Social Media Tools in China

Social Media has became part of people's lives, at least it is very important for me.
In Ireland most of people use Facebook, Twitter, My Space and so on. However, in China there are some social media tools as well. I am going in to talk some of them as follows.

Talking about Social Media in China QQ is the first one I want to describe. QQ was developed by Tencent Inc.. It is very popular in Mainland China, excluding Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan. The number of simultaneous online QQ accounts exceeded 100 million in February 2011, QQ.com ranked 10th overall in Alexa's internet rankings just behind Twitter ranked 9th.  As I known, just very few of my Chinese friends doesn't have QQ account. Today QQ is not only work for online instant messages, but also have a lots of functions, such as QQ Space, Web QQ, QQ Games,  QQ Anti-virus, QQ music, QQ browser and so on. I used QQ to chat with my friends everyday and sometimes I use QQ games to spend my leisure times. Actually I don't chat everyday on QQ, just open up it when I start my computer, it becomes on of my habits.

                                                                   My QQ ScreenShot

The next one I think my Chinese friends always use is RenRen.com, it used be named XiaoNei.com. RenRen means "everyone network", XiaoNei means "on-campus network". I think XiaoNei changed its name into RenRen because they want their users to be wider not only the college students, because it is just popular among college students in China. RenRen is similar as Facebook, but it only start from Dec, 2005.  In my opinion RenRen is not that normally used for business as Facebook. I think it has some reasons. Firstly, the users are most from college students. Secondly, advertising or open an official site on social media is not that popular in China.

My RenRen ScreenShot

My Experience in DkIT

Since 2007, I have been here for 4 years. I spent the most beautiful period in my life in this beautiful place. During my life in DkIT I learned a lot, not only got knowledge from the college courses, but also gained a lot for living and  communication. 

As the saying goes "No pains, no gains". I remembered the first year I was in college. There was only one Chinese student in my class, it was me. I was a little bit scared and also worried about my study. I was half month late to come here. I felt very nervous at that time. After few months, my classmates gave me a lot of help, they did group work with me. I thought my Irish classmates are really kind.  As we all know, most of Chinese kids are rely on their parents, after I came here I started to learn how to think my self, make decision my self. I grew in these years, I became more independent. 

Last June, I got my first degree in DkIT and I decided to do Honors degree as well. During my study I still participate some clubs and societies. I have worked for Chinese Student Society for 2 years, this year I have joined Archery club. 

I am very enjoyed the life here, I love this place. Unfortunately, I am going back China in end of June. I don't want to go back, but I have to. I will miss here, miss my classmates, miss the college life.

                 Chinese Spring Festival Celebration 2010 with my classmates

  

                                My graduation 2010

Censorship on the Web (Should there be free speech online?)

Internet censorship in China is very strict with more than sixty Internet regulations made by China government. However, the censorship is not applied in Hong Kong and Macau, it is only used in People Republic of China (PRC).  

The PRC government tried to control a large series of online opinion about large anti-Japanese, anti-pollution, anti-corruption protests, and ethnic riots. I agreed that PRC government tried to provide a green Internet environment, on the other hand, no free speech online avoid some social media company to enter into China.

Facebook which is one of these companies. If Facebook want enter into China, it means Facebook need to abide by Chinese laws and to review any site related to sensitive political speech, which contrary to the goal of Facebook "make the world more open". The spokesman Adam Conner from Face book told in the recent Wall Street Journal: "Maybe we will shield the contents in some countries but not in others countries, since we have allowed too much freedom of expression on those countries which have not experienced the freedom of speech, sometimes may fall into the situation of uncomfortable."

Google is another company was blinded in China because of censorship. Since last year, Google China transfered its server into Hong Kong, because Google China refused to cooperate with the provisions of China's Internet censorship. The CFO of Google Patrick Pichette said: "Chinese citizens have the right to know from the Internet who won the Nobel Peace Prize." 

This is a meaningful words，that is the Internet censorship situation at the moment.

Wireless Technology

Basically, wireless can be treated as one of the telecommunications, which normally used to transfer information between two objects over a distance accordingly. For example, we can browse Internet through a wireless router that spread the signal, while people chat and communicate with radio in thousands of miles.

In our daily lives, wireless technology has been widely used in many purposes.

First and the most is the Wi-Fi technology. It majorly is a network, which can be connected by numbers of devices without using the wire. Because it is easy to set up and inexpensive, Wi-Fi definitely will be your major way to connect to internet just about anywhere at anytime.

Secondly, our smart phones with cellular feature may be most well know example of wireless technology. It allows a normal cellphone transfer and receive data signal from anywhere. One of the best instances may become the iPhone, which not only have the ability to receive the 3G cellular signals, but also can spread its own signal and shared with the devices around it.

Of course, apart from mobile devices, computers and laptops will be the next major platform that wireless technology can be used. In this field, wireless not only been used to browse Internet and transfer files, it also used to improved or even replace a wired security system within a firm or a building. What’s more, these devices will no longer needs s wire to connect to the power supply. In stead, the wireless electrical load will used to transfer the power from source to destination. This function already been used in one of the TV products in Haier.

All in all, the wireless technology will become a better way to obtain security, maintain high productivity and improve flexibility.

Web Usability

In my point of view, the term "Web usability" is make the web sites easy to use, clean and organised. The first thing the developer need to identify is "Does your site provides an efficient and enjoyable user experience?"
There are some guidelines for making homepages usability.

