Week 4B: Websites I Visit

Due to the nature of my job being in social media, most of my time on the Internet is spent on social media apps rather than websites. However, for the purpose of this exercise, I did want to focus on two websites that I typically visit through a web browser on my computer, rather than an application on my phone. Two such websites that I am frequently visiting from my computer are Social Blade and Hulu.

Social Blade

https://socialblade.com/

Social Blade is an analytics tool used by many YouTube creators which displays publicly available information on viewership, subscriber growth, and revenue. Although this information on my own channel performance is available through YouTube's analytics section itself, SocialBlade breaks it down to be more digestible which is why I prefer it for some of my more surface level analytics research. It also allows you to look at analytics for other YouTube channels- something YouTube does not offer. The concept and ease of use of this website is what makes it so effective. Any person can, at the click of a button, see how their favorite YouTube creator's channel has been performing including daily views and estimated growth projections. It's become such a phenomenon in the YouTube community, that people will often use the term "green social blade" as a synonym for good channel performance.
It's incredibly easy to use and navigate, and displays the information in a way that's very easy to process. I continue to return to this website to get information on my daily growth numbers in real time, and to check up on the status of other channels in the space. I think the primary improvement social blade needs is more emphasis on branding an aesthetics, as the look of the website isn't anything unique. It's the concept and easy navigation that brings me back to Social Blade multiple times per day.

Hulu

https://www.hulu.com/

Hulu is a video streaming platform that provides a similar service to Netflix, however I find myself going to Hulu more frequently than Netflix currently, although I have a subscription to both. Hulu is so effective for a few reasons: hierarchy, ease of use, and overall concept and content of the website. Hulu's hierarchy of content keeps me on the platform longer, as it always seems to be serving me with something I want to watch on the homepage. Very rarely do I have to search for what I'm looking for on Hulu. The first two sections on the home page are "start watching" and "keep watching." If I was in the middle of watching a series or a movie, it's the first thing I see under "keep watching" and can easily jump right back into my streaming binge. If I'm feeling like watching something new, I don't have to search or endlessly browse like I do on Netflix to find a show that peaks my interest. The algorithm serves me popular shows that match my viewer tendencies under "start watching," and I'm almost always intrigued by something on that list. Netflix also offers a recommended tab on the home page, but very rarely am I interested in what they show me.

Hulu's content also fits my needs more so than other streaming services. I don't have cable, and Hulu posts new episodes of the shows I watch the day after they go live, so I can keep up weekly instead of watching an entire series after it's ended. It brings me back week after week, because I can keep up with the latest episodes of The Bachelor, SNL and South Park. The layout and design of Hulu is also aesthetically pleasing and easy to navigate, and the branding is clear throughout all pages of the website. The main suggestion I would have to improve Hulu would be to make it easier to browse specific genres. When I want to watch a documentary, I typically go to Netflix because browsing for a video from a specific genre (ie: documentaries) is much easier to navigate on Netflix.