people are finding it increasingly enjoyable and easy to upload personal content on the web and chat with friends via AIM (AOL Instant Messenger) and sites like Myspace and Facebook. Blackberry, Bluetooth, and every cell phone technology developer is, and will continue to, cash in on this shift to smaller, more personal and portable devices, made possible by the boom in attention to the Web and the desire to connto to one another and the media. In the future, it will be extremely difficult to manage or control the information on the web as long as the technology continues and people have the desire to upload their lives. As for now, writing, design, and technology is dependent solely on those proficient in the field and the general public usually waits for developments to be unveiled. Today's vital aspects of the web put control and management in the hands of the people who control production of the aspects themselves, serving as almost as self-regulatory presence.
The change is happening on its own; dictated, as always, by the technological firms and developers that control the flow of information by the caliber and precision of the products they create.

I Swear I'm Not a Dog

As the famous New Yorker cartoon says, "On the Internet, no one knows if you're a dog." It's remarkably easy to create a false identity (or several) on the Web, and to use these fake identities for a variety of nefarious purposes. I did this in my younger days as a web user, setting up fake e-mail addresses to sign on to things I probably shouldn't have been signing into. The nature of the Web as a medium also allows for anyone with access to publish content. So, as a consumer of Web writing in personal and professional contexts, one must consider the source to all pages found on the web, and investigate the accuracy and honesty of the content one reads on the web. There are several factors one must take into consideration when deciding whether a certain piece of content from the web is both accurate and honest. When I read on the web, I feel that independent news carriers are easier to trust and, in the end, more accurate, honest, and ethical towards the general public they serve. In my opinion, major news media sources cannot and should not be trusted since all their news and content is published or broadcasted with the goal of gaining profit and making money for the corporation that ultimately produces the content. I have found that there are more incidents of plagiarism in mainstream media sources compared to independent locales. The New Republic, The Washington Post, and even CBS Evening News with Dan Rather have been accused of plagiarism, or through a Bush-ian lens, this is known as 'harboring terrorists.' But I digress...
The web is especially tricky, and leaves more room for the disingenuous in the field of journalism. Honesty and accuracy is much harder to check and edit for when people now have the ability to publish content instantly and inexpensively. Therefore, as far as honesty and accuracy are concerned, I personally trust sites like www.indymedia.org and www.alternet.com for truthful, up-to-date, and relevant news on subjects I want to read about, rather than corporate-owned mass market media sources.

As a producer of Web writing, one must make it clear to readers that what is produced is being accurate and honest. I have found that shooting from the hip, ad-libing or improvising serves me well in both public discourse, daily life, and writing in blogs like this one. If everything you write is current and reflective, and worth people, users will find it and tack onto it; there is no need for sources weverythinghtig you say is yours. Also as producers, one must be careful not to divulge too much authenticating information about oneself, as well as being too vague and guarded with users and feedback from those that log on and read content. I expect there were and still are some sort of underground, anonymous writers or media producers working under an alias just to be gimmicky and different. This, in my mind, shreds one's credibility in a true discussion. What would their opinion matter if they couldn't be brave enough reveal the most elemendetailsials of one's existence. Therefore, one must be either spontaneously brilliant or cleverly and diligently resourceful toconsideredered accurate and honest in the realm of production. Working under false pretenses, identities, or inconclusive sources will damage, if not destroy oncredibilitylity in journalism on the web and beyond. Accuracy and honesty must always be upheld in the hearts and minds of those the media serve, which consists of the public, as well as those that create the media.

An (Inter)Net of Qualities

In my opinion, the three most important qualities of a web site, in order for it to be considered 'good' by my standards are: originality, humor, easy navigation

First off, a 'good' website needs to be original; whether it's content (www.ebaumsworld.com), layout (www.nhl.com), format(www.wikipedia.net), or the outright ability (www.google.com) of the site you visit. Originality could also be considered uniqueness, because many people stick to one or a few websites when they find a site that fits all their needs in one location. All the sites I mentioned are rivaled by some, imitated by many, and faithful to hordes of humans. These websites are all daily stops for me while I'm web browsing. However, many other sites which I frequent because of their unprecedented ability to gain hit after hit, and give users exactly what they want are: www.addictinggames.com, www.letsgowings.com, www.theonion.com, www.itsnumbertwelvetime.com, www.ebay.com, www.amazon.com

Secondly, a 'good' website should provide some humor to visiting users. A smile can be understood in any language, so humor is important while surfing the web and connecting to other users. Sites like www.theonion.com, www.ebaumsworld.com, www.collegehumor.com, and www.waytoomany.com have bare-bones layout and formatting, but the content they provide make these shabby sites into comedy goldmines. Humorous content comes in many different forms: audio, video, pictures, and text. Users can navigate theough various forms of media and connect to one another through said sites.

Lastly, a 'good' website should be easily navigable. Navigation is key to a successful website; if content and links are unorganized, poorly worded, poorly connected, or unintelligibly designed altogether, many users will not return to that site since it didn't provide a basic Internet tenet that most users expect. Sites like Google, Wikipedia, the NHL site, IMDB, Amazon, and eBay all utilize a left-oriented link list, usually garnished by a search bar amongst other features. This widely-excepted and frequently-used tendency to organize links on the left provide a clean, uniform aesthetic about a site. When a site is successfully organized, providing a slick layout and formatting, many users will frequent the site and consider it 'good.'