Micro Sites Sweep across Sea of Information and the Nation

A "micro site" is a web page or group of web pages, which are part of a larger web site. Using the micro site service, users turn a section of a larger web site into a single separate homepage. It can be simply a user ID, take the form of certain media used by a single person or serve as an online catalogue.

These sites are also called `mini homepages` and are enjoying great popularity among netizens who want to express themselves in different angles and businesses that focus on products rather than their names per se.

Choi Yong-seok, a 27-year-old office worker, introduces his own poems through the Internet community Say Club (www.sayclub.com·ID palalala). His works are usually a parody of popular literary writings and lyrics, with his photos added for special effect.

`I ask the mirror a question/ mirror, mirror, answer my question/ who do you think is the most good-looking man in the world?/ My mother answers/ You must be crazy.`

His hilarious and unconventional works are introduced on his mini homepage. The homepage is decorated with a bulletin board, an album and a guest page. Edited photos are found in the album section and his works on the bulletin board.

Say Club is distributing homepages to individual users just as they hand out user IDs. Choi has put his own content in the menu at an apparel homepage.

So far, creating homepages has been a complicated task. First, users have to use the `easy buildup` features offered by Web editors or portals to set up a frame. Then, key functions such as writing letters and posting messages are set up with tags. To advertise your homepage, you have to register the page on search engines or promote the page yourself.

Say Club users are linked directly to individual homepages by clicking on their ID posted on a bulletin board, guest book or chat window. Now, Internet users express themselves not only through avatars but also with multimedia content including brief self-introductions, images and video.

A blog, a word made up of `Web` and `log`, refers to daily or weekly records left on the Internet. When bloggers leave various types of messages such as pictures, written text and video on a multi-function board, other bloggers can either view them on the board or link the blog to their own blogs, spreading content all over the Internet.

KT`s Hanmir site (blog.hanmir.com) and NHN`s Paper (paper.naver.com) not only offer blog services to users, but also publish online newspapers comprised of popular blog content.

Internet users, who used to visit certain bulletin boards or portal sties to leave their opinions, are now only required to blog on their homepages instead, leaving the rest of the process to the Internet.

When you visit the Kia Motor web site (www.kia.co.kr) and click on `Optima,` a small-sized homepage appears. The mini site has its own menu consisting of `design,` `interior` and `options.` Also, LG Household & Health Care (www.lgcare.com) has some 30 separate micro sites for its brand products such as Ohui, LacVert and Isa Nox.

With product brands significantly affecting sales, businesses are rushing to create micro sites, which are also effective in dealing with the vast amount of product information. Often times however, corporate images do not coincide with product images.

"Both commercial products and individuals are increasingly seen as individual entities rather than parts of a group, which explains why there has been such popularity with micro sites," said Kim Ji-hoon, head of the web site builder FID. "Micro sites are expected to continue their domination of cyberspace far into the future."

Seong-Yub Ra cpu@donga.com