Author Archives: Dilpreet

The Experience Of Creating An Online Publication

Week 12: Process Post / Essay #2

Featured Image Credit: Nick Morrison on Unsplash

Introduction

Throughout the course I have learned a lot about publication, and how to present myself online. In this essay I will be reflecting on course content, what I have learned, and my thoughts and experiences with online publication. The essay will be split into three parts; in the first part I will discuss my thoughts around online publication, then I will discuss what my goals are for my online self, and my overall experience with being an online publisher and how I will continue to expand my website. Secondly, I will discuss who my website is for, who my public is, and I will address the editorial and design decisions I made regarding my audience. Lastly, I will look at what I have learned from my audience, the course, google analytics, and WordPress.

Experience & Goals

            When I started this course, I had a basic understanding on what online publication is, and how to run a website. However, throughout the course I have learned the importance of audiences and how to cater content to them through your design and editorial choices. Throughout the course I have learned that every detail matters in regard to design and editorial choices as this helps attract audiences, and how it is necessary to become familiar with a software program like WordPress.

            The overall experience of being an online publisher has been stressful and exciting. Although my content has primarily only been seen by my classmates and instructors, it was still stressful to produce content that would be available for public consumption. I say this because, there is more pressure to ensure that the information is correct, appropriate, and falls with the values of your website. It is difficult to please everyone online and even if you do everything right, people can still be cruel online. This relates back to John Suler’s reading, The Online Disinhibition Effect, which discusses concepts like “dissociative anonymity (Suler, 2004, p.322)” and “invisibility (Suler, 2004, p.322).” It discusses how since people can’t always be seen online, they have more courage to say and do what they want, because they are unknown to the online world and don’t have to deal with the consequences of what they say (Suler, 2004, p.322). This relates back to what I am saying, because that pressure and stress I refer to is triggered by this anxiety that users online may say negative things towards my content, and I do not even know who they are.

            However, it was also very exciting to build an online presence where I can discuss my passion which is music. In many process posts I discussed that I would want my website to be a portfolio for jobs in the music industry; as the website would show my knowledge and interest in music, and possibly throughout time if I were able to gain an audience, that would indicate that I have interesting content. I enjoyed the experience of combining my passion of music and writing with an academic class. In Campbell’s reading titled, A Personal Cyberinfrastructure it was discussed how higher education often fails to utilize these online tools like creating websites and allowing students to explore their imaginations while doing academic work (Campbell, 2009, para.5). However, in this course I enjoyed combining technology and my imagination with academic work.

            I will continue to expand my website as I have many goals and plans. Firstly I would like to change the theme and overall design; my process posts from week 6 to 11, discuss the changes I want to make. I will use social media to help expand my website, starting off with an Instagram account that will deal with shorter posts to engage interest, and prompt users to go read the full posts on the website. I have already started Blue Bedroom Playlists, which is playlists I have created through Spotify, and I would like to continue to expand this with the website and other social media platforms.

My Public & Editorial and Design Decisions

            I have imagined a public that is users who are between the ages of 15-30 (Music Gateway Team, 2016, para.1), who would be visiting and engaging with my website. Since my website focuses on many topics like album reviews, new artists and deals with all genres, it was difficult to narrow down an audience. However, through my knowledge and understanding of who uses social media platforms and views music blogs, I had assumed that this age group would most likely be my public or audience.

            This audience informed my editorial decisions because I find that younger audiences want fast and engaging information through things like Instagram stories and GIFS. So, for my website I started to incorporate videos and Spotify playlists into the blog posts, to make them shorter and more interesting. My audience informed my design decisions because I find that younger audiences enjoy a familiar design, so I am trying to do that with a blue color scheme which I have continued to progress throughout the semester.

What I Have Learned

            Throughout the essay I had discussed different things I have learned throughout the course. However, I had also gained knowledge on, linking out, google analytics, and WordPress which I will now discuss. I learned that linking out in posts is very important, as it helps you connect with other platforms and helps to bring viewers to your website. Through google analytics I learned that I can monitor how many people come to my website, and what pages are viewed and more; this helps me understand what I need to improve on my website or what is working. Lastly from WordPress I learned that it is crucial to understand the software and to explore outside of it as well, as coding is essential in building a website.

