Week 8: "A Global Phenomenon"

There are constantly new Social Networking sites being created all over the world. Many of them have grown at a rate much higher than originally anticipated. We are always hearing about the latest craze, weather it be facebook, twitter, or some other up and coming social network. In our surrounding countries, the same thing is happening, we just don’t hear about it due to the little coverage we receive here in the US.

Boyd and Ellison discuss many of the successful social networks that have gained popularity worldwide. When I set up my facebook account (3 years ago?) there were many users, but nowhere near comparable to the number now. I remember reading somewhere that facebook has surpassed 175 million users, and in 2009, the site was growing and adding about 600,000 new users daily. The number of people on Facebook grew by over 10% monthly in 52 countries in January. It grew by over 20% monthly in January in 13 other countries (2009). After reading up a bit on the growth of facebook, it dawned on me that part of it’s success is due to its continuous improvement. Weather it be changing the layout of the site or making things more user friendly. Nowadays, there are “groups” in facebook which bring people together with common interests, living conditions, hobbies, etc. I find this to be extremely useful and relevant to the ultimate “goal” of facebook.

One example of a social network expansion is in China, where blogging has swept across the country and increased both in scale and frequency. The blogging industry there may be on a steep rise, but how long will it be before a new Social Network creeps in and makes the now dominant blogging obsolete? This blogging activity in China has definitely created competition on social networks and among service providers that support blogging. I would not be surprised to hear about new up and coming sites that eventually make facebook, twitter, myspace, etc a thing of the past. 

Tollet and Williams Framework

Within the reading, CARP is described as a way to teach proper framework while designing a website. This simple test is a way to make sure the website is designed in a coherent way that is accessible to the user in a friendly manner. The appearance is not the only aspect of successful site, organization and simplicity are also important to the viewers. The letters in the CARP test stand for contrast, alignment, repetition, and proximity.

Contrast is in relation to the appearance of the page along with the way in which the data is organized. My example (ling cars) did not take into consideration the importance of fonts, pictures, video, etc. Many of the pictures presented on the site are irrelevant and a little unnecessary for selling cars. One example of poor consideration of this is when I found an advertisement for lunch on the car leasing site... a little unnecessary don't you think? I see way too many pictures as well, many of them seem to be quite outrageous.

In addition, the alignment of a web page is just as important. There are specific words advising not to use a wide range of alignments. Using a mix of alignments can be confusing and it can even give of an “unprofessional” feel. Ling Cars uses alignments to the left, right, center, and just about everywhere on the page. If you couldn't tell by now, I can't stand looking at this webpage.

The R stands for repetition, and this is used to make the webpage “flow” and fit. There is no constant repetition within Ling Cars. The illustrations especially seem to be random and a little unnecessary. Navigating this site is a little confusing, but the only “successful” repetition is done on the left side where the list of cars are named. The fonts used on this page drive me insane. I noticed at least 7 or 8 different fonts while reviewing the site. Those fonts are done in about 15 different colors as well.

Proximity in webpages is important because when information is scattered, navigation becomes a task and it becomes a little annoying and doesn't make the viewer want to read further. We want information presented before us in a coherent manner. On Lings Cars, the information is scattered everywhere and searching for something can certainly get a little confusing. 

Ling Cars

I used Bullock's framework while reviewing my choice of a poorly designed website. I came across a site that is used to lease cars and I must say that it is in need of some serious renovation. Ling Cars offers cheap car leasings and contract hire options for business or personal use. The website may have all the necessary information (or too much..) and it certainly gets the point across. The organization of the site is horrendous and needs to be changed. Just looking at the page hurts my eyes and navigating the site seems to me like mission impossible.

The audience in this situation are the customers looking to lease a car. There is just about no way of knowing these customers on a “personal” level. This site is packed with colors, patterns, and words that everything just appears to be jumbled. A simple description and toning down the flashy appearance would probably benefit Mr.Ling.

