Blog Post #4

As I mentioned in the previous post, I tried a quite number of chat / discussion apps released in Google Play in order to familiarize myself with common features and also to find out typical user behaviors.

One of those apps is wonderfully designed and has been attracting many users and showing high response rate (probably the app’s name was Whisper — although the app is considered one of the risky apps for kids). While the app’s features are not very applicable for our project, the efforts of the developers to make the app enjoyable were noticeable. When we post our comment, a beautiful graphic background is automatically inserted and the fonts used are also visually attractive. Probably, the number of letters is restricted and only meaningful/pinpointed comments are allowed. After the comment is posted, I somehow felt like I did something good for the day to others in the thread.

Of course, as written in many articles in the past, I witnessed some communication apps that have been used obviously for formidable purposes — for example, some users with malicious intents post comments that are targeting kids. In my area also, there has been warnings about crimes children are possibly drawn to (e.g. abductions associated with organ harvesting, sexual exploitation by predators). Some chat apps that are not strictly regulated and have enticing features for kids can stealthily become a hotbed of crimes.

But, what moved me was conscientious people’s reviews left for those apps in question. Quite number of people left one-star reviews for those apps, giving warnings to potential victims. I felt that those reviews that reflect people’s sincere concerns and cares are also a part of the entire communication channels in a way. Those caring reviews clearly showed the commenters’ strong will power– what kind of society they want to ultimately create, and those chat apps may serve as platforms to express true-self.