In relation to the communication aspects of the website, there isn’t really a major part of the website dedicated to users communicating with one another. The main reason behind this is that it is not a social networking site like Facebook or MySpace, it is a site meant to guide you through planning your journey. The only form of communication that I have found on the website is the Travel Blogs sections of the site. This is where you can read other peoples blogs from when they have been travelling, and you can also respond and comment on their blogs. I think that this is a major negative aspect of the STA website because a forum would be extremely useful on a site of this nature because you can discuss better with people what route they took and you can ask them questions to help you plan your own route. (http://blogs.statravel.co.uk/)
If any of you have been on this website yourself, do you think a forum would be a good idea too?
A major positive aspect of the website is that the information found there is extremely relevant and very useful in helping you plan your trip. The site does make planning your trip a lot easier and it gives you info so you can contact the STA operators so you can get even more information.
My final thoughts on my analysis of the STA Travel website are that it is a successful new media form of website because the user can interact with the website at I feel, an effective level. It is therefore taking on the requirements of the interactive culture that is popular in today’s society. I however, don’t think it is taking on the communication aspect of today’s new media society because there is not forum available on the website so the users cannot interact with one another as greatly as they could do.
Friday 29 February 2008
Website analysis - STA Travel - part 2
The homepage of the website is fairly busy but filled with relevant information to help get you browsing the site efficiently and effectively. In the top left had side, there is a search engine box where you can enter possible flight details your thinking of, find relevant bus passes for your journey, and also find hostels and hotels to stay in whilst you are travelling. Also found on the homepage on the top right hand side is a flash box containing deals. This flash box changes about every 6 seconds showing about five different deals. Towards the bottom of the homepage there are hypertext links to important parts of the website such as travel visas. You can also find important contact information such as the STA hotline telephone number and the email address. Across the top of the homepage there is a bar full of hypertext links to the different sections of the website.
The colours found throughout the website are fairly basic but fit in with the STA travel logo. The background colour for each page is white, with the STA travel logo in each left hand top corner. The other major colour uses are different types of blue ranging from light to dark. I feel that the choice of colours on each page help make the navigation easier on the site a bit easier because the white pale background makes the images on the site stand out more and therefore your attention will be drawn into relevant information and places that you are wanting to know more about.
Overall, I feel that navigation on the site is fairly simple to use at the start because it’s easy to find out which section you want to go to from looking at the hypertext links at the top of the homepage. However, once you go into each section it becomes a bit trickier as there are lots of different hypertext links and it all becomes a bit too complicated and confusing of where you actually want to go, especially when looking at the different treks and trails as I found I kept ending up on pages I’d just looked at when I thought from the hypertext link that I was going to a different page. I would say that this is a bit of a negative aspect of the website.
The colours found throughout the website are fairly basic but fit in with the STA travel logo. The background colour for each page is white, with the STA travel logo in each left hand top corner. The other major colour uses are different types of blue ranging from light to dark. I feel that the choice of colours on each page help make the navigation easier on the site a bit easier because the white pale background makes the images on the site stand out more and therefore your attention will be drawn into relevant information and places that you are wanting to know more about.
Overall, I feel that navigation on the site is fairly simple to use at the start because it’s easy to find out which section you want to go to from looking at the hypertext links at the top of the homepage. However, once you go into each section it becomes a bit trickier as there are lots of different hypertext links and it all becomes a bit too complicated and confusing of where you actually want to go, especially when looking at the different treks and trails as I found I kept ending up on pages I’d just looked at when I thought from the hypertext link that I was going to a different page. I would say that this is a bit of a negative aspect of the website.
Website analysis - STA Travel - part 1
STA Travel website analysis
Its quite hard trying to decide which website is my all-time favourite as I look at so many so often, but at the moment I’ve been spending a lot of time on the STA Travel website. The URL for this site is: http://www.statravel.co.uk/ STA Travel was founded in 1979. It is the largest travel organisation for students and young people.
Has anybody looked at this website before?
The basis of STA Travel is to help people considering travelling to set up their journey. The journeys featured on the website are: around the world travels, travelling in Europe and also specific set country travels. The site allows you to explore different country travel options and you can create your ideal trip from looking at the different activities happening in each country and also which hostels are on offer and which flights would be best for you. There are also sections on the website that offer you the latest deals and travelling discounts, a community section where you can read peoples travel blogs and interact with each other, and there is also a section upon working whilst you travel.