Conclusion

            Throughout the course I have learned a lot and have advanced my skills in online publication and building a website. This essay explored course content, my experiences, what I have learned and more. As time progresses, I will continue to expand my website and use information that I learned from this course to help further my website.

Bibliography

Gardner Campbell, W. (2009). “A Personal Cyberinfrastructure.” EDUCAUSE Review 44 (5). http://er.educause.edu/articles/2009/9/a-personal-cyberinfrastructure

Music Gateway Team. (2016). How is Music Marketed to Different Age Groups? Retrieved from Music Gateway: https://www.musicgateway.com/blog/how-to/how-is-music-marketed-to-different-age-groups

Suler, J. (2004). “The Online Disinhibition Effect.” Available from: Cyberpsychology & behavior 7.3 (2004): 321-326. http://truecenterpublishing.com/psycyber/disinhibit.html

New Artist: Emanuel

Week 12: Blog Post

emanuel canadian artist signed tomotown idris elba

Photo Credit: Matt Barnes

Emanuel is a Canadian R&B artist who released his debut EP back in June 2020. His EP Alt Therapy Session 1: Disillusion features songs about relationships, drugs, sex, and self-reflection; he is able to capture all of this through four songs, in which one is a remix.

Emanuel’s R&B sound is refreshing and different. I would describe it as a soft poetic R&B sound.

The very first song I heard from this album was, Thought It’d Be Easy which is a sad and honest song. In this song Emanuel sings about how it is difficult to move on and forget about someone, and the vulnerability in his voice makes the song much more relatable. His voice is accompanied by a slow tempo that adds to the emotion of the song. The song also presents a message about how you may never be clean, meaning you can do everything to try and forget someone, but you may never be clean of that person.

Need You is a song that I find difficult to describe, but I think UMUSIC describes it perfectly as they say “Emanuel progresses towards, and ultimately descends into a state of disillusionment as the elation from the hope of meaningful human connection in Need You.” Although Thought It’d Be Easy is a song I can personally relate to, I think Need You is the best song on the album.

Addiction is a song about drugs and sex, it’s about feeling good for a moment. The song looks at addiction and how being high or drunk is better than being sober because it makes you feel good. The song makes a comparison between a plane going down and running out of drugs, I believe the song is trying to say that a crashing plane is just as bad as being sober. In this way I think this song is lyrically well-written and very deep.

I highly recommend listening to his EP, Alt Therapy Session 1: Disillusion. Emanuel has a refreshing R&B sound accompanied with very meaningful lyrics, and this combination makes for great music. Checkout his music on YouTube and Spotify.

Concert: Lauv

Week 11: Blog Post / Mini Assignment #6

Featured Image Credit: Bandwagon

Wave hands up and down, spin and blackout! And that’s a wrap on the mini assignments for the semester. This GIF represents fun and excitement, I would send it when discussing parties or concerts.

But I have more to say about the artist in this GIF.

This GIF is created from Lauv’s concert, which I attended back in 2018 at Fortune Sound Club. Lauv is a pop artist who is known for his hit song I Like Me Better. In this GIF he is performing that song. Although there is no sound in the GIF, through the lights and his actions you can see that it is a very upbeat and fun song. I think this GIF perfectly describes Lauv and his music.

However, Lauv’s songs range in variety. I Like Me Better is a fun and upbeat song but he also has songs like Sad Forever, which discusses depression and mental health. Through the lyrics in this song listeners can empathize with Lauv and understand what he is going through. Also in the song Lauv sings softly but fast and I think this fits perfectly with the message of the song, because mental illness can sometimes take away ones voice or make it super fast due to anxiety.

Here are a few other songs of his I enjoy, Paris In The Rain, I’m So Tired, Modern Loneliness, Easy Love, Breathe, The Story Never Ends, Getting Over You, Reforget , There’s No Way and Fake. Basically, what I’m saying is I like all of his songs.

It was a great concert and as I have said before smaller concerts like this are always a lot of fun!

Here is the full video of that clip that was used in the GIF:  

Multiple Channels

Week 11: Process Post

Photo by Szabo Viktor on Unsplash

Unfortunately, I was sick and could not attend this week’s lecture on Multiple Channels and Multiple Media, and the link to the lecture slides was not working, so I had to do some research on the definition of transmedia. From the website Target Internet, I found out that transmedia deals with telling stories or producing content across multiple media platforms.

