The 65 Most Annoying things about the Web Today

Posted on 13. Aug, 2009 by Bradley Hebdon in Features

Using the Web can still be a very annoying experience!

Using the Web can still be a very annoying experience!

We’ve come a long way on the web today. Or have we?  While we’ve innovated in many areas, we’ve also continued to disregard pre-existing issues. And in some cases, we have also created new ones. Here is my list of the top 65 most annoying things about the web today. They’re in no particular order, but I have organized them into what I consider core groups.

Poor Design

  1. Illegible text. I can’t read that, it’s too small. And what on earth is that font called?
  2. Busy backgrounds.  Oh MySpace, why do you allow users to create profiles like that? My eyes hurt.
  3. Obscure links. I’m confused, can I click on that or not? Oh I get it, you don’t want me to view other pages.
  4. Flyouts that are too large. Holy crap Yahoo!  This is a page within a flyout!
  5. Drop-down menu navigation too many levels deep. OK, if I slowly move my mouse this way first… dammit Jim, I’m a doctor not a magician!
  6. Complicated navigation. I just want to get to that page, the one over there! Oh I see, you want me to complete the maze first.
  7. Abused centerpieces. Aren’t centerpieces supposed to serve as mechanisms for promotion, rather than areas to cram an entire page’s worth of content into itself? Call me an idealist, I guess.
  8. Poor navigation labels. Give me a clue and use labels that make sense!
  9. Clutter & chaos. With no emphasis or information hierarchy, it’s difficult for me to know what to look at, and what to do next.
  10. Ugly WAPs. Many companies treat their WAP sites like a deformed step-child they keep in the basement.
  11. Splash screens. Nice, a road block between your user and your home page.

Unfindable Information

  1. Dysfunctional site search. (Sigh) Why didn’t this site just use Google?
  2. Too many blog categories. Isn’t this what tags were meant for?
  3. Contact info. I just want to speak to them on the phone! And when I say “them” i mean a human.
  4. Invisible sign in. OK, so I registered, but how do I sign in?
  5. Hidden account closure. I guess I’m a member for life now?
  6. Unscannable info. I want to quickly know if this article is relevant. But alas, huge paragraphs, long headlines and no subheadings make for an unscannable chunk of data, and an indigestible piece of gristle.

No Content Strategy

  1. No focus. Yada, yada, yada. Get to the point, what’s your message and what do you offer?
  2. Spelling & grammar. Spelling mistakes are hard to forgive and really hurt credibility.
  3. Ineffective product pages: What am I buying? Why should I buy this? Help me understand, and I’ll move down the purchase funnel!
  4. Outdated. There’s nothing more thrilling than seeing a blog frozen in time. At some point, a landfill for websites is going to be needed.
  5. Small photos. Why would I buy something I cannot see?

Auto-Behavior

  1. Auto-playing home page video. Take note ESPN.com: the first thing I do when coming to your site is scramble to find the video pause button. And that’s when I’m surfing from home.
  2. Auto browser resizing. And you did that because?
  3. Customer service nags. Ironic really. Chat pop-ups appear like genies out of a lamp when I don’t need them.
  4. Theme tunes. Got to love that auto-play music, especially when it cycles over and over and over, and over.
  5. Auto opt-ins. It seems like an automatic opt-in is a contradiction in terms to me. No I don’t want your newsletter, and if I did, I’d opt-in.

Evil Forms

  1. Unreadable captchas. Pure Evil. If I had a brick, why I would…
  2. Too many fields. This is utterly exhausting. Oh forget it, I’m going to abandon this form.
  3. Cryptic error messaging. OK, so I made a mistake. If you used English, I might be able to fix it.
  4. No confirmation. Was I successful or not? I’m looking for anything here, a “thank-you”, a “job well done”, a “good boy”… anything that confirms the form was indeed a submitted form.
  5. Too many constraints. I want to add my Canadian zip code, but you’re validating against the US format only!
  6. Too small fields. How I’m supposed to enter my street address in that state-sized field?
  7. The reset button. Do we really need this? I especially love it when I accidentally press “reset” instead of “submit”. It’s especially satisfying when it’s a long form.

