3 Favorite Websites
I must admit, as a blogger and an absolute word nerd, Dictionary.com sits on my toolbar of bookmarks and – guilty as charged – gets utilized quite frequently. Though we’re all still getting acquainted, I wanted be absolutely transparent about my linguistic dorkiness in case I start using random words like “gallimaufry” and “gumption” – just smile and nod. But enough disclaiming, you’ll learn more about me soon enough, and I about you; excluding Dictionary.com for y'all's sake, below are analyses of some of my favorite websites:
Part of my music obsessions involves discovering new artists and sounds; though Spotify, Pandora, and Youtube are great alternatives, SoundCloud makes listening to music dynamic, interactive, and allows fans to feel connected to the artists, while serving as a customized repository for music you like.
On the homepage, your eyes are immediately drawn to the feed songs in their “equalizer” form. Even when you take a step back, the songs take precedence over everything else – as they should! The site itself is visually both simple and basic, intuitive, conducive of interaction, and bright. Functionally, the site is very interactive, entertaining, explorative, dynamic, and real-time. The visuals and functionality go hand-in-hand as the site is trying to provide a platform for dynamic listeners, rather than a visually stunning site for people to enjoy. SoundCloud is all about the audial content, and as most people stream music constantly in the background of their browser while doing other work, there’s not much need to make it so aesthetically pleasing.
With any social media platform, there is a bit of a learning curve with SoundCloud, as the value of your experience increases with your number of Followers and song ‘Likes,’ but as an avid user, the feed on the homepage provides me with the exact content I’m looking for – the newest uploaded or more recently reposted songs, aka fresh content! Users looking to follow specific artists can do so by a mere search, while those looking to explore broader genres of music can do so by browsing through pre-defined categories of music such as “Electronic” “Trending,” or “ Folk.”
I absolutely adore SoundCloud and see it as a crucial lifeline to my daily happiness – okay, okay, that may be a bit of an exaggeration, but it’s critical to my role as an electronic music blogger and a music lover!
As a journalism major, I read a lot of online publications, and - sorry, New York Times – but FastCompany is one of my favorites. Not only is the focus on business, innovations, and largely technology, invigorating, but also the design complements the content. And they are always GREAT on Twitter!
When you first visit, the homepage slams you with vivacious visuals, and even after scrolling beyond the initial fold, you notice images dominate your senses before the headlines or text. FastCompany exists to inform readers on innovation and business, so it makes sense that visually, the site is vibrant, engaging, busy, image-dominated, and youthful. Functionally, I would also consider FastCompany engaging, as well as informative, yet fun, stimulating and fresh.
The site makes it easier to browse through content and search for something in particular, as the homepage is a constantly updated feed of recent content. There is a small search function at the top-right of the page, but I would probably use Google if I needed to search for something – just through personal habit. As with most publications, FastCompany provides a “Trending Stories” sidebar and a categorized navigation tabs for facilitated perusal.
FastCompany presents interesting content with lots of multimedia elements, so that it feels very social and captivating. I spend a lot of time reading FastCompany articles because it makes me feel smarter and often rids me of some ennui!
I’m going to sound like an annoying, broken record talking about EDM and my craze for music – but please bear with me. EDMTunes is the blog I write for, so obviously, it’s one of my favorite sites and one I spend a lot of time on. I’ll be honest – functionally and visually – it needs much improvement, but the content consisting of new music releases, reviews, interviews, events, and news is top notch.
Like with most sites with feeds, your eye is mostly drawn to the elements in that feed. And because we know people like visuals, we specifically lead our posts with an image. After that, you may be led to the sidebar where our most Popular posts and Giveaways are lists, because, who doesn’t like free stuff?!
I’m thankful for the opportunity to analyze the EDMTunes site as, maybe after Dev Bootcamp, I can help to revamp the pain points I identify now! Visually, our site is basic, plain, static, messy on top, and simple (sorry, editors!). But to our defense, our functionality is straightforward as well: to provide EDM news, amass sets, and garner social media interaction. It’s practical, informative, and gets people the music they want – so there isn’t a huge disjunction between visual and functional characteristics, though there’s much room for improvement.
Like with FastCompany, if readers are looking for the latest content, the feed provides that very well. Our navigation bar above facilitates searching content by topic, while the search bar allows for specific searches – but I suggest using Google with “EDMTunes ____” instead for better results.
I’m in love with the people, content, and work of EDMTunes, so it obviously makes me feel absolutely exhilarated, but I know that’s not the passion portrayed through the physical site. This shall be fixed!
