Practicum #2 - Mike D.

So I’ve spent another week exploring Newschoolers.com, a special interest website for downhill skiing. It has really opened up a side of the skiing world I was unfamiliar with, and proved very informative. I’ve learned so much by simply checking the homepage daily. The looping news story feed at the top has shown me all the big news, and has recapped all the major events and competitions going on lately. Its actually really cool, even the news stories produced by reporters for the site create very media based stories. Countless amazing photographs and unique video segments accompany the text, making it a treat to keep up on the recent events going on in the skiing world. I think this reflects directly upon the people who use the site. For park skiers, the largest population of skiers using Newschoolers.com, half the fun of doing what they do is getting epic shots of their perfected tricks to show to friends, family, and the rest of the world. This includes photographs and videos. Since thats what they’re into, it only makes sense to make them a large part of the site, even ‘professional’ news stories produced my the site’s reporters and moderators. It also really conveys the message, “news for users, created by users,” a common trait amongst special interest websites.


I’ve also spent some time building my profile. I’ve found some of my friends that use the site as well, and added them. No conformation is needed when adding friends on Newschoolers.com, you simply click the “Add Friend” button on their profile and its done. From my profile, a link directly to his profile is now displayed, giving me quick access to his displayed information and creating a link for other users viewing my profile to get to his as well. This creates a unique chain which proves useful when attempting to find others I know and build a friend count. Its also really cool because I can friend professional skiers and follow anything they upload or display. The only downside to this is a lack of security, I guess you just have to be careful what you put out there because everyone has access to it.


I’ve looked through the picture and video upload sections of the site and have found myself in awe of some of the sweet creations out there. Some users have remarkable skiing and editing skills. I’ve uploaded a photo to the site as well, and was excited to see that after a mere 2 minutes up on the site it had 18 views. Hopefully it gets some good ratings and comments, which will boost my Karma points too. Karma points are part of the profile system on Newschoolers.com. Member Karma is a way of ranking each member based on their contributions to Newschoolers. It’s accumulated by posting, rating and uploading content. Members may also directly rate other members, adding Karma points through their profile. Currently, I’m quite a ways behind my friends in that category.



And the special interest website adventure continues...