This week we had a speaker Darren Barefoot from Capulet Communications who talked about multi-channel marketing. Nowadays advertisement became so accessible to everyone, we can use different channels to get different information, such as TV, magazines, ads online, social media, and others. Companies work on attracting audiences from different categories. They use different advertisement tools.
People spend a lot of time on social media; therefore, companies use social media to reach the audience. Advertisement became very accessible that we stopped noticing it. Brands sponsor influencers all over the world who share information about certain products on Instagram, YouTube, and other platforms.
Personally to promote my blog and reach out to specific audience, I would use Instagram. Instagram is the platform I use the most. It’s very easy to reach a large amount of loyal followers that I could later connect with my blog.
“Transmedia stories are based not on individual characters or specific plots but rather complex fictional worlds which can sustain multiple interrelated characters and their stories” (Kevin Britteny Lauren, 2013).
I had no idea what ‘transmedia’ meant before enrolling and subsequently engaging in this course. However, this does not mean I wasn’t participating in it as both creator and consumer. In fact, when reflecting on the media in which I was utilizing throughout childhood and today, much of what interested and continues to tap my mind is a product of transmedia storytelling. We like, follow, buy and crave stories, and through various mediums and ways in which our interests interact, these only become more appealing, compelling and addicting.
Similar to Lauren’s (2013) post about the transmedia-ness of Pokemon, which you can read here if my last link did not tempt you; various forms of involvement within the ‘story’ enthralled me from the likes of ‘Batman,’ ‘Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles,’ ‘Grand Theft Auto’ and ‘Star Wars.’ I was not just watching a cartoon or playing with an action figure, I was interacting with video games, seeing movies, watching YouTube videos, mesmerized by commercials, wearing clothes and playing board games that encapsulated the worlds, characters and stories of each interest. For an in-depth exploration of transmedia storytelling in the context of Star Wars, read this article about Suzanne Scott’s course at the University of Texas, Austin.
Today, it only takes a second to recognize the success of Marvel movies as a product of transmedia integration. These films, as well as everything else from Stance socks to video games, are transmedia juggernauts, all of which impact us at the deepest neurological level. The Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) of Australia posts an interesting article here that examines the cognitive science behind our infatuation with media and how transmedia arouses neurons. In 2019 and assuredly beyond, transmedia storytelling has and will continue to expand – apps, VR, Blogs and whatever gaming platform arises from the brains of Silicon Valley. However, the fresh technologies of the 21st Century did not spawn the idea of transmedia, as Henry Jenkins, attests, our brains have long been exposed and satiated by the integrated and complex worlds created by multiple media. In fact, Jenkins suggests that transmedia started making strides in the 1930s with Tarzan Adventures, which was interestingly during the Great Depression. Perhaps Jane was not the only person saved by Tarzan…
In terms of ReRouted, transmedia integration seems like a logical step and initiative. I feel this because the nature of the blog is to read as a story; therefore, the complexities, characters and interwoven environments and ponderings fare well to be exposed through other mediums and platforms. Because my technical skills are somewhat limited, I have to consider the ways in which I can enhance transmedia integration on this blog. I have yet to give careful consideration for this, but the addition of a vlog via YouTube, perhaps some storyboard sketches or various one page infographics depicting the blog’s content or message. In terms of audience, I’m wanting to capture more people, and for me, the challenge will be grasping the likes of non-athletes or people who really aren’t interested in hearing ‘some jock’ blab about football. It will be important to discuss change in general; identity, life, situation, environment, etc. To accomplish this, I need to present the story from different angles or mediums that conjure interest from others.
Transmedia options provide a different lens in which to explore my content and overall theme. ReRouted is a story, and with that, there are various ways in which to tell it. One year ago, Shannon Emmerson posted an article about great transmedia examples, with The Matrix series of films being a quintessential standard. Like the movie reflects in its complex direction, the more angles you have to view something, the more intrigue is developed, questions are asked and in the blogosphere, visitors one receives. Therefore, more channels of accessibility and variety in exploring ReRouted from various perspectives is valuable and the reason why I need to utilize transmedia.
