Group D Discussion (AJACS)
Members: Alicia, Andrea, Shefali, Janessa and Charity
Today's video conference started with a discussion about holidays, such as those in American culture, Filipino culture, Indian culture and French culture. The members exchanged ideas about events like the Philippines' Independence Day, Labor day and holidays in Indian and French culture. This short discussion gave us all a glimpse of a different culture and it was a very educational and enriching experience.
Jumping right into the task at hand which was to analyze websites, we went through the websites for the Montana Meth Project, a website about Moroccan marriages, an information portal for Kosovar issues, and the MSF(or Doctors Without Borders website). All the websites that the group looked through seemed very informative, each with their strengths and weaknesses. The most visually complex site was the Montana Meth Project site, which had very powerful visual tools like a banner and a section for different ads used for the project. Although very informative, the website for Moroccan marriages seemed to lack credibility.
At the end of the group discussion, group AJACS decided that the Montana Meth Project site, which would be used as Shefali's primary source of information, was the most visually complex. The pictures on the banner as well as in the different sections of the site show teenagers, thus leading us to determine the target group correctly. (ages 12-17) It also seemed like the meth project was targeted at women since most of the pictures had women in them. We compared this website with a Utah's meth project which was targeted at women who were of child-bearing age.
Other factors to consider would be the strong use of pathos in the site with its use of a serious blue hue to emphasize the gravity of the problem in Montana as well as their wide array of powerful visuals, form videos to billboards. The ethos is also emphasized with the many links to other articles and websites provided thus making it a portal for information. Another key point would be the statistics and very detailed descriptions offered to the viewer which establish the site's credibility.
Alicia's chosen site on Moroccan weddings seemed very informative to someone who wanted to learn more about Moroccan culture. However, the fact that the site had so many online ads on it took away some of its credibility. We also determined that the sites was targeted at adults who wanted to learn more about general Moroccan culture.
The fact that the author of the site is from Morocco gives it credibility since we are assured that this information is firsthand. Another key points of the site include pathos, which is expressed by the vibrant pictures of Moroccan couples in their grand wedding attire, giving us a glimpse of their culture. We also had to consider the possibility that the development of internet in that area is not as advanced as the quick advances in some countries. This factor could contribute to the several ads on this certain website.