In one of the readings titled ‘Here’s How Worried You Should Be About Those Tom Cruise Deepfakes’, Vice News author David Gilbert writes about a viral video on Twitter of a guy imitating Tom Cruise. However this video doesn’t just showcase some guy doing some half-assed impression of Tom Cruise by exuding his mannerisms and voice. The guy doing the impression is using AI technology to place Tom Cruise’s face on his. This type of process is called a ‘deep fake’. What the AI is essentially doing is mapping out Tom Cruise’s face using either the images that are given to it by the user or scanning the internet (cause there’s a lot of pictures of Tom Cruise’s face on the internet) while simultaneously scanning the face that its going to place Tom Cruise face on. The images that are being scanned look for details involved whenever one person is expressing a certain emotion (think of wrinkles around the eyes when one is genuinely smiling) and banking that information. Therefore, when the original face is expressing an emotion, the AI knows what details to place and for the most part, it does a pretty good job.
I think this type of technology is interesting but certainly terrifying. In this day in age where misinformation and disinformation spreads quickly across social media platforms, this type of technology can cause chaos and panic. Anyone with the knowledge and capacity to use deepfakes can essentially imitate anyone, especially people with power such as politicians. Furthermore, if that person has the same body type and hairstyle as the person they are imitating, deep fakes would be even harder to spot. With deep fakes now, people would know what is a deep fake if they know what they are looking for but with average viewers, they may not be able to tell. With AI getting better with each day that passes, it is going to be difficulty for both average and knowledgeable viewers to determine what is real or fake.
After learning about best design practices from our guest presenter, Mauvé Page, I decided to take her lessons and conduct a small design evaluation on a website.
Therefore, I decided to do a quick basic design evaluation on YouTube’s user interface as it is a website I frequent.
Screenshot of YouTube’s Homepage
I first took a look at the contrast and saw that YouTube uses a dark grey background with light grey for all of the text elements. The contrast between the background and the text makes it so that viewers will have an easier time reading the necessary information related to the video at a quick glance.
An example would be as shown within the video underneath where the text elements denote the information of the video such as the title, the uploader, the number of views, and when it was uploaded. Viewers would be able to quickly glance at the text and discern the information being conveyed easily.
Furthermore, the font weight chosen helps establish a hierarchical order. Thicker font weights call for more attention than thinner font weights as they take up more space and are wider, creating more contrast with the background than thinner font weights. Therefore, using thicker weights for the title elements I think was a smart choice by the design team at YouTube. It also helps me discern which text element I should read first, which was the title of the video. For the rest of the test elements, a thinner font weight was used throughout, thus establishing the order to be read from top to bottom.
To add to that, close proximity was used effectively with all of the elements of the video including the images. Due to how all of the elements could be defined in one square, the images and the text elements are associated as one item on YouTube’s homepage. None of the text elements or images overflowed into other video items, thereby eliminating potential confusion as to what text elements belong to what video item.
Screenshot of Markiplier’s video titled ‘drowning… | RAFT”
When I think about a comment section on social media, I immediately think toxic. I think about the no-filter responses people give without any thought of repercussions.
Comment sections can be detrimental to some individuals’ mental health and well-being. Comments can be utilized to tear people down and isolate them.
In my opinion, over the years people have become more aware of the issues regarding the comment sections on differnt social media platforms. Although people have become more aware, the problem is still exists.
For example, when I was in middle school and high school there was a social media platform called ASKfm. ASKfm was an online platform where people could anonymously ask other people questions or leave comments on their pages. ASKfm was used to create cruel rating systems of peopel and to anonymously leave hateful comments.
From a greater perspective, the whole idea sounds harmless. However, in application, it was horrible.
Trying to navigate middle school alone is a challenging time, but adding social media bullying to the mix, made it a struggle.
The whole idea that people exude hate on the internet is exhausting. The more ideas of comments, the more I think of differnt social media platforms. For instance, I think of the early days of Instagram, where people would post and rate each others pictures and posts. For example, people would rate a photo out of 10 on how “attractive” someone looked in a photo.
Social media comments are not built for success.
When I think about Lyz’s (2022) story, I can understand and support why she would make those comments. Living in the world of social media platforms is difficult. Comments are a free space where people can comment whatever they feel.
The one slightly good perspective of comments is the opportunity to share information. For example, sharing recommendations for places to go, or commenting on where someone purchased a item. Therefore, using the comments as a place to distribute information.
On certain platforms, the idea of negative toxic comments is highly unlikely. To some extent, I believe trolls and scammers are not be looking at unpopular websites or media. Trolls and and scammers are more likely to spend time on platforms that generate more attention.
For my website, I choose to have the comment section available. Based on my posts and the platform I created, I believe the idea of negative comment curating is low. Of course, if someone were to comment anything hurtful or toxic towards someone else, I would address it and remove it. For right now, I don’t think my website needs the comment section removed.