Intrusive Advertising

  1. Pop-ups. And that includes those fancy, flashy, moving, hard-to-close ones. Are you serious? This is 2009.
  2. Interstitials. Thanks for adding another click and creating a barrier between me and your content! Give me a reason to leave, I dare you.
  3. Flyouts via links in content. Oh darn, I didn’t know that was an ad! Thanks for punishing me.
  4. Too many Google ads. I know there’s some content around here….
  5. Long video pre-rolls. Is this ad ever going to end? Hang on; I forgot what video I clicked on.
  6. The bus stop. Home pages that resemble bus stops — flyers, posters, graffiti all shouting at me. Sometimes, I swear I can even smell urine.

Accounts

  1. Remembering user names and passwords. Seriously, how many do I need to keep track of? Just give me Facebook connect already!
  2. Being forced to register for purchases. I just want to buy it, OK? Forget it, I’m going elsewhere.
  3. Forced password reset. I just want to know my password! The one I chose but have forgotten. I know you know.
  4. Getting locked out. I get the three-attempts-and-you’re-out idea, but it would be nice to know the rules before hand!
  5. Password sent by “snail mail”. I’m not sure whether to laugh or cry. Should I expect a scroll to be delivered and read by a messenger?

Abuse

  1. Spam. We still cannot cure this disease?
  2. Viruses. If I was a conspiracy theorist, I’d say the anti-virus companies were creating these. You know, supply and demand and all.
  3. Phishing. Particularly sneaky; and definitely a step beyond annoying.
  4. Trolls on messageboards/blogs. Oh well, that’s life I guess – art imitating life and all.
  5. Fake profiles. Am I following the real Steven Hawking on Twitter? It says here he went bowling last night.
  6. Facebook app invitations. For the thousandth time, no I do not want to play Mob Wars, and no I don’t want a “pet in an egg” either.

Technology

  1. Explorer 6. I speak for all developers here, if there’s a plug attached, please pull it. RIP Explorer 6.
  2. Plug-ins. Not only do I have to download another plug-in, I have to keep these things current!
  3. Entire sites built in flash. I don’t get it, why?
  4. PDF overuse. Why couldn’t this PDF just be a web page?
  5. Dell’s Netbook trackpad. Designed to be web browsing device, Dell’s Mini 10 trackpad has a trillion bells and whistles, but cannot fulfill basic tasks like moving the cursor from point A to point B without going to C first.
  6. Small netbook screens. While mobile devices have optimized views for their screens, Netbooks and their 9 and 10 inch screens are caught in a weird place.
  7. Inconsistent colors. Optimizing colors and contrast across both Macs and PCs is a designers nightmare.
  8. Charging for Wi-Fi. Provide it free of charge, and the patrons will come!

Waiting

  1. Slow page load. OK that’s it, I’ve been patient and their 3 seconds are up.
  2. Comment approval. I thought, I articulated, I commented, I waited. Nothing.  That will teach me to contribute.
  3. Black-hole between ordering and shipping. I took me 5 minutes to order this laptop, why isn’t it getting shipped? Should I place my order again? Should I cancel this order? What’s the order status?
  4. Twitter is down again. I’m starting to think this is a feature. One akin to a long line outside a trendy night club.
  5. Customer service. Since I cannot get a human on the phone, a 24 hour response time to my e-mail is not acceptable. Well look at that, I guess you just quantified the value of my business.
  6. Submission timers. I saw this really great article! I know, I’ll post it on Reddit. And there’s another one, I’ll post that on Reddit too. What, I have to wait 10 minutes to post another article? That will  teach me to contribute.
Related posts:
  1. The 10 Commandents for Designing Less Evil Forms
  2. Best of the Web Weekly Roundup: September 5–11

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85 Responses to “The 65 Most Annoying things about the Web Today”

  1. Maxsim

    01. Jul, 2010

    my God, i thought you were going to chip in with some decisive insght at the end there, not leave it with ‘we leave it to you to decide

    Reply to this comment
  2. Rob

    26. Jun, 2010

    As a Newbie, I am always searching online for articles that can help me. Thank you
    Wow! Thank you! I always wanted to write in my site something like that. Can I take part of your
    post to my blog?