The About page is where people go to gain a better understanding of a website or blog. Basically, my about page is the first impression newcomers will get of my blog and me. Keeping this in mind, it’s important for this page to be captivating, professional, and beautiful. Looking at my current About page, I knew I wanted to make some changes – not only in the style, but also content. My current bio explained the basics, but was too short in length and was unengaging for my likes.
I tried editing my About page through Elementor, as it offered a whole lot more versatility and customization to the elements, especially in comparison to the blocks theme that I’ve been using. Because I didn’t have an exact idea of what I wanted the layout of my About page to look like, it took a lot of time and trial and error.
What I liked about my previous page was the definition of “klick”. I wanted to keep this, but redesign it to make it more appealing and cohesive with the style of the logo that I had created weeks prior.
Original design of the definition on my first About page:
First updated draft:
Changing examples:
I wanted this definition to be the first graphic on the page, as it would set the tone for the rest of the blog. Yes, I do know that click is typically spelled with a “C”, and yes, the “K” was on purpose. In one image, I hoped to capture the explanation and theme. Just like in dictionary definitions, I wanted to use “klick” in a sentence, so I used this first sentence – which was originally used in Joffre Lakes; however, I ended up changing it to something much more relevant to my blog:
I had the plan of creating three distinct clickable categories in columns below with brief descriptions of these different categories. I wanted this graphic to blend seamlessly with the categories below. Originally, I wanted to extend the grey a little further down, and add a white mountain in the middle to blend the grey from this graphic and the white from the following section. While I was doing this, I realized I was creating an arrow in the wrong direction. Instead of having a white arrow pointing up, which would have been the case had I kept the white mountain on the grey backdrop – I created a negative valley (as in lack of colour, not unhappy) to draw attention to the following section.
Third and final draft:
Finally, with the added category columns, this is what the top part of my About page looked like:
Each of these columns are responsive, meaning that it react to your curser. When the mouse hovers over the column, it becomes a darker shade, inciting you to click on it. These columns, images, and titles are linked to their respectful pages. For example, if I were to click the “local” column, it would send me to the landing page for the local category.
Already, this so much better than my previous About page, which is below for reference:
Editing my bio:
Next up was rewriting and redesigning my bio section. I chose colours that would match the image, along with a readable and professional font. My original About page lacked warmth and friendliness, so I tried to keep this in mind when redesigning and rewriting this next section:
Staying Connected:
All that was missing was connecting my social media account and contact information. I opted for simple responsive icons. The icon would increase slightly in size when hovering over it with your mouse, and for consistency, I chose to have the colours change to the blue and yellow of my logo:
Mouse over the Mail icon
Mouse over the Facebook icon
When clicking the facebook icon, it would open my facebook page in a new tab with to make sure I’m not kicking them off my blog. Similarly, when clicking the mail icon, the user’s email would open up in a new tab, ready to send me an email.
The trouble in troubleshooting
So while I’m really happy with the design and content of my new About page, you might be left wondering why you still see my old About page, as opposed to this new and improved one. To my big disappointment, when I was troubleshooting this page for different screen sizes, I realized how illegible it is for mobile devices. Somehow, the graphics, icons, columns and images didn’t transfer well onto a smaller screen: not only was the layout lost, but some images disappeared and the content was just not easily readable.
Final note:
This was especially frustrating, as I had spend days working on it this. While the layout did still work on tablets and desktop computers, over half of my audience accesses my blog on their mobile device, so keeping this up was out of the question. I rather have an elementary version of my about page rather than make this illegible gibberish live on my website. Unfortunately I don’t have the time to try and fix this before the end of the semester, but I plan to sort this out as soon as possible. If nothing else, I learned the importance of troubleshooting regularly throughout my progress to make sure its compatible with all devices.
This week, we had a guest speaker during lecture to talk about multi-channel marketing.
