Pre-post Write

I find that it is hard to get a hang of Google Sites.  I have been exploring and exploring but have not found what I am looking for exactly. There are many options to design a site and make it successful.  I just find it difficult to figure out all the functions and how to utilize them the right way.  It is a good tool to use but there is a lot of exploring to do with it to make the site work. I know what I want to do with my site but I cannot figure how to put it into full effect using Google Sites.
I am still working on getting it all together.  I found myself at a loss because my group members were not responsive.  But I did seek help and will be using that help to fix my project to the best of my ability.  I am going to redesign the site to what I believe will be the best functional way for it to be accessed and utilized. 

Privacy issues

    From Boyd's reading I found that the potential ability to reconstruct a user's social security number by knowing their birthdate and place of birth was interesting.  Most people generously give out their information on social networking sites because it is asked for.  They do not think about the simple possibility that their social security number could be obtained by that information.  The more we provide the more we expose ourselves to identity theft.
    The social network that I currently use is Facebook.  I do have a Myspace still  but I cannot remember the last time I used it.  I switched over from Myspace because it became less appealing to others even though I liked the concept of making the backgrounds.  Facebook became more popular and a lot of my friends began to use it so there was the turning point for me. On Facebook there is the privacy settings that they allow you to change to your own preference.  I have utilized this function to make my profile the way I want it to be seen and viewed by others.  One thing I noted was that when they created a new system for privacy settings it wiped out the previous settings I had.
    In Boyd and Ellison's reading they stated that in 2005 a study that was conducted by Gross and Acquisti they studied 4,000 Carnegie Mellon University Facebook profiles.  This is when they found that social security numbers could easily be reconstructed.  If this was an immediate threat Facebook should have been addressed and sent a message to its users concerning their privacy.  For myself I know I do not provide my full birth year and currently have all my information in different places I am not from.  This way it is hard for others to find me. 

Website Redesign Part 3

http://www.forthelost.org/index.html

This site is not too difficult to navigate but is poorly designed.  Their flow does not work well and they are in desperate need of a navigation bar and search tool.  All of the links are located underneath the description of the homepage.  These links centered in the middle of the page lead you to different parts of the site.  They are only one click away but can be organized and utilized better using a navigation bar. 

There are a few links that direct you to different sites, but they are related to what the site does.  There is also a Google search tool located at the bottom of the page.  The page itself I feel needs its own search tool to allow users to find what they are looking for easier. With alignment and proximity this site can be more appealing to the eye and can be easily navigated.

Website Redesign Part 2

http://www.forthelost.org/index.html

Tollet and Williams design principles consist of "CARP" Contrast, Alignment, Repetition and Proximity.  On this site Alignment is definitely a problem.  There are certain areas that are aligned to the right and centered.   On the homepage they centered their links that lead you to other pages with information.  They need to choose one alignment and use it for the entire page.  Here you can see that the person who designed the page was trying to add a nice aspect by centering the links.  This does not work well for the websites because the links should be categorized differently and used at the top of the page in a toolbar style.

They lack proximity on certain pages.  The spacing should be done differently on certain pages that involve visuals of the missing persons’.  It would be easier to navigate with the eye if things were linked in different ways.  Keeping headlines close with the information that should be read is something to the site should work on as well.

As far as repetition the page has one visual that is used throughout the website.  This visual does not change according to the page.  It stays the same and there are no additions to it to connect it with the link chosen.  Adding more visual or changing the visual at hand and enhancing it will make the webpage more appealing to the viewer and look more professional.

Contrast is something that should be worked on for this site.  Their few primary colors being used throughout the site are okay but can use some work.  As far as the focal point here it is the main visual that is in a box.  This visual should be taken out of that box and made bigger to catch eyes.  Removing the box will create less clutter.

Website Redesign Part 1

http://www.forthelost.org/

This website is for an organization called For the Lost.  They intend on informing people of the Lost and their cases.  This is an organization that is devoted to missing persons’ cases.  Here the members help work on these cases unlike other sites.  It is meant to be active.  Having this website up they intend on acquiring more members.  With more members they will be able to take on a larger caseload. They provide online forums that discuss missing persons’ cases.  They constantly update the cases with new findings or if the case is closed due the missing person being found.  They find that missing person cases can sometimes be forgotten or neglected.  Here they work on finding and investigating these cases in hopes of bringing these missing persons’ home.

This site is meant to be serious, there are people that go missing and are never found.  They work to help aid to these cases in any way possible. The genre I would stick to this website is informative.  They provide cases that allow members and viewers to understand the circumstances of these missing persons’.

The site provides visuals of the people that have gone missing, but other than that it is merely text.  The website itself has a lot of work to be done due to different strengths and weaknesses.  The site is just too simple.  I think they would have more members if they portrayed their site in a different way.  More information on the main page would be a plus and the design itself needs to be reconstructed.  It is not that the site is hard to navigate but there are aspects that should be changed. 

Wiki Postwrite

Having no idea that Wikitravel existed I was unsure of how I was going to go about being successful by providing information to others.  With no prior experience of adding to a website I was able to learn how to make things work. After looking over the site and exploring, I found that it was easy to use.

In Nardi and Oday's explanation of coevolution they said, "Information ecologies are filled with people who learn and adapt and create." After using Wikitravel I found that coevolution can directly apply to the site. Wikitravel allows all of these things to happen. I was able to create a page for my own town.  This allowed me to explore the wikitravel site more in depth.  I was able to navigate the site easier and utilize certain tools to perfect the page.  I had to learn how to create this page in the correct format provided and keep it professional.  This website is not isolated it allows anyone to contribute to the pages they choose. I enjoyed using this site it allowed me to explore a different type of online writing. 

Not only did I successfully create a page but I was able to contribute and edit others.  Here we see that this information ecology allows updates to pages to occur immediately.  This website allows many users to update or edit what other users have posted.  The inaccurate information will be recognized by others who will re-edit the information to make sure it is correct.  This is the beauty of the internet it is constantly changing and keeps us on our toes.  Wikitravel is a site that will be changed constantly by their users.  People gain knowledge everyday and are willing to contribute and be a part of this ever changing technology, the internet.

Modaltiy...

After looking at my process blog I found that I only use the textual modality.  On my enthusiast blog I use images and provide links as well.  There I utilize different modes to present certain things I blog about. Using pictures help the reader to understand what I am referring to throughout my blog.  I find that when I look to find a blog it helps when there are pictures that can catch my high or simple blog posts that give you inspiration. 

According to Kress we find that we see more text accompanied by images.  This helps aid to different learners and allows them to further understand what is being read.  Certain modes can capture the meaning of something without having to explain it in depth. For example in my enthusiast blog I provide a picture or link to allow the reader to use another source to understand what my blog is about.

Looking at other blogs shows who utilizes which mode more.  It can be seen that one mode can provide everything you want without using other modes as well such as a picture or a link.  Being able to use the different modes effectively is a great strength for a blog.  It allows bloggers to expand creatively and attract new readers and followers.  Communicating through multiple modes is a strength in this type of writing environment.  This genre of writing has showed and demonstrated different strengths and weaknesses throughout this class.