“Take eBay. In some 4,000 days, eBay has gone from marginal Bay Area experiment in community markets to the most profitable spinoff of hypertext. At any one moment, 50�million auctions race through the site. An estimated half a million folks make their living selling through Internet auctions. Ten years ago I heard skeptics swear nobody would ever buy a car on the Web. Last year eBay Motors sold $11 billion worth of vehicles. EBay’s 2001 auction of a $4.9 million private jet would have shocked anyone in 1995 - and still smells implausible today.”

Ebay. Why couldn’t I create Ebay! After reading, “We Are The Web,” it made me think about how we have come along in the ages. This passage goes on to discuss the many new and improved technologies that we consumers use on a daily basis. The article goes on to say that Ebay is a “global flea market,” in which we constantly go on to buy and sell products. In previous years I could not imagine buying anything on the internet in fear of not getting the product or fraud, and now you can just buy a car online. The article states that there are about a half a million people making their money from online auctions in buying and selling products. Yes, half a million people using this site to gain income for their families! I just really wish I created this site! Everyone always has something to get rid of, and this is just the ideal site to sell things because it is now a household name. After all, one man’s junk is another man’s treasure!

How many things have you sold on Ebay?

            When I sit and think about the many distractions that students have, I immediately think of technology. The internet for instance has caused a huge distraction in my school work. Most of the time, I will begin to write a paper in my word document or search the internet for research regarding my paper topic and somehow I will go off topic and log into my myspace account or occasionally I will log onto instant messenger to chat with some friends. What starts out to be an easy paper which only requires an hour of my time, turns into two to three hours because of these distractions? Knowing this and consciously trying to avoid these things, somehow I still get sucked into checking if someone messaged me or seeing what old friend is online to catch up with. The use of text message has also been a huge distraction in my life and I know it has become a form of entertainment for many other students as well. Although, these forms of technology have been swayed into becoming distractions, it’s interesting that the creators are making so much money off of this. Mark Zuckerburg, the creator of Facebook, was once an average college student that created this network to stay connected to other students. Consequently this average kid became famous and rich off of student to student gossip and a way to post pictures of yourself and friends. Don’t get me wrong, I think Facebook and Myspace is a great way to stay connected with friends, especially friends who have moved away to different states for college. However, this form of technology has become something that was not originally intended. Let’s take Myspace for example. This network was created with the same intentions of Facebook, “to stay connected with friends”, however, it’s now full of spammers and fake pages. The option of posting bulletins to show people upcoming events has now become a way for people to post surveys they filled out in the middle of writing a paper or possibly doing something more useful with their time. In closing, my point that I am trying to make is although I am a member of Myspace and AIM, I honestly wish I never got started. These programs have become more of a distraction more than anything else.

            If you have yet to check out Postsecret.com, I highly recommend you do. To sum it up, people anonymously send their deepest secrets/ thoughts and the webmaster posts the latest ones he’s received every Sunday. The website is not only interesting, but helpful. If you’re ever having a bad day, you should read Postsecret. It puts your life in perspective and makes you realize that there is always someone who has it worse than you. It makes you appreciate what you have and count your blessings.

            The Bathroom Graffiti Project site shows how much vandalism is done in public bathrooms. Not only is the vandalism happening in the United States, but also across the country. Anyone can upload photos onto the site. There is also a forum for questions and or comments.

            There are so many types of blogs. Before taking my introductory course in Writing Arts I had no idea the variety of a blogs there were. I always thought they were simply just people asking for feedback on a specific topic. After looking at these two websites I realized that blogging can be a little more enjoyable. Has anyone else changed their mind about blogging? Do you like blogging?