Here, I would like to introduce you to one of my PUB101 classmate’s website “https://yvrchives.ca/” by Shania Bakhtiani.
The title of this post might say it is a “Peer Review ”, I wanna emphasize the fact that it is me who is learning from other content creators/publishers and thus diving into their online self. Consider this review as an audience point of view.
First impression: I would like to begin with the domain name of the website, which clearly indicates that the website is dedicated to present Vancouver content. Moreover, it is a photography archive which we get right out of its landing page. The landing page offers a brief introduction to the website and its content which would straight away attract like-minded and desired audiences. As said in John Suler’s “Psychology of Cyberspace”, cyberspace is a great tool to establish companionship and if felt more authentic than offline, it could be a better choice.
Design: Considering the general design, I love the simple white background with a touch of green color for text and buttons. The white background makes the photographs pop out and that is what the audience are really here for! Also, the site navigation was quite straightforward and easy to navigate around for desired page/categories. Moreover, I would love to see Accessibility added to the website in the coming weeks but this is not a huge bummer as the website is still in the development process.
Self-presentation: Lastly, The self-representation of the creator of “YVRchives” is limited to what the imagined audience expects to know, and the self-representation suggests that it has a particular goal to be achieved (i.e. lit motivation for photography/artistic content). This self-representation is in-line with the definition we read in the paper by Hollenbaugh. For instance, the “About” page of the website does not need to contain much personal information if it fulfills the intention to share controlled information of self to others. This is what I see in “YVRchives”!
Overall, due to invisibility of the creator on the online platform, the self-representation sparks solipsistic introjection amongst the imagined audience, and sketches a particular image of the creator in the minds of their audience, as John Suler mentioned, solipsistic introjection is one of the key ingredient for online disinhibition. This sketch is exactly what the creator has crafted for their audience. So, I would love to visit the website as it develops and see how this presentation of the creator changes if it does and compare it to my initial impression.
References:
https://yvrchives.ca/ (Shania’s Website)
https://www.rcommunicationr.org/index.php/rcr/article/view/71
