LTHForum
This particular forum in an odd way has both forms of review. While the majority of content within the site is in fact done by the user, people often repost reviews from other sites as well to justify their own opinion or point. Most often the review taken is from a 'professional', or they bombard the site with a few reviews from Yelp, and hyperlink to the rest for the readers viewing.
My only qualm with this is people generally disregard reviews from Yelp. It seems apparent that people are paid to write some of these reviews, and may even be the restaurant itself in disguise attempting to give themselves a better name. This makes it difficult to give justification to any postings you see within the Yelp realm.
As far as review aggregation goes, I think of sites such as Digg. Digg users post links/posts that they deem worthy of the day. More often times than not these postings are tech, news, or random 'nerdy' factoids. I enjoy Digg because of the variety it offers. Postings are extremely different, which can spice things up a bit.
In regards to LTHForum, it's a mixture of reviews. I wouldn't say it is a review aggregation site, but it could be if you noted the use of other reviews posted. In my opinion, I'm glad it isn't and it is based on the user review. This gives the user the ability to post on the restaurant of their choosing, and write up a review however they see fit. Also, with review aggregation I'm sure you wouldn't be able to find the smaller 'mom n pop' restaurants that are sprinkled throughout the city and suburbs. I typically find these places to offer some of the best food, and they're typically unknown and base their clientelle off word-of-mouth.
All in all, it's up to the reader to decide whether or not they enjoy a review aggregation or a user review. In certain cases I'm sure the aggregation has its upsides- a review done by someone who is deemed a professional in their field? As of now, I'll stick with what is offered at LTHForum, and not take it for granted, until someone bashes a favorite restaurant or I'm provided with one word reviews.
Saturday, July 17, 2010
Thursday, July 15, 2010
LTHForum: A food lovers heaven and hell.
New Media friends, we all love food. LTHforum is here to satisfy your love of food and disprove rumors within Chicago and beyond. Not everyone has the same palate, so it's nice to have a multitude of opinions on restaurants and you can be the final verdict to whether you agree or disagree.
The forum lets its readers perform various tasks while letting everyone voice their opinion- from the amateur individual, such as myself, to the professional diner review.
Forum
As the site notes, LTHforum is exactly as it sounds. A giant forum of restaurants within Chicago, as well as multiple areas outside of the city, or even state. While there is an abundance of information available, it can often be difficult to find a review on a restaurant you actually hope to go to. The site does offer a search option, but the results are few and far in between what you may be looking for. If the options to search were set in a different fashion than:
Individual Reviews
The forum here is a nice change of pace and offers opinions from various sources. This may be an individual who simply enjoys a specific restaurant and wants to let the rest of the community in on their secret, or a professional within their industry giving their own wisdom and insight. Regardless of their title, the reviews are honest, and beneficial. The writing style within each entry is easily navigated and often contains pictures to assist their description.
One of the more enjoyable and detailed posts was on the Green Zebra.
The Review:
The forum lets its readers perform various tasks while letting everyone voice their opinion- from the amateur individual, such as myself, to the professional diner review.
Forum
As the site notes, LTHforum is exactly as it sounds. A giant forum of restaurants within Chicago, as well as multiple areas outside of the city, or even state. While there is an abundance of information available, it can often be difficult to find a review on a restaurant you actually hope to go to. The site does offer a search option, but the results are few and far in between what you may be looking for. If the options to search were set in a different fashion than:
they may have a greater success rate or viewer ratings. I understood that in order to find Hot Doug's I needed to search Topic Titles Only, but someone who is more novice to the internet and the forums might have a more difficult time. Such as, my mom. Someone who is rather computer illiterate. She was up in arms when I told her about the site, but she couldn't navigate it to save her life. Unfortunate, but true.
Individual Reviews
The forum here is a nice change of pace and offers opinions from various sources. This may be an individual who simply enjoys a specific restaurant and wants to let the rest of the community in on their secret, or a professional within their industry giving their own wisdom and insight. Regardless of their title, the reviews are honest, and beneficial. The writing style within each entry is easily navigated and often contains pictures to assist their description.
One of the more enjoyable and detailed posts was on the Green Zebra.
