Monthly Archives: November 2019

Ketchup: Glass vs. Squeeze Bottle

The more common squeeze bottle is what’s in most household nowadays. But once in while we will go out to restaurants and see the original glass bottle being used. You could say the glass bottle design feels more premium and stands out among the abundance of other squeeze bottles on the market. But aesthetics aside, which one is more usable?

Glass Bottle
The original glass bottle bears a slim silhouette with a small twist cap. According to Heinz, the best way to get ketchup out of the glass bottle is to tilt at 45 degrees, and tap on the ’57’ on the bottleneck.Most people don’t know this trick, and end up spending 5 minutes shaking and smacking the bottom of the bottle just to get a few drops, then a big clump comes out just when you think you’ve shaken out enough.

via GIPHY

Squeeze Bottle
The squeeze bottle features a wider and flatter design, with an indent on each side for users to better grasp the bottle when squeezing. Ketchup is dispensed through he flip top screw cap.It’s more child-friendly in that the cap is easier to open, and the bottle won’t shatter if dropped. The amount of product that comes out can also be controlled by the user.

Conclusion

This topic of glass vs. squeeze bottle is an ongoing discussion. From a purely usability point of view, the squeeze bottle is more user friendly, but ultimately the choice if up to the preferences of the homeowner. However, some do say they prefer seeing the more sleek glass bottle at higher end restaurants, and others at retro diners perhaps for their nostalgic process of getting the ketchup out.

View a reddit thread on this topic.

Essay 2: Myself As A Publisher

My blog is meant to be a platform which I share my experiences with music. It is my personal blog that I am using as an extension of myself and sharing with others the way certain songs or artists impact me. I believe that music is something very personal and is an extension of one’s personality. Therefore, most of my efforts with this blog has gone into creating something authentic and that I can proudly say I own (Thorn, 2012).

“It’s well known that people say and do things in cyberspace that they wouldn’t ordinarily say or do in the face-to-face world. They loosen up, feel more uninhibited, express themselves moreopenly ” (Suler, 2004). I share my experiences and explain why it makes me feel the way it does, and if I can’t explain it, I don’t try to because there’s a reason it can’t be placed into words. I think my blog might be helpful in terms of helping people express their own opinions. As an introvert, I prefer to keep to myself, and this course has allowed me to open up and share a comfortable amount of myself, through a medium that utilities the experiences and feelings of others. Thus, because this blog is meant to be more personal, I write using my own voice rather than through a formal tone. My goal is to connect with an audience that face the same issue as I do expressing myself. The changes I made to my blog were to mediate this. I followed a design structure similar to my personal style as a designer, and I voiced my content in such a way that stayed true to how I felt about the music I was listening to. Although my audience base is rather small, I am addressing them through authenticity. To interact with my audience, I mainly use audio, mainly the songs I want to highlight, and sometimes accompany it with visuals.

Looking back, prior to and during the beginning of the course, I believed publication was content alignment with visual identity, simply because of print/digital media publication. I believed that the content itself needed to be rich and deep, and the visual identity needed to reflect that intensity. Creating an online presence is part of my academics and going into this course, I felt confident in my ability to create a brand identity for a company. Because of this, I wanted to challenge myself, and created this blog to help create my own online presence and see how it differs from creating a branding and identity for a company/group/collective. This course has helped me understand the importance of quickly establishing an ethos and pathos for an audience to base your content off of.

This course helped deliver methodologies in establishing oneself in a digital landscape and why online presences matter. Rather than just being synonymous to media, publishing is more about information’s integration as part of technology and its effects on non-digitized documents. As we enter a new era of significant technological advancements, “the world around us is increasingly mediated by screens and our understanding of it defined by digital information, we are rapidly losing touch with our undigitized past, left adrift in an ever-changing ephemeral world of bits and bytes without our physical past to anchor us” (Leetaru, 2017).

Moving forward, as a design student interested in branding and identity, this course has taught me the steps beyond establishing an ethos and pathos, and how to develop interpersonal relations through an online presence. I believe this course has taught us how to stay true to our individuality and our values, but also expressive about how the content of others can assist self-reflection.

REFERENCES:

Leetaru, Kalev. (September 29, 2017). In a Digital World, Are We Losing Sight of Our Undigitized Past?

Suler, John. 2004. “The Online Disinhibition Effect.” Available from: Cyberpsychology & behavior 7.3 (2004): 321-326.

Jesse Thorn. 2012. “Make Your Thing.”

Hitting Rewind: An Essay

And with a blink of an eye (and bottomless coffee cups and innumerable sleepless nights), we have reached the last week of the semester. Thank God. And while I’m just about ready to pack up and move on to celebrating the holidays, we cannot go without spending some time to reminisce on this little piece of the internet that came into being a mere seventy-seven days ago. It just wouldn’t be right. I’m sentimental like that.

BACK TO DECEMBER SEPTEMBER

Going back to the very beginning, about four months ago when I was thinking about what I wanted to blog about—what I loved enough to talk about every week—I was stumped. With a capital S. Was it food? Fashion? Evening television? (No, I have not yet fully surrendered to streaming services, believe it or not.) After all, if I was going to share a piece of myself online or, as Suler (2004) would say, “disinhibit” myself, what would make it worth my while?

And then, it hit me.

And by “hit me”, I mean that my brother caught me in a moment of pure desperation and suggested that I write about the topic of many of our text conversations and dinner table exchanges. Music.

WE’RE JUST ORDINARY PEOPLE

As I discussed in “Process Post #5: And You Are…?”, I didn’t necessarily create Moods & Mixtapes with a certain demographic, music taste, or Myers-Briggs archetype in mind.

Considerably, the who of the blog was not of my concern when I was starting up this site. Rather, it was the why. In other words, this blog was made so that I could share my love of music and its ability to sound better, hit harder, and grab you by the freakin’ feels whenever you are experiencing a certain mood or are within a particular context. With this in mind, it did not matter to me who was reading the blog. Just being able to know that someone else could experience this sensation too, was more than enough. (I’ll try to stop with the sappy stuff now.)

Moreover, if someone were to ask me who my public is, I would say (without glancing at my analytics) that I have no idea. In saying so, Moods & Mixtapes serves a kind of public that Warner (2002) introduces in “Publics and Counterpublics”. It is a public “that comes into being only in relation to texts and their circulation” (para. 3). Thus, my public came into existence purely because of two reasons: (1) people visit this website and (2) people enjoy having a soundtrack to complement their sentiments. And man, are they my kind of people.