    Reply to this comment
  3. Windows Tips

    09. Jun, 2010

    also add that the Intenet is everywhere and that most of the time you have to reply on it for different things thus exposing your private data to all kin of scams…

    Reply to this comment
  4. Jimmy

    15. Mar, 2010

    I hate those automated car walkarounds with the robotic voice. You always think you will get a real person demonstrating the vehicle! If I want to see pictures I will just look on the listing and I don’t need the fancy scrolling across each picture..

    Reply to this comment
  5. meka

    22. Jan, 2010

    Wow those are great. I hate slow page loads and pop up boxes, especially those sites you go to and you start reading whats on the site and then a stupid ad comes up and asks do you want to skip ad. I just leave the site.

    Reply to this comment
  6. Haywood Jablome

    22. Jan, 2010

    The never-ending country menu pulldown menu is worthy of mention. Let’s see, 99% of your customers are in the United States, yet they all have to scroll through Angola and the United Arab Emirates to get there. I had one merchant assure me, “You can just press the letter ‘U’ several times to “jump to” the proper country designation without scrolling the entire list. Wow, that’s great web design, eh? The remaining address fields are not tailored to deliver a package outside of the West, yet we are incessantly presented with an option to designate every other country in the world as our mailing address. I challenge any web merchant to show me the last package they shipped to a residential Afghanistan address.

    Reply to this comment
  7. bookfachee

    15. Dec, 2009

    Facebook is the most annoying thing on the web today.

    Reply to this comment
  8. [...] Artikel „The 65 Most Annoying things about the Web Today“ bei UxByDesign Eintrag merken [...]

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  9. mrak911

    18. Nov, 2009

    Reply to this comment
  10. [...] borrowed a few from the “65 most-annoying thing about the web today“- too funny and too [...]

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  11. Mitch

    18. Oct, 2009

    Going to start referring clients to this post each time they ask me to add a music player to their website. Some people don’t understand that just because you can do something, doesn’t mean that you should.

    Reply to this comment
  12. Ashley Jensen

    10. Oct, 2009

    GREAT Post! On point and entertaining… ‘cept I found #66… I had to scroll for about a day to post a comment, LOL seriously great post though.

    Reply to this comment
  13. Michael

    29. Sep, 2009

    I hate to big headers. To look at information I have to srall down on every page.

    Reply to this comment
  14. Custom-blog-design

    24. Sep, 2009

    Wow! You really nailed it! Somebody had to remind the rest of us what should no longer be done in a web site these days. I thought the web had mature enough from the days where most websites had those flash animated gif images. Obviously new web designers are born everyday and someone has to teach them to not repeat the upgly history.
    I particularly love the “Accounts” section. Seriously if you are selling some widgets in your website shouldn’t you wait until you get my money on your hands before asking me all those questions. Is it an e-commerce or an exclusive membership club.

    Getting locked-out? Don’t get me started on that one. I paid a monthly membership fee on a web site and they lock me out after three failed attempt every time. And you know what else. I am forced to change my passord every month. How the hell should I remember a freaking password changing all the time. The sad part is they ask me to contact the account adminstrator. Yes, I can do that: I am the freaking account owner, administrator,…

    Thanks again for this great article. I feel better already for blowing out some steam.

    Reply to this comment
  15. Dan

    08. Sep, 2009

    Hi Bradley,

    I only use free websites and am still learning. It’s good to find a detailed list of what to avoid.

    Thank you for sharing this.

    Reply to this comment
  16. ebru

    07. Sep, 2009

    can you count “did he die?” and “this is absolutely photoshopped” comments?

