Kara & Michael’s Blog

I do Google searches on just about everything. What I’m eating, what I’m looking at, what I’m thinking about, and so on. Not just to waste time, either — it never hurts to learn something unexpected about the topic at hand. Recently Google’s been frequently directing me to Associated Content, which is pretty much the worst website in the world. I would like to explain why.

Associated Content bills itself as “The People’s Media Company.” Indeed, associatedcontent.com is essentially a website where anyone can publish an article on any topic.

“But wait,” I hear you saying, “isn’t that what the Internet is for anyway?” You are asking this question because you are smarter than the people that write for Associated Content.

See, in theory, Associated Content should be a useful platform for people to share information and opinions on a wide variety of topics, in a news-article format and without the restrictions of a format like that of Wikipedia. In theory, it should provide a cool way for people to meet others with similar opinions and contribute their collective knowledge to the Internet. Unfortunately, in practice Associated Content is populated entirely by people who are loud, opinionated, and too stupid to maintain a blog. This, with a name and fancy wrapper that seem to suggest AC is an actual media outlet.

I may be loud and opinionated, but at least I am not too stupid to maintain a blog. I would like to think this contributes some tiny shred of tolerability to what I write.

Let me illustrate the horror of AC by way of an example. This is an excerpt from an article I found while Googling the yogurt I brought to work today (yes, really):

I have saved what I think is the best for last. As part of the “healthier lifestyle” going on in our home, blueberries have become a big part of this as they are loaded with some sort of health benefit I’m told, just kidding the benefit is, well I uh, hang on I’ll ask my wife. All kidding aside, my wife uses blueberries for a variety of purposes , and “Cooking Smart for a Healthy Heart” from Readers Digest, we came across a great recipe for something I just can’t wait to try, probably next summer, but this one is a keeper, “Blueberry Yogurt Soup.”

You heard me right, Blueberry Yogurt Soup. The ingredients are 3 tbs. of sugar, 1 tsp of grated lemon zest (what the heck is zest?), 1/8 tsp of allspice (not old spice), 2 bags of blueberries (12oz each), 1 1/4 cups of plain low-fat yogurt and 2 tbs. of fresh lemon juice.

Move over, Dave Barry! And lest you think me unreasonably mean, here is the article’s unusually reflective closing paragraph:

This was a bit different for me as a topic, but I found a way to inject some humor, so I’m good with it. Enjoy!

I’m not trying to put you down personally, yogurt article author, even if you did write another article called “Fred Claus Destined to Become a Holiday Classic” (I am not making this up). If you had a blog or personal website, no one would care. You’d probably even have fans leaving friendly comments. But Associated Content is a “media company,” and one that Google apparently thinks is worth sending me to for information about yogurt. Speaking as a one of The People, I think we deserve better.

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