Upon reading the assignment of recording all the websites we visited and then comparing notes, I thought everyone would have a rather unique list of visited sites. It seems that we all have nearly the same uses for the internet these days: getting information and communicating – everyone had some form of these websites listed in their log.
After seeing the websites that were visited, I think it’s safe to say that one thing everyone had in common was an email website and social networking websites. Almost everyone had checked an email website, such as Yahoo, Hotmail, or Gmail and a social website, mainly Facebook, but also some Myspace and Twitter. Our class’ overall internet habits were extremely similar, as well: check an email website, check a social website, and then some looked up news or entertainment website. Most of us also had a personal interest website that was for the most part unique to our log of websites, like photography, music, or shopping. This was the only thing that made our internet activity different from others’ really. Our habits online have become rather predictable: Facebook, email, and other entertainment.
The odd thing is that when we’re on the internet, it seems kind of personal, yet everyone has almost the same experience when they get online. Your own profiles or accounts, your own settings, and navigation of your browser totally under your control makes it somewhat personal, but everyone else (especially those in your age group) does basically the same thing on the same websites. What websites a person visits apart from the normal group of websites can tell a lot about someone- hobby, interests, sport, favorite music genre, or personality characteristics.
Thursday, September 10, 2009
Similar Yet Unique
Posted by Katie Etheridge at 2:59 AM
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2 comments:
I thougt it was interesting too that everyone's habits and websites were so similar. And I like the point you make at the end about how we all think we're doing something really unique and personal when we're online, but really, we all do the same things. I think that says a lot for our culture and age group especially. It would be interesting to see how the trends in Internet useage changes with each generation.
Good point, Sadie, about cultural and generational groups having similar habits. You all have a lot more in common than that, too. You're all honors students at a public American university. I expect that if we were to include people in your generation who are not in college, or who are elsewhere in the world, the similarities and differences would be even more telling.
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