Institute for Political Studies of Aix-en-Provence

M2IP06 WANG Kaizhou

Site Audit

Introduction:

At first glimpse, you will regard the site as an official newspaper site, like The New York Times. But in fact, it is not what you think.

The New Yorker is a vivid and interesting website which demonstrates the metropolitan life of New York. It’s also a supplement of the weekly magazine <<THE NEW YORKER>>. As we all know, New York is one of the most famous cities in the world. Its prosperity and thriving energy drive millions of people to go there. But on the other hand, how do the inhabitants of NY live, what do they think about their lives in NY? What is going on in NY? The web page dwells on the city beat of NY.

When I was a freshman in SISU (Shanghai International Studies University), I visited the site everyday. It provided me with huge amounts of information on the culture and politics of America. As a bilingual student, web review and newspaper reading are daily necessities. So, I bookmarked the homepage of The NEW YORKER as one of my favorites.

City life makes people sick: the accelerating rhythm , the pollution, the endless work,. People just want to earn a slice of the cake to survive. Everyone pursues the dogma: You get out of life what you put in, or As you sow, so will you reap. But do we really get what we really want? Pretty clearly, most metropolitans get lost in fretful routines and trivial chores.

This site is created on the basis of meeting the needs of all the New Yorkers, especially for the OL (Office Lady) and the OM (Office Man) who are caged in the skyscrapers of NY, who have no chance of having a rest and finding a way to escape. It offers a place to emote and to gather together.

Every city has its own beat. The New Yorker sets a good example for me. So in 2003, I created a website inspired by the NYer with the help of my friends. The web address is following: www.metroer.com

Complete Inventory

As a whole, the designing of the site is austere and simple without any decoration. It’s true that what is flowing and mobile is people’s thought. On the left is a column pointing out the different themes of the site:

In the magazine, which shows what appeared in the magazine last week.

Going on about town is devoted to listing what is happening and what will happen in NY city, for example, new releases of movies; pieces of drama on stage this week; classical music for memory; art; dance; tables for two to arrange a date with a stranger etc. That is really a wide variety of choice to meet everyone’s needs. A colorful and abundant city life catches your eye.

The talk of the town provides a space to criticize and to remark on the news of the town, much concerning the hot topics of the town.

Fact releases the secret cached, for example of this week: The problem with profiling, is there any accurate way to determine who is going to behave badly? It tends to raise the enthusiasm of the citizens to participate in public affairs.

Fiction is a channel to display novels and fictions. Generally, these are not the best sellers in the bookstore. There are online short stories.

The Critics round up all the “vox populi” to evaluate the current films, books, TV programs, music, dance and art. A critic at large is my favorite part.

Shouts & Murmurs is a part to convey one’s heartfelt thoughts.

There are also the Cartoon channel, the film file etc.

Judging from the site generally, it is in accordance with the magazine in the mass. The contents are abundant. The editor tries to diversify all kinds of themes to meet the needs of the audience, particularly middle-class men who command a capacity for upscale consumption, female and male office workers…It reaches up to the level of spiritual interest: The art gallery, the film comments… Let’s say, on the other hand, that it also reveals the shortfalls of the after-work life of the average middle-class NYer. But generally speaking, the criticisms and comments are remarkable, and through them people change ideas and thoughts.

Critical Analysis

As mentioned above, the target of the site is the middle-class NYer. So it is restricted.

Secondly, the site provides neither forum nor blog referring to some interactive activities. As we all know, the forum is a tool provided to enable discussion between web visitors, through which people exchange ideas without frontiers. We can say whatever we think. But such a forum is absent on the site.

Furthermore, on your right, you can see the ads of the magazine. Everybody is bored with commercials. Too many commercials occupy the homepage which slow down the loading of the page. That is also a problem.

Verdict

As a whole, the New Yorker is a good website which provides with me a good chance to get to know the culture and the everyday life in America, what people think, what people do, what people want in NY. So an idea came to me, which gave birth to my own creation of the website METROER.(www.metroer.com) “Sex and the City” is my favorite TV series, so I uploaded the melody as the backdrop. It’s a spanking ballad. Another creation is the “run away” system. Here comes the boss, the web review will soon turn into the www.google.com site.

In Shanghai, OL and OM call on each other online to dinner after work without knowing each other at first. So the site also offers a dating forum to clinch the date. If the New Yorker could be changed according to my theory, it would be perfect.

Enclosure

The New Yorker is locally conceived to observe the news and life in NY. So as a whole, it shows how NYers live and think. I recommend you to log in on the site so as to enrich your knowledge of American culture and the life-styles of New Yorkers.