Tag Archives: Course Work

Peer Review #3

I will be reviewing a website by my peer Milton Jang his website is MiltonJang.com The first thing I’d like to say is Milton’s blog is everything I wish mine was the front page is simple yet it captivates the reader with just enough to keep you exploring the website it features a Logo and then “I’m Milton” written and his little self quote below is little about me section with the cutest picture of a dog and it fits in so well.

His sidebar features an About the site page which goes in depth of telling us what he and his blog are about, a Blog which drops down to archives which shows magnitudes of his work sub divided by the months that he did them Immensely organized and his work was beautiful , nothing dull and many option to choose from he has everything intact to keep his audience engaged and never lacking

The question today is if i find Miltons blog marketable and i would like to say yes i do , i do not exactly know who he is marketing to but it certainly appeals to me he has a portfolio which includes featured pieces he has worked on this in my opinion speaks to his professionalism and his expectation for the website . My review ? Milton took this as more than just a class assignment , looking at his website the only thing that comes to mind is that anything worth doing is worth doing well , he put his heart and soul into this website and im proud i had the task of reviewing it. I had a lot to think about after and it only made me want to make my site better, so Milton thank you for a job well done.

To Milton, I would say keep doing what you’re. doing and don’t lose whatever fire made you keep this blog passionately going, Inspire more people like you did me, and don’t listen to hate because it will certainly come… you have built a brand don’t let it fall under your current standard. The world is your Oyster.

My Growing Online Presence

Essay II

wc – 890

Dec  08, 2020

Lisa Kakaraba Tswanya 

My experience as an online publisher is the topic matter of this paper. My first notable comment is that it is nothing like I thought it would be, I  thought it would be all fun and games with a platform to express myself but I didn’t account for the structure of some sort neither did I think about how the actual website would come to fruition. It is four months later and after getting many criticisms and advice I can finally say I am getting the hang of it. I never understood the point of a publishing class until I took PUB101 and now i see the significance of the class and i have gained great knowledge in the class 

My first task was figuring out what i would’ve liked to do with a site , and with all that was going on in the world i thought i owed it to myself to do something that is related to my identity , as a black international student/woman. My reasoning behind this was simple ; any chance to educate and teach someone about blackness was valid and i found a way to teach a whole class, I also remembered i had a knack for poetry and it was worth intehgrating it into my little cybe garden. “Everyone does their own weird thing” was a part of the Basu article we read earlier in the semester and i felt i had found mine.

Mark Bernstein said Gardens … lie between farmland and wilderness,” he wrote. “The garden is farmland that delights the senses, designed for delight rather than commodity.” my own little cybergarden tailored to teach and uplift  blackness  to hear the stories of those who were there before through my expression of poetry , In reality only if it was that easy.( Basu 2020)

I initially struggled making my blog my own as I had an idea but no execution on it and to top it all off I started building my site on a phone not a computer and this made my wordpress experience all the more “interesting”  I had to find a way  to make my site my own and still appealing to the readers. At this point  in the semester my readers were anyone as i mentioned in my week 6 process post  but as time went on i realised i had to have a niche  and it was black people , lost in westernization , lost in the effects of imperialism and colonialism , lost in the effects of slavery , trapped in an identity crises and needed help understanding themselves , understanding how the  world sees them and understanding who they really are .

Daynah boyd talks about this in her book searching for a public of her own  I tried to  make a networked audience and have reach to a connected group of people  she says “ networked publics serve as publocs that both rely on networked technologies and also network people into meaningful new imagined communities  in new ways. Publics are important , and not just for enabling political action but for also providing a mechanism through which we construct our social world, In essence publics are the fabrics of society” This is a view that i grew to hold, understand and respect because that is how my audience and public  formed the fabric in which my website ended up being made up of it showed me the realities that your audience  can affect your choices more than just your goals or plans aswell ( Boyd , 2014) 

This is the last week of school and with peer review i have been able to get the aid of my peers and i have been able to tap into their knowledge and be inspired by them. One of my  peers blogs in particular struck me as unforgettable and that is Milton Jang hsi site had alot of what i would like my site to embody , it featured a portfolio with his pieces and he worked on his website endlessly from his constant growth to his organizational tactics i loved it and that is why he is one of my sources he thought me something about marketability , he worked on his personal brand and he excelled  and that is how you market a personal blog like his and mine.  I got this quote from miltons peer review of my blog Gary Vaynerchuk  said  process of marketing yourself especially for more personal sites like poetposits  involves building up your personal brand. 

