DUE: Friday by 5pmLink to the blog you brought to class today and explain in detail why you chose it. Does it have one author or a team? Is it commercial or personal? Who is the audience? How can you tell? What's appealing about the visual layout? What about color choices? What sort of links do they offer? What brings people back?
Be persuasive.
http://www.cosmopolitan.com/celebrity/news/jersey-shore-snooki-tanning#comments
ReplyDeleteThe blog I chose was from the Cosmopolitan magazine that is quite famous for targeting teens and young adults. It has entertaining readings and different information about what's going on in the celebrity world. The blog I chose from this particular magazine was about the show "The Jersey Shore" and it based the authors opinion on "Snooki". It's a reality show based on 6 italian people who come to live at the shore for the summer. Snooki is one of the main characters, and there are many things constantly being said about her. I personally like the show for the basic reason that it is hysterical, and not true on how Italians act. I have been to the jersey shore multiple times, being that I only live and hour from it, and I found it interesting because I was able to relate to the different places they were showing on T.V. Snooki is from a town that is very close to me, and some of my best friends went to school with her. Unfortunately the girl acts like a bimbo on the television show, and that leads to the blog about her and what people have to say. I love Cosmo magazine and I am able to sort of relate to the blog that was being posted, which is why I chose it.
The blog has one Author, who is Zoe Ruderman. She is the author for all of the blogs on the Cosmo website. She targets the readers of Cosmo, and of course young adults. This is merely for entertainment. Young adults know about this show and maybe feel the same way she does. It can help us relate to her as a person. The blog is definitely commercial, being that it is posted on the Cosmopolitan website, which is a common magazine. The outline of the layout is pink. I like the color pink and I'm sure most girls do. Being that the background is pink, you can say that maybe she was trying to reach out to girls more than guys to read this blog. The links that are on the side of the page are links to other blogs Zoe has written for the magazine, which contain a variety of things. At the top of the page you can go back to the home page and read different articles and pages that are actually from the magazine. The main purpose of this is maybe to have their readers go out and buy the magazine, so they are able to make a profit. I know you can order your subscription online, as a window comes up for it as soon as search for this website.
http://www.themovieblog.com/
ReplyDeleteThe blog I brought to class was called The Movie Blog. I didn’t really have a specific reason for picking it, because I’m not a huge follower of blogs. However, I was trying to think of some things that people have in common and might like to see. Most people enjoy watching movies, so I took the idea and this was the most interesting blog I found.
It has one main author, John Campea, who began blogging just for fun. He found that he wrote a lot about movies, and that’s how this blog began. He has a small team working with him, including Senior Editor Rodney Brazeau and Graphic Designer Dan Crook. I suppose you could say it is kind of a cross between a commercial and a personal blog. It’s definitely not just personal anymore, although that is what it developed out of. It’s also not totally commercial, because it’s not advertising a particular product (movie, in this case). It’s just a bunch of opinions and movie news.
The audience for this blog would generally be people who like to go to the theatre and watch new movies that are out. It’s generally targeted to give opinions and movie news, so it’s safe to say that it’s targeted towards those who enjoy various movies.
The visual layout is appealing because such graphics are used to make you feel like you are in the movies. The logo includes a film reel, the background image is set to look like a dim movie theatre. Even the red coloring makes you think of the classic red curtain in a theatre, combined with the yellow of dim lights. There are links to different types of movies and movie reviews, including ones that are funny, featured, or favorites. There is even a search feature to make it easy to find what you’re looking for. Overall, I think people will come back because it offers everything they could need to find out about movies they are interested in seeing.
