Csmt blog#1
Professor, Sorry for the lateless. I just installed my internet in my apartment and its not working properly so I had to retype on my phone....
The social media tool I most associate myself with is facebook, renren, and weibo. Facebok has become almost a necessary social tool that is expected to be a viable platform for quick communication.somtimes i think it is even a more concenient way to communicate because it is effortless and even mindless to post a message and to peruse through the status of the hundreds of friends that we as busy new yorkers dont have tine to catch up with. But having moved back to Beijing last semester for an internship, I was cut off from facebook completely. I didnt bother to subscribe to a vpn to log on, for the effort of trying to prove that I am not addicted to facebook. And in the beginning it was almost painful, as facebook checking has become a routine and habit that I did not realize that I had. But with time and inconvenience of cellphone internet access, the habits of checking social media platform fade.
I am also very involved in the chinese version of the facebook, Renren, which started out as almost the same interface as the facebook. But through the years facebook and renren have developed differently with its own pros and cons. One of the most prominent feature of Renren is that everyone.that looks at your page will leave a footprint, so you are aware of the people who are constantly checking your photo album, wall posts, and diary entries. I think in a way that changes the foundamental idea of social networking when the sense of privacy is intruded and exploited.
Weibo is the chinese version of the twitter which has only been in existrnce for little over than a year. Its effects are monumental because in the first time the chinese have a open platform for public discussion. Especially in the recent trauma of the high speed rail debacle, the weibo played an crucial role in driving the central television to react and report on the news, which would possibly been burried under due to the embarrassing nature of the subject matter. I am more a taker of the weibo platform than a contributor because I like to use it as a newsource with some commentary which I find very interesting.