References
Lyz. (2022, February 2). That’s how it works when you’re a woman on the internet. That’s How It Works When You’re a Woman on the Internet. Retrieved from https://lyz.substack.com/p/thats-how-it-works-when-youre-a-woman?s=r
So long, farewell, bon voyage. Today marks the last day of Poseil (emojis courtesy of Jim over at Slice of Jim, otherwise I’d still be googling emojis and Ctrl+c & Ctrl+v-ing them like a peasant… Thanks Jim!). As it is the last day, I would like to dedicate some of this post to how I believe (know?) my experience went.
Before we get into that though, I know the process prompt is supposed to be about community guidelines, but honestly, I feel like I could care less what What the Cat Said‘s community did (if there was a community in the first place). What exactly would I be guiding? Article commentary if there were any comments I guess? Write whatever you want! I don’t think that I will be moderating anything too closely as long as it doesn’t get all Ye up in here.
RIP
So with that said, run rampant, go crazy, start a fire, start a flame war, tell someone you love them, I do not care. Ok maybe don’t start a fire? Unless it’s cold and you need it for warmth, IDK, IDC. I couldn’t have made this section longer if I tried.
Ok, moving on.
Posiel, Posiel, Posiel… Where to start… This class has been one of the most laid-back classes, if not THE most laid-back class of my entire undergrad. Don’t get me wrong, it was work, but not the kind of work that sprouted a garden of silver hairs upon thine crown. It was fun, dare I say, therapeutic work.
With my CS undergrad, I don’t get many chances to be creative. Yes, there are opportunities to design and develop applications, but most of these projects have been group work, and not truly, solely my own. This blog is my own. These words are my own. These thoughts are sometimes my own, but they are also explanations of already documented topics in my own derivation (it’s something, ok). I like having a space where I can just be myself for a moment. This space is not something I’ve had before or believed I needed until it was in front of me.
From start to finish, these blog posts have been helpful in breaking the monotonous mould of code this, code that, and they have really allowed me to find a voice in something for the first time in a long time.
“She doesn’t even go here!!”
Ok enough sap, after today I may still post here and there, but probably not weekly. Although I’m planning to take 4-6 months off after I graduate (burnout is my best friend) so maybe this blog will be more in the forefront of my noggin.
So, with that said, thank you for being there on this journey!
Adios! It’s been a slice, and I’m excited to see what life beyond graduation holds. Good luck with your life! Byeeee.
This week’s topic we’ve discussed the topic of comments on the internet. Although what we’ve discussed and what was presented during the lectures, I find that comments are good and can be helpful depending on the context and community of what you are commenting on.
Personally, I do not engage in any comments or leave any comments on any sort of post. I do this because, as there can exist a possibility of causing some or of trouble I find it better to not engage in it from the start.
However, I do enjoy reading comments. For example, the content I write for my website is about the game Genshin Impact. I leave the comments enabled as I am open to comments even if they can potentially be toxic. In the context of games, having comments and other people commenting on some facts that the author states about the game could be useful. Being able to see what the audience says and if they disagree or agree with what the author might have said can leave a different impression on the website. For game content especially, it can also lead to how credible the author might be when talking about the game. If most of the comments state that a lot of the information is incorrect, this can mean that the author does not know what he is talking about in the guides. Which can help the audience depict if they should follow some of the things the author has stated in the guide.
Furthermore, it is interesting to read other people’s opinions on certain things. This can be seen a lot on Reddit where one person can open a discussion on a certain topic and people will comment on their takes and ideas on that topic.
With all things in mind, comments can be useful. However, it is important to remember what the context is and how the community behaves before responding or writing any comments. As it may be fine if the community you are making a comment for is friendly this may not be the case for other communities. It is always important to consider the context of your comments as it can potentially cause a spiral of issues wishing that you had not made the comment in the first place.
I think one thing I could do to incorporate more transmedia integration into my online publication is to create graphic design imagery, such as adding a short piece of text onto an image or colour block. An example of this is an Instagram post of a graphic I created for Earth Day 2020 as shown here. The type of messaging I would incorporate with these images would revolve around motivation, especially in terms of fitness, and mental and physical health.
Instagram would probably be the main channel I would focus on because posting images is still one of the main things people do on this platform, and I believe that it is a place that is popular among my intended audience.
Although there are many people/accounts, such as @wetheurban shown here, who use Instagram as a platform to post images that carry some type of motivational messages or affirmations, I think this space allows for people to reflect on their health or experiences and hopefully be in a better state after reading the message that came with each post. By contributing to this space, I can hopefully help someone become more motivated, and help them feel better about themselves mentally and physically.
The idea of storytelling across multiple different platforms made me reflect on my website as well as the ones I view in my personal life.
From my standpoint, creating my website has been a journey. I think it was more difficult than I anticipated. Throughout posting on the blog, I have been unintentionally incorporating different media within the blog. The problematic area within that is I used my platforms rather than creating platforms directly for the blog itself.
For example, in the second mini assignment based on incorporating a video, I strategized making the video using Instagram. I utilized the Instagram platform for editing and creating the video. Still, instead of posting it on that platform and tagging the link to my webpage, I saved them and uploaded it to a private YouTube page for easier viewing.