    Reply to this comment
  17. A perfect list through which we get all the mistakes we do while conversion. The information is gathered nicely and its very useful.
    Thanks a lot for the work and keep posting such a wonderful post.

    Reply to this comment
  18. Reverse Cell Phones

    03. Sep, 2009

    Captcha that I cannot read is the absolutely worst.

    Reply to this comment
  19. semmw@ web 2.0 images

    02. Sep, 2009

    Hello this is great post! I’ll bookmarked this post!

    web 2.0 images|web 2.0 graphics

    Reply to this comment
  20. [...] The 65 Most Annoying things about the Web Today and have a laugh, then use it as a checklist to inspect your website. How annoying is your site? [...]

    Reply to this comment
  21. Mark

    26. Aug, 2009

    This list probably could have gone on forever. I know it was hard to only limit it to 65 items.

    Reply to this comment
  22. Twitted by megAlone

    25. Aug, 2009

    [...] This post was Twitted by megAlone [...]

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  23. meg

    25. Aug, 2009

    Great points! i agree with a lot of this!

    Reply to this comment
  24. Jon Phillips

    25. Aug, 2009

    Too many constraints. I want to add my Canadian zip code, but you’re validating against the US format only!” Oh man… that one made me laugh! I couldn’t agree more… as if the US was the only country on this planet… seriously, if you do business online chances are it’s worldwide (world wide web anyone?), meaning there’s people living outside the United States, in other countries… let me put my freakin’ Canadian zip code! :)

    Reply to this comment
  25. andy

    24. Aug, 2009

    ye missed teh number one thing wrong with todays web ‘ or Web 2.0′

    These stupid irritating naffing lists….seriously – will ye lot ever stop…..

    Reply to this comment
  26. David B.

    24. Aug, 2009

    @Eric The Red
    I didn’t realize expecting things to work well constituted as a sense of entitlement!

    Great article. It’s too bad some people are still in the 90′s on the web. I’d add “Any use of the tag, period”!

    Reply to this comment
  27. Twitted by seebrowntweet

    24. Aug, 2009

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  28. Barbara

    24. Aug, 2009

    Great Post! Has anyone done a study/survey on people’s response to music on a site? I have someone wanting it and I would really rather not…

    Reply to this comment
  29. Dave Sparks

    24. Aug, 2009

    Oh how many times have I clicked a few links in the office and suddenly had music blaring out and not knowing where to click to turn it off!

    Good post Bradley, it’s always nice to have a grumble.

    Reply to this comment
  30. lankapo

    24. Aug, 2009

    I want to agree with Dell track pad. So annoying ..sometime when you write something suddenly the pointer moves to somewhere else.

    Is this track pad is highly sensitive or what!

    Reply to this comment
  31. Paul Singh

    23. Aug, 2009

    Good show. :)

    Some points are damn funny. Especially the Waiting section.

    Reply to this comment
  32. [...] This post was Twitted by ldexterldesign [...]

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  33. Twitted by kailoon

    23. Aug, 2009

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    23. Aug, 2009

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  35. Brian Pajak

    23. Aug, 2009

    Quote ” Fake profiles. Am I following the real Steven Hawking on Twitter? It says here he went bowling last night.”

    I am still laughing my ass off about that one!!!

    Reply to this comment
  36. Doug C.

    23. Aug, 2009

    Your forgot number 66 – this article (lol, just kidding…)

    Reply to this comment
  37. [...] compiled a list of 65 of the most annoying things about the Web today. I gotta say, I agree with nearly all of it. Hopefully HNYZ doesn’t fall into too many of [...]

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  38. Parsa

    23. Aug, 2009

    After wading through all of the crap on the Internet, it is refreshing to read a web page with actual content on it. Thanks for the clean and logical interface. I will definitely visit this site more often.

    Reply to this comment
  39. Rod

    23. Aug, 2009

    Some sites are suited to be all flash… I think blogs articles about annoying things on the internet are more annoying than flash sites.

