Reading Blog #5

An icon, that is quite possibly the most encountered one by anyone who happens to read this blog. It is, of course, the simplistic icon of social networking super-giant, Facebook. Simplistic as it is, it still represents more than anyone can easily imagine. The lower-case f has become symbolic of hundreds of millions of people being interconnected by a single network. Wherever you may be on the internet, it is quite likely you will see some kind of Facebook icon somewhere on the page. (Most likely, being a 'like' button, or a link that says 'Follow us on Facebook!') What is very surprising, is that Facebook no longer has to advertise, and put their logos in places. Since the Facebook logo is already everywhere, why would advertising be necessary? If you're without a Facebook page now, you can be barraged with questions as to why you don't have one. It is now, quite simply the social norm. But the symbol itself is very simple, as stated before. As much as people do not consciously realize it, humans are attracted to the simple. The more simple, or clean, something looks, the more appealing it is to our senses. But as it comes along now, other companies end up using Facebook as a propellant in their own endeavors.

Research Blog #6

I have thoroughly described the main page of 4chan.org in the last research blog. So here, I will focus on Page 0 (the default page) of the image board known as /b/ (Random). It has to be understood, before anything can be described, that this image board is commonly known as one of the most disgusting and vile places on the internet, yet so many ideas and artifacts would not be popular without it. Just taking a look at the advertisements on the main page of /b/, they are all for pornography sites. It is a good guess to say that 25% of the posts on the image board contain some kind of profanity. This could be swearing, pornography, or other less-than-acceptable images or text.

The way that the members of the board seem to be representing themselves to others on the board is through a 'dialect' of acquired humor. Yes, it is true that many of the things posted on this board can be considered profane, but the members of this site can look past the profanity, or even embrace it, and see the humor behind it. This is what makes these people stand out against others, even in different situations. In many cases, it is possible to tell that someone is a regular member of /b/ by how they act, talk, and go about certain routines.

But to others, who have not had as much experience with the site, it may just seem to be a complete array of profane humor. It definitely does take a certain person to enjoy and appreciate what goes on in the image board, but if you don't have an open mindset, you will be disgusted, and never return to the said site.

Research Blog #5 (Semiotic Analysis of 4chan.org's home page)

To start off, the homepage of this site is very, very simple. A slight tan to light tan gradient is the background of the page, possibly attempting to pull people in with its simplicity. In order to understand what the site is about, there is a quick paragraph posted, letting visitors know what is going on at the site. It urges people to just 'jump right into' a board that interests them. What I find is that by them being rather vague about everything, they are much more enticing to any visitor who comes across the site.

The only slightly cluttered part of the main page would be the list of image boards that the site offers. Over 50 are offered in list form, right on the front page. It can be a little tedious to look through, but it IS good that the administrators of the site have decided to group them, based on general topics. This will keep people interested, and they will continue looking through  this list to find new boards that interest them.

There is a very interesting logo for the site, though. Shown, are four leaves of a clover, but not attached in any way. I feel this could be their symbol of denouncing the idea of luck, by taking a symbol that is readily accepted to be 'lucky', and changing it.

Link: 4chan.org

Research Blog #4

I have narrowed my decision down to the most absurd and crude community on the website known as 4chan. This website consists of 53 separate imageboards, with topics ranging from Science and Mathematics (known as /sci/), to NSFW (not safe for work) imageboards like Hentai/Alternative (known as /d/). But the board (short for imageboard), and community, I will be studying, is the one known as Random. (/b/ for short) Through my lurking of 4chan in general, I have noticed a trend. Members who frequent certain boards come up with nicknames for the other people who frequent the same board. In these nicknames, the lettered abbreviation of the board is used in a larger word, to illustrate the ideals that the board holds. For example, Science and Mathematics' shortened abbreviation is /sci/. Members who frequent this board call themselves /sci/ducks. (a wordplay on the name of a Pokemon.) Members of the Paranormal board, known as /x/, call themselves /x/philes. (A wordplay on a popular paranormal TV show from the 90's.) Now, the members of Random call themselves /b/tards. This is a very good representation of their style of humor and how the board runs. But what really catches my eye at the first glance of this board, are all of the shock images used. This board is definitely not for the faint of heart. The images used range from gore, to pornography, to internet memes, to truly random images. To truly look into the collective psyche of this community will be a long tread indeed.