Hatena Star, a feature that makes blogging more fun, was released today. Add the Hatena Star function to your blog so other users can add a star to your blog.
Features of the Hatena Star
If you are using a JavaScript enabled blogging service, you can add the Hatena Star function to your blog. After adding the function, click on the “Add” button displayed next to your entry title to add a star to a blog. For a list of compatible blog services and details on how to install the Hatena Star function, please visit Hatena Star Guide.
Users you have added stars to during the past month will be listed as your “Favorites.” If a Favorite person gives you a star as well, then you both automatically become “Friends.” When a Favorite person visits your blog, there will be a “Comment” button next to the “Add” button, allowing that person to leave you a comment just by a click of the button. You can choose to receive comments only from your Favorites, and only allow your Favorites to view your comments.
The Hatena Story
Hatena began providing its blogging service, “Hatena Diary” in January 2003, ahead of the blogging boom in Japan. Since then, it has grown into a substantial service boasting 300,000 users. However, some first-time bloggers were at a loss for what to write about and ended up quitting. Some others were offended by unkind comments left by other users, while others were fed up with all the spam they were receiving. To avoid these inconveniences, many users started flocking to restricted social networking sites where they could communicate in a more secure environment.
At Hatena, we came to the conclusion that blogging services are still in their development stage, and that we must provide an evolved service that provides a more agreeable experience. Many people gave up blogging before getting a taste of the wonderful experience of writing freely in an open environment. We do not want our users to be locked up in a restricted environment. It is our mission to create a safe setting where anyone can easily have that wonderful experience.
Hatena Star was the first step in creating this environment. With Hatena Star, you can only praise people. And you can only leave comments for people that you know. By doing this, we have avoided the unpleasant incidents where although 90% of your blog viewers like what you have written, only the other 10% leave critical comments. We believe having partially restricted areas with an open environment promotes the exchange of constructive comments.
We hope to continue to come up with new and practical applications to improve your blogging experience.
We hope you enjoy using Hatena Star.