I found it super fasinating that how many channels actually exist in our world. There are so many more channels than just the typical tv, newspapers, magazines, online, billboards advertisement that everyone thinks about. And not all channels are equal. They all tell stories in different ways. When we have different goals and want to attract different kind of audiences, different channels would be chosen. The guest speaker also talks about the challenges that companies and brands face when comes to marketing. There are too much noise in the world and so much competition. And now that advertisement has become so accessible for everyone, it is becoming harder and harder to attract more and good-quality attention.
Now when I’m on social media these days, I would sometimes apply these perspectives scrolling down my feed. I follow quite a few fashion houses’ Instagram accounts. I’ve noticed how these fashion brands have integrated advertisement with editorial shoots, short films, etc. A lot of the times, it is hard to tell whether certain posts are editorial or ads. In my opinion, the purpose of these Instagram accounts are not to sell anyone anything, but to raise brand awareness, build loyal followers who might one day turn into actual buyers. Because the majority users of Instagram users are young professionals who might not have the money just yet, but are interested in learning more about whatever they are interested about. And if fashion is one of them, they for sure will follow lots of fashion brands. By posting these editorial style ads, brands are slowly immersing themselves into the mind of these followers. Again, it is more about awareness, not selling.
As for my blog, and what media platform I choose to focus on, Instagram is for sure the number one channel. I think my intended audience demographic would most likely be active Instagram users. On top of that, most of my own online activities are on Instagram, and I’ve created most of my followers on there as well. It only makes sense to start my promotion there. Besides Instagram, I would also look into promoting my blog on Facebook and twitter at the same time.
We had a wonderful guest speaker in class this week, Darren Barefoot, from the company, Capulet Communications. His talk on multichannel marketing and transmedia integration inspired me to reflect on the various media and channels I promote and growThe Kindness Lifestyle on as a brand, which is not many, and how I can continue to grow my brand past the completion of this course. Currently, I promote my blog posts on my Facebook account, and that is all. I’ve mentioned in previous posts how I’m not one to keep track of followers and analytics, however for the sake of this post I will pretend I do and consider what I would conduct in order to grow The Kindness Lifestyle as a brand through transmedia integration.
As we’ve discussed in class, as well as discovered through my own experiences, it’s evident that one of the dominant “channels” used to promote websites, ads, companies, etc. is social media. Specifically, there are a few superior ones which include Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, Snapchat, and YouTube. Of these five, I currently have two for my own personal use; Facebook and Snapchat. According to Hootsuite, as of 2019 the world’s population is 7.676 billion, and of those people, 3.484 billion are active social media users. Considering this, my first plan of action would be to create accounts on each of these social media platforms under The Kindness Lifestyle. Although this would be stepping out of my comfort zone, I would also make a YouTube channel where I would discuss the topics that I write about in my blog. Marketers have said that video has become more powerful than text as it’s more memorable, probably because it appears more personal to the viewer. Having a YouTube channel would be a way to grab another audience’s attention and direct them towards my blog, but also a way to grow my brand as a whole.
However, Darren Barefoot also discussed the notion of “heartbeats and remarkables” when it comes to marketing, and social media was considered a heartbeat. He described “heartbeats” as the basics of marketing that all companies and brands have such as email lists, websites, and social media. Remarkables on the other hand are the exceptional marketing tactics that catch the consumers’ eye; some of them include PR stunts, gimmicks, pop-up events, and unique fundraising mechanisms, to name a few. An example of a remarkable marketing tactic can be found here. Relating back to my website and brand, an effective way to draw people’s attention to The Kindness Lifestyle could be creating an original remarkable. It’s evident that social media isn’t enough to promote a brand these days as everyone has it; it’s simply a necessity, or heartbeat, in the marketing world at this point. However, I was curious if it would be more effective to conduct a remarkable marketing stunt when you have a significant following, or conduct it despite a significant following as a way to make people curious enough to search your brand and see what it’s all about. When considering this, maybe I should take Darren Barefoot’s advice of “safe is risky and risky is safe” in the marketing world.
