Tag Archives: Blogging

E-portfolio .. The Beginning

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Creating a perfecting my e-portfolio was a process, having OCD made me super detail oriented and I poured over making it just right. Though it will never be “done” I will say I am happy that it’s on an upward path. I have changed the theme half a dozen time moved and reorganized content and played with all the settings and widgets I could find. After toying around myself and getting rather frustrated because I kept wrecking the home page I went to seek some help, first in the Itech lab on the sixth floor and then with Professor Belli.

The tech lab had some helpful tips to making the pages easier to manage when you’re brand new to the site and he was also able to reset the menu bar which I managed to mangle. The lab is good for quick tips and fixes but as Professor Belli mentioned it’s probably better to seek out the open lab team for all the widgets and plug ins because for I for the life of me could not get the twitter plug in to work right.

Today I went and met with Professor Belli to discuss content revision and placement and she also tried to help with the elusive twitter widget, to no avail though so ill be visiting the open lab team. I also learned how to customize my menu bar and make functional categories so my content can be grouped similar to how our class page is. Learning a few tips and tricks were helpful but I want to learn more about open lab and the features of it so I am able to maximize its benefits.
(added 11/17)When creating my about me I aimed to highlight my background info, where I came from, the important things about myself and my academic and career goals and then finally my hobbies. I aimed to make my professional stance known but also give myself a human side. By adding hobbies it shows what I enjoy and what balances my work and school life out.

Overall I think it’s a good way to keep track of your work and what potential employers may want to see or be looking for. I will add that i got my content to be featured on my twitter so thats pretty cool and i’m hoping it will gain some exposure. I think it would be helpful though if categories came pre populated and we were able to rename and use them so we don’t have to muck through so many different settings to get them to work. Meaning similar to how the pages come set up the categories should too. AND like i’ve said since practically day one I would love it if this site had its open app or at least was able to be signed into via the word press app. Being able to move and view content mobile would be huge! I plan on adding content both for classes as well as my own preference to showcase the best abilities i have both academically and personally and i’m hopeful that in conjunction with my twitter project that I will be able to share my content more freely.

Blogging vs. Journalism

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 “Is anyone with a blog a journalist? Is anyone with a camera a photographer? What happens to journalism when every reader can also be a writer, editor, and producer? These are but some of the questions long debated in both the blogosphere and in journalism, and still no clear concensus has emerged.” -Brian Carroll

Carroll poses a great question for his readers to ponder upon and there are multiple interpretations that can be made to answer without a clear-cut “answer”, making it right nor wrong. My understanding of journalism is the gathering, processing, and circulation of news, and information that correlates to news to an audience. Unlike journalism, I believe blogging originally, began as a medium to express oneself through thoughts. Essentially, it began through writing (via journals/diaries) but as technological advancements continued to make strides in society, blogging became available to take place digitally and publicly on the internet. Both mechanisms of writing and producing content for an audience is writing out loud so to speak but the moral compass is entirely different.

For bloggers, the deadline for content is always instant. It entails more free-will, more accident-prone, more alive, and less formal.  Journalism consists of truthfulness, accuracy, objectivity, impartiality, fairness and public accountability which is undoubtedly easier said than done. In order to provide newsworthy content, these attributions must be considered first. Therefore, bloggers who consider themselves journalists cannot sit on their computers all day but they have to go out and interview sources, investigate, and then explain what they’ve understood from all the information gathered. I digress that opinion is not journalism.

The question of whether anyone with a blog is a journalist I think, has been blurred by time to an extent. Blogging has broadened the digital space of ideas by allowing a multiplicity of individuals’ voices to enter discourse communities: blogging and journalism are two very distinct entities. Much of the blogging world has little interest in what you can call proper journalism. A large proportion of the blogosphere is still dominated by opinion-based writing.

People can argue that journalists claim to be the only useful writers found because people want the hard facts but what people also want is prospective along with the facts. Blogging may well be a step along the road to becoming a journalist. By choosing to write on things that bloggers are passionate about such as beauty, fashion,  or food. If a blog gets a ton of hits with thousands of followers, it is without a doubt taken seriously. For instance, one of the biggest fashion blogs out there is Fashionbombdaily.com, where viewers can find the latest on multicultural fashion with nearly 2.4 million visitors. Blogging can be said to equal to journalism with the addition of opinion. Because of the quality of the site’s coverage, their following continues to strengthen thereby encouraging readers to look to the site for takes on fashion news and stories, along with magazine coverage, fashion show reviews, trends, wardrobe advice, celebrity looks for less, and tips on how to break into the industry from the best in the business. The woman behind the site, Claire Sulmers clearly tracks down sources, does investigative reporting, and presents the facts clearly and fairly, she is a journalist with an outstanding blog. Like Josh Micah Marshall’s “The Telling Points Memo”, Fashion Bomb Daily paved the way for “blogging as journalism, or at least established that blogging and the mission of journalism are not necessarily at odds or in any way mutually exclusive” (Carroll 175).

What I Have Learned from Being a Tumblr Blogger.