In this process post I will be discussing how I plan to integrate more transmedia into my website and what channels I will be focusing on. YouTube and Spotify will be the two channels I connect with the most. I know there is an argument around whether Spotify is considered a social media channel but for now I will count it as one. Through Spotify I have already created an account called Blue Bedroom Playlists, and I would like to continue to develop that account while getting more followers who enjoy the playlists I create. Through Spotify I would create a specific playlist for DKT MUSIC, so that users could find my website. As for the website users can find the playlists by clicking on the menu option that is titled Blue Bedroom Playlists, and this would connect them to Spotify. I have also linked out to Spotify and integrated the Spotify playlists into my posts.

YouTube would be another channel I would work with. I have also been linking out to YouTube and have integrated videos from the channel onto my site. I think through YouTube I could create playlists and a channel that reviews albums, just as I do on my site. In this way through YouTube I could link my website.

Instagram is another channel which I have been thinking about. I think if I create an account that incorporates the playlists and is an extension of my website that this would help to integrate more transmedia. Through Instagram I could gain followers with shorter posts and if they are interested, they could go to the website for more in-depth posts. Similar with the playlists this could introduce users to the playlists which could lead them to follow my account on Spotify.

The reason I would focus on these three platforms specifically is because I use them the most and they make sense with my website. Spotify and YouTube are both music platforms that I can use to further engage people in the music community. Instagram is a popular social media platform and I find that people like content that is short and quick, for example Instagram stories. So I could engage audiences in this way which could initially lead them to my website.

Link to the definition of transmedia from Target Internet: https://www.targetinternet.com/transmedia-storytelling-in-2021/#:~:text=Transmedia%20storytelling%20is%20the%20practice,blog%20entries%2C%20radio%20and%20advertisements

Artist Progression: Taylor Swift

Week 10: Blog Post

Taylor Swift on Politics and Her Sundance Documentary 'Miss Americana' - Variety

Photo Credit: Mary Ellen Matthews for Variety

Taylor Swift is a very successful artist as many of us know. But why is she so successful?

Taylor Swift is not only a great musician and songwriter, but she is also a storyteller.

Taylor Swift started off as a country pop artist, she had released her debut album Taylor Swift in 2006 and quickly saw success. Then in 2008 with the release of her second album Fearless, she started to become a household name.  

Her album Fearless gave us hits like Love Story and You Belong With Me. You Belong With Me is said to be “one of the best selling singles worldwide.” Taylor Swift was successful at the start of her career because her songs were always honest and relatable.

Her song You Belong With Me, is a story that I think many people can relate to. It’s a story about liking someone and believing that, that person should be with you and not who they are currently with. Here are some lyrics from the song that describe this, She wears high heels / I wear sneakers / She’s Cheer Captain, and I’m on the bleachers /Dreaming about the day when you wake up and find/That what you’re looking for has been here the whole time.

Skipping ahead to her album Speak Now which was released in 2010, it continued to follow the country pop sound but what made it successful was the stories she told throughout these songs. Taylor also has this very soft and whimsical voice that helps listeners feel the emotion in her songs. Taylor Swift has a light-lyric Soprano voice type. Her album Speak Now also had successful hits like Mean, and Sparks Fly. However, my personal favorite is Dear John.

This song is about the relationship she had with John Mayer. Dear John is a honest and vulnerable song, and this song demonstrates that Taylor Swift is not afraid to sing about the truth even when it’s sad and ugly. I think this is why listeners enjoy her music.

Here are some descriptive lyrics from the song where Taylor discusses this toxic relationship she was in, You are an expert at sorry /And keeping the lines blurry /Never impressed by me acing your tests /All the girls that you’ve run dry /Have tired, lifeless eyes / Cause you burned them out /But I took your matches before fire could catch me, /So don’t look now, I’m shining like fireworks over your sad, empty town.

Next is her album Red which was released in 2012. Taylor Swift slowly starts to move away from country to more pop music. Her sound changes, as her songs switch over to an allegro tempo (fast) and are more upbeat. Her voice also gets rough in this album. Songs like I Knew You Were Trouble and Red, were hits. With Red, I especially liked how she added colors to certain emotions, as this creates imagery in the listener’s mind.

Then came her album 1989 in 2014. This was a pop album which was accompanied “by heavy synthesizers, programmed drums and process backing vocals.” She had number one singles like Shake It Off, Blank Space and Bad Blood. This refreshing new pop sound and her story telling skills, grasped people emotionally.