The target audience for this website is preferably students and young people aged between 18-26 years old. This is apparent because the STA Travel Company is a student-based company and deals with gap year students and graduate students who want to travel either before uni or after uni before settling down in a career. The target audience is both men and women who are interested in travelling.
Sunday 24 February 2008
Week 4 - task 1 - study guide tasks
User-generated content is refering to various kinds of media that are publicly available. The term reflects the expansion of media production through the use of new media technologies that are affordable and easy to access by the general public. In simplier terms I believe it means content from websites that you can get for free and it is not illegal because the content is not copy-righted..as said in the lecture..it is instead copyleft where the creator leaves the material open to people.
Social networking sites are a good example of user-generated content. MySpace (www.myspace.com) is a very good example of this. MySpace is free to sign up to and it is a good way to communicate free of charge. Another reason why it is a good example of user-generated content is in the example of music. There is a whole section on MySpace that is dedicated to music and bands. In this section you can view bands profiles and listen to their material. If you like a particular song of theirs you can add that song to your profile and it will be played whenever somebody views your profile. This is a good example of user-generated content because, although the song isn't created by you or isn't officially yours, the creators and producers of the material are allowing you to use their material for free.
I know MySpace isn't as popular with us lot anymore because we are all obsessed with Facebook lol, but did anybody or does anybody often change their profile song and use this free material? I know I did. I used to love changing my profile song..sad I know..but you had to keep it updated with which songs/bands you loved at that time. lol.
Also.. does anybody use MySpace now purely as a way to listen to material from bands and artists to hear new stuff by them? I sometimes do because facebook doesn't have a music material like myspace and when Im bored I like to go and listen to some new bands.
Emily xx
Social networking sites are a good example of user-generated content. MySpace (www.myspace.com) is a very good example of this. MySpace is free to sign up to and it is a good way to communicate free of charge. Another reason why it is a good example of user-generated content is in the example of music. There is a whole section on MySpace that is dedicated to music and bands. In this section you can view bands profiles and listen to their material. If you like a particular song of theirs you can add that song to your profile and it will be played whenever somebody views your profile. This is a good example of user-generated content because, although the song isn't created by you or isn't officially yours, the creators and producers of the material are allowing you to use their material for free.
I know MySpace isn't as popular with us lot anymore because we are all obsessed with Facebook lol, but did anybody or does anybody often change their profile song and use this free material? I know I did. I used to love changing my profile song..sad I know..but you had to keep it updated with which songs/bands you loved at that time. lol.
Also.. does anybody use MySpace now purely as a way to listen to material from bands and artists to hear new stuff by them? I sometimes do because facebook doesn't have a music material like myspace and when Im bored I like to go and listen to some new bands.
Emily xx
Week 1 - task 3 - study guide tasks
Technological determinism is a theory that suggests technology is the force which shapes society. In Lister et al technological determinism is looked at differently by different theorists. Some argue that technology does infact drive society, where as some argue that technology is interwoven into our society. What do people think? I think that technology is a force which shapes society, or at least influences and shapes some major parts of society. The invention of television for example has had an influence on the way we live today. Before television society was a more get out there and doing society where leisure activities were going for walks, reading books, doin crafts, etc. However, now instead of going for a walk or reading a book, the majority of people I know watch television as a way of relaxing. Television has become their leisure time activity. Another example of where new technology is shaping and changing our society is with the invention of telephones. Before telephones were invented, people used to write letters as a way of communicating to one another, but now letter writting is a form of communication that is dying out because people find it a lot easier and quicker to make a phone call than to write a letter. I know I definetaly prefer to phone people than writting to them! However even after saying this, I find that now that instant messaging and emails are becoming more popular in our society..phone calls are not as frequent as they used to be and people use websites such as Facebook to keep in contact with one another...do people agree with this? And therefore this is a way in which new technology is radically changing the way we live?
Emily xx
Emily xx
Tuesday 12 February 2008
Week 3 learning journal task
I thought because I quite often go on the Lost forum to see whats being discussed, I may as well use this forum as my example.
The url for this forum is: http://abc.go.com/primetime/lost/index?pn=mb&cat=33026
In the Lost forum, are discussions about peoples theories of what is going to happen or what is happening on Lost. People sometimes also post spoilers of info they have found out about what is to come on the particular season in question of Lost. However, I think that these posts might now be banned from being published on the forum because of something the writters said or did. If you went onto this forum and was to read a post and you had no prior knowledge of Lost or you hadn't seen the show, then you wouldn't really understand what was being said and some of the things being discussed really wouldn't mean anything to you. It would however make sense to a group of Lost fans because this is a forum especially for them, not just general chit chat.