Similarly, I followed that same pattern when I created a remix, I used a template I saw from TikTok, created it on Instagram and then uploaded it onto YouTube. From there, the same pattern continues. I made the gif assignment using a gif template app and then downloaded and redirected where I uploaded it.
To incorporate transmedia into my website, I should have been creating a different platform to not only upload the content but also allow other users to use it.
When I think about the reading of Pókemon as the transmedia storyline, I think about several other platforms that replicate similar processes for storytelling. For example, similar ideas like marvel comics, became movies, shows, action figures, and more. It demonstrates different variations and platforms of the same thing.
When I was thinking about transmedia on a social media scope, I thought about celebrities. Several celebrities have their websites/blogs, clothing lines or makeup lines, along with their social media platforms. These platforms help promote the celebrity and gain social media attention and awareness.
It’s interesting because prior to completing the reading on transmedia and attending the lecture, I never thought about the scope. Transmedia has a large impact on the delivery and dispersal of information in the media world. Therefore, I believe it is widely important to have multiple platforms to generate awareness.
In this post, I explore how to choose a medium for your message and the importance of using channels to distribute your message to your audience.
Choosing Your Medium
“Types of media”
Upon googling “types of media”, you will discover that definitions and descriptions of types of media that exist in the world vary significantly from source to source.
Just look at this section that was the second item to show up on my google search:
After reviewing the various types described in these search results, I realized that boxing and organizing types is unnecessary.
Media, after all, is just the plural form of the noun medium which Oxford Languages defines as “an agency or means of doing something.”
After all,
The medium is the message
Marshall McCluhan
In other words, you must craft your own form of media to communicate your message.
Crafting Your Own Form of Media
To craft your own form of media, I recommend you examine three elements, the message itself, yourself as the messenger, and your audience as the recipient.
To review these elements ask questions such as:
In what ways could I share this message?
How does this message want to be shared?
What is the broader purpose of this message I am sending?
How have others previously communicated a message like this? Could they have done it better?
Are there conventions for messages such as this? Are they ideal?
How can I make this message uniquely my own?
If I could do anything to share this message how would I share it?
What am I capable of doing to communicate this message?
How can I compromise between my own ability and my ideal for sending this message?
How does the audience want to receive this message?
What do I want the audience to do upon receiving this message?
How is the audience capable of receiving this message?
After asking questions like these (note that you are most certainly not limited to these or required to answer all of these), choose your medium. Then take action to craft it.
Selecting Channels
What a Channel Is
When I hear the term “channels”, I immediately think of television channels. Although those are most certainly types of channels, the type of channels we are looking at here is broader.
Here, we are going to define channels as paths that we can use to enable our content to reach our audience.
Channels themselves are too media, however, they are different than the form of media described above in that we are going to be using them to direct our audience to our message, whereas previously we were using our medium to direct our message to our audience.
The purpose of channels is reaching our audience so they can connect with our message.
Choosing Channels
To choose channels, we need to answer the question “what is the best way to get our audience to reach our content?”
Sometimes, the best channel is by talking directly to people and asking them to interact with our content. Other times it is best to simply let the content exist and be found by others.
Channels again come down to the sender, the receiver, and the message. Examining these three elements will allow you to choose the best channel for your content.
Media and Channels
To choose your form of media and your form of channel, you need to examine the sender, the audience, and the message.
In examining these items, you will discover a distinct medium you need to create to embody your message and channels you can use to spread your message to your audience.
Communication is an art form. Practicing and iterating on messaging is the best way to improve.
Right now, What the Cat Said is primarily a written blog. That is, I write things and I post them.
It was between this an Owen Wilson going, “Weow.”
However, with POSIEL’s process prompt this week there is a great opportunity to shake things up a bit and figure out ways to incorporate transmedia.
I am sick right now so bare with me and my scattered, feverish thoughts.
As sick as Charlie’s grandparents. (Anyone else think it’s weird that Charlie’s grandparents all share one bed? Anyone? Hello?)
Ok, back on topic, to say that I ONLY have written things on my blog is a bit of a lie. A lie because, I have been encouraged through Posiel to post media that is not text, aka my video post, Instances, Objects, and Classes! Oh My! As well as my very polished audio snippet post, Talking about Linked Lists.
Would I incorporate these types of media again? Yeah, I think so.
It makes inherent sense to incorporate videos for computing science concepts because many people learn well visually and by following along with a video coding tutorial you can pause and repeat as needed. I have found that if I don’t understand something from documentation, finding a relevant YouTube video can do wonders in solidifying concepts that I’m iffy with. So, for the future of this blog, I can definitely see myself adding more video tutorials .
As far as audio only media… I think that CS concepts can be lost when handling abstract concepts in an audio only manner. There are so many concepts that just NEED a visual, which is why I added images of linked lists on my linked list audio post. I think if I were to venture into more audio only content it would be in the form of a podcast discussing tech news and easily imaginable computer science concepts.