I choose the link www.servernotslave.wordpress.com for many reasons. I liked the fact that it spoke to a certain audience, as well as welcoming people outside this targeted audience. I was debating on whether to show this blog or www.postsecret.blogspot.com. This blog is very unique and interesting. It is a place were people everywhere can send a postcard to Frank, with a secret on it and Frank may put it on this blogspace for other people to view or discuss. Postsecret is mainly a place where people can let go of the dark secrets that they feel they cannot talk to others about, but still become public about it. I decided not to show this blog because I assumed someone else would have used it in the classroom, it is a very popular blog. The audience that “Server not Slave” blog speaks to is mainly other restaurant workers, especially servers. This is a place that other servers can go to to have a laugh, or to vent about their nightmare customers. I do feel though that it welcomes non-restaurant employees. Several of the blogs are written especially for the customers to educate themselves on proper restaurant edict. The author decided to remain anonymous about his name and where he works. We do know that he has worked as a career waiter for at least 8 years. He describes himself as
ReplyDelete“You can call me Servernotslave, or SNS for short. I’m a college graduate from a well-established 4 year university with a degree in Education and I’m a waiter. I’ve been in the service industry for 8 years now. I’ve been a busser, a dishwasher, a server assistant, a waiter, a bartender, an expediter and a manager-in-training. I’ve worked in both corporate restaurants and family-owned restaurants. I’ve seen the disaster stories and the fortunate stories. This business has turned me into a cynic and taught me to keep expectations low, so I’m rarely disappointed. I try to find the humor in every situation and it’s always my job (whether I’m at work or not) to make people feel comfortable.” (http://servernotslave.wordpress.com/about/)
He writes things about the restaurant business and encourages others to comment on it and discuss their own experiences. The blog includes an archives section where you can look back over the years to see what has been previously blogged. There is an about me page, and a questions page. He has a place where you can subscribe to his twitter account, or an email updating account. He does link other pages on his blog. He calls this list his “blogroll”. The links that are listed is Confessions of a Waitress (http://confessions-of-a-waitress.blogspot.com/), IT man LD (http://itmanld.wordpress.com/), Miss Amazing (http://miss-amazing.blogspot.com), So You Wanna Be a Banquet Manager...(http://soyouwanttobeabanquetmanager.blogspot.com/), The FAIL Blog (I love this one!)(www.failblog.org), The Hooters Girl (http://thehootersgirl.blogspot.com/), The Slightly Cranky Waitress (http://slightlycrankywaitress.blogspot.com/), Waiter Extraordinaire (http://waiterextraordinaire.blogspot.com/), WordPress.org (http://wordpress.org/). This blog is obviously a personal blog. There are no advertisements on this page, and is very clearly just a place to vent and communicate with people. The layout is visually appealing. The actual blogs are a black background with a white font color. The title of the blog is in orange (still with the black background) and is in a font that is elegant. I feel that when the title is seen one things of an elegant restaurant, and once they start reading the blog the person gets to see what is the actual behind scenes of these “fancy” restaurants that people attend. Then they may read it and learn to treat their server better, or to stop doing some rude things that they may not even realize they are doing.
I chose to look at the Webshots blog (http://blog.webshots.com/?cat=2) which gives insight and tips about photography and starting your own photography business. This blog appears to be a commercial blog because it has a link from the Webshots homepage to their very own Webshots blog. This blog has posts written by professional photographers, which allow the person reading the blog to learn a few tips about photography. The blog itself archives back until April 2006, in the beginning of initial start up the professionals didn’t do so much blogging like they do now, instead they used to have featured pictures which posed as the picture of the day. This blog doesn’t have any advertisements off its homepage however; as you begin to click around the blog site you are given the option of purchasing photographs taken by professional photographers. I believe that the audience of the blog is targeted towards those who are interested in photography, and those who wish to learn how to take photographs and eventually one day own their own business. This is understood because the type is easy to understand and targeted towards those who want to learn. The blog gives helpful insights on learning key aspects of photography that enhance a photograph. The visual layout of the website allows for the images used throughout the posts to stand out substantially. The background of the blog site is a matted black, which enables the visual composition of the photograph to ‘pop’ from the background. The black font and white background to that font allows for it to stand out to the reader because it allows for the viewer to be able to read and see an image that connects the text to what the image is portraying. The site offers seven links off of the original blog homepage. These links include: Webshots, Screensavers & Wallpaper, Downloads Webshots Desktop, Upload, My Shots, Browse, and Shop. Each of these links allows for the viewer to connect back to the main Webshots page, which allows for the viewer to create their own Webshots account and upload their very own pictures to the site. I think that the photography tips issued in each blog posting allows readers to continue following the blog and the outstanding photography that backs up those posts allows for the readers to repeatedly return to the blog site.
