TMCnet News
Blink Makes Internet World Smaller, Closer(Korea Times Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge)By Cho Jin-seo It's ``Blink'' time. This new cyber medium enables users to overcome any barrier _ format and location _ and navigate the sea of data, with their imagination as the only compass. Korea's portal site operators such as NHN, SK Communications and Yahoo Korea are now reshaping their services into the so-called Web 2.0 formats, helping users to communicate and evaluate each other in a more convenient, open, and mature way. Nate.com, famous for its Cyworld blog sites, started its ``Blink'' service last month. A composite word of Web and Link, Blink is the most recent evolution of Internet communities and blogs. Naver, the largest Internet portal in Korea, also opened its Blink service last week. In a Blink, any Web sites in the world can be put together in a web of Internet links regardless of its format and location. Using Blink, users can easily approach vast data sources by simply following the links, and the result is usually more reliable and relevant than using Internet search engines. ``The Blink service will be leading the new Web trend, which is based on openness, sharing, and participation,'' said Lee Ram, manager of NHN's community site department. ``With Blink, users can easily meet other people of the same interest, and will spend less effort in locating blog postings they want to find.'' For example, someone who likes the record-setting movie ``King and the Clown'' can link his or her blog to a Blink page where hundreds or even thousands of other people's blogs are connected, full of pictures and remarks about the movie. Just one week after the launch, Naver users, which incorporate some 120,000 blog postings, have created nearly 10,000 Blinks. The number is expected to continue to grow steadily, based on the fact that Naver already has six million registered blog users. Other than Blink, there are personalized portals that serve as mainstream portals in Web 2.0 technology. Unlike conventional portal sites, the personalized portals can be freely designed and arranged by an individual for his or her own needs and taste. For example, a taxi driver may put a map-searching tool on the top of his personalized portal, while a student can put an English dictionary in the center of his personalized page. Local companies say such next-generation Internet services have deep roots in South Korea _ before it became a hot trend in the United States and other countries. ``Web 2.0 really isn't a brand new concept in Korea. Korean companies have always been trying to draw users' active participation to the Internet,'' said Lee Kyung-ryul, spokesperson of NHN, which operates the nation's largest portal site Naver. ``But since it recently became a hot issue in the United States, Korean firms are also now more engaged in going in that direction.'' Lee points out that Naver's ``Knowledge-In'' service already has an accumulation of some 41 million questions and answers, which were posted by voluntary users. Progress is being made in news sites, too. From last month, Naver not only allows users to post comments on the news articles it provides, but on other people's comments, too. They review commentaries in an organized list and give them a grade. Such functions help the Internet community form a more ``rational public opinion,'' the company said. |