gURL
gURL has had an online presence since 1995 and as such seems to be quite fluent in participatory multimedia. Immediately users are drawn into the site by an invitation to “connect” and join the community (for free). Users can also shop and enter contests. These features draw the user in to participate in the community rather than just read passively. Since gURL’s content is driven by user posts, it is essential to foster this community. A menu bar on the right-hand side urges users to enter polls, be seen and heard, get advice and play interactive games. There is also a newsletter available to subscribers (again, free). Despite all of this, gURL does not have an RSS feed option or bookmarking tools. The entire website functions as a blog by allowing users to fully interact, however, there is no formal blog- (columnist) type section.
New users are easily drawn into participating in the many areas of gURL while those familiar with the layout can easily manage by singing-in directly. Advertisers and publishers enjoy the benefit of knowing just how popular each section of the site is by how much users interact with it.
Salon
Salon’s homepage is an overload of content that can be very difficult for new users to navigate. There is an RSS feed that is located by performing a Find search. There is also an email newsletter and Salon mobile option. Salon has two online communities: Table Talk and The WELL that allow users to speak in a forum setting. There is a daily blog report that features blogs from the right and blogs from the left. Salon also offers TV podcasts. The content sites are updated daily or more frequently.
The placement of the participatory media that is available is difficult to find, being not in widget or gadget form. New users need to work hard to learn the ins and outs of this site.
Copyblogger
Copyblogger is a very clear and straightforward approach to participatory multimedia and thereby ups the value of these features. An RSS subscription feed is easily recognizable in the upper left-hand corner, directly under the logo. The orange RSS box sits just outside of the margin and is thereby set off graphically. There is also an email subscription option for updates. There is also an option to add Copyblogger to your Technorati favourites – not that I know what that is.
Other than these features, the site seems fairly flat in terms of listing articles by type of resource, archived by flag words or popularity. Each article, or post can be commented upon but the site urges users to take the advice and start their own website/blog, and not to interact necessarily with this one.
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