Archive for January, 2008
web mag analysis
Vanityfair.com makes fairly strong use of web2.0 features. A link to RSS feeds is located at the bottom of the homepage, or at the top and bottom of all article pages. Available feeds include “The latest from VanityFair.com” which is features and columns about society, celebrities, and politics; “Wolcott’s Blog”, where James Wolcott “blogs about the intersection of politics and culture”; and “V.F. Dish”, which is a forum where V.F. readers can chat about news, celebrities, movies, politics, etc. These feeds can be added via My Yahoo, Google, and Bloglines. There’s also a link called “What is RSS” which explains Really Simple Syndication and how it can benefit the Vanity Fair reader. Besides RSS, VanityFair.com also offers opportunities to use social bookmarking services. Specifically, there is an option at the bottom of all article pages to “digg this”, “add to del.icio.us”, or “add to reddit”. Some articles also have embedded video, though not all.
While RSS feeds get prominent position on Vanity Fair.com, and are very accessible and user friendly, social bookmarking tools are a little harder to find—if you didn’t know what you were looking for, you might not locate them. Specifically, the links to the bookmarking services are in small, unexceptional print, and have no identifying logo. It would perhaps be helpful to include the logos and to place the bookmarking links at the top of articles where they would be easier to spot and utilize. In general, all of the web2.0 features would help current Vanity Fair readers keep up-to-date with the magazine between issues. Stakeholders interested in determining who Vanity Fair’s readers are and what they are reading (such as editorial staff and the publisher) would be able to trace this information through the bookmarking services and feeds. This would allow these stakeholders to better understand and cater to their readership.
While Chatelaine.ca does have web2.0 features, it could probably benefit from some refinement in terms and accessibility and workability. There is a link to RSS feeds at the bottom of the homepage, and also at the right side of any content pages. When you click any of the RSS feeds links, it directs you to a short blurb explaining RSS, and a button to subscribe to the Chatelaine feed. There is just one general feed for the site. When I clicked the link, I got a “page cannot display” message. I am not sure if this is a permanent issue with Chatelaine.ca, or only a temporary one—either way, I would not have been able to subscribe to the Chatelaine feed had I wanted to.
At the end of every article page you have an option to “Digg this”, “Post to del.icio.us” or “Share on Facebook”. All of these links include the recognizable logos of the bookmarking tools and have prominent, obvious placement, which could only be improved by placement at the top (instead of bottom) of article pages. Chatelaine.ca also has one blog called “Fresh Living with Jennifer Danter”. There are also forums where readers can post their photos, such as “The View From Your Window” and “Photos of Your Pets”. Despite these opportunities for reader interaction, Chatelaine.ca fails because it is difficult to locate said options. On top of this, the number of pop-up ads on the site made it very frustrating to navigate. In other words, the value of the web2.0 features is almost drained entirely by poor execution.
EntertainmentWeekly.com makes excellent use of web2.0 features. Right under “The Latest News” link, which has top position on the EW homepage, is an RSS link called “Get the Latest”. There is also an RSS link at the bottom of the homepage. In total, EW has 18 RSS feeds to choose from, including “DVD Reviews”, “TV Watch”, and “American Idol News”. The feeds can be subscribed to through My AOL, Google, My Yahoo, My MSN, and netvibes. There is also a small description of RSS feeds and how they work when you click an RSS link. In addition to RSS, EntertainmentWeekly.com uses social bookmarking tools. At the top of all article pages is an “add it” link. Scrolling over this link gives you the option of adding the article to any number of bookmarking services, including del.icio.us, Technorati, and Digg. All of the bookmarking services are represented by their respective logos. The EW website also includes two blogs: PopWatch and Hollywood Insider, which are updated frequently. Many of the web articles have embedded video. There was one missing feature that I found surprising: no reader forums. There is no place on EW’s site (that I could find) where readers can interact and voice their opinion.
Despite this one flaw, of the three sites I analyzed, EntertainmentWeekly.com was by far the strongest in terms of its web2.0 capabilities. The website is easily navigated and extremely cohesive. Certainly such extensive web content is a good way to lure new EW readers, while keeping existing ones. In addition, editors will be able to know what articles, writers, and topics are most popular by tracking which feeds are most popular and what content is being bookmarked. The site is also an excellent way to track reader demographics (via such services as google analytics) which can then be used to gain advertisers.
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