As for the future i have decided to keep working on my blog  and use it as a place of refuge for my feelings and poems for the rest of the year ,  I will work with all the tools ive been given in this class to ensure success of my website and I will channel myself more into it  I only wished that I had seen this website as an extension of myself all along.

To my classmates i bid you adios and i beg you to keep following your creative instincts and using it to fuel positivity in your lives. I will never forget this class . To my teacher and TA thank you for the guidance and effort you put into our success

Basu, T. (2020, September 03). Digital gardens let you cultivate your own little bit of the internet. Retrieved December 02, 2020, from https://www.technologyreview.com/2020/09/03/1007716/digital-gardens-let-you-cultivate-your-own-little-bit-of-the-internet/

Danahboyd Follow. (2014). It’s Complicated. Retrieved December 02, 2020, from https://www.wattpad.com/203798155-it’s-complicated-8-searching-for-a-public-of-their/page/3

Jang, M. (2020, December 04). Milton Jang. Retrieved December 09, 2020, from https://miltonjang.com/pub-101/blog-review-poetposits-com/

Peer Review #2 

The review should assess theme and customizations, typography, layout, social media integration, site structure, usability, and any other design decisions you notice. Your review should be 400+ words and posted to your Process Blog, with clear links to your peer’s site.

My second Peer Review is of my classmate Regina’s website – http://rtopianist.com/saysomething/

The second peer review tasks us to assess our peers themes and customisations and various layouts. Regina on her home page has a moving background which i found quite unique and beautiful the picture is dark because it happened to catch the image while it was changing and moving . The layout of her home page is simple and easy to navigate she chooses subtle typographies and they are not all over the place. It is quite inviting and interesting to look at and it makes me want to explore more of the site .

The usability of my peer Regina’s site is quite high in my opinion it was full of content and she did not leave any weeks without content , weeks where we had no assignments or assigned process posts she would fill in by making a movie review, another reason why i believe in the usability of her blog is because it is simple and not overcrowded.

The theme she uses isn’t one of the default ones that comes with wordpress which entails that she did some exploring before figuring out what she wanted and how she liked it. In terms of social media she doesn’t really integrate her social media on the blog she has her instagram linked at the contact area but that is the only social media listed.

At the top right of Regina’s website she has five chain links before her search bar and if you click any of them you would be taken to her mean items at the top left of her website she has one for her home ,mumble , process posts , peer review and essay this is like a mini short cut to her menu i thought it to be creative and helpful My only criticism is that it is somewhat too simple in some areas like the backgrounds of her posts and could do with some more colour other than that i. loved her blog and found her content riveting

Process Prompt #9

Talking about analytics they are a very good tool to have at one’s disposal as they are one of the key elements in the success or failure of your website, to my understanding this can be viewed as another way of connecting and interacting with your audience and finding out how they interact with your content, finding out what draws them and keeps them on your website. it can help with knowing what the best content to put up maybe … I found out that posts with pictures draw attention, as well as my poems, have traffic

Semester Reflections

Habits for Contentment Is a website that started as a hope I had for the semester. During the pandemic, I had been feeling everything but content, and I wanted to use this blog as an opportunity to build healthy habits into my life. This essay will cover why I created this blog, and what I have learned over the course of the semester.

What is it about and who is it for?

Habits for Contentment is all about building healthy habits into your everyday life. This is demonstrated through blog posts about thankfulness, generosity, staying active or building a morning routine. While this blog can be for anyone that is looking for ways to find peace during the pandemic, it is mainly for students who are also struggling through the hardships of completing a semester online.

One blog I have taken inspiration from is Andi Anne. She writes about nutrition, health, and messy stories from motherhood. I love this website because of its neutral tonal pallet and clean organization. She creates a sense of order in an occasionally chaotic cyberspace. In my website, I hope to use a similar sense of design and layout to engage with my audience. Check out her blog here.

Who is your public image?

The public image I am hoping to create is one that values vulnerability and honesty. One resource I used when I was first building my public image was Creating your Online Persona by Jack Canfield (n.d.). Canfield talks about how first you must decide who you are, then you can begin building your website and advancing your brand with content (n.d.). This article helped me to focus on understanding who I am as a writer and then decide what to post and how to present myself.

I want to use my blog posts to explore new ways of finding contentment in my life, but I do not want to paint an unrealistic picture of myself having a perfectly content life. I will share the success I have in running and painting, but I will also share my frustrations when I sleep through my alarm or cheat on my morning routine. I want to create a public image that is relatable, accessible, and joyful.  

