Blog #3:

This week, I was researching some applications that can be inspiring for our project. I downloaded some communication apps and actually tried them out myself. It was interesting for me to find out that, even though the main concepts of those apps are almost identical (e.g. express yourself, discuss issues, connected to people around the globe, share and vent your emotions, and so on), they typically attract different types of people.

Although many of the similar apps do not explicitly state that they are designed for people with a particular cultural background and also the apps’ overviews clearly indicate they are for any users who have a good command of English, some of those apps tend to attract people who communicate in a certain language and people sharing similar cultural heritage.

Being intrigued, I was trying to analyze those apps’ features, hoping I would discover their secret recipe to win popularity among their fans. However, it was an unsuccessful attempt in figuring out the reasons just by trying the app and examining each feature carefully. Words of mouth.. maybe. Those apps may have been introduced in media that supports and advocates a certain group of people.

But the fact those apps are presented in English language seems to mitigates the “exclusiveness” often associated with a group of people in minority cultures. Nowadays, I see so many people freely leave comment in their native languages in English communication platforms and, thanks to translation functions, we all can enjoy exposure to diversities on this earth.