written and posted Oct 16 by Mallory Mariano
Review: everything-fm.com by Jaival Shah
Upon entering everything-fm.com, visitors are met with a landscape image of football players (presumably celebrating a win) that dominates the entirety of the screen.
“The quest for footballing greatness is an ongoing journey, here is a blueprint for success in Football Manager.”
With this declaration, the site makes clear a few key components: audience, niche/fandom like content, and an editorial approach that feels reminiscent of the some of the most well-known sports-coverage outlets (ESPN, Sports Illustrated, Yahoo Sports, Bleacher Report).
Considerations for audience feel almost insular, in a sense that a visitor to the site who may not be acclimated to the ins-and-outs of the football, may easily become lost or confused as to the what exact the site is supposed to entail. This is not a criticism per se, but more so an observation to the kind of audience Jaival hopes to ascertain for this site. It is not four-quadrant, all-encompassing, designed to appeal to the furthest possible audience/visitor possible. This is for the fan, the “superfan” if you will, of football. Furthermore, content for the site posted thus far is as follows:
‘Best Teams to Play With In FM24’
‘Best Tactics to Play With’
‘Best Free Agents to Sign’
‘Best Goalkeepers to Sign’
As a general overview, the creative voice and style of writing very much reflects the insular nature of site as a whole. It is niche. It is technical. It is full of jargon and language only fans of football would be acquainted with. Indeed, Hollenbaugh denotes that content creators invariably curate content with an imagined audience in mind (Hollenbaugh, 2021); we see this all the time on our social media platforms of choice, and Jaival’s work and prose very much adheres to a vision that place a particular audience in mind.
I am quite impressed with amount of thought and care placed into the editorial style of writing when it comes to the particular topics covered in each post. Of course, I cannot comment extensively on the nature of the content given how I personally am not familiar with football or fantasy football, but nevertheless, I can see the potential for this style of content to capture the attention of an audience. I might add, given the length of the content, that Jaival focuses on strenuously editing down and proofreading his future and current work (there were a few spelling and grammatical errors present in the writing itself, minor, but present nonetheless), as well as as to consider including some kind of introductory statement or paragraph to introduce readers to the topic. I would also encourage Jaival to remain committed to finding that creative voice for the site in his writing, and to continue to work towards refining what that specifically means for both his site and his presentation of self within an online space. I would like to make the connection to Campbell’s notion of personal cyber infrastructures (Campbell, 2009), in that allowing students creative freedom through an online space is not only an effective approach to praxis within a classroom setting, but may push students to ascertain skills that ultimately become applicable in the real world. In this specific scenario, I am referring to the content creator, Jaival, and his ability to hone his writing and creative voice in what hopefully can be utilized in a future career or continued professional development. Even if Jaival does not go on to a career the requires writing of this calibre in a professional context, learning how to present oneself, to write and present for an audience in an online setting (or otherwise), are invaluable skills.
The design of the site features, as previously mentioned, a design approach seemingly inspired by well known Sports News Outlets. The highlighting of the colour purple as the guiding design colourway is extremely effective in crafting everything-fm’s overall aesthetic and brand association. I would perhaps note that the site seems to be particularly inspired by footballmanager.com, to a point of near emulation of the exact same design principles. While I understand that creative inspiration can be garnered from virtually anything, I would challenge Jaival to consider innovating his approach to design. Originality, especially in terms of branding and design, can go a long way in not only crafting your niche but strengthening the foundation on which your brand sits.
Finally, a note on the organization of the site’s main technical components must be made. Everything-fm features a top bar with all key areas of the site clearly defined; ‘HOME’, ‘POSIEL’, ‘THE FM BLOG’, and ‘ABOUT’. The user interface is simple, easy to navigate, and bereft of any broken links. Jaival’s online presence, with regard to weekly content, appears to be consistent. There are many attributes that I, as a non-football fan, can appreciate about everything-fm. The site in its current iteration is a very solid foundation, and I look forward to seeing how Jaival continues to refine his approach to content, design, and voice.
References:
Campbell, G. (2009). A Personal Cyberinfrastructure. EDUCAUSE Review, 44(5), 58.
Hollenbaugh, E. E. (2021). Self-Presentation in Social Media: Review and Research Opportunities. Review of Communication Research, 9, 80–98.