This week I decided to stray from my personal reflections regarding argumentation and creative manifestations of expression and, instead, take up the task of probing the web to find a few reputable sites related to my area of exploration. In scanning the thousands of scholarly websites related to my topic, I was also surprised to see there was an equal amount of jargon. Because the internet is a mass medium of communication, new ideas are constantly replacing older ones and, as a result, web critique is an ever-changing phenomena. Keeping that in mind, however, there are six criteria that the Webby Awards have classified as critical aspects to examine when evaluating any website on the web. While most websites may not score a perfect ten across the table, the criteria serves its importance in creating categories that can help one determine particular features of a site that may or may not be as strong. The six criteria, as seen on the Webby Awards website are as follows: content, structure and navigation, visual design, functionality, interactivity, and overall experience. For blogs, specifically, another reputable standard of evaluation is recommended, the IMSA criteria. The ten websites that I have researched met the Webby Awards criteria and have proven to be reputable recourses for my topic. The first website, 50mm Los Angeles is a comprehensive graffiti art website that is successful in affirming the content, interactive, and navigational characteristics of the Webby awards criteria. This website spotlights on murals, graffiti art, guerrilla art, street art and lifestyle photography in Los Angeles. The content is multi dimensional and uses both text, music, as well as the inclusion of video highlights that serve to strengthen the author's view of graffiti as a form of art. The inclusion of a public forum where visitors can post and respond to others establishes the website as interactive and in a sense it can be viewed as a quiet conversation between regular visitors. The site is also credible wherein the author, Too Tall Jahmal, has been established as a veteran Los Angeles graffiti writer. Clearly, the author has experience and authority and can be trusted to construct a knowledgeable site.While researching similar sites on art in Los Angeles I came across another intriguing recourse. Neckcns is a website that delivers the most recent graffiti art and is most successful in the website structure and navigation. Although the website has many links, it is well organized, easy to navigate and functional. The major drawback, however, lays within aesthetics- the colors are not very inviting and do not match the creativity of the topic. An example of one website that is aesthetically pleasing and well designed is Great Dance. The color scheme is basic, it does not take away or override the content. Instead, it draws the reader towards its three main columns: the articles, the recent comments, and the recent video posts. Its greatest success is in its balance. There were no major drawbacks. Another great recourse is Video Art, which seeks to create an online community that assists artists in navigating the technical aspects of production and connects artists to curators, producers, and the public. The greatest aspect of success is in its content, the website is an easily searchable online archive. The videos are navigationally sound and they load quickly. Additionally, a site named Wooster Collective was particularly knowledgeable. The site is dedicated to showcasing street art around the world. The content was particularly engaging, a site where young artists can publish their art as a group or collectively often times focusing on similar topics or messages. The only drawback to this site was the dense amount of information placed on one single page. It would be easier to navigate if the author placed more links on the side instead of loading all the videos on one page. The website Voice of Dance was a great website that has many features and links, related to all types of dance. It was well designed, functional, and easy to navigate. It was especially interesting to see a website that was able to be extremely informative and maintain a clean structure. In scoping the web for websites having to do with different forms of persuasion I encountered two websites having to do with both law and communication, both of which I hope to persuasively argue in further blogs. Both the website Find Law and National Communication Association were a two fairly straightforward academic sites. The Find Law website was by far the easiest site to navigate and it was also structured well.Throughout the search I came across some very interesting blogs. A fantastic blog is Art.Blogging.La, a site that is useful in informing visitors about the recent art exhibits in the Los Angeles area. The site gives personal reflections and advice on the exhibits. Although the site is easy to navigate it is not very multifaceted. One of the best sites I encountered was Communication Nation, a site produced by the founder of XPlane, the visual thinking company. This site was structured well and visually pleasing-the material was also astounding because it links visuality to many areas of life, exactly what I hope to achieve in this blog.
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