cct300-lab10

The most vital criteria on the lab slides is transparency and functionality of the websites. Here are two applied examples:


 * Yahoo Answers:** Yahoo has found a niche with its unique Answers brand. It can be considered as an enhanced version of the traditional forums. In an online forum, one person would ask a question, while ten other people would either ask a different related question or point out that they are having the same problem too. This affects the overall quality of the desired solution, and adds a layer of unreliability to the overall answer. In Yahoo Answers however, the community can be compared to a democracy. It can be said to have //functionality// because every answer is backed by feedback to that answer directly. A voting process delivers assurance to a particular answer, which then gets selected as the best possible solution. Hence, due to the //functionality// of voting, Yahoo Answers gives a new direction to the traditional forum.


 * Wikipedia:** Possibly the biggest source of information on the internet, Wikipedia has made traditional encyclopedias such as Britannica and Encarta re-think the way they operate. The key component behind Wikipedia's articles is it is community-driven rather than editor-driven. The articles are written by the mass public from different parts of the world rather than a selection of editors sitting in an office. The information has a high degree of //transparency// because it is written by the public who would like to share their knowledge, without any motivation for profit in their mind. Most of the articles on Wikipedia are cited and sourced effectively, however it is always reassuring to review the source of the citation. Being a non-profit organization driven by a community of users, Wikipedia is able to provide sourced information that is published, edited, and reviewed by millions of users around the world.