Week+9

Week 9: Using the criteria of Transparency and Functionality in slides 8 and 9, do a media analysis of two major information sources (i.e. About.com, Wikipedia, Yahoo Answers, MSN.ca etc). · Reasonable length (minimum of 200 words) · Quality of language and of points raised (keep arguments/points succinct and clear, argued, and written in good language) · Relevant information and analysis · Treatment of information (conclusions are drawn, hypotheses made, facts are interpreted) As we emerge in the information age, digital information sources such as Google and Wikipedia have been able to successfully show and implement a sense of functionality and transparency effectively through the information they provide. Google is a profoundly known search engine which offers various information, which is constantly updated everyday to profound the best links to related sites based on your search. It is effective in a sense that simply through typing key words, links related to trusted and reliable sites will appear providing efficient very specific information depending on the user’s preferences. Google also has a side bar which includes “Google” ads, which are often related to the preference of your search, unlike other websites which have constant pop-ups which tends to be annoying. It is simple and easy to operate and provides other tools such as Google Maps, Image searches etc. This shows a good sense of functionality. On an upside, Google has constant updates to eliminate broken links and to ensure that the web pages produced in their search engines are un- reliable. Wikipedia is another major information source on the internet which provide a different type of atmosphere than search engines such as Google. Wikipedia acts an online encyclopedia for users to seek information based on their personal preferences. The search engine provides you various different options to choose based on your search along with spelling suggestions with subjects with multiple meanings. Also a majority of Wikipedia’s articles provide links and online sources which can be referenced at the bottom of each page. Another thing is that there are no advertisements in Wikipedia making it better for users not to get distracted and it is a direct source to getting information for the user. In terms of transparency, the search engine provides the date in which it was last updated and it appears that articles are often updated frequently providing users with the most current and reliable information. The site is very well managed in making sure there are no broken links or grammatical errors. Looking at these two major online information sources it is evident of their ability to be both functional and transparent. It seems that a majority of major information sources often tend to reflect these characteristics in order to be successful and seen in the public eye as reliable information sources.