I admit it: You might not like our new website. (In fact, you might hate it.) That’s okay. I understand that it might look a bit odd at first. I should probably have taken one rich with backlinks from SpamZilla, but I wanted to try a little bit of my own magic. But for all the reasons why you might hate it, here are three reasons why you’ll eventually love it.
#1: WTF?! The huge sliding image thing [on the homepage] eats up my entire screen!
You’re right. It’s big — especially if you’re viewing the site from a laptop or desktop PC. But if you have access to a smartphone or tablet device, please see what it looks like there. (If you don’t have access to a mobile device, check out the 2-minute video demo below.)
On your mobile device, scroll up and down a bit. Do you see how all of the navigation buttons are big and easy to click on even the tiniest of mobile screens? See how the text is big and easy to read? And do you notice how you don’t have to do that annoying pinch-to-zoom gesture to find the things you want to see? Pretty cool, huh?
It’s crazy that only one year ago mobile viewers made up 16% of FlexYourRights.org’s traffic. Now mobile is nearly 30% of our traffic … and growing fast! This redesign is my humble effort to keep ahead of this technological shift. (If you prefer laptop or desktop browsing, I think you’ll soon see how the new design give you a better experience too.)
#2: But I want a mobile app!
No you don’t. Mobile apps are like sick cats: they are full of bugs and need constant attention. Worse, mobile apps rarely give you access to the full website.
Instead of requiring you to download a separate app, our new site is based on mobile-first design principles. In other words, no matter what size your device is, the site dynamically fits to your screen.
#3: Those annoying Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube thingys are everywhere.
As a 35-year-old, I’m not a “digital native”. This social media stuff is kinda new to me too. So I try to be a bridge between the YouTube generation and techno-phobic Baby Boomers. (There’s a lot we can learn from each other!)
I created BUSTED, our first know-your-rights video, before YouTube existed. Since then our videos have reached 20 million YouTube views. So please pardon me for being an evangelist for the radical technologies making this possible.
For starters, if you’re only receiving Flex alerts via email, please “like” us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter. And if you’re not yet on Facebook or Twitter, please consider joining so you can instantly share our articles and videos with your friends and loved ones. They’ll be glad you did, and so will I.
In Liberty & Justice,
Steve Silverman
P.S. We’ll be creating more new content than ever before, so be sure to follow us on Facebook and Twitter, or check the site regularly to see what’s hot.