FEAST YOUR EYES

After reading just about any of my Process Posts, it will become quite clear that design was throwing me for a loop. But in my defence, how could it not? There were typefaces and margins and text colours and everything in-between that needed to be dealt with. In hindsight, I probably should have made everything into digital bite-sized pieces instead of trying to attack all of these components all at once, which is exactly what Mod (2014) advises against when it comes to publishing: “Believe me when I say, if you think about [all the details] before you start, you will never start. The rabbit hole is deep.” (para. 10). Undoubtedly, I am now a believer.

Frankly, the reason why the design was so crucial is that, to me, visuals and aesthetics are key. No one is going to want to read a blog post on a site that isn’t pleasing to the eye. I mean, I know I wouldn’t, so this reasoning was the basis of all of my design and structural changes around here.

Yet, despite all of the tweaks and alterations, one design element stayed the same—blog cover photos. Throwing it back to September, I was set on making sure that each blog post would have a feature photo made by yours truly. Reason being, I found the pop of colour to highly compliment the black and white theme of the site, and I’m all for a fashion statement. Also, creating these images is one of my favourite parts of putting up a post! I would like to think that I am not the only one who enjoys them, as my previous peer reviews made mention of them as well. Validation is always nice, right?

STATS ON STATS

Not to fall into the clutches of what Gertz (2015) labels as “metrics-obsessed pseudo-science” (para. 18), but there is something to be said about the wonder that is Google Analytics. From just a few clicks, I can see how many people visited the site, what posts they interacted with, and how long they hung around for. And as my audience is purely imagined, analytics has helped to give a virtual face to Moods & Mixtapes visitors. By extension, helping me to refine my content. It’s a way of finding out how to “give the people what they want” as they say.

Interestingly, Google Analytics has time and time again reminded me to never underestimate the power and ubiquity of the Internet. Notably, without the program, I would have never known that I have users reaching my content outside of my city. Getting traffic from the US, Australia, Argentina, South Africa, the UAE?! That’s absolutely WILD.

So, wherever you’re this reading from, thank you for being here!

HARDER THAN IT LOOKS

My perspective on publication has undeniably changed since the beginning of the term and it is due to this truth: blogging is hard. As much as we love to give bloggers and influencers a hard time, there is a lot more to this than what meets the eye. There is plenty to deal with—from keeping up with your numbers (analyzing them, improving them, figuring out what factors got you these results), coming up with new content, and finding ways to consistently roll out quality content without getting boring. Trust me, it does not come easy.

BLOG LONG AND PROSPER

Having said that, regardless of all the crises and headaches that came with developing this online space, I would like to think that Moods & Mixtapes will continue past this semester. After all, this is a piece of myself that I’m proud to share! This blog, a product of “new technology” as Renner (2019) coins it, has “allowed [myself] to produce a narrative of [my] li[fe], to choose what to remember and what to contribute” (para. 4). In relation, this space has become an extension of who I am, and it would hurt to just pack it up and throw it into the back of the closet, so to speak. In other words, expect more moods and more mixtapes in the near future!

So here’s to the past seventy-seven days! Time for a jam sesh.

References

Gertz, T. (2015). Design machines: How to survive the digital apocalypse. Retrieved from https://louderthanten.com/coax/design-machines

Mod, C. (2014). Let’s talk about margins. Retrieved from https://medium.com/message/lets-talk-about-margins-14646574c385

Renner, N. (2019). How social media shapes our identity. Retrieved from https://www.newyorker.com/books/under-review/how-social-media-shapes-our-identity

Suler, J. (2004). The online disinhibition effect. CybserPsychology & Behaviour, 7, 321-326. Retrieved from http://truecenterpublishing.com/psycyber/disinhibit.html

Warner, M. (2002). Publics and counterpublics. Quarterly Journal of Speech, 88(4), 413-425. Retrieved from http://knowledgepublic.pbworks.com/f/warnerPubCounterP.pdf

Essay 2

Cr. whatoliviadid.com

At the start of the semester, I remember feeling a bit overwhelmed by the amount of content that I’ll have to publish online since this is my first time blogging. The word “publishing” had a serious connotation to me and I used to picture the mundane imagery of book publishers doing monotonous editing work at print companies. As I get to learn how to put up content online with WordPress, I realized publishing is a lot less stressful from what I used to think. Blogging on Half Milk and Sugar has allowed me to establish my online self as a friendly individual and create content that I am genuinely interested in.

I originally created Half Milk and Sugar to blog about cafes reviews so I could justify my unhealthy obsession with sweet drinks and dessert. After a few consecutive weeks of blogging, I realized caffeine and sugar don’t just satisfy my sweet cravings but they also keep me awake and alive throughout the week. With the amount of workload I have for taking 14 credits this semester, visiting and trying out a new cafe each week is a great way to treat myself. These sweet delights have slowly become my motivation to work, how I boost concentration during work, and how I derive relaxation from work.

What I want to share on Half Milk and Sugar is not only ratings for food but also the experience that I enjoyed. This is why I started to develop more content that describes the interior of the places I went. Cakes and drinks may be finished within a few bites or sips, but the spatial enjoyment of a place lasts. As someone who is enthralled by how the ambiance and design can promote a specific vibe for the cafe, I took the effort to research the rationale behind each interior design of the restaurants and strive to share information that goes beyond ordinary food commentary.

Targeting young audience that also derive pleasure from cafe experiences, I named my blog “Half Milk and Sugar” to make it sound like something you’d say when you order at a cafe. This helps me set a fun and conversational tone for my individual online self. To attract more audience on my site, I set up an Instagram account, linked my blog in the biography and posted photos of my food reviews where I use hashtags and tagged the restaurant location. By diversifying the platforms I use to publish my content and incorporating lofi cafe beats into my reviews, my bounce rate for these sites have decreased by 20%.

Looking from my Google Analytics, I learnt that most of my audience are other students from Canada. Although the geographic location expanded to Asia and even Europe after I started writing reviews on popular Asian desserts, the number of visitors from other foreign countries was still under 10. Knowing that there are already copious food bloggers with a large following on Instagram, I kept asking myself why would people want to follow my new account instead of looking at popular foodie pages like Dished Vancouver that’s already on the platform?

I felt quite out of place at that time and I even set my Instagram account to private to test out and reflect on what’s the best way to market my content. Gertz (2015) has however pointed out that we should stop chasing these superficial numbers of following. His words enlightened me to start thinking how I should treat my content and design to reflect my subtle personality instead. He raises an important point that the content we publish should speak to the few people who can identify with our personalities and interests because this is the only audience that matters. His inspiring advice reminded me why I created Half Milk and Sugar in the first place and pushed me forward to continue with my publishing work.

