(no subject)
July is apparently Rant About Interior Design Websites Month. (It has also been the hottest month on record in the Twin Cities. Coincidence? You be the judge!) Today I will be focusing on Houzz, somewhat embarrassingly, given that I specifically compared it favorably to Apartment Therapy in my last post, but really I'm only talking about one article today and the website as a whole is still completely awesome. Seriously, everybody go sign up for an account right now. I'll wait.
Okay, anyway, instead of getting all shouty and wild-eyed here, I'll just link to the article, where I made the third comment. You will see that a number of people agree with me, and others appear to disagree, although none of those who disagree refer to me by name. That is totally fine! I can certainly expand on my original comment, and I considered doing so in the post, but I find it very difficult to carry on conversations on the internet and will therefore refrain, and so even though I have a lot more to say on the subject I'll just let my one comment be all that people hear.
Here is what bothers me: the author of the article made several comments replying to others, and in a few of them she said that she was surprised that this topic was apparently so controversial. In one case, she said this right after saying that the tips in the article didn't even line up with her own style.
I have a tip for everyone! If you write an article in which you make sweeping generalizations about a large and diverse demographic, make sure you do more than use weasel words to transparently pay lip service to the theoretical possibility that some members of the demographic may not fit into those generalizations! Especially when those are the very members most likely to be on the website for which the article is written! And if you must do this, do not be surprised when there is dissent in the comments! Is this your first day on the internet?
Okay, anyway, instead of getting all shouty and wild-eyed here, I'll just link to the article, where I made the third comment. You will see that a number of people agree with me, and others appear to disagree, although none of those who disagree refer to me by name. That is totally fine! I can certainly expand on my original comment, and I considered doing so in the post, but I find it very difficult to carry on conversations on the internet and will therefore refrain, and so even though I have a lot more to say on the subject I'll just let my one comment be all that people hear.
Here is what bothers me: the author of the article made several comments replying to others, and in a few of them she said that she was surprised that this topic was apparently so controversial. In one case, she said this right after saying that the tips in the article didn't even line up with her own style.
I have a tip for everyone! If you write an article in which you make sweeping generalizations about a large and diverse demographic, make sure you do more than use weasel words to transparently pay lip service to the theoretical possibility that some members of the demographic may not fit into those generalizations! Especially when those are the very members most likely to be on the website for which the article is written! And if you must do this, do not be surprised when there is dissent in the comments! Is this your first day on the internet?