As, Suzanne Norman (2015) reflects, “so much for the data trap.” In the Bezosphere of 2019, data governs decisions, policies and movements, but as everyday web civilians, what does our trail mean? How do we contribute to analytics, and as such, how does our online behavior dictate what we see, what is created and how, as bloggers, we design, re-design and promote what we post and share?
In the past month, Google Analytics has shown that ReRouted has had 28 users, 63 sessions, 28.57% bounce rate and an average of 5 minutes and 58 seconds spent on the site. This bounce rate is considerable, particularly now, as it’s significance was discussed in tutorial, and I hope to believe its due to my content and not just family members and friends reading a couple pages of this blog. The average length of a session seems to match the length of a post or two. So, it makes sense having these two analytics do ‘well’ in terms of an amature blog.
As noted by the Pod Academy (2016), our blissful lack of awareness in leaving breadcrumbs of ourselves online is something we’re not entirely aware of, and unlike brick and mortar libraries and bookstores, what we touch is counted, assessed and re-presented to us as marketing chameleons. Our blogs then, become digital shapeshifters; responding to what is required in order to elicit activity and move users towards content that generates data we like to see. The question is, does Google utilize analytics as a kind resource for bloggers and developers alike, or is it a self-serving service that gives them access to ours, as well as our readers’ information? Moreover, does this matter?
Here, Brian Mac Namee (2016) suggests that yes, we leave data trails everywhere we go, but this is the world we live in, and like other things we have come to accept, we must forge ahead and understand that there are consequences of convenience. Further, he argues that data trails do not equate to a dystopian now, but rather, these are algorithm breakthroughs that are exciting from the perspective of science. On Apparel, Venkat Viswanathan (2017) agrees, but from a consumer perspective; we are leaving an identifiable residue of activity that teaches us about consumption, impulsivity and behavior. Is this ethical? I’m not certain I am the right person to suggest either side of the fence, but in living within a digital world that targets my interests, shares my data and influences what I see, I offer my implied consent.
This begs the question; are we aware of what we are contributing to; this murky pool of data? If we apply the concept of implied consent, can our understanding suggest to the omnipotent social creators like Google, that we accept all ramifications of dropping data behind us for the collection and interpretation of others? Alternatively, what factors jeopardize implied consent, such as age, ability, demographic, disability, etc? Do people really know what they’re getting themselves into, and if they do, is it too late for them to wash the trail behind them?
Is our information public? This question has been of contentious debate, which you can read about here, but in consideration of our understanding of the Internet as a public space, we should, as we would in a mall or library, be aware that our activity is not private. Education and awareness is fundamental in providing society the tools, or at least the knowledge, that our actions are observable, and while less pervasive, our purchases have always been recorded. So, are Google and Amazon the culprits of this contention, or is it capitalism in general? We are quick to blame technology, but like a race to the finish, we’re always pointing fingers at whomever crosses the line first.
After being rejected by GoogleAdsense (I am okay, I feel like it is because I have Adblock on so it will be something I need to fix in the future), I have been very interested in searching my own Google Analytics to view the audience I am reaching.
Amanda pointed out that my blog has an aesthetic to it that posting a bunch of ads in places that are meant to be open would ruin the image I have created. I definitely am more of a sponsored post person where I would rather review or promote something through a post than have ads all over my blog. Anyways, that is besides the point.
I decided to look at my Google Analytics for the first time since beginning my Pub 101 journey and see who is following me.
The first piece of information that came up was this graph explaining my bounce rate, the amount of users that have visited my site in the last week, and how long people tend to spend on my site.
I have a pretty high bounce rate, ranking in at 36.36%. Ellen just explained that this is actually really good as it means people are clicking on my work and click off. Which sounds bad but it means I am getting views! They are single page clicks and lands on my browser.
