Post #1

When I started reading the article, Claremont McKenna College: How you will change the world with social networking, I came up with one simple question. Why people want to "share" what they are doing or feeling at the time on the internet? I don't use twitter at all, because I don't have any reasons to "share" my life with other people. I'd rather call my friend if I have something I really want to share and want to have any response. One of my friends is addicted to facebook. Because I don't understand the needs of it, I asked her why she always post anything she does at the time. And she answered me, "I use facebook just because I'm bored."

Due to the technological development, we can google anytime and anywhere with your cellphone. But what makes it good or bad online writing? We can choose which website to reach. Like I do research for homework assignments. According to the article How to Create Compelling Content That Ranks Well in Search Engines, good online writing should include keywords, related links, and specific contents. If you have a specific keyword, people (target audience) who want to reach the website can find it. Good online writings should be easy to be reached. Therefore, it doesn't need to be easy for everyone to use. It needs to suitable to the target audience.

The page of Safety and Privacy on facebook, it says "Since our founding in 2004, we’ve worked to provide a safer and more trusted environment - such as requiring that people use their real names." In the article of Claremont McKenna College: How you will change the world with social networking, it says that "Being online and sharing on social media does not mean throwing open the curtains and baring yourself to the world." This is true, I believe. But, I do not think using real names on facebook would lead some serious problem. For example, this tragedy happened just a couple weeks ago. People post whatever they want to say online and open it to the public. Although I personally have a facebook account, I check only once a week to see if any of my friends (who are living in Japan) sent me a message. These kinds of social networking is really useful to the people, especially who are far from your hometown like me. However, is there a need to create an account with your real name? I do not think so.

However, there is a Japanese site called "2ch" where anyone can post their opinions as anonymous. Posting online as anonymous also have a problem, such as people can easily hurt someone else. I think that "2ch" is "bad" online content. Although I check this website everyday, but those anonymous people are not always saying the truth. In this website, one person pick up today's news, and others leave comments how they feel about it. Because they don't have to put their names, they take this system as "freedom" to write whatever they want to. There is pros and cons being anonymous on the internet.

Second bad example is "Hamusoku." This is a blog-like website where any person can post their opinion (usually it's biased), and others leave comments whether they agree with it or not. The design of this website is confusing. It is even hard to find where is the post because there are too many ads around it. There is no link to other sites, and there are also no "related keyword" on this website.

One of the good example is "Cookpad" which you can search the various kinds of recipes. The target audience is clearly the people who want to know how to cook this specific food. Also most of the recipes have pictures so that people can imagine how it is going to look like. It also suggest what you can make today if you have no idea what to cook.