The Review:
Which is further assisted by a multitude of pictures taken by the user at the restaurant:
Further pictures and reviews of the Green Zebra can be found Here.
I find that the pictures are an essential part to the reviews failure or success. If they describe something as being light and fluffy, and then the picture completely negates that opinion- they haven't done their job. I had hoped to use this tactic within my own personal blog, but in some cases I hadn't been to the restaurant the week of the posting. It may have been a prior experience, so I had to do some datamining and use pictures from a different source- same restaurant, but the picture was taken by a different individual. And often times, I simply didn't have the money to buy several entrées to show off to the blog . I should have taken this in to consideration prior to posting. Money is always helpful.
Conversation Aspects
Another meaningful or beneficial aspect to these forums is that everyone has the ability to voice their opinion and essentially create an ongoing conversation between users. For instance, the next review agreed with the post prior and added their own opinion of their Green Zebra dining experience. This gave the user, myself, the option of several more dishes to try when I head to the Green Zebra.
While this review lacked pictures, their description shows that they had some culinary experience or a mature palate as they described the dishes and its highs and lows.
Links
One area of LTH that can be extremely helpful is the Reference Forum. This contains links to various restaurants in and outside of Chicago, as well as translated menus. This actually came in handy as I had a second cousin from Sweden visit us recently, and he asked if I knew of such a place. His English is spotty, so the menu was extremely helpful to his adventure he took downtown with his girlfriend.
It's areas such as this that can make or break a site. In this instance, this was definitely a high-point for the site and its forums.
Heaven or Hell?
I suppose I should enlighten everyone on the chosen title. The user-generated content could make life heaven or hell for the reader. You may enjoy a particular restaurant and then read a review bashing its service and quality of food, making you less tempted to enjoy a second go-round at your own restaurant of choice. Or, you could attempt to dissuade the person from their high horse and share your own experience encouraging them to give it another go. Either way, this site could really either be helpful, or piss you off to the point of no return.
My Judgement
My overall opinion was that the reviews were honest and often greatly detailed to why the user did or didn't like the restaurant they reviewed. In most cases the reviews were extremely helpful, especially when deciding on whether or not I wanted to try out an Indian restaurant near my home town. I managed to find it within the forums and had reviews rating from both sides of the spectrum and decided it'd be worth my while to try it out and see which standards it lived up to.
So, the reviews do help, but it's up to you to make the final verdict. Check out the site and try out something unique and be the judge.
Sunday, July 11, 2010
Power of Social Networking
While my posting for Urban Chat was rather mundane, and I generally disliked the site... I do believe that within social networking someone or anyone has the potential or power to generate millions of followers for little or no apparent reason. Most recently, my new personal favorite is a guy (Justin Halpern) on twitter. He simply wrote down the shit his dad says, and has found himself with prospects hunting him down to create a book (twitter account @shitmydadsays). I find it to be hilarious.
More importantly, the reason I came back for another posting. The power of social networking. I was displeased with Urban Chat, yada yada yada, but I found this article on the Twitchhiker. Twitter alone was able to generate enough interest and innovation to have Paul Smith travel the world...For free. The article is an awesome read. If you doubt the power of Twitter, as I did, check it out.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1293636/The-Twitchhiker-The-amazing-story-Paul-Smith-travelled-world-free-using-Twitter.html
More importantly, the reason I came back for another posting. The power of social networking. I was displeased with Urban Chat, yada yada yada, but I found this article on the Twitchhiker. Twitter alone was able to generate enough interest and innovation to have Paul Smith travel the world...For free. The article is an awesome read. If you doubt the power of Twitter, as I did, check it out.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1293636/The-Twitchhiker-The-amazing-story-Paul-Smith-travelled-world-free-using-Twitter.html
UrbanChat Review Part II
Urban Chat, www.urbanchat.com
The Writing
User vs Official Content
UrbanChat doesn't neccesarilly have a variation in or with user generated vs. 'official writing'. There is little actual 'official' content. The majority of content found within the site, is in fact user generated and it has little to no concentration or linear path. The users are able to post about whatever they'd like. The only variation found within the posts is where it may be found (which section of the forum).