ReplyDeleteI chose to talk about davematthewsblog.com for various reasons. I really liked the idea that the blog was created by fans for fans. They inform every viewer at the bottom of the website that the blog was created by fans and that they had no affiliation with the band whatsoever. It gives fans an insight of what is going on that pertains to the Dave Matthews Band. Also, it isn’t just for Dave fans either. It could be used to inform people who don’t really know who the Dave Matthews Band is and give them an insight to what they’re about. The blog offers a lot of information to the reader whether it is about the band, the band mates, memorabilia, tour dates, or band history. Some would even go as far to say that this website provides more information to the reader than the official Dave Matthews Band website may. It provides more details about subjects that may be controversial about the band and offers its opinion as well as letting others share theirs. I think the layout of the website is interesting. It is a really busy website. There are so many different links to choose from. It provides so much information. You can tell that the website is not a commercial website by its font choice. It’s quite bland and not memorable like other commercial websites banners may be. They offer a lot of entertainment as well such as pictures and videos of the band. The website also provides links to other websites that are related to the Dave Matthews Band such as their official website and other websites to buy their memorabilia. I think what makes people come back for more is the constant news flow that is on the website. They update the webpage often to keep their fellow fans informed. They also allow other fans to comment on what they post so followers can voice their feelings and opinions on topics aswell.
ReplyDeleteI posted the blog fuckyeahellokitty.tumblr.com. I chose this blog basically because I think tumblr is a different type of blog, one that makes it more noticable. Tumlr allows you to post pictures, without even an explaination as to why they put the pictures up. It is a type of expression. There is so much that we can all express through pictures, without words, which can be left for the individual to decide what they are reading, and what mood a person is in. For example, if someone were to post a picture of a girl sitting at her desk drawing red hearts on a blank sheet of paper with i love you in these hearts, we could conclude that this person is in love with someone who may or may not be their boyfriend or girlfriend. However, this blog posted a lot of pictures of Hello Kitty memorabilia. Obviously, we can see that this particular individual went to all ends to find whatever they could find that was Hello Kitty whether it be candies, or measuring cups. This particular blog I believe is a combination of both commercial and personal. This is because Hello Kitty is a commercial item, and it's personal, because this individual loves Hello Kitty so much that she posts everything relating to Hello Kitty. Anyone can read this blog, it is public to anyone, and if it were private, no one except the followers would be able to see this profile. As far as the layout goes, I love all the pictures and how there is no caption, but it is left to the audience to decide what to think about it. I also like that there is a purple and black plaid background; this leads me to believe they like purple. This layout really stands out which draws the audience to the pictures that are on the white space around the background. There are really no links that they offer, but I think what keeps people coming back is to see what new item this person found that has Hello Kitty involved. Hey, you never know what they can find. You might be surprised.
ReplyDeletewww.Inhabitat.com
ReplyDeleteThe blog's purpose is to include information about new technologies and designs that support sustainability. They update frequently with little news clips about recent developments. Some of them don't seem like things that the average person would find useful. However, some of them could be useful for people who are really interested in living a more sustainable lifestyle. For example, They had news about electric cars that can reduce your carbon footprint. As well as having articles about new designs, they have other news about sustainability. For example, they also have a quick article up about a store in London called "Unpackaged". The store sells the same things as other grocery stores, however they don't include the packaging. This helps reduce wasted plastic bags and packaging.
The blog is definitely more of a commercial blog, and they even have a link to an online shop where they sell some sustainable designs. One that I find really interesting, is a solar powered tote bag. The bag harnesses the sun's power, and can use it to charge your cell phone, camera, or any other small things you might need charged.
Inhabitat is written by a group of people. It was originally started by the Editor-in-chief Jill Fehrenbacher. It eventually expanded, and there are now 28 writers for it.
I believe the audience is mostly people interested in living a more sustainable life. There's definitely a lot of great facts, and things you could buy to reduce your carbon footprint. Sustainability has become a very popular topic recently, and people are looking to do more things to be more sustainable. This blog could definitely target these people, in the same way it attracted me to it.
I find this blog very visually appealing. It has a nice green background to go along with the theme of being "green." However there is also a lot of professional pictures taken with bright colors, and fun designs that really catch the eye. There are lots of links at the top of the page. There's a little bit of history about the blog, a mission statement, and a link to their shop. Because they update so often, There are always new articles up every time I check the site. This makes me more intrigued into reading about it, because I know it always has fresh ideas about things that can be done! I would recommend this blog to anybody who wants to make some sort of impact on the earth.
