Many Pies

Many Pies

Friday, July 06, 2012

What is a website exactly?

I've come across a blog recently called The Pastry Box project - "30 People Shaping The Web. One Thought Every Day. All Year Round. Sugar For The Mind.".

This recent post talks about interviewing candidates, and a standard question for them:
What's your favourite website?

If I were asked that question it might take me a while to answer. My thinking went like this:

Well, I use Gmail a lot, but that's my email, not really a website. Google Reader too. I use Librarything to keep track of the books I've read, but I think of that as my library catalogue, not a website. Flickr's where I store my photos, Facebook is... well Facebook.

I can't think of my favourite website, because the websites I use most are places for doing things. You could ask the same question about books, and I'd be able to give you an answer (apart from the Bible and Lord of the Rings it's probably Wintersmith actually). Books are more all alike than websites.

Is there something else that could give rise to head-scratching if you asked about a favourite, because it is such a diverse thing?

"What's your favourite activity?" maybe.