Type
As said before, there is no actual rhyme or reason to what the post may be on. The only real way to tell is by the designated forum, but even then you can find random or unassociated content within the forum
Well Considered/Honed
By no means do I intend to degrade or dishonor the individuals who post on UrbanChat, but it seems that the general population of the site have little regard to what it is they post and their actual delivery. Many of the posts contain various gramatical errors, and/or have a great deal of internet 'lingo' that makes it extemely difficult, even illedgible, to read. I suppose if you had a decent knowledge of what all the abbreviations and the like actually meant, it wouldn't be such a struggle. Myself, on the other hand, have little knowledge of what these mean so it made reading posts a constant struggle.
Characterize Members
Honestly, I'm not sure how to classify or characterize the members within the Urban Chat atmosphere. While it seems that their goal is to reach people from an inner-city type area (a generalization by some of the slang and feel of the site) this isn't the only crowd they have gathered. The site varies in regards to age, race, and location.
Site Worthy?
In my opinion, no. The site has little owner or official content. The content is a public forum, so its give and take, or a grab bag for that matter on what you'll be viewing. Had the site had some more moderation and further aim, I'd give it a second shot. Also, if it wasn't an area to congregate and try and hook up with random people from your city/state/whatever it'd be slightly more tolerable. Overall, my one area of interest happened to be within the 'Battles' and 'Rhymes' forum section. The content within this section dealt with people posting the songs they created, or poetry. Most of which was excellent.
What you need to know.
The site is chaotic, and you'll never know exactly what you're about to stumble upon. The site also seems to have little moderation, so the content itself may often be NSFW (not safe for work) or even shocking to your own eyes. If you do decide to navigate on over to Urban Chat, I would suggest staying around the Battles and Rhymes area. The content is generally safe, and has some artistic value behind it. So, it's definitely readable and worthy content.
The Writing
User vs Official Content
UrbanChat doesn't neccesarilly have a variation in or with user generated vs. 'official writing'. There is little actual 'official' content. The majority of content found within the site, is in fact user generated and it has little to no concentration or linear path. The users are able to post about whatever they'd like. The only variation found within the posts is where it may be found (which section of the forum).
Type
As said before, there is no actual rhyme or reason to what the post may be on. The only real way to tell is by the designated forum, but even then you can find random or unassociated content within the forum
Well Considered/Honed
By no means do I intend to degrade or dishonor the individuals who post on UrbanChat, but it seems that the general population of the site have little regard to what it is they post and their actual delivery. Many of the posts contain various gramatical errors, and/or have a great deal of internet 'lingo' that makes it extemely difficult, even illedgible, to read. I suppose if you had a decent knowledge of what all the abbreviations and the like actually meant, it wouldn't be such a struggle. Myself, on the other hand, have little knowledge of what these mean so it made reading posts a constant struggle.
Characterize Members
Honestly, I'm not sure how to classify or characterize the members within the Urban Chat atmosphere. While it seems that their goal is to reach people from an inner-city type area (a generalization by some of the slang and feel of the site) this isn't the only crowd they have gathered. The site varies in regards to age, race, and location.
Site Worthy?
In my opinion, no. The site has little owner or official content. The content is a public forum, so its give and take, or a grab bag for that matter on what you'll be viewing. Had the site had some more moderation and further aim, I'd give it a second shot. Also, if it wasn't an area to congregate and try and hook up with random people from your city/state/whatever it'd be slightly more tolerable. Overall, my one area of interest happened to be within the 'Battles' and 'Rhymes' forum section. The content within this section dealt with people posting the songs they created, or poetry. Most of which was excellent.
What you need to know.
The site is chaotic, and you'll never know exactly what you're about to stumble upon. The site also seems to have little moderation, so the content itself may often be NSFW (not safe for work) or even shocking to your own eyes. If you do decide to navigate on over to Urban Chat, I would suggest staying around the Battles and Rhymes area. The content is generally safe, and has some artistic value behind it. So, it's definitely readable and worthy content.
Friday, July 9, 2010
Urban Chat, Part I
I'm not even sure where to begin with the site UrbanChat.com...