Reflecting on this struggle I had during the blogging process, I think I was restricting my role of a publisher as every other foodie. Thorn (2012) argues in his article that “rather than defining yourself by the medium you create, define yourself by what you offer to your audience.” By sharing honest reviews and offering quiet cafe suggestions for doing work, I am inviting a group of audience from my local community in Canada that resonates with my busy college experience to find comfort and motivation in desserts. Even though I can’t be physically there to support these audience, I think I am providing a kind of spiritual support to them by encouraging them to treat themselves better after a long week of class.

As Van Djik (2013) argues in his article, there is a noticeable change occurred in the organization and architecture of social media platforms where the centre of gravity have shifted from connectedness to connectivity. This suggests that millennials are more concerned about the actual numbers of ‘friending’, ‘liking’, ‘connecting’ and ‘following’ instead of the intimacy of relationships on social media platforms. I realized I should not be blinded by these numbers and focus on delivering relatable and useful content for my audience instead. I’m really thankful that my partners for my peer reviews gave me insightful and in-depth comments for improving the usability of my site. For example, I really took their advice and categorized all my content to just ‘posiel’ and ‘reviews’ blog posts so that it is easier to navigate content and enhance the user-experience for my audience.

I believe this is not the end of my blogging journey. From designing the minimalist theme for my blog to uploading weekly cafes reviews, Half Milk and Sugar sparked my interest in publishing content that I am passionate about. I would definitely continue my dessert reviews on my Instagram and I hope to reach more audience that also rely on sugar and caffeine as their fuel so that we can all celebrate our sweet cravings here together.

References:
Gertz, Travis. 2015. “Design Machines. How to survive in the digital Apocalypse.” July 2015. Available from: https://louderthanten.com/articles/story/design-machines

Thorn, J. (2012, November 4). Make Your Thing. Transom. Retrieved from https://transom.org/2012/jesse-thorn-make-your-thing/

Van Dijck, J. (2013, March 14). ‘You have one identity’: performing the self on Facebook and LinkedIn. Media, Culture & Society, 35(2). Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.1177/0163443712468605

How to spend a week in Lijiang? Enjoy your life in this Poetic old city in Yunnan

Lijiang is a romantic and prosperity old city in the northwest of Yunnan province near the Dali, it is the UNESCO Heritage Site and famous for the Old Town of Lijiang and Jade Dragon Snow Mountain. This old city is every Chinese poet’s dream to live and write, every Chinese want to find love and meet the right person in this city. Today, when skyscrapers have seeped in throughout the entire world, but there remains something old, mythical and beautiful in this land, and I would say that Lijiang is the cherished old memory of China, this city represents the eternal ancient culture and romantic love.

Dayan-The Old Town of Lijiang

Dayan old town is the historical center of Lijiang City, which has a history going back more than 1,000 years. When you walk into this old town, which means you are walking into an ancient historical picture of the plateau. The ancient Naxi houses on the old street are surrounded by mountains and rivers, scattered and chic; the clear and transparent stream flows down the ancient bridge; the clear and bottomless river and the dust is not stained; The Yulong Snow Mountain in the distance towered into the clouds, standing tall and handsome. It such a beautiful town that attract billions of travelers from around the world visit, many students meet at this place and travel together, people come here to embrace nature and the love, this land is such a gift from the earth, It is the dream and happiness in my life, try to spend 4-5 days in this old town and feel the wonderful life in Lijiang!

The night in Dayan old town is also gorgeous when darkness has fallen and lights are on, we can see the sparking lights in a myriad of houses. The crowds flowed down the street, every seat in restaurants is taken by people, everywhere hung with red lanterns and decorations, which gives this town up and down a bustling and lively atmosphere.

LOCAL FOOD

Speaking of the local cuisine, the most famous one is Yunnan rice noodle, or we called the”cross-the-bridge rice noodle” which and has up to 30 tasty ingredients include the meat and vegetables, you can find the most authentic rice noodle in Lijiang! Moreover, I really recommend Lijiang Baba, which is a golden crisp and sweet local flour snack. For dinner or lunch pleasure, the Naxi Barbecue is the best choice for tourists, Naxi barbecue is a traditional dish in local with the main ingredient of pork belly, which can make for soup as well.

Mu Fu Mansion

There is a saying in Lijiang, you can’t know Lijiang without going to Mufu, Lijiang was under the rule of the Mu family native chieftains during the Ming Dynasty and Qing Dynasty. Today, Mufu become this most well-known tourist attraction where attracts tourists from worldwide and lets them visit the glorious history palace, and also a splendid architectural art garden. By the way, remember to bring the student ID or senior citizen pass, which can have a discount on the tickets.

Blue moon valley

Blue Moon Valley, which located the foot of the Jade Dragon Snow Mountain, the god mountain of the hearts of the Naxi people. The water in this lake is from the ancient ice and snow that originated from the snow mountain glaciers melted down the cliffs, and then converged into mountains and streams. Eventually, crystal clear and sweet rivers formed in the deep valleys upstream of the Blue Moon Valley. The water consists of white limestone thus looks extremely pure. On sunny days, the color of the water is blue, and the valley is crescent-shaped. From a distance, it looks like a blue moon inlaid at the foot of Jade Dragon Snow Mountain, thus locals called it ‘Blue Moon Valley’.

I took many amazing photos with my sister here, we also saw many couples took their marriage photos here, they believe they will get the bless from snow god. Notice that the water in the lake really cold, so do not play water in a long time, due to that the water in Blue Moon Valley has copper ions in the water, so you cannot drink it although it looks pretty.

-IT IS BETTER TO SEE SOMETHING ONCE THAN TO HEAR ABOUT IT A THOUSAND TIMES-

-BEAUTIFUL YUNNAN IS YOUR NEXT DESTINATION-

Gallery

Does Colour Really Matter?

YES! Colour’s dennote different meanings and feelings. Colours are also associated with various things based on peoples experience with them. For example, red and Green mean Christmas, whereas Black and Orange mean Halloween. Pink and Yellow are for Spring because of the flowers and dark colours are for fall and winter to mimic the weather. People have developed countless associations for colours, therefore, colour totally matters in fashion. I have created an example to demonstrate what I am talking about using a photoshop on an image of myself taken this summer.

The image on the left is the original image (which you may have seen in another blog post). I am wearing a yellow dress with black open toe heels, and a black purse with a beaded handle. I wore this look to an outdoor wedding in July. The wedding attire called for “casual dress”. I being desperate for any occasion to wear a fancy dress too, overdressed a little for this wedding (but not for a typical wedding). I chose a the dress because it felt summery, elegant, and romantic and I chose the accessories to add a slightly bold statement to the look.