Otherwise?
It’s hard to think of media that I could or would want to venture into that would fit the overall vision for this blog. Integration with social media seems… weird for a CS blog? I don’t know. I started a twitter account for this blog but have not and frankly will not use it (Elon nonsense aside). Here is my reasoning:
A) I have a sneaky suspicion people who give a hoot about CS are not really on social media, and B) when I am looking up something related to programming or CS I absolutely do not and will not click any link remotely associated to social media.
I need the facts, give me those lines, give me that expertise only a 50-year-old grunt who is the single most integral cog in a legacy system that has no documentation holding everything in his noggin would know. I need that. And best believe, that good sh t is NOT on TikTok or the like. So, what else?
One could contest that CS content persists on reddit’s subreddit r/programmerhumor, but that’s the only kind of vision I see working with social media and CS, humour.
I don’t know… Perhaps I am being short sighted. I think I will revisit this topic at some point to gain a better understanding of what is possible. For now though, I need to drink all the Neocitran I have and pass out.
Like many people in our class, I have not connected my website with other social media platforms. However, this is due to the fact that I don’t think I will be continuing my site after this course. Furthermore, I did not want to connect my personal social media accounts to my website. Therefore, I would have to create new accounts for the purpose of my website.
Nonetheless, if I do have the intention of continuing my website, and wanting to reach out to audiences on different platforms, I do have in mind some platforms where I would want to connect with the users.
The First would be Reddit. As a frequent user of Reddit, and a part of the Genshin Impact subreddit, I find that Reddit would be an excellent choice for me to further expand my audience for my website. As the subreddit already has posts asking for help on the game to guides for how to build a certain character, I find it a perfect place for me to post my content on Reddit. As similar content already exists, I believe that If I share my content on Reddit, I will be able to gain a large number of users looking through my website.
The next platform would be Twitter. I notice that there are a few guides that already exist on Twitter. However, the guides are usually an image or simple guides on finding certain things in the game. Although the content of the guides is different, I find that If I do use Twitter to expand my audiences, I will be able to experiment with different types of guides, for the game, to gain a wider range of audiences.
Lastly, I would consider using Instagram to post guides on Genshin Impact. As mentioned earlier where some posts on Twitter use images to provide a guide for the game, I can do the same with Instagram. These posts are usually guides that show what resources I need to collect to build a character or different weapons and artifact options for a certain character. For Instagram, I believe that if the guide can be contained within an image, it would be an excellent way to bring more people onto my website.
With all things considered there are many platforms where I can connect my website in order to bring more audiences looking at my website. It is unfortunate that I don’t have any plans of continuing my website further after this course but, it is good to know that there exist many platforms I can use to create guides.
We are about 3 weeks out from the last day of school and I couldn’t be any more excited.
The last few weeks have been so busy—the busiest I probably have ever been in my entire academic career. I attend so many meetings for group projects and office hours.
But despite the fact of how busy things have gotten this term, I am confident that it is all worth it because all the hard work I put into my assignments, projects and overall studies will pay out.
Creating Considering Cardamom has been a learning curve on just about every front imaginable. I always used to think of blogging as something easy to do, that you could just sit down and write whatever came to mind and people would give you money for it. I never really understood how someone could make a full living off of something as simple as that, and I will be honest, I definitely thought that bloggers were a little bit ridiculous when they complained about how much work they had to do. However, being on the opposite end of things now, I can see that there is a whole lot more to blogging than just writing.
One thing that I know I’ve definitely taken for granted is the presence of an audience just waiting for content to be distributed to them. On most social media platforms that I’ve participated in with a public account, it has not taken long for me to develop a relatively large audience with very minimal effort. One funny Tiktok using a trending sound could get me over 16K views. Running a blog is very different, as I’ve noticed from looking at my analytics. The last time I checked, the high point of traffic on my site was a grand total of 11 people. Judging from the fact that they logged in on a Monday and the class for which I am developing this blog had an assignment due on Tuesday, it was no great surprise to me that my fellow students might want to see what I had done to gain inspiration for their own assignments.
I think that in the future if I choose to continue this blog, I would want to incorporate social media into my blog to help grow my audience. When it comes to recipe sites, I rarely seek specific blogs out on Google. More often than not, I end up finding a delicious-looking recipe by scrolling through Tiktok or Instagram and getting a link back to the site where the recipe is hosted. This idea of transmedia storytelling is something that I know I have experienced several times from a consumer perspective, but was not aware of the name or intention behind it. The use of different mediums to appeal to different audiences all contributing to the same overall brand is something that’s seen in social media, entertainment, fashion and more. From a back-end point of view, this is a brilliant strategy and one that I myself would love to give a shot when I have the time available to film and edit social media videos.
Hehe. For you front-end devs, I am learning Angular. Coming from a background of React I have been forced this semester to learn angular.
Ok, forced sounds bad, while in actuality I would rather be using React, Angular has been pretty similar and the learning curve looks nice and loggy.