Stated Purpose, Goal, Mission
The site is driving me crazy. There is nothing of this sort on the site. All you can gather from your first glance at the page is that it's "where the streets are talking". Men are Fellas, Ladies are Dimes. Everyone is half naked in their profile picture. Without the mission statement or anything of that sort it's hard to guess what the site is even used for. From the posts I saw on the homepage it looked like a place where 'urban youth' were trying to score 'booty'. Or, at least every other post had something to do with this. I wasn't even sure what I was signing up for in order to dive deeper in to the site. Point being, I signed up, and still have little idea to what actually happens on the site.
The only area of the site that is easily navigated and understood is the forum. Some categories were worthwhile, while others made me shrug and ask myself why? The games board was helpful in passing time, as it suggested. The rap battlez or rhyme-board was more than time consuming. Filled with 'urban poetry' or what I'd like to call song lyrics. Many of the songs written were incredible. The site gives this 'urban lifestyle' so much credit with all these categories, then you find yourself wandering to the park bench? Why? Is this really needed? This caught me off guard and I personally thought they could have avoided the use of this category.
Site Offers Members
Aside from the extremely vague homepage and lack of direction, the site does offer the ability for members to share photos, small blog posts, a personal profile, inter-site communication/messages, and a community that only you (a signed-up user) can access.
Official Writing
From navigating the site, I found little official writing (done by those who aren't members). There is a section on 'urban experts', but this is written by the members as well. It focuses on a topic of their own choice and they can voice their opinion. Much like what I'm doing right now. The only problem with these "Urban Experts" is that the writing is filled with errors and many contain the crazy internet lingo/spelling that made things extremely difficult to read. So as asked from us- The official writing is basically non-existent, it lacks a unified voice, the writing is informal and lightly edited, if at all.
I plan on venturing the site for awhile longer and coming back for a second posting covering a few more questions. Until then, feel free to navigate over to Urban Chat and check out what they have, or don't have to offer you, the user.
Thursday, July 1, 2010
Template Change
Almost forgot.... Template change again.
I abandoned the odd stucco looking background from earlier this week.
I'm not sure how well this works either? But, I feel like it's a step in the right direction from previous templates. I like the organic feel. It's like I was writing my posts on pieces of scrap cardboard. Not sure how great that is, maybe people will think I'm a bum? I like the color palate used and the ducks- gives you a 'country' type feel. The only displeasing aspect of the new template is the summary at the beginning of my blog. I'm not a huge fan of the brown on brown, or whatever color you'd like to call that.
I've got a bachelor party this weekend, and a wedding to attend next weekend so hopefully I can find some free time in between during the week to learn how to create my own template. Until then, we're stuck.
I abandoned the odd stucco looking background from earlier this week.
I'm not sure how well this works either? But, I feel like it's a step in the right direction from previous templates. I like the organic feel. It's like I was writing my posts on pieces of scrap cardboard. Not sure how great that is, maybe people will think I'm a bum? I like the color palate used and the ducks- gives you a 'country' type feel. The only displeasing aspect of the new template is the summary at the beginning of my blog. I'm not a huge fan of the brown on brown, or whatever color you'd like to call that.
I've got a bachelor party this weekend, and a wedding to attend next weekend so hopefully I can find some free time in between during the week to learn how to create my own template. Until then, we're stuck.
Blogging Tips, Round Two
I thought my previous post was on point, but could be improved with a bit of personal research in regards to what other bloggers had to say about improving your blog in general, or its rating.
Rather than flow, Stated Purpose.
My current description of my blog: I'm trapped back in suburbia after a several year hiatus in the city... My funds ran out so now I'm back. What the hell is there to do in regards to bars, entertainment, restaurants, golfing, fishing, etc in the West Suburbs of Chicago? New places, old places, me bitching about it all and maybe even enjoying it.
I often bitch and moan about how bad it is out here.... But, on the bright side it's cheap. Hopefully my dull weeks will have some highlights and maybe point you in the right direction if you're ever out west of Chicago.
I figure if I refine this and state that I am in the West Suburbs, travel around this area (not just limited to Geneva) and have some dining experience and a decent palate my opinion may be taken more seriously. I'm still undecided on whether or not mentioning age will give credibility, or discredit my blog.
