Tracking Sites: way too many thoughts about 'em
For the last two years or so, I have made one of my "New Years resolutions" focused more about completing media I enjoy (particularly video games), as I tend to wander off something even if I do enjoy it.
This year was a bigger one for me, aiming to complete not just my usual "beat one new game to me a month" challenge, but also adding 3 OTHER media challenges to that. I realized though, those challenges are also deeply entrenched in one of the lamest hobbies I partake and enjoy doing - media tracking. So, in an effort to preface that long 2023 retrospective post, here's my thoughts on media tracking and the various sites I use.
Preface
I have a lot to say about waves hands everything here, so I'm gonna keep the words in this section short. I have one main goal whenever I use a tracking site - to track my evolving tastes in the types of art I consume, not necessarily what I collect. Collection sites are super handy, but using them remind me more on the value of the stuff on my shelf, rather than my enjoyment of them - which is a bummer for me and my wallet usually. Speaking of my wallet, I have also not paid for subscriptions to any of the sites listed, although I will likely complain about locked features I think should absolutely be available publicly. That said, I don't blame developers trying to make a profit off of what is already a very niche sector though - servers cost money, so do what you have to do.
Lastly, here's a quick bullet list of what I find most important in a media tracking website. I should touch on all of these in each site's snippet too.
- Install Base, which kind of sucks cause it's the one you have the least control. Community is the crux of a lot of these sites, so it is important not just to cultivate an active (and importantly, well-mannered) one but also know how best to surface them and their interactions to make even a small one feel lively.
- Intention of design, which doesn't feel obvious sometimes. Basically, someone navigating and using your site should have a very clear idea what its main use case should be. Am I using this website to track the condition and count of my game collection or is the goal to track my gameplay and thoughts on what I play? Both are equally valid goals, but require very different website needs and UI/UX approaches.
- Passion for the medium, which shows up differently for everyone and, admittedly, is very much a personal opinion. People discuss movies very differently from how they discuss TV or anime. A site can be tailored to work for all three, but will always feel much more aimless and messy than one tailored to the needs of the specific community and medium it's focused on.
Music
Last.fm - 👍
Let's start with the shortest category first, since it's also the first tracking site I've ever used. I got into Last.fm sometime in the mid-2000's and it arguably doesn't look much different than how it did then. It's had some revisions over the years, but for example artist pages just feel messy with the multitude of things they attempt to fit into one page. I never use Last.fm as a social site because of this, but it is handy for seeing how my listening habits changed over the years or even showing a friend what song I'm currently digging. 'Scrobbling' as a term has already taken a foothold in the lexicon relating to this stuff, so Last.fm isn't going anywhere any time soon regardless what little joy I find navigating its pages.
Discogs - 👍
I know, I know - I started this entire post with "I'm here for seeing how my tastes change over time, not my collection", but Discogs is here for a reason. It proves how vital sites like these can help assist that sort of tracking, even if there's no actual song tracking. It definitely fits closer to a "tool" than a community or discovery platform (although it still sorta fits that too) but I love its useful additions, such as its marketplace, the app's barcode scanner to search while crate digging in a store and its record store map. The site's design is incredibly bare bones, but I kind of appreciate that more when using it as an intended tool.
This post is already lengthy so I'll be cutting up my thoughts into separate posts on different media. Hopefully someone finds these thoughts of use when deciding between these sites! Below is a quick appendix of the other posts, if you're looking for them.
Part 2: Game Tracking
Part 3: Anime/Movie/TV Tracking
Part 4: Quick Fire & Final Thoughts