I personally have only posted a select few articles on my Instagram. I do have a pretty reasonable following, so I don’t understand why I don’t just post articles. I have the link to my website in my bio and have received quite a few clicks from it.
The duration time is pretty high as well, but I feel it is just from my peer reviewers.
A majority of my viewers are from Canada and the United States which sounds right. Even 1 from Spain! I had one from Ireland once but I believe it was my friend who is studying abroad there right now.
People tend to be active on my account during mid day and later at night. That is sort of the theme here… late night posting.
My home page gets the post views and my most recent posting on Nostalgia has received quite a few clicks.
I find it interesting that most of my sessions come from a desktop computer (and have gone down.) I believe this can change once I start promoting my articles on social media.
This chart helps me see when my users return to my blog and how consistent they have been. It seems high on days I post but not on days I don’t. I could change this by uploading maybe 3 times a week periodically rather than 1-2?
It is wild to me that we can leave our digital footprints so easily and trace them back with no problem. I find it interesting how people can be use this data to stay in tune with how their websites or businesses are progressing.
I would say I have thrown in the towel with my footprints in regards to how I only look at things I need to or want to. I am very careful with the websites and areas of the internet that I use and search for. I would say this would be “throwing in the towel.”
Overall, it was interesting to search my analytics and see what I need to improve on.
I want to try posting more than 2 times a week and see where it takes me… so, stay tuned!
All Images provided by my personal Google Analytics account.
Featured Image Reference: @ZshulesZ on weheartit.com
In last week’s lecture, we learnt about analytics, audiences and marketing. It was very interesting for me to see how the numbers in analytics translate into the audience online engagement to our website.
Looking at my blog’s google analytics, I notice that Monday and Tuesday seem to be the peak of traffic. And I think that definitely has something to do with the fact that our lecture is on Tuesday, and I tend to upload all my new posts on Monday night or Tuesday. The bounce rate of my blog is around 51%. People averagely spend around 5 min on my site. From what we learnt in lecture, the lower the bounce rate, the better. Because that means people are actually taking time reading my blog. That is definitely something I could improve on.
Another interesting thing that have come up in my analytics is where my audiences are located. Most of my audience are from United States, and the second most are from Canada. In the ranking of city, most of the visitor of my websites are from Vancouver, which is not surprising. But the second city in ranking is New York, which makes me quite happy since it is my favourite city in the whole world. I also get a few random users visiting from Spain, Belgium, Brazil, etc. It is exciting to think how someone across the world are visiting my blog. Another part of the demographic of my audience that has surprised me is the fact that there are more users are in the age of 25-34 than the ones in the age of 18-24. Since I fall in the category of 18-24, I’ve assumed that would be my audience’s demographic as well, but apparently it’s not the case.
I also notice that posiel.com of course is my main referral. But ever since I added my website address onto my own Instagram account bio, I’ve noticed an increase of incoming traffic from Instagram. In the future, I will definitely try and promote my blog posts on my social a bit more often, in order to drive up the traffic. I also get analytic report from my Instagram account since it is a business account. And it is very interesting to compare my website statistics with my Instagram’s.
In my opinion, these analytic statistics are so important because it helps us to understand our audience better, so that we could tailor the content better to our intended audience. But at the same time, it is quite a scary thing thinking about how every step we take on the internet every second is recorded and analyzed by others.
This week in class, we had a guest speaker, Monique Sherrett, who shared with us some tips and SMART goals that bloggers should know. The blogger always has to keep track of his audience and what kind of topics interest them the most. Setting SMART goals can help improve the bounce rate and also help to find ways to keep audience longer on my blog.
Specific: specific target to hit.
Measurable: a metric that can be tracked.
Actionable and achievable: possible to improve based on this action.
Relevant and realistic: based on the history of performance, this is a reasonable goal.
Time-based: the clear timeframe.
Setting SMART goals is a great way to improve my blog, attract different audiences, and get them engaged with my blog. I learnt a lot of tips for blog improvement from Monique during this lecture.
