Gearfire is a website that is written by students for students.  Geoff Ruddock and Jordan Slaman founded the site in 2006, and the blog has been expanding ever since.  Today, Gearfire openly invites students to apply as writers for their website.  The basic theme of the blog is to have multiple student authors writing articles that are aimed at helping other students attain academic success.  Some of the topics on Gearfire include practical tips likegetting more juice out of your laptop batteries and more academics-focused topics such as the best academic software for students.

For students, by students

One of the unique aspects of Gearfire is the concept of having students writing for students.  When you have students writing for other students, you can be sure that the topics are not only up-to-date, but also that the topics are relevant and meaningful to the reader.  Furthermore, the voice and perspective of the articles are easy for the readers to understand, because students are used to talking to and dealing with other students.  In terms of design and layout, Gearfire does a well-enough job of organizing the site so that first-time visitors can easily understand what the purpose of the site is and how to navigate the blog and its entries.

Factors that douse Gearfire’s flames

Although Gearfire has a good concept and a decent layout, there are a few factors that make the blog less attractive and appealing.  First and foremost, perhaps the biggest problem of the blog is that there isn’t enough content on the site.  To get more traffic it will be important for Gearfire to ramp up its content production.  Second, the site looks too generic.  One of my pet peeves when it comes to blogs is when the site looks run-of-the-mill.  When I first read the name “Gear Fire,” it conjures images of steampunk style, flames, and just a general feel of being fiery and exciting.  When I look at the page, however, all the flames and excitement just die down like an ember immersed in water.