dailies

Why must every site force you to login or register?

It seems every site owner wants a piece of the feel-good “I have users and accounts and email addresses… on MY site” thing instead of just letting a site breath and flow without restraint and identification. For some sites, an account clearly makes sense, especially when making purchases; but for others, it’s simply absurd.

Web designers and developers are constantly trying to push the envelope of web integration, community, Web 2.0, and viral marketing campaigns; the problem is that most of them still are hamstrung by the “give me your info first” train of thought. Suck up your loss of marketing data, and let the site live; pencil pushers be damned.

I was just on discogs.com to look up an album’s release date. They have a little star rating thing where you can rate albums. I was going to throw in my $.02, but instead of just letting you just click your rating (1-to-5… super simple) they send you to a register/login page… and that was the instant I closed that window. It happens more than I care to count, and every time it annoys me and that site loses my participation.

Wake up people! No one wants to register for your silly site!  

(Rant over… more coffee)