What I Look for in a Website
Consistency – A site has to be updated regularly if it expects people to visit daily. Obviously delivering fresh, well written, thought provoking content is important as well.
Few Ads – I’m not an ad snob and I understand that sites have to make money but blatant trickery to get people to click on ads is the most annoying thing a site can do. It’s not the end all but I prefer a site that doesn’t care if I sample their work without throwing ads in my face.
Simple Navigation – When I click on a link or button, I shouldn’t be confused where I’m being led. The less links to get somewhere, the better. ESPN comes to my mind as I site I’m always getting lost in.
Fuck Slideshows – I refuse to sit through slideshows. Why sites don’t understand that scrolling down to view more pictures is advantageous to clicking through a fucking slideshow, I won’t understand. Waiting and clicking through a slideshow is worse than Donald Sterling giving a speech at Howard University.
My Favorite Websites
6. Barstool Sports – I’ve been extremely disappointed by Barstool lately. This site will be dropping off my list because it’s being diluted with too much useless information. The bloggers have developed personalities that are bigger than Smitty’s head and the site has overloaded everything that has made it popular. They have 6 daily local smokeshows. 6? 6 smokeshows! There are 7 cities reporting now and that leads to more re-posts and a general overflow of nonsense. I still visit this site but not as much when I truly cared about the Philly section.
5. Facebook – For bashing Facebook as much as I do it’s hard to believe I still check it daily. I honestly can’t even explain why other than shamelessly self promoting my blog. I think it’s because it allows me to stay in contact with people who would absolutely vanish from my life otherwise. I think the real question is why should I care if I girl I went to college with, and who I will never see again, is having a baby? This information holds a 0.0 on my importance scale. Facebook is flooded with this but for some reason I still visit. Probably because I have to compare other people to myself and ultimately decide who is interesting and who is not.
4. Twitter – My fondness for Twitter is fading slowly. The inability to get followers is tiresome. I try tweeting, I try tagging, I try re-tweeting, and I still get nothing. I think it’s an incredibly powerful platform that people are not utilizing because they are too stupid to understand how to use it. Not to mention that Tweets have become a credible source of information. For celebrities, there is no faster way of reaching millions of people instantly. Twitter is actually something I use on my phone more than my desktop. It’s the ultimate boredom quencher for a few minutes.
3. Wikipedia – I trust Wikipedia for information. It’s the first source I check for anything in regards to history, music, movies, sports, and other relevant information. Google obviously considers it a wonderful source as it constantly comes up high in the rankings. I’m not sure how trusted every single page is with its accuracy but it’s good enough for me. I don’t know of many sites who are respected in so many areas as Wikipedia is.
2. Google – Name one reason Google shouldn’t be #1? You can’t. The ability to provide credible websites in a matter of seconds for any search that comes to my brain is the 2nd best invention of this century. The algorithm to sort by relevance is something that some genius started and it is constantly being tweaked and improved. If I’m curious about Kate Upton’s boobs, I can pop it into Google and come up with something. Google in the hub for finding information that is created on the amazing internet (#1 invention). It is by far my most visited website but more enjoyment is found from my #1.
1. Reddit – This has become my favorite website. As I first started using Reddit, I would sift through the posts and mindlessly click on things I found interesting. This brought about an average experience as I thought the memes weren’t that great and some of the culture was geeky. As I learned how to navigate through the posts a little better and learned about the sub-reddits, I was opened to a fabulous world of creative, witty, smart posts and pictures that draw minds way brighter than mine.
For instance, the sub-reddit of Philadelphia is a better source of info than philly.com. A greater variety of articles are posted than a single website and then people who live in the areas actually comment on them. I even opened up an account for Reddit and got sucked into upvoting and even sharing a link or two. If a post I write gets notoriety on Reddit, the possibilities are endless. The comments on the posts are also filled with humor. Reading the top comment of posts you like is a must because they always deliver. I think another huge factor is their news is usually the first to hit the internet. I see reposts on others sites of things posted on Reddit hours before. Reddit has become my favorite website.
Honorable Mention
Yahoo – It’s late to the punch in just about every instance but I still will check their finance section and their fantasy sports are hands down my favorite.
Grantland – The articles can get too lengthy sometimes but they write about a lot of content I like.
Bansheemann7 & Gourlay’s Goodies – How could I not mention websites that I visit daily? This 3 person triumvirate will start delivering content that more than 3 people will read in due time.
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