Her next album was Reputation which came out in 2017. She changed her sound and style in this album but still continued to produce stories in her songs. Songs like Look What You Made Me Do, Delicate and Endgame, felt like storylines to movies. Then came her album Lover in 2019, which was the complete opposite of Reputation.

Her most current album releases were Folklore and Evermore which were both released in 2020. Folklore is an amazing album lyrically. Her soft voice and slower tempos return. Her song My Tears Ricochet demonstrated that Taylor is a talented songwriter and storyteller. The lyrics, You wear the same jewels that I gave you / As you bury me, are assumed to be referring to her songs (jewels) that her previous record label still owns and she discusses this pain. This is great song writing because she is able to disguise these problems in stories and tell them through songs. Songs like The 1, Cardigan, Illicit Affairs, Exile, Hoax, This Is Me Trying and Mad Woman, are all great songs lyrically. Her album Evermore is similar to Folklore and songs like Tolerate It and No Body, No Crime are also great songs lyrically. The song No Body, No Crime feels like a murder mystery movie. Taylor Swift is a successful artist and as discussed through this progression I think she continues to be successful because she is a talented song-writer, and each album I discussed was a progression from the last lyrically.

Last Peer Review Feedback

Week 10: Process Post

Photo by John Schnobrich on Unsplash

This week I will discuss the feedback I had received from my classmate Alyssa. I really appreciate her comments on how I color coordinated my website because that is something I struggled with in the beginning of the semester, but I’m glad she liked these changes. As mentioned before I do hope to redesign this whole website after the semester is over, so I am also looking forward to that.

Alyssa also suggested to add more hyperlinks in my posts and I completely agree. I had received this feedback in tutorials and now in this peer review. I will be going through all my posts next week and adding hyperlinks.

I also appreciate her positive comments on my about me section, and the marketability of my site. I feel like there is still a lot I need to do to make my website more marketable, but Alyssa pointed out things I did not even notice. She mentioned how my song of the week makes my website feel “current” and adds to the marketability, so that is something I will definitely keep when redesigning my website.

I loved the suggestion she had made for my new artist’s section. Alyssa had mentioned that I should “showcase a new Vancouver-born artist every week” and that this will “increase marketability to local Vancouverites.” I love this idea and will definitely be looking into more Vancouver artists. I think that is a great way to showcase local talent and gain more attraction for my website. I also think that this would allow me to network with people in the music industry.

 I have started to look at labels. Monstercat is a Canadian independent music label and it is based in Vancouver. Although all artists on this label may not be from Vancouver, I think it is a great place to start looking for new local artists. I have also searched on google for local Vancouver artists and many websites came up, so I will be looking further into those.

Lastly, I really liked that she had taken a look at my Blue Bedroom Playlists section, because this is separate content from the blog and process posts, and I’m glad that she not only took the time to view it but enjoyed it.

I thank Alyssa for her suggestions and great ideas as they were helpful.  

Checkout Alyssa’s website Loafs by Lyss to learn how to make sourdough bread and more!

Peer Review #3

Week 9: Peer Review #3

Screenshot of Alyssa’s website.

This week I will be reviewing Alyssa’s site, Loafs by Lyss. First, I will look at design and then content. Alyssa’s website is clear and the user immediately knows that this is a blog about making sourdough. I like that she has chosen to display her recent posts on her home page, because it gives the user more information about the website. I also think this is a good way to grab the user’s attention and interest.

I like that she has created customized images for her process posts. However, on her home page I would suggest to make the process posts smaller, but I also understand this could be different among users as some screens are more zoomed in than others. I would also recommend moving the Instagram icon she has on the top left side of her homepage, as it sits alone in the corner and might not be seen by users.

As I continued to scroll down the homepage, I liked that she had attached her Instagram page. Her Instagram page is also about sourdough and this is a great way to market as she links out to other platforms and also uses other platforms to share her baking. I noticed that Alyssa linked out to other sources in her post titled Painting my Sourdough, and this is great way to connect your website to other sources.

In terms of her content, I like how she discusses a variety of topics. She discusses recipes, health benefits, schedules and more. Her content is clear and organized. However, I was wondering if in some posts she could expand a bit more. For example, with Coping with Sourdough Fails, she discusses how making sourdough may not always go as planned, and discusses that she has learned from her experiences and how to improve. I was wondering if she could expand more on the specific things she has learned and list mistakes that she has made to help the user understand what not to do.