Something I want to try and counter in my writing is the Online Disinhibition Effect which describes how when there is anonymity, people are more likely to shed their usual restraints or integrity (Konnikova, 2013). This can promote engagement and risk taking, but in my website, I want to promote honesty and vulnerability, so I hope to create a different style of engagement with my audience.

This infographic I created talks more deeply about the values of Habits for Contentment. The core values I want to represent through this blog are people centered, vulnerable, honest, and fun loving. Read more about my values here.

How are you addressing your audience through editorial, design, content?

Once I had decided on the purpose of my blog and the online image I wanted to portray, I put together a vision board to help guide my posts, design choice and voice. Take a look at my vision board here.

I want to capture a feeling in my vision board. I want readers to look at my website and feel a sigh of relief like when you take a refreshing walk outside or see a beautiful sunset. My goal is to create a blissful feeling throughout my entire blog.  On my homepage I do this by using a clean font and leaving lots of white space. Additionally, I have a picture of wildflowers as a banner on every page of my website to begin curating a feeling of refreshment and peace. My colour pallet has deep greens to symbolize trees with deep root and consistent growth and includes some light pinks to symbolize fun and curiosity.

This article published by Blogging Explorer discussed the importance of understanding your target audience and how to cater your content online (Mikke, 2020). Two points he made were about how your target audience will help you create better content, and have great post ideas (Mikke, 2020). Understanding your audience will help you to know their needs and desires, and understand what they might be looking for in their digital content. This will help to increase reader engagement and build my audience.

One blog post that highlights the purpose and design of my website is Being Thankful for Rain. In this blog post I wrote about how being thankful for the small things in your life can help you to get through hard days. Making thankfulness lists is one way I try to find contentment in my life and is reiterated throughout almost all my blog posts. The design of this post incorporates lots of white space separated by curated pictures that I took of a recent thankfulness list I had made. Being Thankful for Rain is a post that highlights the values of my blog and captures the design aesthetic I hope to maintain throughout my website.

What value are you providing and to whom?

My hope is that through these blog posts I can provide value by offering practical tips and advice on how to live with contentment and joy amidst a pandemic. Some blog posts that do this are 5 Reasons to Try Running and Morning Mishaps & Daily Routines. Both blog posts offer a glimpse into one habit I have tried to implement in my life, and some practical ways they could be applied to my readers lives. Both posts contain external research into how these habits have been proven to improve your health or decrease stress levels.

In the future, I may build monetizing features into my posts such as product promotions or specific collaborations with other bloggers, but these must be directly relevant to my core values and not be misleading to my readers.

What have you learned through Google Analytics?

Google Analytics has been a very fun tool to learn how people are interacting with my website. The most helpful thing I learned was that I had a very high bounce rate, meaning that people would quickly leave my website after visiting the first page. As I was investigating this, I noticed that my home page did not give the reader somewhere to go after reading the introduction. To address this, I linked some of my favourite blog posts to my home page, and my bounce rate has decreased by 15%. There is still lots to learn from Google Analytics, and I have so much to benefit from understanding my audience more and learning how people are interacting with my blog.

Blogging has been an incredible experience in learning about writing, creativity and finding contentment during a pandemic. I look forward to continuing this blog in the future and building my brand image.

Works Cited

Anne, A. (2020, December 02). Andi Anne: About. Retrieved December 04, 2020, from https://andianne.com/about/

Campbell, G. (2009). A Personal Cyberinfrastructure. Retrieved December 04, 2020, from https://er.educause.edu/articles/2009/9/a-personal-cyberinfrastructure

Canfield, J. (2019, November 26). Online Branding: 5 Steps to Create Your Online Persona. Retrieved December 04, 2020, from https://www.jackcanfield.com/blog/online-branding/

Konnikova, M. (2013). The Psychology of Online Comments. Retrieved December 04, 2020, from https://www.newyorker.com/tech/annals-of-technology/the-psychology-of-online-comments

Mikke. (2020, July 24). How to Find Your Blog Target Audience in 2020: The Ultimate Guide. Retrieved December 04, 2020, from https://bloggingexplorer.com/blog-target-audience/

Week 12 – Diving into the Deep End of Comments

The comments section can be a nasty place.

We learned early on about the online disinhibition effect, which implies that anonymity may allow one to shed their usual restraints or integrity. This means that you may say something you wouldn’t normally or engage in a conversation you would usually avoid because no one actually knows who you are.

