http://www.homestarrunner.com -- Homestar Runner is a website presented completely in Flash. The content of the site consists of the (mis)adventures of the characters involved in the Homestar Runner world. As a website, it does very little in the way of presenting information -- it is instead a humorous artistic endeavor that continues to grow as the small group that maintains it continues to please its fanbase. Being a Flash website mostly focusing on movies and funny skits, the user does very little reading and is mostly engaged in either navigating the content, watching the content, or looking for easter eggs in the content. The site is presented entirely in a small Flash window that is about 640x480 in resolution, guaranteeing that it is fully visible by any standard audience. As a Flash site, it is incredibly effective in creating and maintaining its own image and immersion, with consistent characters, continuity and references across works, and even completed versions of games there were hinted at almost jokingly in various updates or cartoons that came earlier.

http://www.somethingawful.com -- Something Awful is a "news" website whose sole purpose is to create a satire of the absurdity of the internet and the culture it creates. The "information" presented by the website is not only usually entirely false, it is generally completely unwholesome as well, with an intention to offend those responsible for the subject matter (mostly because it is just so ridiculous). Opposed to Homestar Runner, Something Awful is completely textual (save for an area called the Flash Tub which has a few short Flash movies in it). The beauty of the site is apparent in its authors' ability to be creative, droll, and sarcastic about anything and everything at all. In addition, the content of Homestar Runner is created entirely by its owners, whereas Something Awful largely borrows from its forum community to create some of its content, such as the Comedy Goldmine. The site even goes so far as to borrow from OTHER communities to create content (i.e. the Weekend Web, which generally finds the most obnoxious or disturbing forums on the web and transposes the most horrifying posts).

While both sites seek to entertain, they do so in largely different ways. Homestar Runner seeks to appeal to a huge range of audiences, young and old, by using humor that is universally cute and appreciated. Something Awful caters toward the elitist in all of us and relies heavily on a personality that recognizes sarcasm and the value of laughing at everything to lessen tensions. Homestar Runner uses a video and audio presentation, whereas Something Awful uses a textual and sometimes graphical presentation. Homestar Runner rarely, if ever, makes political or social commentary, while Something Awful is ripe with it. Visually, Homestar Runner is focused on its one rectangular area, where Something Awful has much scrolling and two sidebars. Both sites can seem overwhelming at times when it comes to deciding where to go next. Fortunately, both approaches are effective in getting the job done, and are both equally accessible to anyone with a browser and a brain.