Going over the architecture was interesting. Going over the Angular CLI was interesting. Going over data binding was interesting. Going over routing was interesting. blah blah blah. Same fruit, different orange.
Like programming language, there are very similar if not the exact same concepts spread out over various syntaxes, so jumping from one language to another isn’t a huge difficulty. Actually, if you learned how to code via Python and are jumping to C, you’re probably going to have a not-so-great time for the first bit. However, if you’re old and learned C/C++ as your first language, jumping from one language to a “higher” level language is not that bad.
When we’re talking front-end web dev platform to front-end web dev platform, as far as React and Angular are concerned, the jump is similar. On the first class of my CMPT 272, the honourable lecturer Bobby Chan said as people protested his choice of Angular, “If you know React, then you know React. If you know Angular, then you know React.” Do I agree? Yes??? I think that if you learn React crash-course style, then yeah learning Angular from the bottom up via the architecture, components, directives, templates, pipes, etc. will only benefit in porting over to React after the fact. However, if you are actually paying attention to the nuances of React and trying to understand how everything is linked up, then the missing boilerplate is not going to be a problem.
Of course, all of this is my opinion. Switching from React to Angular or Angular to React is going to be different for everyone.
In case you may be interested in the differences, here is a link that may help.
We have two weeks left of school (yayyyyy), and that means lots of projects (booooo)! One of those projects, you guessed it, is in Angular and it is going… ok. I have barely started which isn’t the best, but it doesn’t seem like it’s going to take too, too long. I don’t think I’ve mentioned it so far, but for my CMPT 272 class, all of our projects this semester have been about pigs… So many pigs. This project is no different and I need to make a pig tracker. Sounds dumb, but also cute and maybe, potentially, useful? I will use it to track my dog Totoro after the end of the course. Also… I AM ALMOST DONE FOREVER. YAY! Except for maybe grad school one day, but who knows?
Anyhow, this is no longer on topic so I think it’s safe to say that this process post is done.
Wow. Dressing sustainably (DS). I know this peer review post is supposed to be about analyzing your audience and marketability and this may tie into it… but damn, the optics (in a good way)!
The layout, the topography, the framing, the contrast with the colour pops and the neutrals. Your site looks very clean, approachable, and professional.
How your site presents itself/your brand/the way you market yourself, sets an idea of what kind of audience you have and could potentially attract.
Who I believe your audience may be
The proof is in the pudding, and the pudding has dropped and smeared on the ground in front of you. Albeit not the best visual, it’s more of a metaphor for how apparent the topic of your site is. Your site is about sustainable fashion and it’s obvious. That obviousness is great as it allows those who stumble across your site the directness they need to either stay or leave, because why stay if you don’t care for the content? The fact that you allow the experience for your audience to be an obvious one, builds a more niche audience while strengthening their alliance with your brand. Those who are looking for a sustainable fashion alternative, those whose default is to shop sustainably for anything, those who love fashion, and those that care about the planet, are your audience. Taking a look at these possible audiences, these counterpublics range from small to large audiences. In that regard, I don’t believe numbers will be an issue for you to grow your brand and your audience and this can be quite powerful. How do you harness this power in numbers? Marketing.
Some points on marketing
You have the material, and you have the vibe, but you need to work on marketability.
I’ve pointed this out in every peer review, and yours, regrettably, is no exception. I’m noticing that your images do not have alt text. I cannot claim to be an expert in any regard towards the shrouded mystery that is Google’s search algorithms, but I know one of the many data points are the content you have going on in the background, in the code. Alternative/alt text is not just some fictional topic that Lauren and Suzanne are trying to convince you is real. It exists, and it exists here:
Now, why is this important? HyperText Markup Language (HTML) is a programming language that is used to build the structure of a web application or component. In this day and age, we use HTML5 which is semantic. This means, the code that we developers use has meaning, it’s not just a waterfall of <divs> anymore, it’s a grouping of relative content tagged with semantic tags.
Again, why is this important? Giving meaning to code allows that code to be categorized more easily. Alt text lives in the <img> tag as a property. It is meant to give an alternative definition to the image source for those that may need or choose to use it. It is also used as a data point for Google’s search algorithms to categorize your site and content and allow those that are searching for sustainable fashion to find sites and information that are related to sustainable fashion. Yes, alt text is important for accessibility, but it is also important for boosting your site in relevancy for Google aka boosting your marketing. So, more of that.
Aside from boosting your marketability via alt text. What I found interesting about your blog posts was the form at the bottom of the posts that allows your audience to sign up for emails on comment updates! This is great. It allows those who are interacting with your site to multiply their interactions with your site and drive up your page viewings, and time spent on that page while lowering the page bounce rate.
Take it or leave it – Some Advice
What do people like about fashion? How it looks, how it makes you feel, and how it may inspire others. This is great, however, if we cannot see fashion, is fashion really there?
