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3pm Journal of Digital research & publishing - artichoke web design

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<strong>3pm</strong> <strong>Journal</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Digital</strong> <strong>research</strong> & <strong>publishing</strong><br />

in 2007. It shows that the main users <strong>of</strong> Douban.com are aged from 18-30 and most are<br />

well-educated. As a Web 2.0 site, in a way, the development <strong>of</strong> Douban.com is decided by<br />

its main users.<br />

2. The reasons <strong>of</strong> Douban.com success<br />

2.1 Douban.com suits the internet policy in China<br />

Internet regulation happens in every country. When this topic comes out, people might think<br />

about China as an example due to the Great Firewall. Since 1997, Chinese national Internet<br />

usage has grown from 630,000 users to more than 123 million users. The huge population<br />

<strong>of</strong> internet users could form some potential problems which would bring huge influence.<br />

The Chinese government started worried about the internet regulation. Under years’<br />

effort <strong>of</strong> <strong>research</strong>ers, the Great Firewall came out. Like Derek Bambauer and his partners<br />

described, “Some <strong>of</strong> the better known tactics used involve filtering search engine content<br />

and removing results, blocking or editing Web log (blog) posts with political keywords,<br />

and regulating cybercafés to prevent banned Web sites from being accessed.” The internet<br />

in China is more sensitive in some way. To suit the internet policy in China becomes a<br />

quite important rule for all internet companies. Douban.com is a <strong>web</strong> 2.0 <strong>web</strong>site based<br />

on users’ interest. Users create pure information about books, movies and music. This is<br />

what gives Douban.com its visceral power: the ability to get important information neither<br />

tampered by the neither government nor propaganda from companies. Pure information<br />

is a powerful pull especially Douban.com is the biggest aggregate or <strong>of</strong> pure information.<br />

2.2 Douban.com absorbs others’ advantage<br />

Firstly, the simple <strong>design</strong> <strong>of</strong> Douban.com brings lots <strong>of</strong> praise. As we all know, the most<br />

acclaimed part <strong>of</strong> Flicker is the organizational form <strong>of</strong> its Tags. In addition, its favorites,<br />

friends and groups also strengthen the social network features. The simple <strong>design</strong> in<br />

Flicker ensures that users can add any photos on the tag and add note whatever they like.<br />

Organized with the tag, there are no strict rules in Flicker’s classification, which continue<br />

to strengthen the interest <strong>of</strong> communication. Douban.com can won the key features <strong>of</strong><br />

Flicker because the CEO <strong>of</strong> Douban.com, Yang, does appreciate the simple flicker page.<br />

Douban.com does “draws on flicker” especially on its simple <strong>design</strong>.<br />

Secondly, people consider Douban.com follows the review function <strong>of</strong> Amazon. We now<br />

know Amazon not only provides a lot <strong>of</strong> books and simple <strong>web</strong> pages, but also makes great<br />

efforts to create a network community atmosphere. It encourages readers to paste book<br />

reviews and now there has been nearly 1 million reviews, which becomes one <strong>of</strong> Amazon’s<br />

80

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