. It seems like so many Buffalo based projects involving fewer people, less time, less information, and less media have been written up in Artvoice and Buffalo Rising, yet neither of them has written about our existence.
This, despite the fact the Arvoice actually hosts us, which I am eternally greatful for, and that Bufflao Rising promised to do an article last year as a favor for me helping them fix their server in a pinch. So much for that promise.
Same thing with wnymedia.net Whenever they refer to the blogosphere we simply don't exist.
I really don't how despite contributing over 20,000 journal entries and even more imagery and media to the buffalo blogging scene since 2003 we are still under the radar. I guess in a way it pays off keep the community small and intimate but on the other hand it kind of feels like a slap in the face to what we have accomplished with no commercial gain. Anyone have something to say about this?
Whoever can change the situation gets an honorary title on their userpic, lol. That's all I have to offer right now.
Sorry, I did not intend it to read like I was trying to weed you out (e:britian) .
I really did not mean to sound like I wanted more of a buzz or a was trying to get a whole lot of new users. Not that I am against a bunch of new people journaling. Apparently, that is how everyone took it.
I was aggravated because many of the responses did not adress the actual topic of my article which was about getting recognition for the content all the bloggers on the site have already created about themselves and about the City of Buffalo.
It is no small feat that so many searches for information about Buffalo bring the user here. That is what I was talking about, that is what I was asking for recognition for.
Clearly, that has nothing to do with the easy of uploading photos, or setting up your user sound ;)
oh boy...
feelings are getting hurt, which I'm sure was not intended...
I must say... now that I've been on the site a while, everything is pretty much second nature and seems intuitive. But if I think back to when I joined- it DID take me a while to figure it out. Not that it's difficult, per se, but I had to play around for a bit. Which is fine, and maybe you don't want this to be a 'blogging for dummies' site [not calling anyone a dummy!!]- but I do agree that there are areas that could be tweaked.
But don't take that as a criticism or lack of appreciation of all your hard work paul, b/c that's not my point- AT ALL- Just saying that some things that seem obvious after time, maybe aren't quite so obvious at first glance.
Sorry Paul. I thought the comments I made (the ones LeeTee mentioned) were polite and helpful. It was not my intention to offend you or the work you have done with this site. I read your news item and thought you were asking for ideas to get more of a buzz going about your site. I see now that I was wrong.
Although I have spent considerably longer than five minutes figuring your site out, and have indeed read the getting started guide, I will assume that I am one of those who are not part of your "target audience" and will consider myself "weeded out".
Thanks Leetee - while I am interested in making things easier, as Leetee pointed out it isn't really terribly hard as many "non-web" people have figured it out.
Signup definitely could use an overhaul. But this journal was mostly about getting recognition for what we already accomplished with the few hundred people we have had than attracting new users.
People that aren't willing to give it the 5 minutes of attention span to figure out authoring a journal or read the getting started guide aren't really my target audience, and I would even say those people have been intentionally weeded out.
Certain features, like linking to another users journal are intentionally not part of the interface. The act of people figuring out that kind of technique involves asking other users which significantly contributes to a users sense of belonging in my opinion.
To add to (e:lizabeth)'s comment, I have noticed myself that (e:strip) has some areas where usability could be improved for people new to the site. I've got a few ideas I could send you (I was going to keep it via e-mail unless you're okay with a public post). Also, you may want to do some usability testing where you get some people who've never used (e:strip) before and watch them do tasks such as:
-- Signing up for an account
-- Making a post
-- Commenting on another peep's journal
-- Linking to another peep's journal entry
-- Adding a photo to their post
-- etc.
If you think that's a good idea, I'd love to sit in on some of the testing as I spent a whole summer a few years back doing it and know a few important questions to ask.
I wonder if we could become a little more content-heavy on the front page: A "what we're about" part under the banner, and then Headlines/userpics and introductions from either the most recent stories, or most liked-stories (a la Digg and sites like that).
Btw, I don't really pretend to know what's best--my web skills are almost 0, so I'm just thinking about what I like.
I hear ya.
few quick thoughts..
I'll stop here for now- its easier to talk than write this out. Lets catch up soon!
I have a some theories but I'm not sure since they are only thories.
First of all there are no ads and it is commerical free. I like that aspect of it and it means that there is no conflict of interest in terms of what people like. But it also means that no companies would be interested in the site since they can't sell products or make any money off the site.
My second theory ties in a little bit with my first theory. I think most people think of the Elmwood Strip or as we are known as estrip as a bunch of businesses and a place to shop but yet we aren't connected to any of that. In this case (e:strip) is about people who live in that area. I'm not saying that is bad or the name of the site should change but I know when I first joined when I saw the chalk in front of stores that is what I guessed the site was and I was so wrong but I still joined anyways.
My third theory (e:zobar) touched on a little bit. Here we are more personal journals and journals about what we do and what we think. It isn't like I write about sports and there is a sports journal. Then there is a journal that they are all about City issues or about the news. If some comes to visit the site and wants to talk about that new building that is propossed they would have to see if anyone had that as a topic of there journal. One other thing that ties into that is also that we are also an internet community and not just a bloging site. I know that when I joined there was no one I knew in person on the site but that many others new each other before they joined. I think that is an important factor. That can be intimadating it really can be. It is a real social networking site (yes myspace if you keep everyone to bands and people from your city can be) unlike myspace where most people don't know anyone or maybe just a few people on their friends list. I do think that could be a factor.