A way in which people in the forum present themselves as a Lost fan to the other fans in the forum is by their username. The majority of the people posting in this forum have names related to the show itself or characters within the show. For example 'Sayidlover' and 'DriveshaftAreFab'.
The form of interaction taking place is done in the form of threads. If somebody wants to reply to somebodies elses post then they click on the discussion topic and can read what other people have replied saying and then they can add their own post to the thread. Threads can become rather long in the Lost forum as people are costantly replying to the discussion topics posted and then this sets off other postees ideas and thoughts.
The forum is set up in a way that influences people to reply to posts and it is easy to use because there are headers at the top of the forum which clearly say 'Topics', 'Posted By', 'Replies', 'Views' and 'Last post', all of which enable a quick and easy way of seeing if say your posted topic has a new reply, or if a topic has a lot of replies it might be of interest to the other forum users because this could suggest that it was a good topic starter.
Emily x
The url for this forum is: http://abc.go.com/primetime/lost/index?pn=mb&cat=33026
In the Lost forum, are discussions about peoples theories of what is going to happen or what is happening on Lost. People sometimes also post spoilers of info they have found out about what is to come on the particular season in question of Lost. However, I think that these posts might now be banned from being published on the forum because of something the writters said or did. If you went onto this forum and was to read a post and you had no prior knowledge of Lost or you hadn't seen the show, then you wouldn't really understand what was being said and some of the things being discussed really wouldn't mean anything to you. It would however make sense to a group of Lost fans because this is a forum especially for them, not just general chit chat.
A way in which people in the forum present themselves as a Lost fan to the other fans in the forum is by their username. The majority of the people posting in this forum have names related to the show itself or characters within the show. For example 'Sayidlover' and 'DriveshaftAreFab'.
The form of interaction taking place is done in the form of threads. If somebody wants to reply to somebodies elses post then they click on the discussion topic and can read what other people have replied saying and then they can add their own post to the thread. Threads can become rather long in the Lost forum as people are costantly replying to the discussion topics posted and then this sets off other postees ideas and thoughts.
The forum is set up in a way that influences people to reply to posts and it is easy to use because there are headers at the top of the forum which clearly say 'Topics', 'Posted By', 'Replies', 'Views' and 'Last post', all of which enable a quick and easy way of seeing if say your posted topic has a new reply, or if a topic has a lot of replies it might be of interest to the other forum users because this could suggest that it was a good topic starter.
Emily x
Goebbels on radio - task 2a - week1 study guide
Ok so I haven't done a blog for a while now..eeek. so I better get cracking again lol.
I found the Goebbels reading quite interesting. For Goebbels the radio was there to keep the masses up to date with the current situations happening with the war and other essentail developments but it was also used as a way of influencing the German population of the thoughts and beliefs of Goebbels Nazi government in the form of propaganda.
In my opinion, this was a good method of using the radio because the radio in those days was a good way and better way of contacting the masses. However, in my opinion, in this current day, television is probably a lot more powerful at contacting the masses than the radio as the majority of the population are probably more likely to turn on the television for important news than tune into the radio. Am I right? Is this a common shared view? I know I watch the television a lot more than I watch the radio anyway lol.
The only major thing in this current day that radio is 'good for' is for entertainment whilst travelling about in cars etc. This is the main time that I listen to the radio anyway because I cant watch the television but I want something to keep me entertained whilst im on the move. Do other people listen to the radio more than I do?
Emily x
I found the Goebbels reading quite interesting. For Goebbels the radio was there to keep the masses up to date with the current situations happening with the war and other essentail developments but it was also used as a way of influencing the German population of the thoughts and beliefs of Goebbels Nazi government in the form of propaganda.
In my opinion, this was a good method of using the radio because the radio in those days was a good way and better way of contacting the masses. However, in my opinion, in this current day, television is probably a lot more powerful at contacting the masses than the radio as the majority of the population are probably more likely to turn on the television for important news than tune into the radio. Am I right? Is this a common shared view? I know I watch the television a lot more than I watch the radio anyway lol.
The only major thing in this current day that radio is 'good for' is for entertainment whilst travelling about in cars etc. This is the main time that I listen to the radio anyway because I cant watch the television but I want something to keep me entertained whilst im on the move. Do other people listen to the radio more than I do?
Emily x
Friday 1 February 2008
More blogging
My eyes are starting to go funny sat on my comp now so I will blog more tommorow so keep checking if you want to read more.
Emily x
Emily x
Task 1 - week1 study guide
Im on a roll people lol...heres Task 1...