The image on the right is the photoshopped version. I chose to use a colour palette that is completely wrong for this event and season. The colour palette I chose (red and green) denote winter, specifically Christmas. The look seems so bizarre given that I am clearly outdoors on a nice summer day. Perhaps if I were in a different setting this look wouldn’t seem so out of place. I find it funny that since I changed the colour of the bag to a shade of dark green, the bag almost appears to be made of velvet, which is absolutely a winter textile. Perhaps that is because my mind is relying on the visual cues to piece things together.

All in all, this simple example shows how colour completely changes the look and the message the look sends to viewers.

dark side of the comments

As we have discussed in class this week, comments on the internet can be harmful from time to time for instance Leslie Jones‘ or Justine Sacco’s cases. Due to the disinhibition effect especially because of the anonymity, dissociative imagination and invisibility people may say or do things that they would not try doing in real […]

Essay #2

During the semester, I learned a lot about my publication style as well as the value that my blog content can potentially add to readers. When I initially explored the idea of blog content creation, I knew that I had to pick a topic that I was passionate about and experienced in. I wanted to write about and publish a topic that I think about daily because of my own interest (and not something that I will find dreadful to think about). I decided to write about my passion for minimalistic fashion style, which is derived from my interest in neutral tones from my own fashion preferences. My blog is created for those in high school to college students as well as those who have recently entered the working field. It’s easy for students to fall into the repetitive school work pattern and lose interest in pursuing their own personal style. In an article by Tara Chittenden, the author states that, “Fashion provides a key source of empowerment for teens, offering a range of material and symbolic resources from which they can create identities” (Chittenden, 2009). I went through a difficult phase growing up while trying to find my perfect medium for fashion and style, and I’ve made many wrong purchases that did not stand the test of time and eventually get tossed to the back of the closet. I hope that by sharing my inspirations and ideas, I can help teens and adolescents discover their own style as well.

While creating content, I did not immediately choose the right design and use of space for my blog. A few lectures ago, we had a few guest speakers come in to talk to us about the importance of font usage as well as white space. I found that while the use of fairy light images accurately portrayed the theme of a, “everything sweet and cozy”, which is my blog name, it did not accurately represent the true intent of my blog: fashion. After further feedback from peers, I decided to re-do my webpage and re-designed the layout as well. This time, I left more white space and kept the colors light and neutral. This theme matches my style content, which is meant to be minimalistic. If I were to continue to expand my blog and monetize the content, I would consider making sponsored content and reviews. In recent years, “companies have begun to realize the benefits of using blogs as a marketing tool, as they are a targeted and inexpensive way to get publicity and reach potential consumers” (Halvorsen and Hoffman, 2013). Although YouTube remains the most popular platform for marketing and advertisements, blog reviews may seem more genuine due to the lack of over-exaggerated language and expressions.

I decided to open the comment function on my blog posts for any individuals who wish to express their opinions on my content. I think that it’s important for content (especially writing) to be critiqued and openly discussed. In order to improve and enhance my content, I would like to receive constructive criticism. However, I do have worries regarding unfiltered comment sections. During one of our early lectures, we discussed the psychology of cyberspace. Online, “people have the opportunity to separate their actions from their real-world and identity [and] they feel less vulnerable about opening up” (Suler, 2004). This can be both positive and negative. On the positive side, you can evoke true feelings and thoughts out of the commenter as they do not feel threatened by potential judgment. For those who are shy, they can choose to use the anonymity function to their advantage and voice their own opinions. On the flip side, the individual can choose to post malicious comments that are not constructive in nature. Without the accountability of face-to-face encounters, people may take advantage of the opportunity to become “internet trolls” and unleash negativity.

This blog is not only a place for me to inspire other people, but it’s also a place where I can explore my creative side. Being a Business major student concentrating in Accounting, I have found that I lost a great number of my interests to yield to school and co-op work. By writing the weekly blogs, I began to re-open my eyes to activities that inspire creativity within me. I hope that I can inspire others to find themselves as well. To many, fashion is vain and materialistic. To me and many others, it is a form of self-expression and discovery. We are all visual beings, and we make many assumptions based on an individual’s appearance. We should take advantage of this feature instead of avoiding it and embrace the impact fashion has on our identity and self-discovery.

References:

Suler, J. (2004). The Online Disinhibition Effect. Retrieved from: http://truecenterpublishing.com/psycyber/disinhibit.html

Chittenden, T. (2009, June 22). Digital dressing up: modelling female teen identity in the discursive space of the fashion blogosphere. Retrieved from: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13676260903520902

Halvorsen, K and Hoffmann, J. (2013, Jan 21). Can fashion blogs function as a marketing tool to influence consumer behavior? Evidence from Norway. Retrieved from: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/20932685.2013.790707

Essay 2 (PP 10): Publication at a Glance

With limited information on what publication truly is, I thought it was as simple as writing a piece, and making it public. But listening and hearing about what industries professionals have to say about publishing has really broadened my perspective.

Before any piece of work is actually written, the first step is figuring out what a personal cyberinfrastructure really is. The American Council of Learned Societies deems it to be something between a “tool or a resource” and a “network itself”. It means that it is something worth revisiting more than just once. Not all ideas are maximized as their “importance were unrecognized or unexplored at that time”. This is merely a timing issue as opposed to the ideas being invaluable. But it is also beyond a simple idea because when executed properly, it can result in a platform that connects people together. So the importance of understanding the idea of driving all of the content itself can be equated to understanding what the purpose itself really is.

With a strong passion for food and culture, my initial plan was to write about how they are actually intertwined. This surely requires more information and knowledge that I was willing to put in, but it was looking at the groundwork as a whole that worried me. The overall vibe would have been rather formal which made me stop for a moment and think. Food should be enjoyable, and my original goal was to create a platform that was very easy going and that people would be excited to hear what I have to say. I wanted it to be a space where individuals could read a very brief review of restaurants that might be of interest acting like recommendations to try it out themselves. So the fact that this was transitioning towards a more professional atmosphere possibly open to debate, discussion, or correction was not at all what I wanted.

To better arrive at that goal, I decided to restructure my blog early on making things more entertaining and the experience slightly more personable. The overlying idea became a food review blog which also provides insight into the business itself. Being able to see past the dishes being presented and understand the people making everything happen or how the business became what it is today is much more meaningful. As John Suler says in his publication of the Online Disinhibition Effect “some people do report being more like their true self in cyberspace”. Overall, reading the passage he wrote about the true self reminded me that above all else, it is most important to be authentic and to be true to yourself. As a content creator, I find this type of content not only more interesting to write about, but it has made each food trip much more enjoyable. As John Suler said himself” Having my mind more at ease, I knew that this was much more of the direction I wanted my cyberinfrastructure to be headed.