All I can really say is that they are theories. I don't work for the news media so I can't say. But what I will say is that every bloging site is different and has its own crowd or what ever and maybe the news people don't look at (e:strip) in that same way or maybe they have never heard of it.
For us, (e:Strip) was indeed an unofficial welcome to Buffalo, (e:Paul). The advice and input from (e:Strippers) was valuable. (E:Uncutsaniflush) joined first, then we went to (e:Ajay)'s going away and i joined. I know, i'm weird that i met (e:Strippers) then joined. And i didn't even know you before (e:Strip) or when it was merely your thesis!!
(e:Britian), i am not sure i understand your point. How is clicking on links and scrolling "messing around"? Isn't it a good thing to have a main page to explain what (e:Strip) is and then have links that can get you where you want to read? I think it is, but i am no web designer... and yes, i did need to ask a few times to get around, but i reckon if i can figure it out, anyone can.
If you are saying it might be more user friendly to have the list on the right hand side to be the latest journals and not just the (e:peeps) that have posted journals, then i agree. I sometimes miss someone's journal because they have posted more than once. But then again, i have learned, with (e:Paul), to always always always scroll down... chances are, there are more than one journal there!
As for the comments on the main page, just click on the word "read" with the two wee arrows beside it and that link will take you to the journal that person is commenting on. To see a bunch of comments, click on the "(more)" link and a popup will open with a list of comments. Click on the "read" link to get to that journal, scroll down to see all the comments and the popup should stay there.
And, of course, don't be embarrassed to ask questions!! :O)
I think this site has had a lot to do with promoting an attitude that is positive for urban revitalization. I can't tell you how many people have been introduced and turned onto urban lifestyles in the city of Buffalo through this site's text and media in the journals of the people who live in the city. So many of the thing syou search for on google concerning
I received numerous emails and many of the authors joined specifically to learn more about buffalo when deciding where to move.
I bet there are a number of people we would have lost to the suburbs, and their online apartment ads, if they had not met up with the site when deciding to come to buffalo. We also been a sort of unofficial welcoming crew for many new residents as they come into the area.
When I come to estrip all I see are responses to other peoples blogs, and I have to mess around to find the original message. What I would prefer would be to see either the latest blog complete on the first screen I see, or a list of the most recent ones (not just the list of user names I see on the right of the screen). Perhaps I have my settings wrong - if so please tell me how to correct it. But if it is actually supposed to work this way I would suggest changing it - I think it would be more user friendly and as a result be more widely known.
Just my 2p.
Well ... we don't cover you because we don't really cover any blogs. That's not really a policy of ours, but a byproduct of our organization: the vast majority of our editorial resources are dedicated to arts & entertainment, and the other three guys stick to city hall & urban revitalization.
With WNYMedia it's probably myopia. They run a blog site, and in that position it's easy to forget that you're not the only one. I mean, how often do you read WNYMedia or buffalo_dorks?
I could say mean things about BRO but I think what it comes down to is you don't have anything to offer them in return.
The Buffalo News is just lazy.
But I think another part of it is your format. WNYMedia is interesting to the public because they tend to write about politics, happenings, and sports. (e:strip) members tend to write about more personal things, and it's only really interesting to friends & other members.
WNYMedia is passive & easy to grok: it's a couple people writing opinions about things you should care about. (e:strip) is participatory and a little more daunting: who are these people? what are they talking about? why do I care? am I invited? are there any other bingos??
- Z
OK, I've gotten interviewed by the same Buffalo News reporter like three times now. He's done stories on my Flickr group and also on other local lifestyle stuff. I'll drop him an email and see if wants to write estrip up? Paul actually I think you've talked to him before too?
Do you want to seek out widespread publicity, or just want recognition from other local websites? Is the site's anniversary or some other big event coming up soon? I'd help get all that together.
The stats are all at pretty impressive: 20,000 journals, 6.5 million views, 5 million words, 20,000 comments, 20,000 images 350 members. It would look really good in press release. 4 times nominated by Artvoice for best local website (or something like that?).
Yikes, I forgot all about this, but last year I was working on doing a video walk through / tutorial that would show a bunch of the site features in just a few minutes.
Then I had to take some time off work from injuring my hands and never picked it up again. Not sure what state that is in or if the videos still match the site. I'll have to take a look at them and see if I can finish editing them. I need to redo the voiceover parts of them for sure.
Wow, there's a quickstart guide? Never even noticed it. And if I had noticed it, I'm not sure I would have realized what it was.
I do think this site has a higher usability learning curve than it ought to. Something like a help/tutorial wiki would almost certainly help with that.
That was why (e:kara) added the quickstart guide when she was the director of PR. Should I add a more prominent link to it. Right now it is below the banner. I also rewrote the front page to be more readible and less dry than it was when estrip was my university thesis project.
I am open to suggestions on this topic. If anyone wants to help rewrite stuff, start a tutorial guide, etc. Maybe someone could set up a wiki - that way anyone could add to it.
If I could offer one suggestion: What if there was a little more prominent explanation of what estrip is about and how to participate? It took me more figuring out than I would like to admit the first time I went to the site.