By Brad Thomson
For our last walkabout, the intrepid members of group two prepared to go on a long and arduous twenty-five foot walk down the hall to the lounge of Sagepoint 810. Now that our quest is complete, it seems that it was completely and perfectly ordinary, but at the time no one seemed overly eager to venture forth. The purpose of our walk down the hall was to sit and examine the official website of Salt Lake City, and we did just that. After about five minutes of scrutiny, several things became apparent.
First and most noticeably, the site looked very official. Indeed, it lived up to its name. The logo displayed a likeness of the city and county building, a very government centered image. The site itself was neat and organized. The home page has large scrolling proclamations of events in the city, and important information and information on almost every aspect of city life can be found under categorized tabs at the top.
Chis aptly observed that “the pixels were mind blowing,” which actually means nothing, but was among the most interesting moments of our walkabout. Aside from the amazing pixel quality, the types of information on the website seemed to express a strong desire to encourage people to get out and explore the city. There is a link to UTA and encouragements to visit certain attractions.
The website also has a certain degree of utilitarian purpose. Citizens of Salt Lake can pay bills through the site, as well as report need public improvements such as damage to bike paths. It serves as a one stop solution to any problem citizens of Salt Lake would experience.
This is a conclusion!
Let me just ask you some questions. Did the website make Salt Lake City seem like an exciting place to go or live? What did it emphasize (the natural environment, the social life, the diversity and so forth?) Did you get a sense of who lives in Salt Lake City or why? What about the resources or services that are available or was the website primarily about business? Marshall McLuhan who penned the phrase, the medium is the message, suggested that the type of media or medium used to convey the message impacts the message. Do you think that happened here? What was the impact of technology or the internet on the message the city was trying to project about the city?
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