Tree falling in the woods aside, I feel that you could attract your audience more if you use more images. Fashion is huge on sight and how what they see makes them feel, so it feels like fashion and images of fashion should go hand and hand. I would suggest including more images on your main blog post page as well as just adding more images on the individual posts themselves, for example:
It would be cool if there were some screenshots/images of the banners of these sites so that your audience doesn’t need to read a whole paragraph to get a feel of the site you are recommending. Linking and backlinking are great for SEO and increase your marketability.
I mentioned numbers and how you have them, but I believe that the numbers you may have may be underutilized if you do not ensure smooth, usable interfaces for ALL devices. Your desktop site is tops, but the responsiveness of your site’s home page for mobile users is (I’m sorry) horrendous:
Being accommodating to as much of your audience as possible right off the bat will only help you in keeping new visitors and growing your numbers.
I also mentioned how I think it is great to ask your audience to further interact with your site by sending them emails for responses to their comments. Perhaps just adding a general email list that allows your audience to sign up for new post updates will help with your marketability and deepen your fan base.
Overall
I think you are doing a great job. Great aesthetic, great concept, good content. There are just a few suggestions I believe would take your site to the next level in terms of growing your audience and adding more marketability.
Before this week, I honestly had no idea what SEO was or how it even worked. I had no idea of its importance or any idea of how it influenced the internet.
The biggest and most important step in understanding SEO was knowing that it was an acronym. SEO is for search engine optimization (Hollingsworth, 2021). Before I went on to the readings, I wanted to understand each component of that.
I know it sounds silly to not understand the components of SEO, but honestly, I had to break it down. So, I took each word in the acronym and broke it down.
My definitions: S.E.O
Search: to look for something or someone. It’s the process of looking.
Engine: something that is a moving part. Meaning, it facilitates something.
Optimization: something that provides the best or most effective possible outcome.
After I was able to create my definitions and break down the word slowly, I was able to read and understand the articles.
Essentially SEO helps facilitate, promote, and benefit the growth of a company/brand (Hollingsworth, 2021). Hollingsworth (2021) outlines 15 reasons why SEO is important to a company/brand by reasoning it promotes growth and awareness.
I found the process of understanding SEO interesting because I was able to break down the whole wording into my own definition and apply it to the readings.
I find that if I ever am confused or stuck on the wording of something, I find I just have to break it down. I don’t know why, but I sometimes have a short mental block when I come across wording that is unfamiliar to me. Therefore, I have to take a step back and look at it in small doses to easily break it down. Once I do that, I have no problem understanding it.
After reading Hollingsworth’s (2021) article and sitting in a lecture, I can understand the importance of SEO. I find I was able to understand how it impacts a user’s experience with the content online.
References
Hollingsworth, S. (2021, August 6). 15 reasons why your business absolutely needs seo. Search Engine Journal. https://www.searchenginejournal.com/why-seo-is-important-for-business/248101/#close
In this week’s lecture, we’ve learned about search engine optimization and how it can help bring audiences to your website. Although talking about this concept this week, utilizing SEO to attract an audience had been always around to configure on Word Press. Moreover, utilizing the tags option to allow my website to show up at the top of Google searches is now one of my key goals in order to expand my website to a larger audience.
Before this week’s lecture, I didn’t realize the importance of using tags. I only added a few tags just for completion as I thought it was a requirement for the class. However, this is not true and can help my website to further grow.
As Genshin Impact is a popular game, I do not see that any of my posts show up in the search results. For example, if I try to search for a build for the character “Raiden Shogun” you will see multiple websites that are not mine but all with similar content. In fact, it does not show up even if I type “raiden shogun abysmal guide”. When searching for my website it only shows up at the bottom on the second search page. Discouraging, but this means that my website has a lot of room for improvement to reach out to a bigger audience.
An interesting result I got from one of my searches was when I searched for “absymal guides raiden” on Google. Instead of seeing my website show up in the search result, I found that the Posiel site was in the result.
This search result makes me wonder why my website does not show up first before Posiel. However, I will work towards changing this result so that I can have my website show up before Posiel.
With all things considered, having my website show up as one of the top search results on Google is something I’d want to achieve. However, considering the popularity of the game, I do understand that there will be a challenge. Nonetheless, it will not prevent me from working towards this goal.
For the last peer review, I had the opportunity to review Kobe Sam’s website. At first glance, I really like the website. Simple, yet informative to a degree where you understand what the website is trying to achieve. Even before reading the “About Me” page, the theme of the website is easy to understand that it’s about Kobe’s lifestyle and personal blog.
I assume that rather than having an audience to speak to for the website’s content, I see it more as a personal blog where the content is for Kobe to reflect on his journey through school and the skills he has obtained. In other words, rather than writing content for a set audience, he is writing the content for himself. Where people can learn from Kobe’s own life experiences. One thing that I have noticed is that the amount of content uploaded for lifestyle and entrepreneurship is rather low. For a website on a personal blog, I expect that I’d find more content related to those topics rather than it all on academics. To improve user interactions and have more users looking at your website, I’d recommend trying to post more content related to those categories. Since your life experiences are unique it can potentially pull the attention of a niche user group to expand your audience.