This is easily facilitated throughout comment sections that allow people to post anonymously. An article from the New Yorker discusses how comments are often uncivil because there are no consequences for your words. Posting anonymously allows you to say whatever you want and then hide away and pretend it never happened.

“Without the traditional trappings of personal communication, like non-verbal cues, context, and tone, comments can become overly impersonal and cold.”

Maria Konnikova

This article also notes that anonymity is not always bad, but it can promote engagement, risk taking and creativity. Konnikova discusses how people may be more likely to participate in a conversation.

Another article posted by the Guardian talked about who faces the most abuse online. This article showed data revealing that women, people of faith, or members of the LGBTQ+ community received the most abusive comments.

I have often left comments on friend’s posts, or community events, but I often leave this section alone because of all the hate and abuse that can occur. It hurts my heart to see the words people post when they are protected by the anonymity of their computer screen.

But can these interactions be turned into something good?

We watched a Ted Talk in class from Dylan Marron that showed how negative comments could be turned into positive interactions. He has received tons of internet hate from the videos he has created, and he decided that he would call them to try and regain the humanity behind their comment.

A lot of these phone calls went really well, and Marron was able to prompt commentors to think before they post. The most impactful thing he said was that empathy is not endorsement. We can disagree with someone but still try and understand their viewpoint.

“Empathy is not endorsement.”

Dylan Marron

This is so needed today. There is so much hate and division between people with different political or cultural views.

Empathy allows us to extend understanding to the people around us.

Empathy allows us to realize that we all have different upbringings, relationships with our parents, and histories of abuse.

Empathy allows us to see the human in the person before us and take a moment to understand before jumping into hate.

There are people behind every post. Extend empathy before posting cruel messages or a critical comments.

Enjoy the sunshine today friends 😊

Mini Assignment #6 – Gif

Friends! We’re almost at the end of the semester!!

Online school has been a roller coaster. There have definitely been fun moments, but I think we’ll all be feeling a bit of relief once we can finally close our computers and get ready for Christmas.

One day at a time.

Week 11 – Time for a COVID style rant.

It’s time for a COVID style rant.

I have been trying to maintain positivity throughout the semester and see the benefits that have only happened because of this pandemic, but really, everything has sucked just a little bit more than usual.

Last week I was starting to feel particularly drained from school, life, and being stuck at home. On Wednesday I was called into work in person, which was surprisingly so wonderful! I had not realized how much I was missing casual interaction with people until I saw my coworkers and was instantly in a better mood.

I am extraverted, which means I replenish my energy by being around people, but I did not realize how true this was until we had our second lockdown and I noticed myself getting more and more tired and sad. I couldn’t identify what was going on until I had some work interactions and I felt energy again!

How strange is it that now talking to strangers is almost frowned upon, and having people over is banned. This is such a contrast to the start of our semester where we discussed the mental health benefits of talking to strangers and filling your day with small positive moments.

I have really appreciated this class, but I miss classmates.

I have loved the creative outlet of blogging, but I miss personal feedback.

I have learned through zoom calls, but I miss the easy interactions of being in a classroom.

Needless to say it’s been a challenging semester, but a growing one nonetheless. I am so looking forward to the time when we can talk about having to stay six feet apart from each other as just a distant memory.

Week 10 – Analytics & Friendship with Google

Holy, I cannot believe how fast the semester is going!

I was reflecting on my first process posts this week, and all the fumbling I did initially with Word Press. I started to feel oddly nostalgic about the beginning of this website and how far it has come. It has been so fun to grow in writing, aesthetic, and overall vision.

This week we talked about Google Analytics and SEO. Woah.

Google Analytics has been a really fun tool to experiment and learn with. It was great to have the demonstration in class walk us through some of the more complicated information that is collected through Analytics.

One important thing I noticed is that my bounce rate is quite high at 70%. This means that users are not usually staying on my blog long enough to view content or enjoy the media. I clicked on my homepage to investigate, and I noticed that while my home page is colourful and well organized, it may not be leading viewers into the right area of content. After reading through the welcome message, there is no clear direction for the user to go.

This was confirmed when I looked at the flow of behaviour of users. Most users started on the home page, and then about 50% dropped off after their first interaction. I could decrease my bounce rate by increasing engagement at my home page and directing user flow.

I am going to improve this by updating my home page with a more active vibe, linking users to content and posts that they may be interested in. This way, users will have a clear direction of what they should look at after being introduced to my website.