With pillar ideas being set in stone, the challenge at hand now becomes the execution. Curating content consistent with my vision was not challenging. The difficulty became the presentation of the content itself. Keeping a close eye on google analytics, I noticed that the overall time spent on my blog was very short with high turnover as well. Even though there was traffic being driven to my site, the presentation of the content needed to be fixed up because it lacked appeal.

In Richard Nash’s VQR publication titled “What is the Business of Literation”, he notes that perhaps the word publishing “is a word that, like a book, is almost but not quite a proxy for the business of literature”. This helped me realize that this really is like a business transaction. Even though someone might be selling the greatest product in the world, having a buyer willing to pay for the product is just as important. Subjectively looking at everything as a whole, my blog might be the best in the world, but it means nothing if people simply do not find it appealing or interesting

In an attempt to make some changes, I condensed the homepage of my blog by shrinking each post to a short excerpt. This allows viewers to more quickly filter through and decide if anything is worth their time or of interest. To take things one step further, all course-related content would contain a simple picture of the “Pub 101” sign made in class while blog content would have a picture of business storefronts. I wanted to make things more personable by giving them an image that they can relate to more closely is they choose to visit the shops or have been to it at one point.

All the changes made to the content itself and the design elements have brought me to the point that I am at least content with where my blog stands. But on an even bigger note, my appreciation for publication has exponentially grown. I started off thinking that it was as simple as creating content. Realizing I was wrong, I learned that it’s more about creating quality content. Still unsatisfied with how everything looked, the goal became creating quality content that is interesting. I am proud to say that I am started to create quality content that is interesting and looks appealing. Even with all the new information, I have learned over the past couple of months, I know I am far from the top. The ultimate goal of building a platform where people want to frequently visit and are inspired to take action is still in place. Although there has been a lot of progress, this is surely far from the end.

REFERENCES

Gardner Campbell. 2009. “A Personal Cyberinfrastructure.” EDUCAUSE Review 44 (5). http://er.educause.edu/articles/2009/9/a-personal-cyberinfrastructure
Suler, John. 2004. “The Online Disinhibition Effect.” Available from: Cyberpsychology & behavior 7.3 (2004): 321-326. http://truecenterpublishing.com/psycyber/disinhibit.html
Richard Nash. 2013. “What is the Business of Literature?” VQR Online. http://www.vqronline.org/articles/what-business-literature

Essay Two

A Little Journey Through Online Publication In Fall 2019 semester I have created a blog using WordPress platform about travelling. My blog was focused more on the emotional experience rather than the technicalities of travelling, for instance I have not included where to eat, the hours of operation, fees or transit options. In order to […]

Kristian Schuller for Vogue India (2017)

For Vogue India’s 10th anniversary issue in 2017, Vogue India commissioned photographer, Kristian Schuller, to photograph couture pieces by designers in which they were employed to create looks inspired by one of the 29 states in India.

Team Credits

Photographer: Kristian Schuller // Creative Diretor: Peggy Schuller // Fashion Stylists: Priyanka Kapadia & Anaita Adajania // Set Designer: Peggy Schuller // Model: Pritika Swarup

Prompt 9: Community Guidelines

COMMUNITY GUIDELINES

Reposting images
- Most images used in theplutoblog.com are not owned by PLUTO. If you decide to repost the images in this website, please credit the photographer and/or creator. All images have the photographer listed within the post itself. If you are not sure about the copyright of the image, simply leave a comment in the post you found the image in and I will get back to you within a few moments.
How are comments moderated?
- All comments posted to blog posts on PLUTO will be first reviewed by a moderator to ensure they meet community standards. This process should only take a few moments. Your comment will appear on the site after it has been approved.
  - I also ask the community to self-moderate and abide by the rules outlined in this guide. I believe anyone can add to the discussion on the many posts.
What kinds of comments are removed?
- Spam
  - Do not flood the comments with multiple messages that say the same thing. Messages promoting businesses, special deals, sales, and others will be removed.
- “Trolling”
  - Please remain relevant in and on the topic. If one is to purposely deviate from the conversation or post inflammatory comments, they will be removed.
- Racism, sexism, and other forms of discrimination
  - Attacking a group of people or making statements against groups are not allowed anywhere in this site. PLUTO is a safe and open space for people of every form.
- Offensive usernames
  - If your username includes words that are offensive or abusive, your comment will be rejected and removed.
- Targeted attacks
  - Attacks against the writer, against other commentators will be rejected and removed. Name-calling, threats and verbal abuse is not tolerated.

IMPLEMENTATION

The guidelines will be displayed in my ‘about’ page where it provides easy accessibility. The ‘about’ page is the only part of the blog that is relevant to the website itself and not the content.

The guidelines will be further implemented by the comments be moderated. When one makes a comment, it will sends an email to me to moderate the comment. Based on my short, but hopefully effective guideline for comments, I will then examine each comment before deciding whether to post or reject.

These are the right guidelines for me, because…

Firstly, because my blog is image focused, people may want to share the images. The majority of the images are not mine, but I make sure to credit the original creator or photographer within the posts the images can be seen in. Therefore, making the guideline for crediting the originator is vital.

Like the article by the Guardian said about the ideal commentary space: “comments threads are thoughtful, enlightening, funny: online communities where readers interact with journalists and others in ways that enrich.”

My hopes for PLUTO is to have an open and safe space for people to enjoy the content that is being presented and discuss their likes and dislikes. People sharing their thoughts on the blog, the posts, and the content itself can help make my blog better and more tailored towards my audience. Essentially strengthening the connection between blogger and reader. It also makes it possible for the readers to be visiting the site more often if they enjoy what they see.

In addition, the Pluto Blog is not only a place for me to showcase my favourite creative works by people in the fashion industry, but also—hopefully—a place where readers can also share some of their favourite work in the comments by linking to editorials, photographs, biographies, videos, and other forms of media. As much as I try to learn and open myself up to new people, I absolutely adore discovering new things from people who are much more educated than me in subject of fashion photography.

Having a more rigorous moderating system and guidelines will help with targeted harassment and “trolls” that seem to find the most discreet websites on the Internet to infuriate and bamboozle the community. As stated by the Time article, “what trolls do for the lulz ranges from clever pranks to harassment to violent threats,” is not something I ever want to see in PLUTO. Arguably, the Internet is for an open arena of comments and it’s “undemocratic” to close off certain opinions. However, just like the everyday life, when we talk to people in person, we expect certain behaviours like being polite. By having a moderator system in place for comments will help implement the notion of ‘treat others the way you want to be treated’.

