Assignment 2

Assignment 2 Project Description 5/18/2011

My project will be a wiki and forum-based car site that primarily focuses on Do It Yourself (DIY) repairs and modifications of all brands of vehicles. The target audience of this website will be mostly car enthusiasts, but also includes those looking for general advice about car repair, brands, and buying. Talk shows such as NPR’s “Car Talk” show that there are many people interested in finding expert knowledge and information on cars. Today, there are many forums and websites on the web that discuss various makes and models of cars, with some websites even focusing on only specific aspects of those cars, such as car repair or automotive news discussion. Very few websites are able to focus on many different brands of cars, either due to the limitations of a discussion forum style website, or the limited amount of content that a traditional website is able to offer. Furthermore, many discussion forums are only themed around a certain brand of cars or a certain style of cars (such as classic American cars) because of the stronger perceived community derived from these common interests. Yet the existence of general car websites and blogs such as Jalopnik and Autoblog suggest that car enthusiasts will form a community around an overall interest in automobiles. Finally, the existence of forums focusing specifically on car repair also indicates that people try to learn about car repair online.

Furthermore, it still remains difficult to easily find information on the internet about how to repair and modify one’s specific make and model of vehicle. There are two primary reasons for this. First is the aforementioned specialization of automotive websites. A guide to change the headlight housing of a Chevrolet vehicle may be on a completely different website or forum than a guide to fix the headlight housing of a Ford vehicle, illustrating how it may be difficult to find the website that has the information is looking for. The second issue is unorganized nature of forum-based websites. Many guides to repair and modify vehicles exist on forum-based websites, primarily because forums are able to produce user-generated content. However, forums were originally designed and organized for discussion topics, and as such it is often difficult to find the information you need, especially if it is an old topic. For example, if a guide to change the oil on a certain car was created five years ago, it may be difficult to find, even with a search button. Overall, there exists a gap in the market for a strong community that creates informative user content about various cars and car repair but is also easily accessible to the average person.

There will be two primary parts to this website: the wiki database and the discussion forums. The wiki section of the website will be where the majority of the guides and general information about various vehicles will go. The hope is that this wiki will primarily be filled with user generated content and guides. The aim is that much of the content is written by experts and enthusiasts, similar to Wikipedia. The wiki will be organized according to the make and model of cars as well as the type of repair or modification. Furthermore, a search function can be implemented in order to make finding specific information much easier. This allows the common person to easily access the information he or she is looking for. This common person is the primary target audience of the wiki section of the website. Similar to how Wikipedia is generally written by experts and read by amateurs, this wiki provides many answers for amateurs looking for information and knowledge.

The forum section of the website is more geared towards the car enthusiast, and will include various sections for discussion, including general automotive news, racing, and car manufacturer sub-forums. Furthermore, enthusiasts can also discuss new car modifications and improvements. Experts in fields such as electric cars, motor racing, materials engineering, and hypermiling can share their tips and tricks with others.

In this way, the two sections allow the website to draw in a strong community of car enthusiasts as well as be accessible to the common person. This type of website has successfully existed for other interest groups and often has created strong communities as well. For example, wiki.Liquipedia.net for the Starcraft video game community both offers discussion for starcraft enthusiasts as well as a wiki that helps out newcomers to the game. This website has seen strong and continued growth. I believe that such a website style would be just as, if not more successful for the car community. The website would offer a great platform in which the car community could thrive.