Why do we use websites?
Use-ability
Facebook is easy to use, to start up you only have to put in very simple details, like your
email address and your name, it will then take you on a short tour of things like how to
post a status, or upload a picture. You can access things like games, which are
downloadable to your phone or tablet and offers you the option to connect to Facebook.
Facebook is classed as a social network site/social interaction site. It allows you to add
friends so they can see what you have posted on what is called your “wall,” this simply
has all your posts recent to past, it also allows you to talk to friends on Facebook and
Facebook Messenger which is also downloadable as an app, these are generally free
apps. Facebook also enables you to share, like and comment on other people’s posts.
Similarly, other social networking / interaction sites like Twitter, use just the one app to
connect with different people rather than having multiple different apps, with Twitter
your profile is just as private as Facebook, it allows you to “follow” celebrities as well as
friends and other people, they also have an option similar to Facebooks share, like and
comment, Twitter allows you to re-tweet, favourite and comment on other people’s
posts and more. They are both used for the same things, privacy is very important to us
as their service users and Facebook and Twitter make this their priority. They both try
to get ahead and think of new marketing ways to get more people to sign up; this was
how the concept of the hashtag (#) comes into use as it was made to help attract more
people.
Dropbox can be used for storing photos, videos, word documents, PowerPoint
presentations, excel and more. You must create a log in that will be private to you;
Dropbox can also be used to share things with other people, this works by selecting a
document and using the other persons email and this will share that particular
document with them, this will keep your photos and other documents safe and private if
you did not want other people to see them. Evernote is used to keep personal notes,
reminders and can save things off the internet. It is used to store and remember
important things and would be mainly used by students, business people but is still
open to everyone. Unlike Evernote, Dropbox is used more of a storage based use, this is
used as a safety net it will keep your photos and everything that is important safe and
can be accessed by using your email and password, whereas, Evernote is not seen as
more important as Dropbox as it does not hold private images or documents. Dropbox
and Evernote are used as two completely different purposes.
Amazon is a website created for people to be able buy and sell things. You can find just
about anything on Amazon, due to the fact that it is a worldwide company, used by just
about everyone. You must have a bank account to be able to buy an item on Amazon but
you do not need an account to browse through the different items. When signing up and
giving your bank details these details will be kept private. I have found that Amazon is
simple to you from the young to the elderly that are computer literate. After making a
purchase Amazon will ask for you to rate the product that you have bought, this in effect
weather good or bad, will help people decide if it is the right purchase for them, and will
make them feel more secure about the product. Ebay is very similar to Amazon, it
enables you to buy items from all around the world, weather this may be a worldwide
known seller or someone wanting to get rid of something they no longer use. Used in
the same way but different format, Ebay also allows you to bid on items if you feel like
they are for less value. This is only if the item has been put up to bid, with Ebay you
must have a PayPal account unlike Amazon.
Multi-Platform
Facebook is one of the most used forms of social networking/interaction websites
around the world. Facebook must think that it is important to be able to use it on many
different platforms as possible. Facebook is used on many different devices, things like
phones, tables and computers. These are all the commonly known platforms for
Facebook. There are many other different platforms for Facebook, Amazon and
Dropbox. They can all be accessed on Windows software, the IOS system and Android.
Also for people that do not own things like a smartphone, tablet or pc, they can use
these types of websites on an Xbox or a Play Station, which for gamers this would be
ideal. These websites always try to look at serving the minority along with the majority
of people.
For their rivals Twitter, Ebay and Evernote they try to use the same or similar platforms
to Facebook, Amazon and Dropbox. Using the same platforms people could have both
instead of only using one or the other, which is fair.
The creators focus on how many different platforms that they can get their website on
to. They are always trying to create different ways for people to access their websites,
like a TV, as smart TV’s are being produced these websites will be automatically
installed onto the TV as part of its smart technology features. They are all in competition
with each other to try and create a more easy and quick way to access their websites.
Clarity
Facebook is simple and clear to use, it gives you directions when needed, when starting
up so this gives you an idea of what to do. There is also a help option in the settings, so
this way you can still get guidance if unsure. Facebook has a fairly simple set up, it is
self-explanatory. I found out by asking family members that Facebook is used by the
young to the elderly. The elderly find if fairly simple to find exactly what they need, like
how to find friends, and Facebook games as that is what they mainly use it for. When I
asked about Twitter, they didn’t understand how to use it they found it more confusing.
I feel like it is not as simple as Facebook as there are a lot more things to grasp. Finding
friends on Facebook is as simple as typing in their name, whereas, on Twitter you have
many people that may have the same name so you must use a username for them, which
is a little bit more complicated.
Amazon is also clear, it gives you a search bar so you can search whatever you are
looking for, it will also help you to narrow down your search by asking you to select
what category it will be under, for example DVD, Blu-Ray, DIY and more. When finding
what you would like it asks for buy now, add to basket this is in case you didn’t want to
buy it straight away and wanted to look at other things and add to wish list this is like
your basket but it stores the items you can’t afford to buy now or want to buy it at some
other point like next month. Ebay works exactly the same only it asks you if you are
looking to buy now, all listings, and auction. This helps them again narrow down your
search, as well as the navigation bar which asks you to select a category. Young to
elderly people find both simple to use and understand the concept of Amazon and Ebay
equally well.
Dropbox helps you through the stages of what to do and how to automatically upload
photos, videos and documents. It then takes you through your settings to set up your
Dropbox. It will then upload your photos from whatever device you are on. Evernote is
just as simple, it takes you through all the different ways you can make a note and
shows you how to make the different types of notes. They are still as simple as each
other and easy to navigate but still used as different purposes. These types of websites
are used more by young people to more middle-aged so that they can keep important
pictures and notes to remind them. They both start out blank but eventually start to fill
up as soon as you get more pictures and notes to have.