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Blogging has and always will be for me a way to express my opinions, feelings, and inner thoughts. I have found it to be both therapeutic and informing. I have grown as a person from the open environment of my Tumblr blog space. I have been able to see different perspectives, the rawest truths on high level issues, and the ability for human beings to sensitive and humane.

Before I dive deeper into this discussion let me begin buy offering a crash course in the world of Tumblr. Tumblr unlike other blogs is a platform for microblogging. Quotes are preferred to large blocks of text although they can still be found on those who chose to compose their individual blogs that way. While scrolling on your dash or main frame you are going to come across a multitude of things from cat memes to social issues. I have found Tumblr’s discourse community to have a multitude of smaller discourse communities called fathoms. These fathoms have different languages, known symbols, and leaders that have all been developed around a joint or popular interest. I have seen fathoms destroy other people who knew nothing of their lingo but I have also seen them protect their own as if they were brother and sister. The most important aspect of Tumblr I believe is that it is a platform that does not tolerate inequality. Lastly, it should be known that just as Vegas what happens on Tumblr stays on Tumblr. Your personal blog and what you reblog for many people in a way is private although it is for the entire community to see. When I first became involved with Tumblr I was timid about what I shared but after a while I came to understand the community and its open atmosphere I came to understand that even friends I followed on my blog did not judge me based on the content I shared.

To begin with, the first thing I learned from Tumblr is being truthful in all aspects of reporting. “The more informal personal nature of most blog writing is due to the fact that most blogs are by a single author. This places priority on voice” (Carroll, 178). Being your truest self on Tumblr is of the utmost important. Showcasing your interests and believes builds your credibility and following crowd. Just like any other blog it is important to always report the truth and be accountable for what you have written and published. I have seen many times Tumblr users speculate and have had other users do the work to correct their inaccuracies. Tumblr above all promotes the honesty is the policy slogan. As a member of the community we strive to help and maintain the betterment of our fellow bloggers.

The freedom of expression is another important aspect of Tumblr or any other blogging site I believe. “So subscribing to any code of ethics is voluntary. To maintain or preserve a writer’s freedom of expression, it would have to be so” (Carroll 185).  What a person writes whether agreeable or not is not to be tampered with. If you have an opinion comment, or share, but do not for any reason flame a fellow blogger for their right to expression. Additionally, as mentioned within that quote for any new comer or outsider it should be understood that there is a code by which all users of said blogging community adheres to. As to avoid misinterpretations read further into the blog and the author to understand perspective.

Lastly, it is important to never change any ones work, remove identifying tags, or markings. People have spent time pouring in effort and heart into their work; presenting their voices in what they believe to be the best representation of themselves and ideas. Even authors should not change their work after it has been published, “So, after something has been posted, editing should be limited to fixing typos, smoothing out grammar, and modifying unfortunate word choices, but no more.” (Carroll, 189). Work published should have been revised before and  what is said has been said. Bloggers must understand that if they do not want to misinterpreted that they have to be as clear and concise as possible in order to be understood properly.

Tumblr has taught me to also be truthful and represent myself in the best light as I see fit. My words, photos, and what I choose to post are a clear representation of my online identity. In order to be not only an abiding Tumblr user but an active blogger I must respect guidelines set by not only Tumblr but the general blogging community as a whole.

 

Class Notes 9/24

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Reminder each of us will meet with Professor Jill at the times we discussed last week, we have class tomorrow at 2:00 or 2:15pm 🙂

Please review the composing guidelines because blog posts are too general and need to show that you understand the readings. Also, be sure to finish posting class comments, respond to the class discussions, re-read Chapter 3 if you have not yet done so, and come to class with extensive notes on all the readings.

For the first 25-30 minutes of class we will have a lengthy discussion on “Wikipedia’s Politics of Exclusion: Gender, Epistemology, and Feminist Rhetorical (In)acton,” so please read and come prepared.

 

When writing your blog it is important to keep in mind these key points for a good blog.

1. Main idea

2. Your blog should ask a question that aims to start a conversation (get feedback)

3. Stay on track

4. An opinion or interpretation/ analysis–spark provocation

5. Include multimedia (graphics, videos etc.)

6. Unique/thoughtful

7. Relatable

8. Personal narrative

 

Definitions

Patriarchal-the male head of a family, tribe, community, church, order, etc.

Exclusion-to shut or keep out; prevent the entrance of

Privilege-a right, immunity, or benefit enjoyed only by a person beyond the advantages of most.

Epistemology-a branch of philosophy that investigates the origin, nature, methods, and limits of human knowledge.

Methodologies-a set or system of methods, principles, and rules for regulating a given discipline, as in the arts or sciences.

Subversive- tending or intending to subvert or overthrow, destroy, or undermine an established or existing system, especially a legally constituted government or a set of beliefs.

Discourse community- is a group of people who share a set of discourses, understood as basic values and assumptions, and ways of communicating about those goals.

Rhetoric- is the art of discourse, an art that aims to improve the capability of writers or speakers to inform, persuade, or motivate particular audiences in specific situations.

Provocation-something that incites, instigates, angers, or irritates