MOUSELING.net

The 4P Site Declaration

Here is a translation of a page from the Japanese website R-style, run by Tadanori Kurashita, that I really liked. It is called the 4P Site Declaration.

I found this valuable enough not just to link to but to provide in English. I think that we should all try to make at least one HTML page while keeping these four Ps in mind and then see what we learn from these values!

I would like to declare this website as a 4P site. That is the following four qualities:

• plain
• personal
• pleasant
• polite

plain

A straightforward website. Plain as in plain text, or maybe the closest word would be vanilla. This is not a very flashy website, it is a simple website. When providing text, the page's foundation will be the text, and when providing images, the foundation will be the images. A website that has you questioning whether the advertisements are the main focus is not plain.

personal

An individual website. In this context personal does not imply anything private, rather that something is not for a corporation. In fact, the reason it's not private is precisely because it's open to the public. To sum things up, it's not large-scale, and it's all to do with your personal and everyday topics. Inserting affiliate links for products you've never even used is not personal.

pleasant

An enjoyable website. It is not filled up with whining and moaning, it is not for baseless accusations and spreading hatred, it is a website that tries to enspirit people's hearts. It's not like you should never write about negative things. But when you write about them, try to add something on top to avoid depressing your reader. A website that tries to pressure customers into buying something out of fear is not pleasant.

polite

A courteous website. Ridiculing your readers might feel good, but it will make your writing appear extremely unsociable. We are human beings, and the reader is a human being too, so don't forget basic etiquette. A website that tricks users into clicking on things is not polite.

The above declaration does not imply you must write your blog this way as either a rule or regulation. The basic rule when it comes to blogs is that you get to write whatever you wish.

That said, I think it would be great if there were more sites that I both want to read through and enjoy reading, and this also means I should make an effort to provide a site like that myself.

Therefore, this is a matter of personal values and should only be considered as guidelines.

A 4P site probably won't have a big impact. They're not really websites that will suddenly become viral in the short term. Still, when I look back on my own experiences, every site that I can think Ah, that was a good website! about are ones that follow these four Ps. Therefore I'll trust that feeling via this declaration.

If you have any opinions, please feel free to send them to the administrator*. (2023.05.25)

* Not Mousecky!