The Change Begins with You(th)

Social networking sites, organizations, and youth themselves are taking advantage of the amount of time youth spend online by using the internet as a tool for encouraging activism. Whether through social networking, blogs, videos, or forums, the internet is becoming a great place for youth to learn about important issues in the world today, connect with others who are passionate about the same issues, and share their ideas to raise awareness and create positive change. According to a study called Just Cause conducted by MTV in 2006, 70% of youth believed that helping others and their community is important, but only 19% were “very involved.” The web is offering youth new and inventive ways to get involved. Hopefully that 19% will soon be on the rise! Could the internet be turning into a tool for good?

Web 2.0 Analysis

The following was an assignment for the Online Magazines course I took at Centennial College, in the Book and Magazine Publishing program.

Real Simple Magazine

The Real  Simple Magazine website has many web 2.0 features that are very helpful to the reader. There are three daily RSS feeds available: daily recipe, daily tip, and daily thought, which are quick ways for the a busy reader to get quick advice, recipes, and tips with no effort or time wasted on searching.  The website also features several blogs with content from editors and experts on topics such as the world of a magazine editor, home and organizing, food, technology, and several others.  There is even a no-obligation book club.  All of these blogs allow for reader comments and interaction.   There is also a gadget called “My Organizer,” through which readers can organize articles and posts they are interested, personalize areas of the website, and keep track of their ratings and reviews of website content.

These features would be very valuable to the Real Simple staff for several reasons.  The RSS feeds allow the magazine to stay in the reader’s mind on a daily basis, which would probably keep the reader more invested in the magazine.  This could also be said about the magazine’s blogs, which allow the readers to interact with each other and with magazine staff, creating a feeling of community that wouldn’t exist on websites that do not have web 2.0 features.   Creating that feeling of membership in a community for a reader could be very beneficial to magazine staff.  Reader’s comments also provide the magazine with feedback on content that they are much less likely to get from readers of the print edition of the magazine.