Module 3 - Web site Critique

365gay.com - Bending the Straight-Line News

Alright, I'll admit it. Like most internet users, I have a list of favorite online activities that I participate in every day. It seems to me that this habitual action takes over my body as soon as I get to work. With coffee in hand, I log on to cnn.com for the latest headlines. After that, I check my various e-mail accounts. That's right, I said accounts. Clearly one account wouldn't be enough. During lunch I usually log onto 365gay.com, an online forum for the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community in order to catch up on the latest LGBT headlines. It is this Web site that I have chosen to critique.

Utilization of the Web site

If it seems a little silly to specify "LGBT headlines," it's really not. 365gay.com is a central site that allows me to keep up with the current issues and events that directly effect the LGBT community in the United States and all over the world. It is a valuable source that offers news I probably wouldn't, and most often don't, find on cnn.com or any of the various mainstream news sites. Sure, I can sometimes find similar stories on these Web sites, but it's amazing to see how subtle the omission of a word or phrase can really "straighten" a news story for mass audiences.

Content

For me, the site's content is the number one criterion for holding my attention. I feel that 365gay.com is a credible source because it is one of the most well-known and widely-used forums for the LGBT community. It offers inclusive information that is filtered for content while appealing to a variety of interests. In the past, I primarily used planetout.com as my LGBT news source. This quickly changed to 365gay.com as I became greatly discouraged by the level of superficiality that the site conveyed. News seemed to come last in its presentation of issues and I felt that planetout.com didn't have a good grasp on the issues that are supposedly "important" to the greater LGBT community.

365gay.com delivers valuable information in a very concise and user-friendly format. Most of the articles posted on the site are written by staff members of the 365 gay.com news center. Other articles are pulled from wire services such as the Associated Press. I assume the articles have to pass some sort of LGBT-inclusive and pertinent test in order to be included. The articles follow the inverted-pyramid system of news writing, in that the most important information is presented toward the top of the article.

As far as the overall content of the site, it is broken up into nine distinct categories: News & Issues, Entertainment, Health, Style, Your Money, Travel, People, Opinion and Just For Fun. After clicking on a specific category, the information is further broken down into sub-categories of information to best suit the user's needs. The Health page would provide a good example of this layering technique. As you can see, it is broken up into smaller categories which consist of Fitness & Sports, Gay Men's Health, Lesbian Health, HIV/AIDS and Queer Science.

Site Navigation and Design

365gay.com is fairly easy to navigate because of the tabs along the top and the side of each page. The tabs keep the user anchored and make it less confusing to move back and forth between the categories. I know I get lost at times in the cracks and crevices of other Web sites. The use of graphics, such as charts and graphs, as well as photos, greatly enhances the content of the site because it adds depth to each category or article. Perhaps words and content make the site, but graphics help to bring a sense of depth and familiarity to the information.

365gay.com provides users with a search function that enables them to search for specific information on the site or to search for additional information on the internet. Combine these great features with the membership function, which allow users to access chat rooms and various discussion forums, and it is easy to see that 365gay.com holds a certain level of interactivity.

Recommendations

My specific recommendations to 365gay.com would consist of adding hyperlinks in the body of its news articles. The fact that there are no links, no highlighted or italicized text and no color tends to make it difficult to scan the article for information. The ability for readers to scan the content of a Web site is very important because it provides a quick assessment of whether or not an article is worth reading and what type of information the article might contain.

As well, I would ease up on the huge advertisements, which usually consist of information about personal ads or sex enhancers. Obviously, advertising comprises a big component of online life, but I could do without the huge pop-up ads of half-naked men. Kind of makes checking the site at work problematic. Wonder what my co-worker thinks... Advertising that mainly focuses on selling sex to the LGBT community only helps to perpetuate the negative stereotype that you can't take the sexual out of the homosexual. Our community is so much more than that.

Conclusion

My general consensus is that, much like planetout.com and other LGBT forums, 365gay.com has a real problem with equal visibility for the lesbian, bisexual and transgender and people of color components of the LGBT community. Sure the content of the news articles appeal to almost everyone in the LGBT community but much of the site's content appeals more toward white, gay males. Even the name of the site, which uses gay as an umbrella term, lends itself to making other aspects of the community invisible.

