Week 5; Entry 3: Gaia Online

Gaia Online was founded in 2003 by Josh Gainsbrugh, and is an online interactive social-networking site.
Communication – 2 Stars
Users can communicate with other players (in-game), their inbox, and on forums.
Profile/ File Sharing – 2 Stars
When creating your profile, you have to first create an avatar, then you type your username and password and email address. You then must verify your email address, so the site loses points.
You cannot share files on this site.
Applications – 3 Stars
The user can play all kinds of games on this site. The actual interactive world itself is a game, along with cards, slots, pinball, etc. There are no other applications.
Customization – 4.5 Stars
You cannot change the page at all, but you can create your own avatar. You can choose clothing, hair, gender, and skin color.
Notifications – 3 Stars
The site sends you notifications, but they limit it to your profile inbox instead of your email address’ inbox or both.
With 14.5 Stars, Gaia Online is alright. I’m not really interested in these types of sites myself but some people are. Also the games are quite fun, even if I have no idea how to play in the interactive one, I enjoyed blackjack and the jigsaw puzzles.

Week 5; Entry 2: Fotolog

Fotolog was founded in 2002 by Adam Seifer and is a social networking site for photographs.
Communication – 2 Stars
Fotolog allows users to converse via leaving comments on other users’ photos or by joining groups.
Profile/ File Sharing – 2.5 Stars
When creating your profile on fotolog, you go to the home page and enter your user name, password, email address, birth date, and enter a security question. You then must verify your email address, so the site loses points.
Fotolog allows you to share photos… What did you expect?
Applications – 0 Stars
There are no FREE applications on Fotolog. You can pay $3 to have your photo in a rotation for 24 hours.
Customization – 3 Stars
Fotolog allows users to change their secondary and main colors of their profile page, but need to upgrade (requires texting) in order to get better features.
Notifications – 5 Stars
When you create your profile, Fotolog asks if the user would like to receive a newsletter or promotional offers from fotolog. This option allows the user to choose whether or not they want to be given emails from this site. There is also a link after you create your account to further customize these options.
With 12.5 Stars, Fotolog seems pretty bad… and it is. If you wish to share photos, you could use any general social networking site (Facebook, Myspace, Bebo) to do so. Fotolog was a bad idea, that was poorly executed. I forgot to mention that you have to pay for the upgrade, the gold camera, depending on the increment of time you would like to have the features.

Week 5; Entry 1: Flixster

Flixster was founded in September 2009 by Joe Greenstein and is a social networking site for movies.
Communication – 3 Stars
On Flixster, users can only converse via instant messaging, a wall, and forums.
Profile/ File Sharing – 4 Stars
To create your profile you need to go to the home page and enter your email address, name, birth date, gender, and a password. You also don’t need to verify your email address, which saves you an annoying step.
Flixster allows users to share photos, reviews, and videos.
Applications – 3 Stars
This site contains applications like games, quizzes, and polls. You are also able to watch movies and shows on Flixster.
Customization – 4 Stars
Right after you start your profile on the site, you are asked to pick from their pre-set backgrounds. Later, you can choose to add widgets (modules/ windows), hide your age, and change your background to another pre-set. The site loses points for not being able to create your own background.
Notifications – 5 Stars
When you first sign up to join Flixster, you are asked if you would like to receive updates via email. This allows the user to choose whether or not they are notified, which is an awesome choice to have.
With 19/25 Stars, I recommend Flixster. You can watch videos and such on torrent sites, youtube, google, and hulu, but you can’t converse with other movie watchers and really connect with anyone on those sites. Which is why this is a SOCIAL networking site.

Week 4; Entry 3: Elfwood

Elfwood is a social-networking site, founded by Thomas Abrahamsson in 1996, dedicated to fantasy art and stories.
Communication – 3 Stars
The user has an Elfwood inbox, and can write on their friends’ wall.
Profile/ File Sharing – 2 Stars
Creating a profile on this site is relatively easy. First you go to the home page, type your user name, password, email address, gender, birth date, and country. You then have to verify your email, so the site loses points.
Elfwood allows users to create their own smileys, upload artwork and stories, and locate yourself on an Elfwood world map.
Applications – 2 Stars
The user is able to share artwork and stories when activating a free application. The user can also pay twenty four dollars to have their account upgraded to a patron (I didn’t do it, because it doesn’t seem worth it). The site loses points, because you have to pay for an application that doesn’t specify what it does.
Customization – 0 Stars
You cannot customize your profile at all. You’re stuck with a hunter green background.
Notifications – 1 Star
Since I’ve joined the site, I’ve only gotten one email, which was to verify my email address. However, the sender’s name is ‘nobody’, which concerns me somewhat.
With 8/25 Stars, I would not recommend Elfwood to anyone. If you really like sci-fi and fantasy artwork and dislike deviantART for some reason, then you can give it a try.