For my third peer review, I got a chance to review Marium’s blog . This peer review will focus on the blog’s marketability to the intended audience. The main focus of Marium’s blog is poetry.
The audience can get a clear view about Marium’s content of the blog by looking at About the Author section of her main page. It’s on the right, and it’s separated by color from all her other posts. There she shares with the audience the way her friends describe her. She intends to create a more united world by understanding the feelings people go through and share it through poems.
The design of her blog looks like it’s a book about magic. The colours she uses caught my attention immediately. Even though her blog design looks very girly, and you would think it will only attract the female audience, but once you read her blog posts, your opinion would change. Her poetry content is very deep and can connect with different groups of people.
My favorite part of her blog was that many of her posts include songs. The lyrics of the songs she uses for every post match her poetry. I believe that listening to the song and reading the poem at the same time, allows the audience to experience better Marium’s feelings.
On the menu tab, Marium also has a FAQs section. It’s a great way to allow visitors of her page to get answers to some of the important questions.
Through Marium’s FAQs section, I discovered that she also has an Instagram page with her boyfriend. There they share poetry while being in the long distance relationship. It’s a great way to inspire other people who are in the same situation as them.
I really enjoyed reviewing Marium’s blog and can’t wait to see how it develops. Everyone should go and take a look at Marium’s blog!
It is the 9th week since I have developed my personal blog, “Maggie Loves to Share.” However, I notice that being a blogger is not that simple as I thought. Indeed, as a blogger, I understand that there are many things that I still need to learn in order to improve my blog. From the last nine weeks, I have gradually understood some important sources that I need to take care of as a “startup blogger.” To illustrate, from the previous process posts, “know your audiences” and “connection,” I understand that it is important to know my readers more if I want to attract more readers. At this point, I have to observe what kind of topics my readers would like to see more through my blog. Also, maintaining the connections between my audiences and myself is another important process needed to focus on. In other words, I have to link with my audiences through building up different connections. However, despite of knowing my audiences more and building more connections, setting up the SMART goals is also another important concept that I need to do for my blog.
This week in class, we have the guest speaker, Monique Sherrett to discuss the importance of setting up the SMART Goals for our personal blogs. The SMART Goals are described as follow:
S– Specific – setting up the specific target to hit; Benchmark or starting point is clear.
M– Measurable – a metric (target) that can be tracked.
A– Actionable and Achievable – it is possible to improve based on this action.
R– Relevant and Realistic – based on the history of performance, this is a reasonable goal.
T– Time-based – timeframe; how much time is required to reach the target.
Although I have learned the concept of SMART Goals from other classes, actually I have never thought about setting up a smart goal from the blogger’s point of view. In this circumstance, I decided to set up a smart goal that I can achieve in the short-term period for my personal blog. My smart goal will be described as follow:
S– create more criterias to attract different audiences.
M– looking for different interesting topics that my readers would like to read.
A– asking for different suggestions from my current audiences (eg,. My family and friends)
R– it is possible have the weekly or monthly meeting with my recent audiences to discuss about how my blog can be improved.
T– this smart goal plan can be runned for the short-term period (eg,. 2, 3 or 6 months goal)
Throughout this smart goal plan, I believe that I can attract more audiences from different perspectives. Ultimately, I would like to thank Monique to bring up the idea of smart goals in class. In my opinion, I think setting up the smart goals is no doubt a really important process to improve my blog.
Recently I’ve been noticing the abundance of engagement ring ads that have been popping up on my Facebook feed. Although it’s something that I have noticed, I haven’t thought deeply about why they may be showing up on my feed until this week in class when we discussed audiences and how websites reach their intended audience. Our professor gave us an activity to try, which was to pick an ad from our Facebook feed and reverse engineer it, A.K.A dissect why it may be popping up on your specific Facebook feed. Below is one of the many engagement ring ads that I’ve come across on my Facebook feed:
As many of you have probably noticed, Facebook seems to know your exact search history based on their creepily accurate ads they place on your feed. However in my case with the engagement ring ads, I found it interesting as I haven’t searched engagement rings in my browser, so where did they get this information from that I might be in this market at the moment? Time to start reverse engineering!
