The Good And The Bad

Internet has been a big part of our lives for a while now, and it will just increase over time. With twitter, tumblr and Facebook and other social networking sites, we see more and more about people's lives, including celebrities'. Reading Deanna Zandt's blog, I realized how true it is about the things she spoke of. One particular part that hit me was about how ten years ago, when you look up a business online and couldn't find a website, it was okay. However, in this day and age, when we look up a business online and there's no website whatsoever, you would think it was weird or even suspicious of the business, which leads to Brian Clark's article. The article covers how to get "notice" in the internet world. When I search for something specific on Google or any search engine, I immediately find the page or the product that I am looking for. Sometime I take this for granted, because once in a while, when searching for a product, there are no immediate site where I can just click and see the product. I have to click on MANY links and sometimes still can't find what I am looking for. The article said to have a page that someone can find easily and have the information that the user is looking for, it must have a clear content, keyword, title tag or headlines and the way it is marketed. In my web programming site, my professor often encourage us to add a mata tag on our website so that it will be easier for people to find the site. In the mata tag, you can add keywords on what the site is about, i.e. makeup, dogs, cats...etc.

The first good site that I immediately think of is Michelle Phan's blog. She is a makeup guru who started her career on YouTube. I follow her on Facebook and YouTube and would see her updates on her blog. Her blog is very self-explanitory, showing tips on makeup, skincare, and everyday life about herself. Her site is a good site because she connects with her readers. She doesn't brag about herself or let people think that she's rich and almighty. She would tell her readers about her flaws, her goals, and encourage her readers to follow their dreams. Deanna Zandt talks about ambient awareness, and that is how I and Michelle's readers feel. The way we follow her, over time we get the picture of who she is and feel like we are the same. We show our support and love because we know she is real.

Another good site is All You Desire. This site is for nail polish fanatics (i.e me). The blogger, I don't know her name, swatches a lot of different brands of nail polish. This is a good site because she is very informative and her content are great! When you are unfamiliar with a nail polish brand, you can go to her site and she will most likely have color swatches from that brand. She also gives reviews on the brand, the color, and new season collections. She is straight to the point and it gives the reader a sense of trust because she is an expert in nail polish.

One of the bad site that I stumble upon is a video on YouTube. Although YouTube is not a particularly bad site, some of the videos on there is. The video that I saw is of Bobbi Kristina Brown, daughter of the late Whitney Houston singing an Adele song "Someone Like You." It wasn't the singing that was bad, it was the pop up while she was singing. The pop up promotes "Sex Tape, click on this link." According to Brian Clark's article, it is a bad content because instead of listening to the singing, you are distracted by the popup. People would do anything to have more views on YouTube. Some videos have MANY MANY tags that doesn't even relate to the video itself so that when someone let say, search for Justin Bieber but videos not about Justin would show up. This is very misleading, and it is using the keywords and content for the wrong reason.

Another bad site is Eva Air because their homepage is too crowded which gives visitors a hard time to find information if they want to use their airline. Their site also have advertisements that are competing with important information about the airline. Sure, they have a lot of content, but they are everywhere, and it is hard to focus on one thing. The main page should just have the form of booking flights and checking flights and other FAQ/important information that users need. This website can ruin the image of the airline because even if the airline service is great, but their site can be misleading.