Glogster

Ok, so it's glog, like blog, and it ends in ster, like hipster... and I guess the letter "g" is pretty hip... right? Hmm. It sounds like some kind of emo playground... like some place all the hipsters might go to get their self-documenting fix in for the day...

Oh... it is.

At Glogster, people can make digital posters, using photos they've taken themselves or are borrowing from the internet, and then add graphics, text, sounds, and even videos. But this website is simultaneously great and terrible.

a glog by user mizzy1219

Some of the content on this site is demoralizing, and the website just opens a forum for this kind of content. The posters it produces look childish and are only occasionally visually interesting. This website is clearly made for emotionally unstable hipsters who follow the crowd and claim to be unique. Glogster is feeding an insecure, mislead generation.


However, from a design standpoint there isn't much wrong with this website. It has decent maneuverability, and it has a fun look to it. And creating a glog is surprisingly simple.

But the lesson to be learned from this is, when you make a website, make sure it lifts up the standards of a generation instead of bringing them down. Users use this website to document their lives and the way they think, but it also goes the other way. The website was made because of the way this group of people lives. I have seen a lot of "emo" stuff online, but I have never seen anything sink this low. This website is both a reaction and a cause of trend-following and insecurity, which can only continue to pull the generation down.

If I ever design a website, I will be sure to never let create a downward cycle with its audience.
It's web-design ethics: make the product beneficial, not just enjoyable and money-making.