The Design Critique post hacking away on Read/WriteWeb’s design made people react. That’s a good thing, I think, because the whole idea with the post was to pick the RWW design apart, and give you my opinion on it. Especially Stephen found this offensive, and that sparked a debate with Fantan.
I like debates and disagreements. That’s fine.
What I find a bit discouraging in this affair is some, albeit a minority among those having commented and e-mail me on the subject but still, thinks that I’m in no position to criticize a site that’s bigger than Wisdump.
This is something I will never ever agree upon!
Free speech is all about letting everyone who cares say their piece. Not all will like it, since we all have our different opinions, but that is beside the point. Just because one has more listeners than the others, that doesn’t make him or her right.
Or to be very concise: Just because RWW’s got more readers than Wisdump, doesn’t make their design great.
Yep, I’m stretching it, purposely so. There is no reason whatsoever not criticizing the established actors in the blogosphere, as I would in the print industry. I don’t like the biggest band because they’ve got the most fans, nor do I automatically think that the movie awarded the most Oscar statues is the best one.
We all think differently. I’m not asking the Wisdump readers to agree with me, do tell me if you think I’m wrong, by all means. Let’s discuss it, that’s interesting and it certainly brings something new to the table. I’m all for that.
Nothing of this has anything to do with Wisdump traffic, how the blog’s faring since Splashpress bought it from whoever bought it from Scrivs, or whatever was behind that deal, I don’t know and I don’t care. If you still think that the bigger one’s the one who’s right, then you really shouldn’t be reading blogs at all.
Finally, on a side note regarding the post in question, there was one piece of criticism that struck true. The post should have had more constructive criticism, although I think it does contain that as well, but it could’ve been more forthcoming. The point wasn’t to slam the RWW design and throw dirt on it, I like the site, which I stated from the beginning. The various points of criticism I state are no less true, but it would’ve been a better post had I delved deeper into what could be done to fix it. I’ll keep that in mind ’til next time, and be more thorough on that part.
That’s what I really like about blogging, and about the comment functionality it usually brings – the conversation is always in motion.
That’s why I post design mockups, and that’s why I wrote this post.
Thanks for reading, and thanks for the comments – good or bad – and also thanks for the encouraging e-mails, as well as the one not so encouraging. It’s all part of the conversation, and as long as it’s civil, you know I’m game.
Originally posted on January 30, 2008 @ 4:30 am