Improving Theme
I find some comfort in the templates provided by blogger.com, but they don't suit my needs as well as I'd like them too. In any case, I feel the need to learn how to further edit/revise the template or even better yet, create my own from scratch to fulfill my desires.
My current template doesn't work in regards to my topic, or at least in my mind it doesn't.
Social Networking Activity
Blogging is all about numbers, and I don't seem to have any. If I were to link my blogging efforts to a twitter account or show updates through my facebook account I could drastically improve my number of readers. The only problem I see with this is many people I know are from Geneva, and may not care to read my reviews, or just have little interest in general since they have more than likely been to these places.
Links
I still believe links deserves a spot on the refined list. Without links to what it is you are talking about, or attempting to explain people may become nauseated by my rambling or efforts to describe the texture, taste, colors, etc of something I ate. Why struggle to explain in such great detail? My structure becomes affected, the page is less scannable, and it is much easier to get a 'feel' for something when the reader can actually see the item.
Visual Aid
This goes rather hand-in-hand with links. It is more convenient to the reader when they have the image laid out in front of them versus having to click links, or navigate to the page on their own.
In my post on Surviving Suburbia, I didn't post a picture of the delicious pretzel burger I raved about. How can I explain a burger well enough to the point where you'd want to taste it? Also, the website, nor myself, had a picture of the burger. I felt it inappropriate to post a random picture of a burger, but a burger is a burger is it not? They all generally look the same.
This picture is from Kumas Corner... The burger at Ale House is the same in and out.
I realize I talk about these things, but haven't included any examples in my post. I'm not sure how I can justify using the examples or use them well. As I explain, I find it hard to find an appropriate example of what it is I am talking about.
Rather than flow, Stated Purpose.
My current description of my blog: I'm trapped back in suburbia after a several year hiatus in the city... My funds ran out so now I'm back. What the hell is there to do in regards to bars, entertainment, restaurants, golfing, fishing, etc in the West Suburbs of Chicago? New places, old places, me bitching about it all and maybe even enjoying it.
I often bitch and moan about how bad it is out here.... But, on the bright side it's cheap. Hopefully my dull weeks will have some highlights and maybe point you in the right direction if you're ever out west of Chicago.
I figure if I refine this and state that I am in the West Suburbs, travel around this area (not just limited to Geneva) and have some dining experience and a decent palate my opinion may be taken more seriously. I'm still undecided on whether or not mentioning age will give credibility, or discredit my blog.
Improving Theme
I find some comfort in the templates provided by blogger.com, but they don't suit my needs as well as I'd like them too. In any case, I feel the need to learn how to further edit/revise the template or even better yet, create my own from scratch to fulfill my desires.
My current template doesn't work in regards to my topic, or at least in my mind it doesn't.
Social Networking Activity
Blogging is all about numbers, and I don't seem to have any. If I were to link my blogging efforts to a twitter account or show updates through my facebook account I could drastically improve my number of readers. The only problem I see with this is many people I know are from Geneva, and may not care to read my reviews, or just have little interest in general since they have more than likely been to these places.
Links
I still believe links deserves a spot on the refined list. Without links to what it is you are talking about, or attempting to explain people may become nauseated by my rambling or efforts to describe the texture, taste, colors, etc of something I ate. Why struggle to explain in such great detail? My structure becomes affected, the page is less scannable, and it is much easier to get a 'feel' for something when the reader can actually see the item.
Visual Aid
This goes rather hand-in-hand with links. It is more convenient to the reader when they have the image laid out in front of them versus having to click links, or navigate to the page on their own.
In my post on Surviving Suburbia, I didn't post a picture of the delicious pretzel burger I raved about. How can I explain a burger well enough to the point where you'd want to taste it? Also, the website, nor myself, had a picture of the burger. I felt it inappropriate to post a random picture of a burger, but a burger is a burger is it not? They all generally look the same.
This picture is from Kumas Corner... The burger at Ale House is the same in and out.
I realize I talk about these things, but haven't included any examples in my post. I'm not sure how I can justify using the examples or use them well. As I explain, I find it hard to find an appropriate example of what it is I am talking about.
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