The blog that I chose to present in class was one that I stumbled upon on accident. I was Googling pictures of matching sister tattoos when I found one that intrigued me. As my search grew further, I was lead onto a personal blog page. This was unlike any personal blog that I have seen before. The pages logo instantly captivated me. "A Beautiful Mess" it read across the top, with an almost handwritten feel. In the background of sea-foam green, a picture of a girl hanging upside down taking a picture with a vintage Polaroid camera is displayed. Under the title it read " The Personal Blog of Elsie Flannigan". This indicated that there was only one author of this blog and at first I felt as if I violated her privacy. I didn't know who Elsie Flannigan was nor did I care really. Before I decided to ex-out my search I read a little further. I realized that her blog was full of DIY (do it yourself) tips and hobbies. The whole page was filled with colorful pictures of not only her personal preference but other peoples as well. Every day there is a different blog that discusses a little bit about her personal life and things she might have found interesting that day. She post pictures of cute DIY things and art that is made by local artists. On the side of her blog a link read "My Store: RVA" and I was further interested to learn more about it. I checked out her store online and understood the method behind her blog. Her whole store was filled with homemade art, clothing, accessories and other trinkets that may be useful to someone. Also, her blog includes other independently owned stores with more fascinating artwork, clothing and such. I loved her store and now I love her blog. If you are looking for a fun pick me up project or are just looking to add a splash of imagination in your life I suggest you checking out Elsie Flannigans blog at: abeautifulmess.typepad.com.
ReplyDeleteI was unable to open up the right blog in class which had me a bit nervous when I went up to present, but the blog I meant to show was http://yankees.lhblogs.com/
ReplyDeletewhich can be founded in the website Lohud.com that stands for the lower hudson valley, and this is an internet journal that is based in the region of the lower hudson valley.
I rarely visit blogs but my sister told me of her favorite blog that she frequently visits and it so happens that is the Yankees lohud blog which is a blog about the New York Yankees(one of my favorite teams) and the blog posts posted on this site are posted more than once a single day.
The blogs are written by beat writers(Beat writers are different than sport columnist)Chad Jennings and Sam Borden. The thing I like most when visiting the blogsite was the content and information held within each writer's blog. They were highly informative and reliable. There were also many comments that were attached to each blog which provides a whole array of different perespectives and it is interesting to gather as many perspectives upon a single subject.
The amount of information that is gathered is incredible due to the fact that it is a blog unlike a high scaled newspaper such as the New York Times,because the New York Times won't offer as much space hence they will recieve a few pages but most of the times the way a sports writer differs from that of a beat writer is that they must offer their own leway whereas a beat writer provides fact, a beat writer has the freedom to however so there is more freedom provided on blogs than a newspaper.
An interesting fact about this blogsite is that beat writers will read their comments attached to their blogs and a few times they will allow a subscriber to the blog post a blog of the day.
This blogsite is more in touch with their viewers than a newspaper.
Going back to how the blogsite gathers information,they not only post information during the season when baseball starts but they offer a lot of information on the winter news such as when there are meetings being held between general managers of baseball teams talking to certain baseball players. Conference meetings don't receive that much coverage in the newspaper unless it's something major.
Another interesting fact they cover which provides more indepth information if you're into that sort of thing is the use of statistics not only statistics but the advanced statistics part of baseball such as sabermetrics which derives from the acronym SABR(Society for American Baseball Research). This deals with the technacality of baseball. An example of sabermetrics would be the caculation of On Base Percentage of one team.
This is the reason why I chose this site due to information that it provided and not how the website was set up which is fairly decent I admit.
I chose the blog www.plumline.whorunsgov.com
ReplyDeleteThis blog has one author that has worked for many magazines writing political articles. This blog is very commercial. It a information site that can be used to keep one’s self up to date with what is going on in politics. The author posts about 4 times a day so a reader will never miss a beat. There is always a posting in the morning call The Morning Plum and them one later on at night called the Happy Hour Roundup. The audience seems to be anyone who would like to learn about what is going on in the world and needs to learn it all from one place. He explains allot of the things he talks about and there are also many links to help a person get the background information to help inform them. It does have a few ads but that means that companies think it will be seen. It has an archive that goes all the way back to last year and a viewer can even search by category. They have trivia question which could help make learning politics fun? There are not many pictures but that is just showing that the facts will stand out and not need graphics to keep readers interested.
