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Update on being named #88 World’s Worst Website

August 14th, 2006 Yvette 2 comments

After finding out that innergeek.us made it into the UK magazine MicroMart in a bit of a negative light (blog entry), the author of that article posted a comment to my blog. Here is the chain of communication since then. And I still haven’t seen the actual snippet that was written about innergeek.us!

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Hi there,

Yes, I listed your site 88th. However, since you didn’t read the review, you should have, perhaps, have reserved judgement over whether this was a bad thing.

Part of what makes a website bad, according to my article, can also be what makes it well worth visiting and enjoying. Let’s be honest, being a geek has both negative and positive connotations. I’m a computer programmer and contributor to a computer magazine. I’m clearly a geek. I like Sci-Fi TV programmes and I have written programs in binary.

Conversely, I would also like to think that there’s a world away from the computer screen and that aspiring to be the uncommunicative, studious-but-poorly-social-skilled character is probably not a good thing. So, I both celebrate my geekiness and also look at it with some sense of perspective. Being non-geeky is good too… right?

My own website would probably have gone into my World’s Worst 100 list, according to my own scoring system, and the limited review I was able to do of the world’s websites. However, I don’t write in Micro Mart to publicise my own site. Instead, I write in order to be able to give readers some enjoyment. Hopefully, people went along and explored your site and enjoyed it for what it is. I hope you continue to provide the service you provide and I apologise if you have taken offence at what was a light-hearted article.

Contact me if you would like to discuss this further.

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Hi Ashley,
 
Thanks for your comment on my blog.
 
The nature of my website causes it to get mixed reviews all the time. Some people love it, some people identify themselves and are wary, others dislike it for various reasons, and others just don’t get it. Perhaps you fell into the last category. You first identified yourself as a geek but then missed the boat. 
 
I’m all about people embracing their inner geek, which has a lot more to do with a personal attitude than staring at the computer screen and being uncommunicative or socially oblivious. It’s not a black and white world where you’re geeky or non-geeky, as you put it. It’s more of a sliding scale, much like Kinsey’s homosexual-heterosexual scale. Very few people are exclusively geeks and very few are exclusively not geeks. Most people fall somehwere in-between, and none of them are "good" or "bad" because of it.
 
What’s bad, in my opinion, are people who have geekish tendencies and do not feel safe admitting that for whatever reason.  Their pride? Rejection of their friends and family? Not being as "cool" as they thought they were?  Screw it, I say! Be who you are, and don’t be embarrassed by your inner geek.   
 
I apologize for jumping to an irritated blog post without reading your review of my site. Would you mind sending it to me? With your permission, I’d also like to include that snippet on my blog or website with a response. If people read the article in Micro Mart magazine and then visit my website, I’d like to show that I’m aware of whatever criticism you have for me. Publicity is great, but I’d rather not be dumb to being named the World’s 88th Worst Website.
 
Thanks,
Yvette

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Hi Yvette,

Sure, I’ll send you the review. I can’t actually remember what I wrote, but it was intended to be humorous more than anything else. The whole article was a light-hearted look at the net, and the fact that you were included should be taken more as a compliment. The majority of the sites on the list are, in fact, worth a visit.

I understand that embracing one’s inner geek is something worth doing and I applaud you for running your site and its associated community. Given that I’m currently sitting at a computer with various windows open, some of which I’m using to write code, and given that I also write for a computer magazine… and wear glasses… I think I’m fairly comfortable with my own brand of geekiness.

I’m also a stand-up comedian, hence the irreverent nature of what I write.

www.ashleyfrieze.co.uk

Thanks for getting back to me.

Ashley

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Ashley,

One of the biggest problems of writing is that it is often difficult to ascertain the author’s intended meaning or mood. I would definitely appreciate seeing the actual review so I get a better feel for your light-heartedness.

Thanks again,
Yvette 

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