VCE IT Theory Slideshows

By Mark Kellymark@vceit.com

Vceit.com

Types of websites

Contents

The types of websites for ITA U3O1 is defined by VCAA:

•blogs•chat rooms•forums•social networking•wikis.

But

• Your site in ITA U3O1 will probably need to combine these tools to satisfy an online community’s needs

Purposes of websites within online communities

• To provide information and news (inform)• To promote an opinion (persuade)• To teach (educate)• To answer questions• To entertain

Purposes of websites within online communities

• To allow individuals to collaborate on a shared task (e.g. solving a social problem)

• To organise people working on a shared task• To let people express their opinions• To gather information or resources• To let like-minded people meet and interact• Others?

Blogs• “Web Logs”• Used by individuals to broadcast to online

communities. • Include:

– diary entries– Commentary– News, events– Pictures– Links

Blogs

• Mainly one-way communication• Most blogs have feedback facilities so readers

can leave comments on blog posts.• This interactivity distinguishes blogs from

static websites.

Blogs

• Most blogs are text-based• Others focus on different media such as

– videos (video blogging - example)– audio (podcasting - examples)– photos (photoblog - example)

• Hundreds of millions of active blogs online• Technorati is a popular blog search engine.

Chat rooms

Chat rooms

• Online messaging services• Communication in real time (synchronous)• For sharing information on topics with like-

minded people. • For socialising.• Lets communities interact quickly• Good for immediate plans or decisions.

Chat rooms

• Often hosted by service providers like paltalk or via downloaded apps like Yahoo Messenger or IRC.

• Many are commercial (e.g. partner-finding chatrooms).

• Many are special-interest (e.g. teens, music lovers, technogeeks, gays, religious, national).

• Can be international or local, large or very small.

Chat rooms

• To join a chat room, users usually need to register.

• Given a username and password for security.• Can then choose chat rooms they are

interested in.• Often there are many rooms to choose from.

Chat rooms

• Upon entry, there are usually many people already present.

• Posts are shown in a scrolling window.• Users message other participants by entering

their message in a textbox. • Care needs to be taken in any chat room. The

real identity or nature of fellow chatters is often not what they seem to be.

EtiquetteMost chatrooms have rules, protocols:• introduce yourself when entering a room for the first time• make it clear when you are addressing a message to an individual

rather than the entire room• don't monopolise the discussion • don't insult or verbally abuse other users• don't spam the room with unsolicited commercial ads or rubbishy,

meaningless posts• don't troll (deliberately post inflammatory messages just to get a

reaction)• don't flood (fill the room with repetitive posts)• don't SHOUT• etc

Terms

• Avatar – a nickname/identity a users assumes to protect their real name

• Moderator – a person who monitors communications to ensure they follow rules and etiquette

• Moderators have the power to ban, discipline, warn, educate users

Forums

Forums

• Also known as message boards• Asynchronous multi-user threaded message

applications• Users hold conversations in the form of

posted messages.• A thread is a continuous conversation of posts

and replies on a specific topic.

Forums

• Hierarchical – forum sites are usually divided into – boards (with a main topic category)

• Sub-boards with subtopics of the main topic– which contain threads consisting of posts and replies.

• Some threads start and end quickly if the issue is resolved or interest in it fades.

• Other threads can go for years and include thousands of posts.

Forums

• Have their own netiquette and rules, e.g. • no spamming• no trolling • posts must be on-topic (or marked OT - offtopic)• no abusive language• personal arguments with individuals should be taken off-list• read the forum rules before posting• give your posts meaningful titles• banned topics must not be discussed

Social Networking

Social Networking

• Sites allow people to communicate with others

• Present information about themselves• Some are special-interest (e.g. green living,

Indian people, genealogy, teenagers)• Others (e.g. Facebook, Twitter) have no

specific theme.

Social Networking

• Social networking groups individuals into groups based on their features– Sex– Nationality– place of residence– Age– Interests

• Let people meet and share information.

Social Networking

• Users often have a profile page where they can provide information about themselves.

• Biggest social networking sites (over 10 million users) include: Classmates.com, Facebook, Flickr, Fotolog, Friends Reunited, Friendster, LinkedIn, MyHeritage, MyLife, MySpace, MyYearBook, StumbleUpon, Twitter

Social networking

Issues:• Stalking• Grooming• Posting identifiably personal information• Posted information will last forever - may be

embarrassing in the future• Employers have sacked workers for unwise

posts

Social networking

• Employers routinely look up job applicants' social networking profiles on sites like Facebook

• Addiction to (or time-wasting on) sites is an increasing cause of concern to families and employers

Wikis

• E.g. Wikipedia• Online software tools that let a group of

people contribute to the development of a document or knowledge base.

• Online communities, large and small, collaboratively build information resources and pool their talents and knowledge.

Wikis

Wikis

• Needs some control over editings• Prevent accidental or deliberate damage to

the aggregated information. • Wikipedia - anonymous edits need to be

approved by a moderator.• Controversial topics may be locked so only

registered user, or specific users can edit them.

By Mark Kellymark@vceit.comvceit.com

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VCE IT THEORY SLIDESHOWS