Featured image by Elizaveta Porodina for Vogue Arabia (2019), starring Adriana Lima.

Process Post 10: Moderation

This week’s class made me really think twice about ongoing website management.

We were broken up into groups and we each looked more closely into what the general public would consider as “credible sources”. My group had a chance to look closely into the New York Times, and to learn about their online community. I noticed comments on the first few generic posts but saw that it was not necessarily the case for posts with political affiliation. I was unable to find the comments section for posts relating to Donald Trump and the Hong Kong controversy. There was a generic article where the organization dressed what its community guidelines are resulting in a lot of critiques.

Generally speaking, I feel that the best type of online community guideline is one that is consistent with basic human rights. Freedom of speech is vastly important as there should never be any scenario where individuals need to bite their tongue. Organizations, websites, and blogs alike are all positioned in a way to attract their distinct audiences that may frequently revisit their sources. Muting comments or even worse removing comments midway is disrespectful to say the least, but ultimately pointless because anything that goes online can never really be taken off. For that matter, the comment section here will always remain open as I am open to critique and am also interested to hear about what others would like to say about my content altogether.

Highlighter

Featured picture from Shopee . Featured product Give Me Glow highlighters.

This is the last step for the face. In my opinion, this is my favourite step in my makeup routine because it gives my matte face a little bit of light and it enhances my cheeks, brows and nose.

I will not judge you about how much you want to put on your face if you want to do a natural face or a BOOM face.

You can get use different formats, liquid, cream or powder. Personally I prefer powder highlighters because they are easier to apply, but when I need a little bit of extra, I like to use a liquid format.

I will leave a little face map.

https://bellatory.com/makeup/What-is-Strobing-How-to-Apply-Strobing-Makeup-as-Highlighter

Dressing for the Winter Weather

As the temperature continues to drop, I find that the usual trouser+sneaker combination is no longer sufficient for me to stay warm. It’s much easier to stay warm on top compared to the bottom, and I’m constantly scurrying to my next destination in order to decrease the amount of time my legs are exposed to the cold. With that being said, the following are a few tricks to stay warm without having to layer up excessively on the legs:

Over-the-Knee Boots + Skinny Jeans

This may be the easiest combination of them all. I love wearing skinny jeans for the aesthetics as well as the warmth due to the tighter fit. It really does a great job of retaining the heat! My pairing skinny jeans and over-the-knee boots, you can make sure that your legs stay warm while looking slim. I suggest black over-the-knee boots with a suede material for the snuggest and warm fit. If you want to slim down your legs, you can choose a pair of slightly heeled boots as well!

UGG’s + Leggings

This is a great combination for those days when you want to stay warm and cozy without the hassle of coordinating a perfect outfit. UGG’s look great with most pants/leggings as long as they are slim fit. My favorite combination is an oversized sweater, slim fit pants, and UGG’s. If you wish to dress down even more, I like to wear leggings, UGG’s, and a hoodie. I don’t think an outfit can get simpler and more minimalistic than this. For the most optimal aesthetics, I suggest black leggings (just because it has a smaller chance of color-clashing with the boots). There are also tons of styles of UGG’s to select from! My favorite is the classic short grey boots (as pictured above).

Process Post #11

This week in the lecture, we looked at the different news platforms and their rules for comments. My group researched on New York Times, and I noticed that there are many rules and regulations regarding the posting of comments. First of all, New York Times has regular comment moderators who ensure that comments are relevant and appropriate upon submission. Comment sections are also limited in volume and posting time, as certain articles are time-restricted for comments and there are also restrictions on how many comments are allowed per post. I think that the moderation of comments is both positive and negative. Although it’s important for publication websites such as The New York Times to ensure the quality and authenticity of their comments (e.g. by requiring commenters to have a valid account), it may prohibit free speech as well.

ESSAY 2

My online publishing reflection, how to become a popular blogger?

To be honest, it is really grateful for me to have such amazing chance to become a blogger and online publisher in this semester, I have learned many valuable things from PUB 101, which taught me how to use WordPress and elaborated my online presence. For a long time, I have had a big passion on moments recording, writing is definitely one of my hobbies as well as photographing, but this was my first time to practice blogging in totally English, thus everything is fresh and exciting. In recent years, except the social media, blogging has become one of the most popular ways of communicating and sharing information, in this platform, people can talk about their interests, write about their life experiences or publish their thoughts subjectively in a more detailed way. As Tara mentioned that: “the discursive spaces of the blog as critical to the activity of trading cultural and social capital and, importantly, shaping expressions of emerging identity” (Tara, 2010), after our exploration of the world of blog during this course, I realized that blog is not only a great self-promotion tool to help you address and communicate with your audience but also a channel to make benefits. Also, the design and content of the blog are significant for attracting viewers, software like Google Analytics will help blogger to know their audience, running a blog is not an easy work that I thought before, the fact is plenty of things you need to make effort on.

Bloggers today are writing a blog for various reasons; some of them have their own story to tell, others may do the business to promote their own products. My blog was created for sharing my traveling stories and experiences with the world, which also included the introduction of my selective tips and cuisine. This is defiantly a valuable blog for supporting people who love traveling and gives them the best tips, besides, my blog is also very welcoming those who like beautiful traveling photos.

Design is also a key for a popular blog, my blog is mainly focused on the visuals and I believed that the atmosphere of the blog will change viewers’ emotion and feeling, this is the power of color-as the symbol of eye-catching. In the beginning, I designed this blog to present lively and fun, which showed an optimistic theme that uplifts readers rather than a traditional travel blog. But after I read some of my peers’ reviews, I knew that the original design might be too intense as a blog aesthetic, thus I took their advice and spent much time adjusting in order to match my blog content and online identity. Finally, I chose to design my blog in a pink background that creates a lovely atmosphere which is quite appealing in a more simplistic style. Moreover, viewers can various breathtaking travel photos in this blog, as Gertz states that: “The art direction isn’t a substitution for the content, but it begs us to dive in and get dirty. The cover gives us a hint about what’s inside, and teases out our emotion, begging us to read the rest” (Gertz, 2015), those pictures not only decorate the blog but also guide visitors into a reading world.

