Dec 18, 2005

Critique

"Over at the Walktopia blog, something is emerging to fill the expanse ‘between walk art and walk zen’. The blog's eclectic entries, as a whole, advance the ironic notion of walking as an activity for the masses whose time has come.

Some of the blog's concepts and ideas may eventually help cultivate and expand walk culture, like the WalkIcon interview series or programs like WalkKids and the Walkies Awards. Others, such as mission statements or made-up vocabulary, are trivial musings of a would-be entrepreneur in search of a voice and a viable business model. Still other blog entries are a diary of the mundane, like the privacy, copyright and trademark statements or the notes on the blogging process itself.

What's missing is mastery of blog tools (e.g. tags) and an infusion of pics, audio and video. The blog's link list is decent but a larger sprinkling of calendar items could be useful. The homemade Walktopia search engine needs serious work and needs to be accompanied by a simple intra-blog search.

Overall, Walktopia's blog is a running commentary from an newcomer-outsider* point of view. *New to walking, new to blogging and outside of both industries. Keep studying, Elizabeth. As the blog continues, Walktopia could soon grow to be an insider whose innovations help walkers shape their future."

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