Emails: Emails are a quick form of communiaction which enables you to send a message to anywhere in the world, quickly and for free (unlike telephone calls to say Australia). Emails can be sent to many people at a time so if you want to send the same message to many different people this can be done easily. I often use emails to communicate with people from back home like my parents and also my family in Canada because it costs a lot less than ringing them all the time!
Usenet and Bulletin Board Systems: I didn't actually know what these were so I had to research them. Im guessing that they are quite similar to forums? Anyway this is the definition I got of a Bulletin Board System when I researched it:
A Bulletin board system, or BBS, is a computer system running software that allows users to dial into the system over a phone line (or Telnet) and, using a terminal programme, perform functions such as downloading software and data, uploading data, reading news, and exchanging messages with other users.
Hmm they are only slightly similar to forums then because you can read news and exchange messages with other users. But this is a system where you can also download software and data. Hmm I am still a little confussed here. Any1 actually know what they are that can help me out?
IRL's, Chat rooms and messenger services: I know what these are lol. This is a form of instant communication (well if the person/people you are contacting or talking to are actually online at the same time as you). A popular form of messenger service is MSN Messenger. (I bet most of you have msn) On msn you can chat to your contacts instantly and its like being on the phone to them appart from you don't actually get to hear their voice, its text that appears on the screen in your 'converstaion window'. I use msn all the time! Its a good way of chatting to my friends and family back home or my other uni mates who don't actually live with me. On msn you can play games with each other, send each other pictures and files. Its great!
MUDs and MOOs: Again, I didn't have a clue what these things were so I had to research online to get some answers and I also had a nosey at other peoples blogs to see if they knew and thankfully a few of you did :) MUDs are otherwise known as Mutli-user Domain. And MOOs are MUD Object Orientated. This means that people can online game and also chat to the other users online at the same time. (This can be found in a few Xbox 360 games I think cause Im pretty sure my friend is always playing games where this is a feature). I have never actually played a game like this or used this myself but I have seen somebody play a game where this was a feature.
Websites: There are millions of websites! Websites can be used to do lots of things. You can find out information, chat to others in chat room websites, find out TV schedules on websites like Channel4.com, play online games, discuss things in forum, listen to the radio online, you can now even shop online. Websites are surely the basis of new media cultures? I use websites all the time. They're great. I mainly spend my time shopping online, downloading music online, streaming TV shows from websites...you can practically do everything!
Well thats about all my knowledge for task 1. If any1 can help me understand better what Usenet and Bulletin Board Systems are then please comment me.
Thank youuuuu,
Emily x
Emails: Emails are a quick form of communiaction which enables you to send a message to anywhere in the world, quickly and for free (unlike telephone calls to say Australia). Emails can be sent to many people at a time so if you want to send the same message to many different people this can be done easily. I often use emails to communicate with people from back home like my parents and also my family in Canada because it costs a lot less than ringing them all the time!
Usenet and Bulletin Board Systems: I didn't actually know what these were so I had to research them. Im guessing that they are quite similar to forums? Anyway this is the definition I got of a Bulletin Board System when I researched it:
A Bulletin board system, or BBS, is a computer system running software that allows users to dial into the system over a phone line (or Telnet) and, using a terminal programme, perform functions such as downloading software and data, uploading data, reading news, and exchanging messages with other users.
Hmm they are only slightly similar to forums then because you can read news and exchange messages with other users. But this is a system where you can also download software and data. Hmm I am still a little confussed here. Any1 actually know what they are that can help me out?
IRL's, Chat rooms and messenger services: I know what these are lol. This is a form of instant communication (well if the person/people you are contacting or talking to are actually online at the same time as you). A popular form of messenger service is MSN Messenger. (I bet most of you have msn) On msn you can chat to your contacts instantly and its like being on the phone to them appart from you don't actually get to hear their voice, its text that appears on the screen in your 'converstaion window'. I use msn all the time! Its a good way of chatting to my friends and family back home or my other uni mates who don't actually live with me. On msn you can play games with each other, send each other pictures and files. Its great!
MUDs and MOOs: Again, I didn't have a clue what these things were so I had to research online to get some answers and I also had a nosey at other peoples blogs to see if they knew and thankfully a few of you did :) MUDs are otherwise known as Mutli-user Domain. And MOOs are MUD Object Orientated. This means that people can online game and also chat to the other users online at the same time. (This can be found in a few Xbox 360 games I think cause Im pretty sure my friend is always playing games where this is a feature). I have never actually played a game like this or used this myself but I have seen somebody play a game where this was a feature.
