Review of Blog: Laugh Lines

History in the Digital Age
Assignment #1
22 January 2008



Review of Blog: Laugh Lines


Laugh Lines: Funny Stuff from All Over is a blog for “one stop shopping for the best humor on the web.”[1] The blog compiles “funny stuff” that happens all over the web and in current American culture. The blog is published through the larger newspaper brand of the New York Times. Being apart of such a large website, increases the likelihood that many people will stumble upon, find, and ultimately use this blog in their daily lives.
The editor’s of the blog ask the audience to participate by suggesting material or links, or by writing funny captions for the week. They also suggest that audience participation will actually make the blog better. This is an effective way to keep the blog a highly visited site for it allows the audience to feel apart of and connected to what is presented and talked about on the blog. The blog section entitled “Your Monologue Jokes” allows audience members to send in their own jokes. They can then watch audience reactions to them through the comment option. This interaction serves as a way to create repeat visitors to the blog.
The blog is updated daily and appears to have a high number of visitors. The general audience for this blog is any American who is somewhat aware of current events in the news, politics, and other media. The jokes, parodies, and other stories are best appreciated by an audience member that has some awareness of current events and pop culture in America. Through laughter, the blog presents the audience with news in a light-hearted way. Although the blog is filled with “funny stuff,” it is also very informative on current events. Its easy to follow format allows the audience to quickly catch some news and have some quick laughs.
Through many of these “laugh lines” an audience member may become intrigued by any given particular topic. The visitor first encounters an event or idea in a fun and intriguing way. Once the visitor is intrigued, they may follow the many tags and links to more informative websites; these links are often to stories written by New York Times journalists. Other links and tags bring the visitor to other newspapers, or even to other blogs. They also have a section called “Blogroll,” this section lists other related humor/news sites. Although the main agenda of the blog is to present the best humor on the web, an underlying purpose of the blog is to get the American audience excited and interested on what is going on in their country and the world; this includes the good, the bad, and the ugly! One of the best ways to reach a broad range of people is through a variety of multi-media, including photographs, sound clips, and movie clips; this blog offers all of them.
Through the use of multimedia the blog will able to reach a broader audience. Everybody learns and receives information differently, therefore it is in the best interest of the blog editors to offer “laugh lines and funny stuff” through a variety of multimedia features. Different people are attracted to different forms of media, some like to watch Youtube clips, while others simply enjoy viewing photographs from weekly events. This blog’s use of all different forms of media allows it to appeal to a more general audience; increasing visitation and audience participation in the blog.
This blog is a great way to catch up on America’s current events in a fun and quick way, something American’s look for in their busy and hectic days. Not only does the blog bring the audience tidbits of current events, it also brings the audience laughter through “laugh lines and funny stuff found all over the world wide web.”[2] As the web is so extensive, all encompassing, and sometimes overwhelming, this blog is a great place to catch up on some news, have a few laughs, and maybe brighten up your day.

[1] New York Times Week in Review Editors, “Laugh Lines: Funny Stuff from All Over,” New York Times, http://laughlines.blogs.nytimes.com/.
[2] New York Times Week in Review Editors, “Laugh Lines: Funny Stuff from All Over,” New York Times, http://laughlines.blogs.nytimes.com/.