Looking back at an earlier reading in this semester titled, A Personal Cyberinfrastructure by Gardner Campbell. The article discusses that it is important for students to learn and create while using digital mediums because it gives them technical skills and allows them to engage in all sorts of works (Gardner Campbell, 2009, para.7). The article discusses that the students should be able to curate and share their own engagement and knowledge in learning environments and online (Gardner Campbell, 2009, para.7). I see this importance through Alyssa’s site and her work because she is able to share a passion of hers, while engaging online in a learning environment. In classes one does not get to share their passions and often assignments are disregarded after they are marked, but Alyssa’s website is a portfolio of both her assignments and passions that she can use for further engagement.

Overall I think her website is great, checkout Alyssa’s site to learn how to make sourdough bread!

Link to Gardner Campbell’s article: https://er.educause.edu/articles/2009/9/a-personal-cyberinfrastructure

DKT MUSIC

Week 9: Blog Post / Mini Assignment #5

This infographic explains through text and graphics what you will find on the DKT MUSIC site. I created this infographic in Canva, and the reason I did not match this infographic to the color scheme of my website is because I liked this color scheme better, as the blue color scheme in Canva did not look good with this template.  

Through this infographic you learn that this site deals with different aspects of music.            

YOU GET:

Data Discussion

Week 9: Process Post

Photo by Myriam Jessier on Unsplash

This week’s prompt discusses how data helps inform and educate but it also asks at what cost. The prompt also asks what my personal feelings are towards data trails, along with how do I minimize my footprint?

I agree that data collection can be informing and educating to the receiver. Data collection like, how many users have visited a site and when, is helpful to the receiver as it helps them grow and expand their website. I think this information being collected is fair. However, more personal information does not need to be collected, but if it is mandatory then that data collected should stay within that website and should not follow the user to other sites. This is seen through advertisements.

In terms of my personal feelings and if I minimize my data footprint, I would have to say that I do not think of it. I would like my digital footprint to be minimized but I find it difficult to do so and I have accepted this reality. I think it’s hard to minimize my digital footprint when I use the internet for everything; I got off all social media platforms accept one but may have to return to them as they are needed in the fields I want to work in. I think over the years it has become harder to minimize one’s digital footprint.

After writing this prompt I started to look into why I should consider to minimize my footprint. This article by INSIDER titled, What is a digital footprint? How to protect yourself online, and keep your data from being used against you, was insightful and this article, along with others mentioned that with a bigger digital footprint you are more prone to identity theft, advertisements, and that employers may be watching what you are doing as well. These are great points in why I should limit my digital footprint, but I think whenever I am using the internet I already take this into consideration. Even though I take these points into consideration, my digital footprint is not minimized because I still use the internet as these points do not greatly impact my activity online.  

This week I had also received feedback in tutorials for my website, I will be making these changes throughout the weeks and providing updates in the next process posts.

Remix Assignment

Week 8: Blog Post / Mini Assignment #4

Bruno Mars 24K Magic album cover (Original)

Photo Credit: Atlantic Records

Bruno Mars 24K Magic album cover (Remix)

I decided to remix this album cover since Bruno Mars has recently blessed us with new music. Go listen to his new track with Anderson .Paak and Silk Sonic called Leave the Door Open, it is a sexy slow jam that everyone needs to listen to!

Here is a little bit more about Bruno Mars.

Bruno Mars was meant to be a performer, he can keep audiences on their feet. Literally I never sat down when I attended his concert, I also believe he did not take any long breaks but kept performing.

Bruno Mars is an artist that does a bit of everything in terms of genres. He has given us pop, R&B, soul and funk hits. With his dynamic voice and sound, Bruno can create songs that are mood boosters, like Perm, but he can also make listeners emotional with tracks like It Will Rain. Side note: It Will Rain is not on the 24K Magic album but Perm is.

His songs vary in tempos but his upbeat and lively songs are usually considered to be a allegro tempo, and this fast tempo accompanied by lyrics like “Throw some perm on your attitude” ,and “Matter of fact, band, show her how to lay it back!”(from his track Perm on the 24K Magic album), make listeners want to get up and move.