Home
Electronic magazines are among the most dynamic content creatures to evolve on the Web; they're brainy, fun, and, best of all, they mutate with entertaining speed. These days, however, many E-zines are becoming strange- ly stubborn. Though their developers undoubtedly know what a literal pain in the butt it is to read at a computer, they persist in cramping our style.
Instead of depending on the old standbys -- sharp writing and simple, direct art -- some 'zines, like the action sports site Charged (www.charged.com), overcompensate with flickering banners and cutesy little Java animations. Maybe Charged, an otherwise nifty destination, should take a few lessons from the satirical 'zine Suck (www.suck.com). With its lone daily essay on, for example, Pop-Up Video scrolling down the center of the page, Suck has pioneered the essence of the digital quickie: a fast download.
E-zines need to be served up fast and -- like good hamburgers -- fresh. Unfortunately, on the Web it's easy to disguise old content as new, a petty cheat that swiftly irritates. Some sites like Gurl (www.gurl.com) simply slap a ''new'' button next to stories like the quirky ''Virtual Makeover,'' providing no clue when it was posted. The solution: a quick, text-based table of contents like Salon's (www. salonmag.com); this New Yorker-style 'zine stamps each feature with a date, so readers can judge whether Camille Paglia's thoughts on office wear are newly baked or downright stale.
Fixing these problems isn't just a matter of aesthetics, it's a prerequisite for survival. According to a recent study of online ad revenue by Jupiter Communications, a New York media research firm, not a single Net-only 'zine ranks among the top 50 Internet publications. If E-zines want to stay in business, they need to do something to entice readers to stick around and read, not just surf through or crash.
