I've never been one to like anything so much that I browse fan sites, yet here I am. I guess the fact that I am doing it for a grade helps. I found DexterDaily.com, a fan website completely dedicated to Showtime's Dexter. While browsing the website, the only links that I found were either navigation within the website, an advertiser's link or a reference link in an article. The reference links went to other Dexter fan websites or the official page. I took note that, other than the official Dexter website, none of the external links were quite as extravagant as DexterDaily.com. Perhaps this is on purpose? I wouldn't doubt it.
These external links within the articles add to the experience of information on the television show. Through exploring these links, one's knowledge on the subject of the article, always Dexter-related (including the cast members of the show), I compiled more knowledge and deeper interest about it. Now I see why people visit these websites. It's intriguing, especially when you already have an interest in the subject. The ads don't add much of an experience, and they seem randomly placed throughout the internet, like Amazon.
The design of the placement of the links is very straightforward -- right in the sentence in an article that is relevant to the information that the link provides. For example, a sentence might say, "In season 2, Dexter finds himself in a situation he has never encountered before, threatening his addiction." The text "in season 2" would be linked to some website that provides episode summaries. This way, the link doesn't interrupt your reading, but is conveniently placed so that you have an idea of where that link goes and how it is relevant to the information. This is much more effective than listing sources at the bottom of the article and slightly more effective than a "click here for the season summaries" note after the sentence.
I think it is interesting that the website you looked at linked to others that were, in your opinion, worse than the one you were on. This point is interesting to me because Manovich's text talks about how the internet removes hierarchy and places everything on the same level. I agree with you that the website you were on was probably trying to place itself above others. I suppose you could try to reinforce a hierarchy of websites by developing a better designed and easier to use site and only linking to sites not as well produced. Do you think it would be better to link websites not as good as your own and risk tarnishing your own; or do you think it would be better to have sites equally as well produced in order to maintain a certain "image"?
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