Alyssa Martina: Beyond Passive Connectivity

Until recently, Metro Parent, a southeastern Michigan periodical for parents was primarily available in print only. Now, Alyssa Martina has expanded to the web, which provides “a whole new level of interactivity”. The website doesn’t reproduce the content of the magazine but, “Her goal is to get beyond passive, anonymous interaction.” “On Metro Parent's site, readers can create their own blogs and connect with each other.”

Even though I wouldn’t normally pick up the periodical, I visited the website and found that I like the look and feel, its bright, colorful, and not too cluttered. I was very impressed by the fact that there weren’t any annoying in-your-face pop-ups which I would have expected since they rely on advertising to fund the periodical.