    Reply to this comment
  40. Twitted by betterimage

    23. Aug, 2009

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  41. [...] The 65 Most Annoying things about the Web Today | UXbyDesign.org (tags: Webdesign usability design web internet blog list) [...]

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  42. Reply to this comment
  43. LoisAlene

    20. Aug, 2009

    I had to laugh. The very first annoyance in your list is “Illegible text. I can’t read that, it’s too small.”

    I had to Ctrl+ to be able read it. It was too small.

    Sometimes illegible text means your eyes are going!

    Reply to this comment
  44. Jesper Eiby

    20. Aug, 2009

    “Seriously, how many do I need to keep track of? Just give me Facebook connect already!”
    - I hope you mean OpenID.

    “(Sigh) Why didn’t this site just use Google?”
    - Because I never really have found anything useful with Google search implemented on a website. I think it’s way harder doing great SEO, than a good search mechanism.

    But I agree with the rest full heartedly.

    Reply to this comment
  45. SchaakPraat

    18. Aug, 2009

    Wow
    I didn’t know that the web was so annoying

    Reply to this comment
  46. Twitted by stony

    17. Aug, 2009

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  47. Alexander Bickov

    17. Aug, 2009

    True! There are no ideal website :)

    Reply to this comment
  48. Abhishek

    16. Aug, 2009

    My additions to evil forms:

    1. Stupid max-limits on fields – they want my address to be not more than 15 characters !

    2. Follow their rules on passwords – just tell me if it is weak/strong/whatever. Why should you reject it if doesn’t have a capital letter?

    Reply to this comment
  49. FADASign

    16. Aug, 2009

    Accounts: # Forced password reset.

    The reason for this is simple and good: no website should store unencrypted passwords, and those stored passwords should not be decrypt-able. If a hacker gets their hands on a user table with unencrypted passwords they can do untold damage to anyone that uses the same password on many sites. Storing passwords as salted MD5s is superior, and not doing so is a dis-service to users.

    Agree on all other points though :)

    Reply to this comment
    • Anton Agestam

      23. Aug, 2009

      sha1 is better though ;)

      Reply to this comment
    • Zerga

      12. Nov, 2009

      I was just about to write the same… i prefer the site not knowing my password!

      Reply to this comment
    • jJ

      21. Jan, 2010

      I was also going to post the same rant. Even if I run the site, I don’t want to know your password, ever. I will encrypt it and store it, then, when you log in, I will encrypt the same way and test it against the stored copy.

      It scared the hell out of me the first time I asked for a password reset on a site and they emailed me my password. In plain text. Out in the open. So any Man-in-the-Middle could read it.

      I do not trust websites that act this way; it makes me wonder what other security measures they haven’t taken.

      In summary: A-

      ;-)

      Reply to this comment
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  51. Carol R

    16. Aug, 2009

    I agree with all – you forgot the”‘no back button.” I just want to go back to where I JUST CAME FROM but some pages (hello, Facebook!) leave you in some kind of loop and you have to navigate back the long way to page you just lerft.

    Reply to this comment
    • Jason

      17. Aug, 2009

      Carol, look to the top left of your browser. HEY! Back and forward buttons! Amazing.

      Reply to this comment
      • OllieJ

        23. Aug, 2009

        Jason, what Carol was referring to was not necessarily the “back” button, but rather sites that do not include links to their starting points, ie Facebook, It’s like playing checkers with the guy who refuses to quit even though he is only able to make one move.

        Reply to this comment
  52. Jared

    16. Aug, 2009

    I feel your pain man. Great post, and some things made me laugh because I know exactly what you mean.

    Reply to this comment
  53. Twitted by JessVanDen

    16. Aug, 2009

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  54. Pete Williams

    16. Aug, 2009

    Good list, but I don’t agree with emailing password reminders. If a site can email you your password in plain text then it hasn’t encrypted it in it’s database which is a real security risk.

    In fact emailing passwords, whether the original or a newly generated one is inadvisable – you don’t want to leave passwords lying in your inbox making life a whole lot easier for any hacker who gets into your mailbox.