I am looking forward to seeing how these small changes may affect the way users interact with my blog!

Mini Assignment #5

This is an infographic that traces my online presence telling the story of my history as briefly as possible, the significance is a backstory to both of my media presences and why they are both important to me. I have one that is for my family so they see me in the light that they would be proud of that also leaves me with a sense of peace and one where I can be who I am including the things that I couldn’t be part of in the eyes of my family.

Peer Review #3 – A Blog for Life Livers

I love this blog!

A Blog for Life Livers is written by Hope Stewart, an adventurer and life liver, sharing her stories of childhood joy and new experiences. Hope writes beautifully about enjoying the life around you and being present in every moment. She uses pictures and poems to portray her feelings and emotions from each adventure, with occasional videos showing small moments that she wants to remember.

This is blog that leaves you feeling refreshed, optimistic, and in wonder. Check out a Blog for Life Livers here.

Organization

Hope’s homepage is set with pictures and bold fonts that capture the viewer on first glance. As you scroll through, you’ll see some images that capture the vibe of this website and set the tone for all of her blog posts. There is also a welcome message at the bottom of the page that invites you to consider your own life and how you might create new adventures.

So come in and stay awhile, as each page has been placed here for you: to draw inspiration for your next adventure, to help you conquer fear, to help you seize each day, and to learn to fully immerse yourself in moments both wild and calm.

The top menu is well organized and gives the viewer easy access to the media they are looking for. The media gallery highlights Hope’s videos and photos and immerse the viewer into an adventure of their own. Browsing through Hope’s media makes me feel as though I get to experience a little bit of her adventure as well!

Marketability

This blog presents many beautiful original images that capture the vision of Hope’s website. Creating prints or postcards of these images could be a great way to allow your audience to participate in the stories while supporting your writing! Post cards would be an especially unique product you could sell that represent the slow-ness of handwriting a letter and enjoying every moment.

Check out Hope’s media gallery here.

Another way to market your website could be to partner with tourism companies in encouraging more travelers to come visit their area. Your video of Hornby island captures moments that feel whimsical and magical and could definitely inspire more people to visit those places! One suggestion would be contacting small island communities like Bowen Island, Gibsons, or Lund and offering to make them a video showcasing the best part of their city! This could be a great way to travel, gain more content for your website and generate revenue.

This website is beautifully simple and refreshingly organized, so I would hesitate to incorporate ads that may hinder the viewer experience given that this blog is very experience driven. One possibility for ad revenue could be to partner with related companies to promote products that relate to your blog postings.

An example of this could be with the Mushroom Hunting Blog post. You could reach out to companies that offer classes or books on how to identify mushrooms and then collect revenue based on how may clicks from your blog lead to theirs.

A similar example could be with your Mindfulness and Yoga post. This post links to Yoga Youtubers and workout routines, which could potentially be business partners and generate revenue for your website!

Overall, this is a beautiful website that creates freshness and relief in a busy and confused world. Check out a Blog for Life Livers to enjoy nature, mindfulness, and stealing moments as presented by Hope Stewart.

Stealing moments helps you realize that you are the master of your own time and that you have more control over your own happiness than it may feel. It helps you look for little silver linings in the smallest of things and encourages gratitude and mindfulness.”

Week 9 – The Business of Publishing

Entrepreneurship & Monetization. Hm.

I have a background in businesses and entrepreneurship, so our talk from Trevor was a lot of things I have already heard through marketing classes, but it was interesting to hear in terms of publishing our unique websites.

It seems funny to put a price tag on art and creative work, but for artists and creatives, this is what they deal with everyday.

I have some friends that are musicians, and I’ve heard many times from them about how it can be frustrating to self-promote and sell tickets to shows when really all you care about is the art of creating. I think for this to be sustainable and not a ‘sell-out’ situation, monetization has to be carefully thought out with lots of emphasis put into maintaining your core values.

This is the struggle shown by the “The Toast is Toast” reading (Carpenter, 2016). This blog had incredible content and a strong following; however they weren’t able to get enough financial support, and the administrative tasks of website upkeep became two much for the blogging duo. This is the danger of wanting art to remain separate from business.

In considering my own website, I have linked to a lot of related bloggers and products that my readers may be interested in. If I was to monetize, I would like to carefully curate the businesses being addressed on my site, and preferably I would like to have relationships with the companies I am linking to. This way I could monitor what is being promoted through my voice.

For this semester, I will refrain from installing ads on my website and instead reach out to some bloggers that may be interested in collaborating with me!