My first year in Massey University was last year, which was a bit of a challenge for me adjusting with the surroundings and the new environment. As interaction occurs in group projects or team work assignments, I met new friends. Usually most of the students in the course Information Technology (IT) are boys, which make the girls group together.
Since the course IT is all about Computer and interaction with people, most of the assignments also relate to technology and people. For communications matter, I asked my Chinese friend if she has “Facebook” account and she answered me that she does not have one. Well I respected that, but honestly these days you barely know people who do not have an account on Facebook. I became curious so I asked her again, “Why don’t you have one?” and she replied that China blocked the websites Facebook, Twitter & YouTube.
The issue about China blocking these popular sites caught my attention, wondering why the government would do this kind of action. 
Curiosity made me want to know more about this situation so I read articles and blogs. From the ABC news site, China blocked these sites during the 2008 Olympics in China. After this event, many sites became accessible again. A video about a Buddhist monk being beaten in China was shown in websites which forced the government to re-block these sites once more.
In my opinion the government of China blocked these sites to protect their reputation. It is so easy to ruin organizations, people and even countries through these social media websites for they are popular and too publicized. This issue might affect China’s relationship with other countries, because of someone’s flaw although it does not mean it is everyone’s fault. But I guess, I understand why China has to do this.
For more details about this issue, visit this link from ABC news:
http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/headlines/2009/07/chinas-facebook-status-blocked/
UNDERCONSTRUCTION 