Sobriety, A Common Goal
There are many addictions in the world today. Some are as harmless as caffeine, or as deadly as heroine. Alcohol is one of the most widely abused substances in the world today. An estimated 10.5 million people in the country suffering from the disease of alcoholism. In the novel The Jungle, by Upton Sinclair alcoholism is present in the lives of the poor immigrants in the early 1900’s. One character in particular turns to alcohol to deal with the hardships of America. “How much is the bottle?’ he said. “I want to get drunk.”(182) There were no support groups in early America that helped people deal with addiction, as there are today. Had there been an Alcoholics Anonymous, or something similar to it, there might have not been such a high alcohol abuse rate back then. The Alcoholics Anonymous website is a great tool to help those who need to take a step in the right direction without revealing their identity.
The anonymous nature of the site is the main appeal. The name itself is a promise of confidentiality. The program uses trust-based policies to gain heighten the appeal. This program also does not require any fees, only the aspiration of sobriety. This site gives support to alcoholics that they might not otherwise have. The site gives many links and other information on how to join, find, and attend a support group. There are also sub-groups based on occupation, race and other categories to help people find a group that they are the most comfortable in. The practices of this site appeal to users because they show that the program is only interested in helping people get, and stay sober. There is no underlying intention other than to help people who are in danger of harming themselves or others through alcohol abuse.
The visual appeal of the site works towards the program’s goal of keeping members confidential. The first screen on the website is a line of faceless people from all walks of life. There are many different types of people from young, old, tall, handicapped, males and females. The people are a light shade of blue, which depicts stability and loyalty. This first screen is very appealing and comforting right away. On the top of the site, in bold, blue lettering it says “Welcome to Alcoholics Anonymous”, which also creates a caring and hospitable environment. There is an automatic comfort in this site through the coloring and font choice. It is very visually appealing. Through the visual appeal and comfort that the site exudes it provides a trusting atmosphere that will be likely to help the members of A.A. open up.
The site is offered in Spanish French, which shows multi-cultural interest. Below the picture of the different anonymous people are all of the links to the different pages of the website. There is a tab for general information on A.A. There is another tab for media outreach in order to allow the media information on contacting the site, as well as an evaluation tab to see if A.A. is for the site user. There is a group member tab, a history tab, and also a tab on how to find meetings. On the main site there is also a place to view the highlights of the site, a calendar of main A.A. events, and also an A.A. literature section, all to make viewing the site easier. This site has a straightforward approach in the manageability of navigating the site. It is quite simple to maneuver from one section of the site to the next.
There are many criteria on Savy Voter that are not used. The absences of some of these criteria are used very effectively in this site. For example, there is neither emotion communicating faces nor depicted actions. Not using these two categories of analyzing the website holds true to the idea that there are no faces at Alcoholics Anonymous. There are people that are identified as a group, not individuals, fighting towards a goal. If there were faces, emotions, or actions on this website, the whole idea of A.A. would fail. It was beneficial to the program and website to exclude these, and criteria similar to these two examples.
Alcoholics Anonymous has offered help to millions of outreaching Americans. There are few organizations that offer aid to those in need without asking for something in return. This program truly holds to its intentions of simply helping those in need gain and keep sobriety.

Works Cited
“Alcoholics Info”. http://www.alcoholics-info.com/ . 16 May 2010
Sinclair, Upton. The Jungle. Norton, 2003
“Welcome to Alcoholics Anonymous”. http://www.aa.org/index.cfm?Media=PlayFlash. 16 May 2010