    Reply to this comment
    • Jon

      23. Aug, 2009

      Agreed. I don’t EVER want to see my password in plain text. If I can, anyone can.

      Reply to this comment
  55. Tehmina Qureshi

    16. Aug, 2009

    Great Post. Good Points you have mentioned. Everyone notice things as per their on views. I have many other annoying points.

    Reply to this comment
  56. Jordan

    14. Aug, 2009

    Awesome post, agree with all of them. I also find those contact-us forms that don’t have e-mail/ phone number as an option annoying. (also, form fields that don’t allow users to tab between them)

    Reply to this comment
  57. Twitted by macbethkw

    14. Aug, 2009

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  58. meatbagwtf

    14. Aug, 2009

    I enjoyed this list. It might behoove some folks to read a slightly longer point-by-point dealing with WHY these annoyances are so annoying (“Hey, what’s wrong with all-Flash sites? I like ‘em!”)

    Mustn’t forget the quintessential, canonical Internet Annoyance: “The Annoying Thing”
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Annoying_Thing

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  60. David

    14. Aug, 2009

    Funny but true list. It’s odd that with all the advances in technology in some respects we’ve gone backwards or not able to keep up at all i.e the spam.

    Reply to this comment
  61. Owen

    14. Aug, 2009

    Great list.

    Humorous, yet sadly stark and truthful….

    The web has become a expression of our dysfunctional human race.

    Reply to this comment
  62. Sam

    14. Aug, 2009

    Great list. My school’s website fails on SO many of these points (and yes, I have begged for usability testing ’til I’m blue in the face, but hey, it works for the IT folks who “designed” it, so what’s the problem?).

    Under Accounts I would add, “forced registration before you can even see what the site is about or has to offer.” This generally accomplishes one of two things: users going elsewhere or population of one’s database with junk data made up on the spot. Oh, and those crafty sites that require a “real” email address for account activation? That’s the main reason for junk addresses at yahoo. Good job! You’ve just forced two sets of database crud, at your site and someone else’s!

    Reply to this comment
  63. Twitted by grimov

    14. Aug, 2009

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  64. Adrian the Rock

    14. Aug, 2009

    One I think you missed, under Accounts:

    Including passwords in unencrypted Welcome emails after registration – go on, tell the world!

    Reply to this comment
  65. Twitted by chiniehdiaz

    14. Aug, 2009

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    14. Aug, 2009

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  67. Eric the Red

    14. Aug, 2009

    Were you trying to come across like an annoying git with the attention span of a goldfish and an overdeveloped sense of entitlement in some kind of sarcastic comment on today’s web surfer, or is that just your personality shining through?

    Reply to this comment
  68. Mark

    14. Aug, 2009

    - Comment approval. I thought, I articulated, I commented, I waited. Nothing. That will teach me to contribute.

    Your comment is awaiting moderation….. :D

    Reply to this comment
  69. Mark

    14. Aug, 2009

    - Too may Google ads. I know there’s some content around here….

    - Spelling & grammar. Spelling mistakes are hard to forgive and really hurt credibility.

    ;-)

    Reply to this comment
  70. Twitted by stn1978

    14. Aug, 2009

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  71. Nathaniel Flick

    14. Aug, 2009

    For Contact you forgot to mention, “…a human in my own country who actually works for the company I’m contacting.”

    Reply to this comment
    • M.

      16. Aug, 2009

      // For Contact you forgot to mention, “…a human in my own country who actually works for the company I’m contacting.”

      A FREAKIN’ MEN! You also forgot “This post was Twitted by…” in Comments. Who gives a shit?

      Reply to this comment
  72. Twitted by els_aerts

    14. Aug, 2009

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  73. Eric Reiss

    14. Aug, 2009

    Exceptional post. Many thanks! Are you at all familiar with the Web Dogma I put together a couple of years ago? We’re clearly on the same page here – I’d love to hear your comments. There’s an article about it at: http://is.gd/2gn2w

    Reply to this comment

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