Google Analytics is an effective tool that helps nowadays’ bloggers, advertisers and marketers to analyze their online target audiences and adjust website content into the best results. Originally, I imagine my target audience group consisting mostly of girls who like travel and delicacy between the ages of 18 and 25, but according to the data which shows on Google Analytics, the age group is expanded broadly that beyond my imagination because the primary audiences are 25-34, and even include the elderly in 65. What really surprised me is that the data show 54.15% of my audience is male, but 45.85% are female. Pod claims that Data is big business, most of us accepted the idea that digital data equals money (Pod, 2016). Google Analytics creates a new chance for me to know the internet and data trails deeply, which gives me a clear idea of who my audiences are, how they behave and help me to improve my website and expand my marketing.

Furthermore, incorporating transmedia into the blog will contribute to connect your blog to the relevant audience and boost your traffic. In my own view, Instagram is a great online channel for me to attract the audience, according to my google analytics I knew that many readers of my blog come from my Instagram, visitors can drill deeper into the expanding world of their followed bloggers through these transmedia platforms. In addition, the rising global phenomenon of online harassment and online shaming needs to be noticed by all internet users, everyone should control their actions towards and reject online shaming appearing, thus I decided to set up some community guidelines for my blog to prevent horrible comments or shaming happening.

Overall speaking, after reviewing my whole semester’s experience as an online publisher, I have a deeper understanding of blogs rather far than before. As the semester comes to the end, it’s really hard to say goodbye, thus I decide to continue blogging after this course and keep recording my travel footsteps, which helps me to improve my writing and record all the beautiful moments in a journey. Additionally, the photos on Instagram will still be updated, Vlog may be coming soon in the future and I hope to attract more audiences to my blog ideally. Furthermore, marketing is another goal of my future plan, making some money from my favorite thing is literally a great experience. Regardless of what the future is going to be, I will insist to work on it and become a better online publisher. Blogger has taken over the world, but want to become a successful and fantastic popular blogger still needs much effort than we think. Lastly, I would say that this is the end of my PUB 101 class, but it’s just the start of my blog.

References:

Gertz, T. (2015). “Design Machines. How to survive in the digital Apocalypse.” Retrieved from: https://louderthanten.com/articles/story/design-machines

Pod, A. ( 2016). “Digital breadcrumbs: The data trail we leave behind us.” Retrieved from: http://podacademy.org/podcasts/digital-breadcrumbs-our-data-trail/

Tara, C. (2010). “Digital dressing up: modelling female teen identity in the discursive spaces of the fashion blogosphere.” Journal of Youth Studies. Retrieved from: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13676260903520902

Process Post 7

Take me to Dali: Experiencing the folk customs of Yunnan

If there is a touch of enjoyable spring scenery in this world, it must be colorful Yunnan. The beautiful Kunming, the soft ancient Lijiang, the timeless and peaceful Shangri-La and the venerable Dali. Yunnan, a beautiful and clear place in Chinese people’s hearts, we always remember the clean landscapes, unsophisticated ethnic minorities, bright national costumes …this old southwest land is known for its beauty, richness, and magic. It has always been called the “myth” by the people, which attracts tourists from all over the world. The feeling of Yunnan is like a colorful cloud chasing another one, which showing colorful auras, flowing with a variety of dynamics.
Colorful Yunnan, South of the Colorful Clouds, if it’s the mystery land in China you’re looking for, then Yunnan is a place you will not want to miss.

The first stop we come is Dali, the fanciest city in Yunnan, it represents Cang Mountain and Erhai Lake, which was the capitals of ancient Nanzhao. Dali Listed by the Chinese government as one of the first 24 national historical and cultural cities and it became the first of the top ten charming cities in China.

Erhai Lake

According to locals, we know that Dali has four major scenery, the wind, the flower, the snow and the moon.

Cang mountain represents the snow and Erhai lake is the one which represents the moon, that looks as bright and clear as the moonlight. It is an alpine freshwater lake in Dali, the name Erhai means “Ear-shaped Sea”, due to its shape as seen by locals in hundreds of years. Erhai was also known as Yeyuze in ancient times, which hears more poetic than today, the whole city of Dali is surrounded by this lake, Erhai is the life lake for all locals.

It’s hard to characterize the beauty of Erhai with a single word, When the lake is calm and under the sunshine, it looks like a blue gem inlaid on the ground of Dali. The breeze blows, the lake is glittering with gold and beautiful flowing waves, all these things make it become one of the most popular spots among worldwide travelers.

Due to the reason that the Erhai lake as an important food source for the local people, until today, we still can see some fishing men in the boat in Erhai. Different plants decorated around the lake, which makes everything looks like an oil painting.

Many spots are around the lake, you can get one map of Dali and Erhai from your hotel or any city station, tourist can rent the car or bicycle to riding, also the lakeshore include Erhai Park and many islands include Erhai Parkcan be explored by hiking, many beautiful islands are available to visit for people, choosing where you like and take the photos in these place, remember to bring sun cream because Uv is very strong.

If you have enough money, I highly recommend you book the gorgeous homestay which nearby Erhai, you can not find a beautiful hotel easily like this in other Chinese cities, otherwise, for those who want a cost-effective price, the recommended homestay living area is nearby the Cang mountain.

On the road, we always see the crystal clear blue sky with clouds, what a breathtaking view! Green hills, fresh air, bright sunshine, beautiful white clouds, bright snowy mountains, dreamy blue water, just like a burst of poetic painting! I began to enjoy the slow life of Dali, our journey is just getting started.

Shuang long town

As well as Xizhou town, Shuang long town is one of my favorite old towns in Dali, which is the hometown of Chineses famous dancer- Yangliping, the sun and moon palace nearby the Erhai is her private house, but now it is changed to become a tea shop, tourist can sit here and enjoy the afternoon tea and enjoy a peaceful time on side of the lake. Shuang long town was a small fishing village, now become a hot tourist destination in Yunnan.

By the way, do not forget to try some local hand-made flower yogurt, there are several flavors for you to choose from, it tastes really great!

Butterfly Spring

Butterfly spring is located at the foot of Cangshan Mountain in Yunnan Province, southwestern China. It is about 7 kilometers away from the Dali old town and is a famous tourist spot in Erhai Lake. Butterfly Spring is a square-shaped spring surrounded by marble and has very clear water. The spring water looks like jadeite which presents a colorful light, there are many butterflies fly around the spring in the past but today it is infrequent to see. Moreover, you can wear folk cloth and take a photo with your friends or families, there are many beautiful styles you can choose, I picked my favorite Miao style dress with a gorgeous silver headwear.

Cang Mountain

Cang Mountain is located to the west of the Dali town and belongs to the Yunling Mountains. It has a rich variety of plants on the mountain, including the nineteen peaks and eighteen streams. The snow in winter is beautiful thus Cang mountain represents the snow in Dali. Tourists can take the ropeway or walk to the peak. In Chinese traditional legend, celestial beings are living on the peak of the mountain, when we stand on the top, it makes you feel that you are close to the fairyland and the gods.

