social networking sites

3 Causes:
1. drinking and driving
2. college students and alcohol
3. texting and driving

Social networking sites have become insanely popular over the past years. They can even be considered "addictive". Basically, there is a site for everyone. The reading defines a social networking site as a "web-based services that allow individuals to (1) construct a public or semi-public profile within a bounded system, (2) articulate a list of other users with whom they share a connection, and (3) view and traverse their list of connections and those made by others within the system". These sites allow people to connect with each other.

What I personally like about Facebook is that I control who can see what. For example, I do not want my grandma seeing all of my pictures from college. I only allow people who I am "friends" with to see my profile information.

The reading says that social networking sites first appeared in 1997. Now, only 14 years later, these sites have become so large that almost everyone I know currently has or has had a Facebook, Myspace, etc.

The reading says "Teenagers began joining MySpace en masse in 2004. Unlike older users, most teens were never on Friendster...." I remember making a MySpace and being so addicted to it. I never used Friendster.


ps- I highly recommend seeing the movie "The Social Network"

3/31

The four basic design principles are alignment, proximity, repetition, and contrast. Alignment means that the items on the page are lined up with each other. It looks bad if you have things coming from the left, then the middle, then the right so it is easiest and best just to keep one! Center alignments are calming and relaxing because everything flows and is symmetrical. Borders can also be annoying. Proximity is the space between objects. You want the spacing to be easy for the readers to read. Repetition is when something happens more than once. Repetition makes sites easy to navigate because the reader doesn’t have to keep looking for where they are going; they already know from the previous page. Contrast creates a focal point.\

For designing interface and navigation, good website designs start with a good website plan. A horizontal design is most common. When the navigation is well designed, it is easier to find your way through the website.  Navigations may be in bars, tabs, or even pictures. An index or site map is useful to website viewers. There are internal links which connect you to places in your own site or external links which connect you to a different site. When linking, be careful not to irritate your website readers with annoying links!

3/17 Bullock

The audience is a very important piece when writing something. Are you writing a quick letter? An essay? Giving directions? Some short notes may have lots of information in them.  The purpose is also very important because you want your audience to feel something or be informed. Without a purpose, what is the point of writing? Also, the writer must know what content to include and how to get across to the audience in the best way possible. When designing a website, you do not want too much going on and a poor design because it will distract readers from the content. Two bad websites that should potentially be redesigned are...

1. milliondollarhomepage.com

2. http://yvettesbridalformal.com/

3/15

When reading the article, I was thinking about websites that I have visited and most websites I can think of all have a purpose, audience, design and style. I think that informational flags are really helpful when visiting a website. Then, I don’t need to click away from the page that I am currently on. Pop up windows on the other hand are probably the most irritating thing when viewing a website. Also, I never realized how websites had a certain organizational structure. I agree with the point that simple is better and less is more when designing a website. 

I don't know a poorly designed website off the top of my head, but i do recall looking at websites that have moving backgrounds and that is the most annoying thing ever when viewing a website. Also, when there are a million ads and colors.

3/1/11

The text read, “We define an information ecology to be a system of people, practices, values, and technologies in a particular local environment. In information ecologies, the spotlight is not on technology, but on human activities that are served by technology.”  I like how the text used places like libraries and hospitals to help further explain what an information ecology is. An information ecology is a complex system of parts and relationships. 

I think that Wikitravel can be an information ecology because the text says “Information ecologies are filled with people who learn and adapt and create.” Groups of people are writing on it and learning. Although people are not really creating relationships through Wikitravel, it is a system of people talking about a particular local environment.  An information ecology I belong to is the University of Rhode Island.

2/24

The first place that I would want to focus on for this project would be Harrison, NY. This is where I am from and have lived here my entire life so I feel that I know a lot about it. This would be a new article because there is nothing existing on Harrison, NY. Secondly, I would want to write about Kingston, RI. I have lived in Kingston the past two years for college and have gotten to know the area pretty well. There is already information on Kingston in Wikitravel so I would be adding to the existing one. Lastly, the third place I would write about would be White Plains, NY. White Plains is an upcoming city and there is a lot to do around there. White Plains is about 20 minutes from Harrison where I live. I spend a lot of time in this city. There is information about White Plains so I would be adding to that.]

By choosing Harrison, NY, this would add value because there is nothing written about it yet. By choosing Kingston I would add value because I have lived here the past two years and have gotten to know the area well. By choosing White Plains I would add value because I have seen the city grow and expand and add new restaurants and stores.

Wikipedia 2/22

I find it amazing that roughly 60 million Americans visit Wikipedia every month. I think that the flagging system will make Wikipedia more trustworthy and credible and I believe that it is a great feature. This makes Wikipedia seem more responsible.  I personally love Wikipedia, I use it often. I do not contribute because I don’t think it is fair for me to contribute information that is false. Even if I had correct information, I still do not think that I would contribute.

Responce to Wurman

I think something that Wurman wrote that I thought was interesting was “the most essential prerequisite of understanding is to be able to admit when you don’t understand something.” I never really thought of this statement before. After reading it, this really made me think. It makes sense that when you admit that you don’t understand something, you understand it better. Wurman opened my eyes to this thought. 

I also find it interesting that Wurman says that we should admit our ignorance and use it as inspiration. He says we should use ignorance to learn. I think that this is a good point because instead of living in fear of having the wrong answer, it allows us to admit to our flaws. Also knowledge and comfort build our wisdom. I also believe in Wurman’s theory how we recognize the existence of all things by their opposites. A great example that ties into Wurman’s knowledge and understanding beliefs is learning success from failure.

And remember... LATCH: location, alphabet, time, category, hierarchy 

responce to Stefanac 2/3/11

Stefanac has a good view on blogging. I agree that personality is the most important thing about blogging. If the blogger was boring and didn't really care about the subject, no one would want to read it! Stefanac also said that successful bloggers honestly love the topic they are blogging about. Stefanac spoke about all the things that different people like. These could lead to blogs. Blogging leads to better writing. When looking at the clubhouse blogs, all of them were so different. Potential ideas I might consider for my clubhouse blog are things I love/ hate about my hometown, Harry Potter, great places I have traveled to, celebrities I want to be friends with, or my favorite movies.

Responce to Blood

I find it unbelievable that in 1998 almost no one had a blog and now in 2011 pretty much everyone knows what a blog is. I think that blogging online became so appealing to everyone in 1999 is because it is free and you can virtually talk about anything that you want. Blood writes that "It was, and is, fascinating to see new bloggers position themselves in this community, referencing and reacting to those blogs they read most...Blogger itself places no restrictions on the form of content being posted." People enjoy blogging because it lets them write and respond in whatever way they feel. I agree with Rebecca that blogging everyday will make you a more confident writer.