1. Make the site's purpose clear: Explain who you are and what you do. It includes start the page with a One-Sentence Tagline with the summarizes what the site or company dose and begin the title tag with the company name. For example: this website http://www.businessworld.ie/. The screen cut in the right site is showed that it began with Ireland's Top business Site, it is easy to let user identify what purpose of this website
2. Help user find what they need: it need to include a search input box in your web site and your homepage should offer users the site's top high-priority tasks. There is an example http://www.cpireland.crowneplaza.com/. The homepage looks nice and friendly. It includes brief description of this hotel, the booking function, hotel navigation button and a calender for checking wedding days. The user is very easy to get the tasks they'll undertake when visiting this site.
3. Reveal Site Content: Show some of the best and most recent content of the web site, begin link names with the important keyword and offer easy access to recent homepage features. For instance: http://www.starbucks.com/ this website put the recent news and blogger posts in its home page. For me it is very attractive to know what's new on this web site.
4. Use visual design to enhance the interaction. Images are powerful communicators when show items of interest to users, but will backfire if they seem frivolous or irrelevant. 

At last, one more necessary thing for making web page usability is usability test.  It evaluate the website by testing it on users. Nielsen (1994) stated that usability test can be seen as an irreplaceable usability practice, since it gives direct input on how real users use the system.

Web Standards

It is really hard to have a certain definition for Web Standards. In my opinion, Web Standards help to ensure that everyone can access the web, especially makes easily to use for people with special needs and also make sure the standardization and unified for the web. Those standards are important for both developers and users.

There are some web standards, such as ISO standards and Ecma, but I think  in most people's minds web standards is W3C. W3C is about make standards about web page building languages, they are HTML, XHTM ,CSS and DOM 1.

W3C standards tried to expand the reach of web in the following aspects.

• Everyone:It means however the cultural, language, abilities the users are, the users still can use the same web page.
• Everything: It is about the web pages and applications on web that the developers developed can be use in any kind of devices. It can use range from high processing computer to mobile devices. 
• Everywhere：No mater the speed of internet environments are high or low, the web pages still work no differences.
• Diverse mode of interaction: It is about use different ways to communicate between users and webpages, such as touch-pad, pen, mouse, voice etc. 
• Enable computer to do more useful work: It could achieve this feature through advanced data searching and sharing.

Accessibility is also a very important thing in web standards. It not only means to allow disabilities people, but also ensure the web page could use in different browsers and devices.

50000+ Hacked iTunes Accounts

According to the news agency reported, China’s largest online retail website TaoBao now has approximately more than 50000 Apple iTunes accounts, which hacked and stolen by somebody else, for sale in a really low price. What’s more, these iTunes accounts are all binding with credit cards and the seller promises to the buyer: Through these accounts, you can purchase and download a certain amount of music, games, movies and so on.


The available amount to spend in these iTunes accounts are range from $1 to $200 or even higher. However, the selling prices of these account are only from ￥1 to ￥200. Some experts say, there may two possible ways for hackers to steal the accounts.

1: Hackers steal the foreign iTunes accounts directly which have been bound to a credit card.
2: Hackers steal the information for foreign credit cards and register lots of the accounts by using the information.

Furthermore, Apple declined any comment for this news but warned users to keep their personal information safely.

Year of ipad 2

This Wednesday (2nd, Mar), the world most admired company Apple announced their new fascinating mobile device, iPad 2.

It is an idea behind all new design, which gave iPad 2 33% thinner and up to 15% lighter compared with last generation. What’s more, the brand new dual-core chip called A5 developed and manufactured by Apple also builds into iPad 2 that makes it four times faster. Also, with up to nine times the graphics performance, gameplay on iPad 2 is even smoother and more realistic. Besides, the two cameras, one in the front and one behind, give user a brand new feeling of the video chat and the video recording.

Of course, all these fantastic features must support by a powerful battery so that user can enjoy them without recharge often. That’s why Apple gives iPad 2 an amazing 10-hour battery live that keeps iPad going.
Generally speaking, the iPad 2 will let you feel once pick up, it’ll be hard to put it down.

It is reaally cool, I would like to have one!

Social Media

Social Media is a kind of communication tool based on web. It mainly focus on sharing and discussion, and it is a two-way communication. For example, when you reading a news newspaper or watching a program on TV, it is really hard to share your thoughts with somebody else. However, social media provides you a platform to do this. An obviously instance like, now I am sharing my understanding of social media through blogger.
Nowadays, social media has become an important part of our lives, such as Facebook, Skype, YouTube, that people use them in their daily life. Not only that, more and more ads and live casts appear in social media.

                                                       

For a business point of view, social media is a channel to communicate and build up awareness with your customers. All in all, no business could alive without social media. 

My total media exposure for a week

In Ireland:

Internet: 80%

• 6 hours on the Internet per day, so 42 hours per week. 
• Most information and ads are get from Internet.
• Also play some games on the Internet

Email: 15% 

• 30min to check and send emails per day. 2 and half hours per week.
• Get some ads and promotion from emails, normally these ads are from the     online shops I had registered with this email address.               

Radio: 0

TV: 0

Newspaper: 2%

• 30min per week
• Get some local news from newspaper

Mobile: 5% 

• 6 hours per week
• The ads from Vodafone or town cabs 
• Few times get phone calls for advertising

In China:

Internet: 40%

• 4 hours on the Internet per day, so 28 hours per week
• Nearly half ads from Internet

Email: 8%

• 2 and half hours per week

Radio: 0

TV: 40%

• 4 hours watch TV, so 28 hours per week 
• A lot of ads form TV

Newspaper: 10%

• 1 hour to read newpaper, 7 hours per week
• Some ads from newspaper

Mobile: 2% 

• 4 hours per week
• few ads from mobile phones

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