Something I have noticed on your website is that it was hard to navigate. Since your content is grouped by: “Entrepreneurship”, “Lifestyle”, “Academia”, and “About Me”. When I try to go look for a set of content like the mini-assignments, it is rather hard to find all the mini-assignments. Therefore, I do recommend creating sub-categories under your current ones so that it allows your users to easily navigate through your website. Furthermore, I have noticed that some of the titles on your blog are bolded while some are not. To keep it consistent, I recommend sticking to one style. Whether you decide to keep the title of your posts bolded or not making sure what you post is consistent is important for your website. Also, I do see that some posts still have the “Uncategorized” category set on the post. I believe this is by mistake, but make sure to confirm everything is correct before you make the post public.
Everything considered I find that Kobe’s website is really good. There are a few minor flaws but they are all easy to fix. As I believe the content for Kobe’s website is a personal blog based on self-improvement I do not find the means to push Kobe to write content based on what the audience likes. However, if attracting an audience is the goal, using tools such as Google Analytics will help to understand your audience better and to know what content they enjoy seeing. As writing a blog about your own experiences is unique and something someone else cannot write, I believe that Kobe’s website has a lot of potential for growth and to further expand his content to a wider audience.
Leaving a digital footprint almost seems unavoidable. Anywhere you go, someone always asking for something… especially when you go shopping.
I found after reading Norman’s (2016) post on trying to avoid leaving a digital trail, completely relatable. Almost every shopping mall and or store asks you for your email, your phone number, and or some type of contact information. I find it nearly impossible to have a trip to the mall that does not include some type of contracting information question.
Everything needs to be digitalized.
Some stores try to promote their digital footprint by indicating they will send deals and discounts to the contact address. Therefore, if you are willing to give stores the contact information then you specifically will benefit from receiving secret information.
With that, I feel like the idea of using or giving digital information has become the preferred method.
I have come to realize, that the idea of using cash at some stores almost seems to be ridiculous. Many times, I have offered cash to the store attendees and have found they almost looked surprised, like “really, you want to pay with cash?”. Honestly, I have gotten to the point where every time I want to pay with cash, I seem to always ask the working attendee if it’s okay if I pay with cash as if cash is a foreign payment.
With the strong push for consumers to pay by credit and with debit cards, cash almost seems like a burden. I find it becomes awkward as some employees make it feel like it is an inconvenience. Several card payment options include simple tap features or slide features, making transactions quick and easy.
To some extent, I think the peak of Covid-19 had a lot to factor into avoiding cash payments. Cash payments require a type of contact exchange. Thus, stores were trying to minimalize physical exchanges. Although I understand that contactless payments avoid physical exchanges it makes it hard to reverse the mindset that cash exchanges are bad.
Now, I have found that several stores and companies now push for contactless payments. Stores have created this by having signs indicating a preference for consumers using a card method of payment or having signs indicating they don’t accept cash payments. Therefore, pushing consumers to leave digital footprints on basic transactions.
Overall, I find digital footprints unavoidable. They are everywhere.
Last week, I was working on making a remix. Honestly, I had no idea what to do with the word remix. When I thought about remixing, all I could think about was music. Music is where the artists blend two or more songs to create a new sound.
Thompson’s (2022) article explores the acceleration of the internet and the changing of the word lingo. From Thompson’s perspective, I can understand the confusion. I feel like the new slang words in social media are constant. I find I am constantly learning and adapting to the newest and trending sayings.
Yes, the word “remix” is not exactly new, but the idea to remix things other than music, is a foreign idea to me.
To gain insight into remixes, I set out to do some research.
When I first went beyond a remixing song in the way of collaboration, I thought about remixing lyrics. Meaning, adding new words, rhythms, and rhymes to the popular trending lyrics. Thus, putting a twist on Gen Z slang (Thompson, 2022). What I quickly realized was trying to remix music was out of my realm of expertise.
Next, I thought about poems and making a collage using only old magazines and newspapers. When I thought about this concept, it brought up a lot of memories of my old childhood bedroom. I use to cover the walls and hang the weirdest collages from my ceiling just so I could be surrounded by my interests.
All through this idea seemed great in theory, (who doesn’t love a good collage?) I realized that I have not owned a glue stick in YEARS. So…
Onto the next idea.
While I was flipping through my camera roll on my phone, I started laughing at all my old videos and pictures. I was getting a good laugh at watching the memories back. One video that I watched a couple of times was about my parents finding out I got a tattoo.
When I rewatched the video and saw my parent’s facial expressions I knew I wanted to remix it.
When I was thinking about the different ways of remixing, I could just hear a specific TikTok audio. (Oh No).
Before merging the two, I could tell the original audio mimicked the TikTok song. I knew the video and the audio would match up and create something funny.
Next, all I had to figure out was how to combine the video and the audio.
TikTok seemed to be the place.
Although TikTok is a trending app, I feel completely intimated by it. As Thompson (2022) indicates the internet world is changing for the new generation.