Writing Workshop Conclusion

I just wanted to thank my writing workshop partner, Christy, for completing this exercise with me. I think we both realized how difficult it can be to exchange revision/feedback through an online forum. I learned a lot from this class module and will take away with me some great information.

I reviewed Christy's comments about my initial piece and was very appreciative of her kind words. I decided to look back over my piece from last semester with fresh eyes and to make a few adjustments of my own.

"Don't Forget the Rest of Us"

The emergence of new global communication technologies will forever change the way we interact as an integrated worldwide community. The Internet, which was once a medium accessible only to the technologically advanced, has now become widely available to the general public. The introduction of user-friendly e-mail, chat rooms, web sites and weblogs has created an abundance of new communities springing up all over the virtual map, but who is being left behind?

Individuals who are fortunate enough to have access to these technologies are no longer held back by the identities created for us in a socially constructed society. In the real world, our identities are often put on us, much like labels, and are usually based on the preconceived notions of what it means to be a certain sex, gender, race, sexual orientation, class, religion, age, etc. In the virtual world, we can be represented solely by our minds and creativity if we choose to shed our socially-prescribed identities in favor of our own self-awareness. There is a space for all of us to be heard and we are allowed to voice our opinions, feelings, and ideas in any way that we want without the fear of stepping beyond our "roles" in society. I can think of no better way to do this than with a weblog.

According to Rebecca Blood, one of the original creators of a web journal, "Free-style blogs are nothing less than an outbreak of self-expression. Each is evidence of a staggering shift from an age of carefully controlled information provided by sanctioned authorities (and artists), to an unprecedented opportunity for individual expression on a worldwide scale. Each kind of weblog empowers individuals on many levels." (weblogs: a history and perspective, Rebecca Blood)

With the click of the button, we are allowed to transport ourselves to places unimaginable, meet people we never thought we would encounter and, in our own way, allow diversity into our lives. Weblogs are a great way for us to share our opinions and to learn about people, places and things that are much different from what we already know. At the same time, we are able to build new communities and support systems if we choose to focus our energies on the people and things we find most interesting.

These new virtual communities are nothing like we've ever seen before because they are transnational. In a sense, they exist by virtue of common interests and influences and are not generally regulated by the barriers created by political tensions or geographic locations.

One of the things I am greatly interested in is the increased visibility of social movements in underdeveloped countries. It is true that social movements here in the United States, such as the womens' rights movement, the civil rights movement and the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender rights movement have greatly influenced the far corners of the world, but by how much? It is an over-simplified assumption that movements in the Third World are a recent phenomenon that were primarily ignited by "westernized" movements. A more reasonable explanation of the increased visibility would be cultural globalization and the advancement and impact of new global communication technologies.

Through my research, I have been able to find some well-informed weblogs that deal specifically with LGBT politics and social movements. As a sexual minority and a veteran of the armed forces, these issues are really important to me because they directly impact my life. Josh Michael's blog contains links to many of the top LGBT news stories from around the world. QueerFilter allows the user to search for personal blogs by state, country, language, gender and/or sexual orientation.

Sexual minorities are often pushed to the margins of society in varying degrees, but with the ability to access new communication technologies, no one has to be left behind. LGBT Americans have to deal with the prospect of an anti-gay federal marriage amendment, but other sexual minorities around the world may face a death sentence if their sexual orientation is revealed or discovered. Often, finding a community that is truly accepting of us is a difficult thing to do in the real world, but weblogs just might be a way to make a space of our own.

Writing Workshop

I am very excited to start the next module for this class, which consists of a writing workshop. I have selected a piece that was written for Deb in my JOMC 223 class. It is actually the second post that I had ever written for my previous blog, Michelle's Freedom Forum. The piece is entitled Don't Forget the Rest of Us and talks a little bit about building an online community for sexual minorities who are usually pushed to the margins of society.

