Introducing Urban Eola
Thursday, December 15, 2005
For years now, I have been thinking about building websites. It seemed like a great idea - a creative outlet for the whole world to see. Plus, I spent countless late nights on the internet so I knew that coming up with content wouldn't be a problem. However, I had no clue how to design one, nonetheless get creative and artsy with it. Actually I remember my first attempt at a website which actually occurred during office hours while working for the Atlanta Hawks in winter 2002 (sorry Hawks). I found a free site online (tripod) that would let you create a basic site from a weak selection of templates. It didn't allow you to get too funky, but it let a non-techie like myself get something on the web.From that point on, I was hooked on the concept that you could be sitting in your skivvies in front of your computer and publish something online that could actually develop a following. It's such a bad ass concept. It barely costs anything. Yet the potential audience is the whole world. Think about it - I can sit here at my computer and whip something up and some dude in Austraila can pull it up in between kangaroo rides.
After more experimentation in building websites with my family's soccer camp, Tavani Soccer, I felt like I had developed enough of a background to get by. I'll admit, my site's not going to blow you away with flash intros and pimp high-end graphics, but it's going to be solid enough to get by. I'll just rely on beefing up the content to reel 'em in.
Now what to write about? In my short time doing this stuff I realized that the key to a frequently visited website is innovative content that is constantly being updated. But most importantly the website has to offer something of value to the reader that they can't find anywhere else. As a person that loves to surf the web I realized the sites that I check the most regularly are the ones that give me new info, are updated daily, are helpful, enjoyable and cannot be found anywhere else. I use the internet as my newspaper, my entertainment, my answers to questions, knowledge on things I'm interested in, and as my random information grabber.
So with that in mind I eventually stumbled upon the idea of doing a website about things that I know best. But what the hell do I know best? Well, I realized that there is one area where I know more than anyone else in the world - being a level-headed, down-to-earth, twentysomething who's into the urban lifestyle, pop culture, sports, culture, fashion, humor, the arts, entertainment, the environment, web 2.0 tech stuff and creative business. So that's what I'm an expert on. I'm convinced that no one in the world knows more than me about these things because it's not possible. I am living them all right now.
Alright, so urbaneola.com is going to be my informative blog on all things that young people like and enjoy. Non-young people should get a kick as well as I have interests that span the spectrum. I have some tricks up my sleeve for every crowd. My numerous interests will force the blog not to be limited to just one topic. Hopefully, I'll hit subjects that interest you. I'm just confident that there's good stuff out there. If I touch on nothing that interests you at all, then you are not from earth. You're probably from somewhere else. My bad.
What is a blog? Good question because despite hearing about it for a year or so I just found out last week how powerful it can be. It's really a simple web technology. The word comes from the expression "web-log," which simply means a live, real-time, online personal diary. Blogger.com - pioneered the concept and sold it to Google for $300 trillion.
Here's the concept: within minutes, you can have a website and post to the universe any random, brilliant or outrageous thought that comes into your mind. Blogger even provides a template so that any schmo can build their own. No computer knowledge is necessary except basic working knowledge of power on and off.
Some people are calling it the Napster of the journalism industry. Just as Napster by-passed the record companies and brought music to people all over, blogs by-passed established magazines, newspapers, editors and proprietors, and allowed direct peer-to-peer journalism to flourish. The number of "blogs" is growing by tens of thousands a month, and Blogger itself boasts of over 150,000 users. In January 2005, 41,000 new blogs were created on Blogger. The vast majority of them are quirky, small, often boring reads, and reading them is like reading someone else's diary over their shoulder. By empowering individual writers, by reducing the costs of entry into publishing to close to zero, the blog revolution has only begun to transform the media world. And urbaneola.com is hopeful to be a part of it.
Let me know your thoughts.
posted by Michael Tavani @ 2:16 PM |