After playing around with the audio and the video footage, I was able to crop the pieces accordingly to make a concise video.
The original video contained a whole introduction and then the revealing of the tattoo. Whereas, the remixed version only showcases a snippet of my parent’s (mainly my mom’s) initial reaction to seeing my tattoo.
Overall, I found using different technology outlets challenging as it was new to me. However, after trial and error, the process produced a funny remix. Without the assignment, I would have not gotten the opportunity to remix the video.
Alright, Google analytics, I get it. It’s important for sure, however, there is a caveat…
There are no stats when there are no viewers .
I’m trying, I swear! I guess I shouldn’t sell myself short though because in reality What the Cat Said has struck a goldmine with all 7 of its users:
These impressive stats are only in the last 7 days. What say we take a look at the last month?
That’s pretty good! 7 to 15 users is not so bad… right? But 15 does not a good sample size make. Anyhow, looking at the bounce rate, it’s pretty low so it seems as though people are generally staying longer than a couple of seconds or navigating to more than one page! The session duration also shows the average session per user is 6 minutes and 38 seconds! That time is roughly the length of reading one/maybe 2 articles. I feel like that’s pretty good!
Let’s take a look to see if we are retaining our audience:
This looks kind of floppy. Ideally, I would like to have more visitors returning, however, it’s probably a good thing that we have new users?
A statistic I found interesting was device usage. It seems that 75% of our audience is mobile! This is cool, but it is interesting because much of the content that is posted (public posts anyway) is about things that happen on computers, aka comp. sci. Yes, yes I know that mobile devices are computers. Well here are the device stats:
And unsurprisingly, the most viewed pages are the public and process anchor pages:
In the end, even though the sample size is small, it was kind of informative to understand what is happening to this site outside of the publishing itself.
Anywho, perhaps I’ll look into these stats again once the semester ends.
Hope to see you again (got to pump up those stats)!
Aside from the astronomical amount of homework I seem to have collected in the past two weeks, I’ve really been enjoying running this blog over the past few months. It’s a really nice creative outlet that allows me to reflect on my own experiences as well as a reason to kick myself in the butt a little bit in terms of leaving my room and learning to cook with my mom. I’ve really enjoyed the experience, and having the opportunity to share that through this platform is actually a lot less nerve wracking than I thought it might be. Furthermore, as I’ve been applying for co-op jobs, this site has been an invaluable resource and incredibly helpful in demonstrating my experience and skills with website design and copywriting to potential future employers.
Something that hasn’t really crossed my mind in the past little while is the concept of SEO. In my past job when I worked for WIFTV, the site I was running had a built in SEO plugin. It would scan each page of the site and provide suggestions in order to make the site more SEO friendly and easier to find for the general audience. It was a super useful tool, and something I’ve been considering downloading for my own site. While for me, my site has been wonderfully easy to run, I have not really done much to make it easily discoverable. As Sam Hollingworth outlines in his article “15 Reasons Why Your Business Absolutely Needs SEO“, there are numerous benefits to using SEO for your site.
Some of the reasons outlined in Hollingworth’s article I already knew, such as the idea that SEO can help make your site more discoverable through organic searches by an audience. What I was not necessarily aware of was how SEO can provide information on audience preferences, which is something that I believe would be well worth knowing if I want to keep this blog going in the future.
Regarding Monetization: What Can and Should Be Monetized?
Did you know you can monetize a wedding?
Many weddings involve large gatherings of people. Those people are an audience, who are all likely to share some similar interests.
Marketers want to capture large audiences with similar interests and they do so by paying for advertisements.
To monetize your wedding, you can sell promotional space to advertisers.
Weddings are expensive so recouping costs by any means possible just makes sense.
Monetize your life
Today, there are opportunities to monetize everywhere.
You can do things such as:
Leverage your network of friends and sell them products you believe would improve their lives.
Make above-average content about your everyday life and get sponsored.
Write a blog like this one and run advertisements.
Now, just because you can monetize everything, should you?
Deciding what to monetize
While it is simple enough to live life in a manner to maximize profits (this is what corporations do), it is not typically the way that most people desire to live their lives.
However, although maximizing profits may not be directly what we want, we can take lessons from corporations and implement them in our own lives.
When faced with the choice of monetization, I think the following:
What are the costs of monetizing this (social, financial, environmental, etc)?
What are the benefits of monetizing this (social, financial, environmental, etc)?
Do the benefits outweigh the costs?
If yes, is this something I am comfortable monetizing and will not regret in five years?
If yes, go ahead and monetize.
Choosing whether to monetize or not, really comes down to a cost-benefit analysis and a review of one’s own feelings in regard to the item you are thinking about monetizing.
Conclusion
Always look for creative ways to monetize your life. Your and your friend’s attention and time are valuable, so allow others to pay for it. Have a system to decide what is worth paying for and what is not.
(emojis courtesy of Jim over at 
RIP
. Good luck with your life! Byeeee.
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