Hatebook.COM (Post #3)

Have you ever been trolled? If you can’t answer this question, then I’ll inform you more about trolling and whom it is done by. A troll is someone who deliberately causes controversy online. They want to intentionally upset other users of the Internet. According to a University lecturer, “A troll is an individual who constructs the identity of sincerely wishing to be part of the group in question, including professing or conveying pseudo-sincere intentions, but whose real intention(s) is/are to cause disruption and/or to trigger or exacerbate conflict for the purpose of their own amusement.” Trolls leave cruel tracks either on YouTube, Twitter or even Facebook. Trolling is a form of communication done online but anonymously. I believe trolling can even fall into the same category as cyber bullying. As long as trolls can be anonymous they will be unavoidable. Internet users read wicked, or disturbing comments from these individuals. But one may never see the troll’s face. I can only assume that trolls feel better knowing that no one can see who they are. Who knows, some of these trolls could be some of our well-respected leaders. The truth is whether we mean to hurt feelings deliberately or not; human beings need to ventilate their frustrations.

I believe trolls do what they do either because 1. They find it entertaining and have absolutely nothing more productive to do. The interpretation of trolling depends on the trollee. “Trolling can fail if users do not correctly interpret an intent to troll and are not provoked by the troller. Or trolling can succeed if users are deceived into believing the troller’s pseudo-intention(s), and are provoked into responding sincerely”. Or 2. They are angry and want others to feel the same emotion. If number two is the case, then trolls listen up, you can take your frustrations elsewhere.

I found a really interesting website called Hatebook.COM. I emphasize “com” since there is a similarly titled site called Hatebook.org. Hatebook.com is pretty informal, since “haters” aren’t required to create a login. Hatebook.com is a site where people can write and read about things that irk them. The site is a great place to vent and read about stories one may relate to or simply find humorous. Although informal, there are some rules for hatred. When one attempts to “add hate” (write about what they hate), one is brought to the “rules for hatred page”. There are 6 rules in total, of which two of them are, 1. Try to avoid “using obnoxious formatting.” After all Hatebook.com is a hate site, and everyone knows why you’re here, no need for over exaggeration. 2. Try to avoid responding to others. It is okay to disagree with others, but not okay to attack their post. When reading what an individual “hates” one can select the "me too" option in the upper right hand corner. Doing so will increase the number of people who “hate the same thing”. Note: you can only click “me too” once.

After adding a “hate” it won’t upload directly to the site. New hates are reviewed by hate-readers before being published. After writing a new hate, haters can add tags to their post. So for instance if a user enters the word “love” in the search box they will come across posts about hating love, relationships or anything else related to the particular topic. Whatever you hate, you name it, it will be on Hatebook.com, and if not just add it. Anyone can hate on this website, business people, college students, professors, and even trolls. The greatest part is the site is completely anonymous! Trolls would be in good company and they wouldn’t necessarily hurt any innocent video bloggers’ feelings. So if you have some things you need to get off of your chest don’t take it out on Facebook, Twitter, or YouTube. Leave those sites for happy people who want to network. Go to Hatebook.com and ventilate your rage!

Sources:

http://www.hatebook.com/

http://newsfeed.time.com/2011/06/16/internet-trolls-get-analyzed-by-a-new-study-though-theyll-probably-say-its-wrong/#ixzz1VDQyrhOR

Present.ly

Presently is an award winning microblogging platform. It creates a customized network for your business or company to work in real time, and collaborate together in many ways. It is very similar to Twitter, members create a profile, and post short updates that are "followed" by the other members of their company. These updates are all listed on a home feed, as well as the posts from other colleagues. Also, it gives you the tools built for Twitter with just a couple of changes of your settings with its Twitter-compatible API. The thing that makes Presently different from Twitter, is that the information you post is completely secure within your company. You don't have to worry about private information about work to be accessible to the outside world. Another feature this tool has is it allows you to communicate with groups of your company with great organization. If there is a specific project or topic, you can easily focus your discussion and send or receive messages about it. This way, you have your thoughts and messages completely organized. It also enables you to send pictures, files, videos and documents to other colleagues to quickly discuss before a presentation or need feedback. Presently is a very convenient way to communicate, even when your not on the computer. They have applications for your mobile phone as well, so you can always be in touch and never miss a thing. Overall, this is a great enterprise collaboration solution.

http://www.presently.com/tour

Yelp.com

Yelp.com is an online guide that allows people to read reviews about places they would like to shop, eat/drink, or just relax. Also the site helps users to find local businesses. Yelp was only founded in 2004 and as of August 2011 63 million people visited Yelp in the past 30 days. Yelp has already had over 22 million reviews, after only seven years.

Yelp could just be the words “you” and “help” joined together. After all, this site is one where active users have the opportunity to write reviews about things they like love, or even hate. They provide genuine perspective, which helps browsers weigh their options. The best part is anyone can sign up and Yelp.com is absolutely free, with the exception of advertising features. If one utilizes the Internet simply to be in the know or to write reviews then Yelp.com is certainly the place to go. The reviews on Yelp.com are determined by stars, on a scale from 1 to 5 with 1 being the lowest and 5 being the highest. Yelp allows users to write reviews on the good, bad and everything that falls between on bars, salons, museums, restaurants, and many more, you name it! That’s the great thing about Yelp; it doesn’t display only positive reviews. I have seen some pretty bad ones and sadly some of them I can actually agree with.

Yelp is a great tool since the reviews aren’t necessarily by professionals, or company affiliated individuals. They are by people just like you. People who don’t want things sugarcoated, just the pure truth. Yelp’s logo is “Real People. Real Reviews.” Yelp has built an online community. Active users are able to create profiles with categories such as “Things I Love” and “My Second Favorite Website”. Features like these are a plus because if other users relate they can then decide if they trust a review that comes from the selected individual. One feature I like about Yelp is each person’s profile shows a rating distribution chart. This way if someone is just a miserable critic and rates everything a 1, then users will know not to trust his reviews.

Like many other sites of the sort Yelp is accessible via mobile including android, Blackberry and iPhone and iPod Touch. Therefore this tool can be used on the go. All it takes is a quick and easy download.

Yelp’s mission is “To Connect People With Great Local Businesses” and they have and are continuing to accomplish this goal. Yelp has many great features such as top Yelp searches in your city, chat rooms and messaging. Yelp.com keeps their site current by updating popular events and adding upcoming ones, also the have a Yelp blog. To become a Yelp member one can sign up for Yelp by creating a profile. Get in the loop and create a member profile now!

http://www.yelp.com/nyc