Websites: There are millions of websites! Websites can be used to do lots of things. You can find out information, chat to others in chat room websites, find out TV schedules on websites like Channel4.com, play online games, discuss things in forum, listen to the radio online, you can now even shop online. Websites are surely the basis of new media cultures? I use websites all the time. They're great. I mainly spend my time shopping online, downloading music online, streaming TV shows from websites...you can practically do everything!
Well thats about all my knowledge for task 1. If any1 can help me understand better what Usenet and Bulletin Board Systems are then please comment me.
Thank youuuuu,
Emily x
Interactivity in websites...(hopefully I actually understand now lol)
Ok so I think I might finally be getting my head round this whole blogging thing.
In relation to the learning journal tasks here is my attempt at the tasks for week 2...
From sites that I look at and often go on, I find that both Myspace and Facebook have a major form of interaction taking place. These are sites that are there for you to create your own personal profile where you can explain abit about yourself and add your friends profiles to your friend list and interact with them. The major interaction is in the form of what facebook calls 'wall posts'. This is where you can chat to your friends and leave them a post on their wall so that they can later respond. (it is kind of similar to msn messenger but it is not as instant as that). Another major form of interaction on Facebook is that you can share pictures. If you upload your pictures onto your profile in a folder there is a thing called 'tagging' where you can tag pictures of your friends and that then alerts your friends that there is a picture of them and therefore they can find it and get the picture themselves. My facebook url is...http://unilincoln.facebook.com/profile.php?id=786600541 hopefully that'll work lol. Who else has got a facebook?
Another form of interactivity online is through the use of forums because forums are based upon interactivity. Forums (although we all now know this lol) are where people can discuss points online. Where a discussion has many replies it is known as a thread. A forum that I often look on (because im a geek and love Lost lol) is the Lost forum. Its quite a good forum because Lost fans can dicuss their theories of what they think Lost is all about and it can get you really thinking about what on earth is actually going on on that messed up show lol. Go and have a look if you like... http://abc.go.com/primetime/lost/index?pn=mb&cat=33026 Does any1 look at that forum anyway?
Hmmm..now for the 2nd part of the task...hypertext...
...How does hypertext shape the experience of using the World Wide Web? Well in my opinion I think that it enables us to find information that we require or are interested in a lot quicker. And also in the form of text being link highlighted it means we can also gather more information on the topic we are actually looking for.
(I hope I actually understand what hypertext is because I was struggling for abit...it is things like the navigation bars on websites isn't it? Would appreciate it if any1 would help me out here.)
Thanx for reading,
Emily x
In relation to the learning journal tasks here is my attempt at the tasks for week 2...
From sites that I look at and often go on, I find that both Myspace and Facebook have a major form of interaction taking place. These are sites that are there for you to create your own personal profile where you can explain abit about yourself and add your friends profiles to your friend list and interact with them. The major interaction is in the form of what facebook calls 'wall posts'. This is where you can chat to your friends and leave them a post on their wall so that they can later respond. (it is kind of similar to msn messenger but it is not as instant as that). Another major form of interaction on Facebook is that you can share pictures. If you upload your pictures onto your profile in a folder there is a thing called 'tagging' where you can tag pictures of your friends and that then alerts your friends that there is a picture of them and therefore they can find it and get the picture themselves. My facebook url is...http://unilincoln.facebook.com/profile.php?id=786600541 hopefully that'll work lol. Who else has got a facebook?
Another form of interactivity online is through the use of forums because forums are based upon interactivity. Forums (although we all now know this lol) are where people can discuss points online. Where a discussion has many replies it is known as a thread. A forum that I often look on (because im a geek and love Lost lol) is the Lost forum. Its quite a good forum because Lost fans can dicuss their theories of what they think Lost is all about and it can get you really thinking about what on earth is actually going on on that messed up show lol. Go and have a look if you like... http://abc.go.com/primetime/lost/index?pn=mb&cat=33026 Does any1 look at that forum anyway?
Hmmm..now for the 2nd part of the task...hypertext...
...How does hypertext shape the experience of using the World Wide Web? Well in my opinion I think that it enables us to find information that we require or are interested in a lot quicker. And also in the form of text being link highlighted it means we can also gather more information on the topic we are actually looking for.
(I hope I actually understand what hypertext is because I was struggling for abit...it is things like the navigation bars on websites isn't it? Would appreciate it if any1 would help me out here.)
Thanx for reading,
Emily x
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)