Visually the layout used is very simple it has very simple colors. The titles are done in blue to draw attention to the titles. The type is black plain type. The Who Runs Gov Banner is nothing special. If I saw that type face somewhere else I would not recognize it. It is very bold though and one may remember it. There are drop down menus at the top of the page that will help one navigate to other parts of the site. They are very well labeled and when clicked the viewer gets what they expect. I think what will bring people back is the fact that this is an ever changing world and we need to be kept up to date on what is happening in the world.
The blog I choose was a personal fashion blog. I choose it because I enjoy fashion and different styles people come up with and I like to get inspiration from others. It has one author whose name is not mentioned but there is a picture of him. He worked in sales and marketing for high-end women’s fashion for fifteen years. He then took up photography and decided that he would take pictures of ordinary people with great taste in clothes to show others how to dress. He wanted to give to an audience of people who wanted inspiration for dressing so they could see what people are wearing all over the world. You can tell that someone interested in fashion will look at this for inspiration or help because his main focus of the pictures are clothes and different kinds of people. The photos are so bright, vivid, and eye-catching while the rest of the layout is so simple and clean. It really brings an emphasis of professionalism. And you can tell that he is a professional because he is constantly updating photographs and organizing his page very well. The fact that it is so clean and eye catching I think will make people want to come back to the site. Also, the fact that he was in the industry shows he knows a lot and maybe someone interested in going in that field could contact him and get some help from him. That’s what it seems like he is there for and made the page for.
ReplyDeleteThe different links offered are the Blog, Biography, Press, SartoriaList, and video. Blog is where all the photos are located and arranged by dates on the right hand side. Biography is where a photo of him is listed along with his life and history of the blog. Press is where it shows different articles he was featured such as Vogue and Esquire and his monthly page in GQ. Then the Sartorialist shows various men and women that made his “VIP” list and their favorite tailor, barber, drycleaner, and shoe repair for the men. While for the women it says ‘premiering soon.’ And the last section is the video tab where it shows videos of some of the people he has photographed.
sartorialtist.blogspot.com
www.peoplewhodeserveit.com
ReplyDeleteI chose peoplewhodeserveit.com because I thought it represented a "blog." It may not be for everyone, but it has everything a "blog" would ideally have; a logo, content related to the logo, it was visually appealing, witty, etc.
It is a commercial website, open to the public. There is a team of people who run the site and review submissions. I feel that without a team to review the submissions, it wouldn't be as witty and comical as it is.
It appeals to a wide range of people. It stereotypes people in a way that everyone can relate to something on the site. As I mentioned in class, the team of people that review the submissions write the reviews in a very casual, sarcastic tone that everyone can relate to. All in all, the responses to the submissions are the things we've always wanted to say to the certain stereotyped person.
It's a very casual layout, with a grey/white back ground, with a shot of lime green color here and there on the website. The logo is one you can't miss, and is seen on the top of the page. Also on the page is links to other funny websites, such as CollegeHumor.com, and links to subscribe to their RSS feed. For those who Tweet, there is also a link to follow them on Twitter.
I believe people keep coming back for more because the site is so funny and realistic. Who wouldn't want that?
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/theblog/index/
ReplyDeleteThe blog I chose was from a news site. It has a large number of contributors and appeals to a fairly large audience. The Huffington Post primarily discusses political and current events topics, but branches out into media, entertainment and sports worlds as well. It, politically, appeals to a more democratic audience. Which the topics of discussion prove vividly, one title referring to "More Palin lies" and another claiming "Sarah Palin: Fooling None of the People All of the Time." It is a place for democrats associated with the site to vent, share ideas and communicate to a larger audience. It is more of a commercial endeavor representing some heated personal views at times. Mainly, it is commercial in its attempts to persuade politically and its association with news sources.
The layout isn't particularly flashy. It dwells more on content rather than bright colors and images, but large fonts and photos of the contributors are present and unavoidable. The name of each blogger is in a large orange font, grabbing attention. The actual title and content of each entry is more subdued, black lettering on white background. A few adds do exist on the side panels, but mainly that area is reserved for links to the content on the rest of the page. The links bring you to related sites and other areas of The Huffington Post for the most part. One or two adds can be clicked to visit Public Press Newswire, which is the company used to make the Huffington Post. Besides that add and others informing the reader that there are applications to view this site on handheld devices (goolge, facebook and blackberry apps), the page is about the news and people's views on the politics surrounding it. Very orderly and informative, this blog gives an outlet to read opinions based on the news stories that the rest of the site reports on.