Module 1: Exercises 1-6

Exercise 1.1: Being Brief

"People shouldn't fear anything except being fearful, and we should stick together on this so we can't be defeated."

More concise: "The only thing we have to fear is fear itself." - Franklin D. Roosevelt.

"The male gender is so different from the female gender that it is almost as if the two are from completely different planets altogether."

More concise: "Men are from Mars, women are from Venus." - John Gray

"Before there was anything else, the all-powerful omniscient, omnipresent being of all beings created out of nothing both what we know of today as the earth and that which we do not yet know of - the heavens."

More concise: "In the beginning, god created the heavens and the earth." - Genesis 1:1

Exercise 1.2: Being Precise

Ambiguous vs. Ambivalent

• As I watched the two friends intimately laugh, I began to wonder about the ambiguous nature of their relationship.
• The mayor took an ambivalent stance when questioned by reporters.

Healthy vs. Healthful

• Sustaining an exercise regime will ensure a healthy future.
• Fruits and vegetables comprise a healthful element of nutrition.

Conscience vs. Conscious

• Having stolen the pack of gum, her conscience directed her to return it to the store.
• Knowing that stealing is wrong, she made a conscious decision to steal the gum.

Apprise vs. Appraise

• By posting speed limit signs within city limits, the police hoped to apprise drivers of the local regulations.
• In desperate need of money, she went to have her ring appraised.

Disinterested vs. Uninterested

• The tardy student seemed uninterested in what the principal had to say.
• The mediator tried to remain disinterested in the students' dispute.

Affect vs. Effect

• Hundreds of millions of people were affected by the recent tsunami.
• This natural disaster will have a lasting effect.

Exercise 1.3: Being Active

"The labor leaders were frustrated by the latest offer which forced them to go through with the strike."

More active: "With management's attempt for reconciliation not meeting expectations, the labor leaders announce with frustration in their voice that the strike would go on."

"She walked into the room without saying a word, sat down and looked at me."

More active: "Strolling into the room with the grace and ease of a trained dancer, her silence startled me as she took her place at the table and turned her gaze toward me."

Exercises 1.4 and 1.5: Being Imaginative

1.4: Cliches to avoid

Armed to the teeth. Dressed to the nines. Butt crack of dawn (maybe that's just my family). Slippery slope. Stitch in time saves nine. Kill two birds with one stone. Don't look a gift horse in the mouth. Is the glass half empty or half full? Monkey on my back. The cat's meow. And so on and so forth.....

1.5: Analogies

• Much like the flu vaccine shortage, Internet users can fall victim to viruses if they do not have adequate protection in place.
• Like a multi-laned highway, the Internet has various speeds: The far right lane is for dial-up, the far left lane is for T3 connections and broadband users get the middle lanes.

Exercise 1.6: Being Consistent

"U.S. Airways promises a bounty of flights that are on time, have convenient connections and offer a well-balanced in-flight meal."

More consistent: "U.S. Airways promises a bounty of flights that are on time, have convenient connections and offer well-balanced in-flight meals."

"Heroes in movies are always wealthy, always get the girl, wear high fashion and usually arrive at the scene about two seconds after the bad guy has left."

More consistent: "Heroes in movies are always wealthy, always get the girl, always wear high fashion and almost always arrive at the scene about two seconds after the bad guy leaves."

"Speaking of movies, telephones in movies are always knocked over if they wake up a character, never ring more than three times before getting answered, and get restored by frantically tapping on the cradle and shouting, "Hello? Hello?"

More consistent: "Speaking of movies, telephones in movies are always knocked over if they wake up a character, never ring more than three times before being answered, and are restored by frantically tapping on the cradle and shouting, "Hello? Hello?"

Welcome to my NEW blog for JOMC 221

For anyone who has been reading my blog, I am sort of shifting gears now in anticipation of my new class, Writing for Digital Media. I will continue focusing my attention on the impact that media and new technologies have on the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community.

For anyone who is just now logging on to my blog, please visit my personal Web site by clicking on the "about me" section under my profile.