Top 10 Websites to Brighten Your Day!

I'm the first to admit, there are a lot of bad things about the internet. Trolls, twitter fights, the ability to stalk ex-boyfriends/girlfriends/pals etc when life would be oh so much easier if that wasn't an option. However, there are also some really brilliant things about it. So I thought I'd do a little list of ten places on the internet that I turn to if I'm having a bad day! Most of them probably won't be new to you, but if any of them are, I hope they succeed in brightening up your day too!

HelloGiggles

The brain child of a team which includes the lovely Zooey Deschanel, HelloGiggles is my favourite website. It's a little internet haven that includes beauty and fashion chat, but does not exclusively revolve around those topics. Over there they talk feminism, film and television, books, life decisions, career, sex and relationships, body image... the list goes on! There is an article to suit my every mood, whether it's a link to a cute cat video somewhere on YouTube, or a deep and meaningful post all about the struggles to find a job/a partner/your own identity. It's a wonderful mish-mash of articles written by regular and guest contributors, who all feel very much like they are on the same wave length - trying to create a corner of the internet in which they encourage women to be confident and be themselves.

YouTube - Screen Junkies: Honest Trailers

As a self confessed television addict and film lover, Honest Trailers (from Screen Junkies) is one of my favourite YouTube channels (and that is saying something!). The concept is pretty self-explanatory - they take famous movies, often from recommendations they get regularly in the comments on their videos, and create "honest trailers" for them. This usually involves pointing out all of the flaws in the film, from poor acting to confusing plot lines and terrible scripts. It never fails to cheer me up - particularly the trailers for all five (were there really five?!) Twilight films. They are excellent. [view my favourite Honest Trailer here!]

Pinterest - Quotes Tag

I love browsing through the quotes tag on Pinterest. If I'm ever having a bit of a down moment, or feeling a bit negative, reading through the inspiring quotes posted there always makes me feel a bit brighter. I think it helps when they have a pretty background too - it sounds so silly, but a really beautiful image with an inspiring quote over it never fails to cheer me up! [click here to see my own Pinterest Quotes board!]

Buzzfeed

I couldn't not include Buzzfeed in this list, could I?! I could easily lose a day of my life to Buzzfeed - it's ridiculous. I've lost count of the number of times I have laughed till I have cried at posts on there. It actually happened the other day, with this post of 17 Hilariously Inappropriate Movie Marquees; I was in the library (on a break from dissertation) and I literally cried reading it.

Twitter - Very British Problems

For an instant, 140 character pick me up, my go-to is the Very British Problems twitter account (@SoVeryBritish). I know there's a Tumblr and now a book of this, but the twitter version is my favourite twitter account (and again, that's saying something!). I doubt this would work unless you are from the UK, but it always makes me laugh - these observations are spot on. From "Finding someone standing in front of your desired sandwich, so pretending to study a pasta salad until they leave." to "Debating whether to open the bus window or just quietly succumb to heatstroke", it cheers me up every time.

Bored Panda

I only discovered Bored Panda earlier this year, thanks to a couple of friends from uni who recommended it! It's sort of like a less commerical Buzzfeed if that makes any sense at all? My favourite posts involve beautiful photographs or art work - it has a very cool, artsy vibe. This site completely enables my wanderlust as it so often features stunning photos of beautiful parts of the world just waiting to be explored! Here's an example of a gorgeous collection of photos of "Tiny Humans Lost in the Majesty of Nature".

YouTube - SmadaLeinad

This is a mashup channel on YouTube, and anyone who knows me will tell you I love a good mashup. This guy is amazing, and he uploads new videos on pretty much a weekly basis. I think people probably get bored of my regular "listen to this amazing mashup of X and Y" posts on Facebook, but 90% of the time they have been made by this guy, and they are almost always perfect! A good mashup always cheers me up. [This is my current favourite]

Sporcle

I'm going to let you in on a secret - one of my geekiest little pastimes is doing geography quizzes on Sporcle. If I'm fed up and looking for a way to kill fifteen minutes, I will sit and name the countries of the world (all 197 on the occasions that I manage to remember all 197) till my heart's content. Or the 50 states. Or my recent favourite "Click the listed landforms in order according to the following repeated pattern: Mountain, River, Island, River"... I still haven't quite managed to get 100% on that one yet, but it will not defeat me. The site, however, has quizzes on everything from television and books, to science and sports, to baby names. Seriously. There's a quiz for everything on there.

Netflix

A paid for service, I know, but nothing beats settling down at the end of a long day of work/uni/college/school/job hunting and getting all cosy in your bed with a cup of tea and an episode (or three) of whatever show you are devouring at the time. And you don't even have to go and find the next episode - Netflix thoughtfully just puts it on for you ;)

The Guardian - Stuart Heritage

This one is very dependent on your sense of humour, but Stuart Heritage is right up my street. He talks films, tv and music over on The Guardian, and while his recent reviews of 24: Live Another Day were amazing, nothing will beat his X-Factor Live Blogs for me. Seriously, I get sad when the X-Factor finishes each year because it means I won't have the joy of reading his hilarious running commentary on a weekly basis. His love for Wagner will never wane, much like my love for his articles. [here's an example of a hilarious X-Factor Live Blog. I picked this one completely at random and was already laughing reading it after about a thirty seconds]

So there you have it - ten ways to cheer yourself up via the internet! I hope this put a smile on some of your faces, since they are all guaranteed to do that for me :)

What are some of your favourite corners of the internet?

Thanks for reading!