Week 4; Entry 2: Tripwolf

Tripwolf is a travel-based social networking site that was founded in 2007 by Sebastian Heinzel.
Communication – 2 Stars
The only means of communication the user has with their friends is their inbox.
Profile/ File Sharing – 3.5 Stars
Creating your profile is relatively easy. You go to the home page, enter your name, email address, username, and password. However, you then must verify your email, so it loses points.
On the site, you can organize your gallery (photos), trips, travel journals, and your favorite places. You can also send links in the emails you send to each other.
Applications – 2.5 Stars
Tripwolf basically allows users to plan/ organize their trips on their website. However, other then this, there are no other applications.
Customization – 0 Stars
You cannot customize your profile page. You are stuck with the white and blue background that seems to be the default for almost every single site I have reviewed.
Notifications – 5 Stars
When you first sign up to join Tripwolf, the site gives you the option of receiving emails from the site or not. This is the best option, because those who want to be notified can be and those who don’t want to be don’t have to be.
With 13/25 Stars, Tripwolf seems bad. However, it is just my generic rating system screwing over another good website. If you like to travel, and want to share your experiences, this is a good site for you.

Week 4; Entry 1: DeviantArt

DeviantArt is an art based social networking site, first launched in 2000. The site was founded by Scott Jarkoff, Matthew Stephens, and Angelo Sotira.
Communication – 4 Stars
This site allows the user to add others as friends, or to subscribe to their artwork. The user has a deviantART mailbox and you can comment on each other’s artwork.
Profile/ File Sharing – 3 Stars
To begin your profile you go to the home page and fill out some basic information (as well as choosing free membership or premium which costs $7.95 a month). You then have to verify your email address, so the site loses points for a waste of time.
You can favorite other user’s artwork or upload your own. You can also share links in the comments section of a picture.
Applications – 2 Stars
This site has no applications. Unless you count being able to buy certain items as an application, as in a DeviantArt store. There, you can buy articles of clothing, electronic skins, and collectibles.
Customization – 2 Stars
On DeviantArt, you’re stuck with the same grayscale background as everyone else. You can add widgets (modules) to your profile page, but most of them you have to be a premium member for.
Notifications – 2.5 Stars
DeviantArt doesn’t send you any notifications at all. You can rate this yourself, depending on if you like receiving notifications or not.
With 13.5/25 Stars, DeviantArt seems to fall flat. However, like other sites, this social networking site has a specific purpose in mind.

Week 3; Entry 3: Libary Thing

Library Thing was developed by Tim Spalding in 2005. It is a social networking/ cataloging website for book lovers.
Communication – 2 Stars
The user can talk to their connections in their comments section, and in forums.
Profile/ File Sharing – 3 Stars
Creating your profile on this site is really easy. You go to the home page, enter your selected username and password (email address optional), and your account is created. You can then edit your profile with more detailed information.
The user can’t share any files on this site.
Applications – 2 Stars
Since this site is based on books, the user has book-related applications. You can create a reading list, the website has recommendations for you to read, and you can add books to your library (books you own/ have read).
Customization – 3 Stars
The customization on this site is limited to choosing which modules show up on your profile page and to the display styles of your book titles. The background stays the same, but they are neutral colors (browns, greens, and white), so it’s not that bad.
Notifications – 2.5 Stars
Library Thing does not send you notifications (as long as I’ve been a member – a month). You can consider this good or bad, depending on your preference.
With 12.5/25 Stars, Library Thing seems bad. This seems to happen a lot (maybe I should’ve chosen better criteria, but I can’t think of any that could apply to all). Again, since this site is genre specific, it seemingly has done poorly. However, anyone who is a fan of books, or wants to hear other’s opinions about what they should read, should definitely check this site out.