Visitors can see the whole Cang mountain and the Dali town in a ropeway, the view is awesome! Besides, there are many stores under the foot of the mountain that sell the oxygen bottle to alleviate the effects of altitude. If you come here in Winter, it’s better to rent a down coat because the top of the mountain is really cold.

Dail old Town

Dail old town is one of the most popular tourist destinations in Yunnan, known for its historical and cultural heritage, and vibrant nightlife. There are many bars, cafes, antique shops, tie-dye shops and galleries on the historic street. I highly recommend tourist come to shopping and eating in the old town, you never find a place like this which bring you into an ancient Chinese dream.

-Wandering among the beautiful mountains and rivers, or walking through the quiet alleys of the ancient city, or just sitting and feeling the ancient and mysterious breath of Yunnan-

Essay 2: PUB101 Experience

Before I began using a blog, I decided to create a business Instagram, and started to upload #100daysofmakep, were I acquired some online presence. Then I had the opportunity to take PUB101, and I was not expecting to create a blog when Suzanne announced that we were allowed to use any topic, my head was spinning, and I was thinking of the topic that I could talk about. But I decided to write about something that I am passionate about, makeup. As Jesse Thorn enlist, the best way to success is to follow your passion, and it becomes thriving, and you enjoy it.

At the beginning I disagree with the topic I chose, I felt ashamed of it, especially after the speed date, I liked the topic that other of my peers chose, so I started to doubt my decision until I read an observation that Stephanie made about my blog “own it.” Since then I started to fall in love with my topic again, and then it when I decided to create a different path on my website, I wanted to create a blog where I address makeup differently from my social media, I wanted to create a space where I encouraged people to learn about makeup and be critical about the products that they consume.

When I started to write, I felt like my writing could influence someone to discover why am I passionate about makeup. As a communication student, I must write long argumentative papers about any topic that may be a concern to society, but I felt like my writing was a “waste product (Glass, 2015),” as those papers are not going to be available to the public. I always liked discussion and influence perspectives from my readers, Erin Glass encourage students to create a voice to unleash to the public, and that is the reason I create the section “Storytelling,” this space is to create awareness of consumer choices or a critique to influencers. And it feels empowering to be able to educate and have a conversation with people.

Looking at Google Analytics and see how my audience behaves was strange and new for me. In the beginning, I thought that my audience was going to be mostly feminine and at the age of 15-30. But checking into my statistics, it showed something I was not expecting, I have a more male audience with 54% of views, and most of their hobbies include sports and nature. After learning this new data, I decided that I had to make some editorial changes. These changes include writing style and image incorporation.

I had to be aware of my writing style because I tend to be short but not explanatory enough. So I decided to be as throughout possible. Some of my peer reviews mentioned that the information posted on my blog was clear and concise, as Keveren and Eric reviewed my blog and mentioned that the information helped them understand what makeup is. But I receive some critics from them; they recommended me to use more images, as it could help a more visual topic greatly. So, after I decided that I cannot create a blog only based on text, Hossein Derakhshan, in the article “The Web We Have to Say,” he concerns that users prefer to read less, and images/videos are more important to capture an audience. And that was something I missed on my post at the beginning; so after looking for photos, but then I had another concern, copyright. Going into lecture and listening to Jon Festiger talking about citing and giving credit to the authors and what content can be used and what content we cannot use. After that, I incorporated a lot of images but always giving credit to the author and linking the website/author that I took the picture from.

In summary, creating my website and being responsible for maintaining it was a tiresome project, but in the end, I must say that was an enjoyable experience. I am proud of the content of my website, especially my storytelling section, because I can have a conversation with my readers and share information that could be helpful and remind them to be more critical about the products that they consume. After reading Jesse Thorne’s article, I came to realize that it is the importance of being proud of your passion and share it with the world. Reading Hossein Derakhshan, I realize that we must keep this form of art alive and encourage more people to write and join into this community. And after taking PUB 101, I realize the impact that we create within the online world, and I have decided to keep on writing and updating my blog until I get tired or my subscription expires.

Derakhashan, H. (2015, July 14) The Web We Have to Save. Retrieved from https://medium.com/matter/the-web-we-have-to-save-2eb1fe15a426.

Glass, E. (2015, December 11) Why we need Social Paper. Retrieved from https://commons.gc.cuny.edu/papers/45249/.

Thorn, J. (2012, April 11) Make your thing: 12 point program for absolutely, positively 1000% no-fail guaranteed success. Retrieved from https://transom.org/2012/jesse-thorn-make-your-thing/.

Community Guidelines of my site.

Process Post.

Overview:
The goals of my community are to share personal wonderful dining experiences from eateries that serve vegetarian or vegan food items, to promote a healthy and non-cruel eating lifestyle, to approach readers who have similar favoritism towards eating (like I do), to tell audiences how tasty the seemingly non-mainstream cuisines could be like and to stimulate their interest towards vegetarian or even vegan cuisines. Of course, I hope that my readers could pay visits to the food places I’ve mentioned in my blogs and enjoy themselves thoroughly.

In order to meet the goals of this community, it’s crucial for audiences to feel like they are in a comfortable and safe place that is populated by people with shared interests. As such, we request that you read and adhere to the guidelines that follow.

Guidelines:

Treat others online as you would treat them when meeting them in person
Feel free to exchange extra information about food, or even personal interests with other readers with mutual agreement
Be tolerant towards other’s viewpoints; respectfully disagree when opinions do not align, don’t force others to agree with your views
Respect the privacy and personal information of readers and other stakeholders
Communicate with courtesy, patience and respect
Have fun!

Don’ts:
- Verbal abuse and personal attacks on anyone are strongly prohibited
- Never use defamatory remarks or make false statements against others, including readers and eateries
- Post pointless comments that are unrelated to the community
Use the comment functions and other accessible links responsibly. These tools are intended to keep readers in touch with the page, to help facilitate networking and to promote common interests.
When ensuring the contact information that you leave on the page is true, please also be careful not to disclose too much personal information that could cause personal harm or unwanted nuisances, such as mobile numbers or living address.

Consequences:
We would take action if we see anyone violating these guidelines. Sometimes that just means issuing that person a warning through mailbox; other times it means seeking further help from legal institutions. We request that all readers report behavior that violates my guidelines to janecheung726@gmail.com

Agreement:
By joining the community and leaving comments or other information on my page, you are considered to be in agreement with the terms and conditions listed above.

Posiel Aggregated Feeds

from "PUB 101: Publication of Self in Everyday Life"