As I was signing up with dipity I was unsure about what to expect. I have never really heard of interactive information sharing and I sure haven’t had to opportunity to create one before. The whole process was a lot easier than I had anticipated and was also quite fun. Being more of a visual learner I definitely prefer the interactive timeline for educational purposes over the standard reading material. I feel that learning about these types of tools at an earlier age would have greatly benefited my education. For me, using an interactive design tool helps me stay focused because it is my actions with the mouse that is helping me receive the information and if I lose focus and let my mind wonder then I would not be receiving any new information. For someone like my self, who is easily distracted, this type of information sharing is essential. Overall the design of the site is pretty easy to navigate around. There were a few times when the screen would fade and I wouldn’t be able to click on anything, but with a simple refresh click I would be able to continue working. With more time to explore all the options I’m sure there is a lot more I could accomplish using Dipity. This being my first experience with this type of program I tried to just stick with the basics. Overall it was a good experience and now that I am aware of this type of interactive information I will definitely use it to my advantage.
http://www.dipity.com/justintess84/The-Summer-I-will-never-forget
Monday, May 3, 2010
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
The Future of Networking Sites
The possibilities for future networking sites are endless. The question of “should I network?” is no longer one that can be answered with a “no”. In today’s world, and in order to stay on a level playing field with everyone living in this world, one must network. We have created a totally digital world and if you chose not to participate you are going to be at a huge disadvantage. From starting with myspace, 7 years ago, to joining facebook, about 3 years ago, I have seen drastic improvements and applications that I would have never thought possible. I do, however, feel we are also at a stage were simple is good and when networking sites try to get too fancy they lose support rather quickly. In the near future I envision networking sites operating almost completely viral. I know there is already sites like this but I feel it’s going to become the normal to set up a web-cam and be able to chat with all your friends at the same time. The days of text messages will soon be replaced with video messages. To be honest I am a little scared of what is to come. With games like second life and virtual reality on a rise, I feel like people are pushing too hard to create this fake sense of life. We already live in amazing world and giving people the ability to escape to a fake one is going to hinder their ability to realize that. That is where the future of networking sites is taking us.
Design Analysis of Flickr
The social networking site I have decided to sign up for is Flickr. Flickr is an online community used for sharing images and video. It took me only about five minutes to sign up and make my profile. I added a photo as my default and began up-loading some of my pictures from my past travel spots. The concept of the site, or at least what I think to be the concept, is that you browse through pictures and videos of other users and if you find other users that are similar to yourself you can befriend them or even start a group and invite other users. The interface of the site is extremely friendly and very easy to navigate. You can browse groups, top rated photos and videos, you can organize your photos into albums and even tag your friends into your photos. The home page is set up into one page with three main links. There are my photo streams, videos and photos, that I have uploaded. Then there is a section with all my contacts and those I have became friends with on flickr, which at the moment is still zero. Lastly there are my groups, which I have created or joined, which is also currently at zero. I feel I will have success operating on this site because I feel I have many interesting pictures and videos from around the World. I feel that my photographic documentation will come in handy for others who plan to travel to places I have already been. I look forward to spending more time on the site and browsing through many videos and photos. I prefer to learn from images and video rather then text and that is why I feel this site was the best choice to become even more connected.
My Social Networking history
I blame my new found addiction to facebook on "Tom", my number one fan and the creator of myspace. I started networking on the myspace site about seven years ago. When I first decided to sign up for myspace I was still very unsure as to why I was doing it. My opinion of the site was that it was for meeting random people and spying on the friends you already had. To be honest I felt like the whole idea was kinda lame. Needless to say, just like every other teenager I knew, I signed up and have been connected ever since. I have, also like most, made the move over to facebook and feel, for some odd reason, that I must check my profile at least 5 times a day. I am hooked. Facebook has made it easy to stay in contact with friends and family whom I do no longer live close too. I have also found long lost friends on facebook and for that I am thankful.
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