As a webpage genre, this site needs to take the information and display it in a coherent manner and not have it look like a project done by a middle schooler. The information is organized to some extent, but simply searching for it can be a hassle. This site should be much more professional. It is important for the audience to be impressed with the professional aura of the site when the customers are making such important purchases.

The stance of this site is without a doubt informal, and certainly attempts to be persuasive. The site uses flashing pictures,colors etc to attract the attention of the customers, but the only result I can see here is an opposite effect. People who are looking to make such important purchases don't want to waste their time dealing with someone who is this unprofessional.

Finally, the media design I chose is a webpage. This site needs to get to the point and not be so tacky. Brief and to the point is all the buyers are looking for. The site certainly has it's share of pictures throughout it. Many of which seem to me to be extremely irrelevant.

http://www.lingscars.com/

Step 3

Navigating through the Ling Car's website is a nightmare. It isn't necessarily that hard to find a car to lease because of the convenient tabs and listings on the left side of the page, but some may easily get confused or lost in the flashy pictures and silly advertisements. A navigation bar is on the top with tabs such as Cars and Vans, How it Works, About Ling, etc. The site certainly has the necessary information, but I cannot see this site being successful because of the unprofessional manner. With a few changes, I can see this site making enormous improvements in it's web design. I found many links straying the customer away from the main purpose of the site, some of which include irrelevant quizzes and advertisements.

The main weakness of the site is definitely it's unprofessional appearance. I see way too many “childish” pictures and fonts. The site is obviously not marketing kids, because kids don't dive, so I see no need for so many flashing pictures and fonts. Ultimately, the links do take the viewer where they want to go, you just need to get past the annoying distractions.

Wikitravel Post Write

The concept that stands out to me most from the Nardi O’day piece in relation to Wikitravel is the concept of a “System”. This site is one that thrives on the knowledge of people all over the world and it is without a doubt that it focuses on the human activity over technology. These information ecologies will only work when all the parts work together smoothly. Just about every part needs to work together, since a change in any part will effect the others. Information ecologies are made up of 5 concepts, and I believe that the “system” concept has a direct relationship to both technology, and human activity, not necessarily one.

The concept of a system can be related to our recent experiences with Wikitravel. After editing locations, things to do, restaurants, etc. I have realized that making a simple change to one piece effects the whole page of information or location. I have gathered my personal knowledge and added it in where it was not. I found this to be extremely useful, and we are able to learn an immense amount about specific locations in no time. In WikiTravel, there is a “system” of some sort overlooking the site, and if inaccurate information is added, it will be removed. In this case, removing information once again changes the information thus changing the page.

Human activity is essential for these types of sites to function, since they heavily rely on the knowledge of our peers. Without the humans to add, edit, and delete information, there simply would be no WikiTravel. The site solely functions on the input of humans. There would simply be no way for Wikitravel to thrive and succeed without our peers participating. One thing I love about Wikitravel is that it the entries are done by people who have actually lived in a specific area. We see this place through the eyes of its resident, and we understand what is important to those people. The best part of the site is that by simply searching through information on foreign places, we become familiar, with the unfamiliar. 

Week Five

After looking through my process blog, I realized that I have heavily relied on one piece of modality, which in my case is textual modality. I have yet to explore images, video, and hyperlinks. On the other hand, I have used all but the hyperlinks in my Enthusiast Blog. I use these modes of communication to present the subject of my blogging. Using images not only captures the attention of the audience, but it helps to further understand the purpose of my blog. Full understanding can be accomplished without all of the wordy explanations, instead the modes can be simple, but right to the point. This is why many bloggers use images/video/links to enhance the understanding of their topics.

Looking through other blogs shows who takes advantage of the modes of communication. A simple picture or link can make a big difference in the way people view blogs. Having the ability and communicating through different modes effectively is definitely a strength for a blog. Many different strengths and weaknesses have been displayed in this genre throughout the class.