02
Jun

We Need Your Support

Last night I came home from a long day. I made myself a snack and I sat in front of the computer to catch up on the world. The news media has been either dreary, rhetorical, maddening, or irrelevant. Healthcare is being debated. The war is being lauded. Taxes are being discussed. Celebrities are getting married. Etcetera.

I came to a point in my meandering of the news where I needed a laugh. I needed something to cheer me up, something to take my mind off of the damn solemnity! I took out the big guns in my defense.

Theses guns are several websites that I can escape to at times; sites that make me laugh, cheer me up. I admire one of these for its sheer genius, but I also admire the fact that it is independent, aspiring, genuine, and—simply—funny.**

I pointed my cursor, added the URL, and sat back for the video to download. I laughed. I watched another video. I laughed some more. Then I watched another until an hour passed.

Several advertisements popped up during the course of the first video and I ignored them. They seemed a nuissance, a distraction, until I realized something important about them; something related to me. How could I enjoy someone’s art time after time without supporting it?

If you watch public television, or listen to public radio, telethons are a biannual occurrence. Support comes in the form of money. But for websites that are not retail driven, support often comes from advertisements. These advertisements are never payers to the website unless they have been clicked on, sometimes clicked through twice.

I realized that to support this website wouldn’t take much effort on my part, and it wouldn’t take any money. For me to click on one of the ads that pop up during the video helps the creator, gives the creator money that doesn’t come out of my pocket.

I did that. I clicked on several ads during the course of the second video. I felt as if I were helping the creators behind the website. I felt as if I was lending credibility to a site that deserves it. Websites throughout the internet come and go, but for those we enjoy we should click on an ad now and again to support their existence.

**You may take a look at this website in the media window above.

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