I began with thinking about what my characteristics were and which one’s I’ve shared with Facebook. Like most people, I have my basic characteristics listed on Facebook. This includes my age, gender, education, things like that. However, I also have my relationship status listed, which is currently “in a relationship”. Based on this information I’ve shared with Facebook, they can conclude that I’m a 23 year old female who is in a relationship. In general, women in the age range of 20-30 years old who are in a relationship may be thinking about getting married. Facebook may have taken this information and made an assumption, which is why they’re promoting engagement ring ads on my feed. Another added factor to this may be that I’ve had my relationship status as “in a relationship” on Facebook for over three years now. I noticed that these engagement ring ads started appearing on my feed a few months ago. Since Facebook thinks I’ve been in a relationship for a long time now, maybe that is also an indicator to them that they should start targeting me for engagement ring ads. However, I’m not positive if Facebook actually tracks this factor, but with my experience it seems as though they very well might be.
I plugged in my reverse engineering into Facebook Audience Insights and this is what I discovered:
I set the audience to Vancouver, Canada, and women in the age range of 20-30 years old. I didn’t specify if they were in a relationship or not as I wanted to see the percentage of this audience was listed as “in a relationship.” It appears that 61% of women 18-34 years old who are on Facebook in Vancouver, Canada are in the 25-34 age range, and 39% are in the 18-24 age range. Of those women, 27% of them are listed as “in a relationship.” Based on this information, I can assume that Facebook may be targeting that 27% with engagement ring ads.
For this week’s Process Post, there is not a definite prompt; however, there is certainly work to be done and reflect upon on this blog. I am still incorporating images into the weekly blog posts through determining their best placement, as well as which ones are most-suited to the topic, while also adhering to the theme of change. This has proven to be more difficult than anticipated, as the original images I selected just didn’t maintain the integrity of the site or what I wished for it to evoke in readers – now viewers.
This change, from reader to viewer is what I am looking for. I want people to engage with the language, but I also want people to browse. I tend to write a lot – I have a lot to share, but I am aware that not everyone wishes to flow in my streams of consciousness and may not wish to delve into everything I have to say. My blog is about me, but the content has to be open to interpretation as well as manageable to read, understand, agree with and at times, rebut. Publishing is putting something out there for everyone to see, with everyone being those who read, don’t read, like and dislike what you have to share. Images then, support, drive home, bolster and conjure ideas, feelings, opinions and of course, criticisms. An image beholds an image, one in which I have tried to build through the aesthetic and content of this blog. We market ourselves through this content, and in looking at the consumer, it is important to envision their own perceptions; how does my image market me and what I write? Take a look at the American Marketing Associations beliefs here on how a picture really is worth a thousand words.
Another component of this blog that I am trying to build is the usability and consistency. People tend to purchase the same magazines and newspapers, as well as visit the same YouTube Channels and Blogs not just for the content, but also because they feel like home or an every morning cup of coffee. This always makes me think, is it the taste or the routine that is comforting? When someone becomes accustomed to what they view, they appreciate the familiarity. There can be subtle changes in color or placement of things, but the crux of these media is that there is a recipe, and those who indulge, know exactly what, how much, where and when to eat.
In following the rabbit hole of the Internet (read this for some somewhat eerily fascinating stories of Internet stumble-upons), which started on the Posiel site in this week’s readings, I came across Byline, a crowdfunded newspaper magazine where people fund the content of various writers. I truly appreciate the idea and think it is novel and timely in its development; however, there are two things I don’t appreciate it. First, which connects to my previous paragraph, it’s very inconsistent. It reminds me of shopping online at a store like ASOS where there are so many different styles and types of fashion, that you end up overwhelmed, dazed and confused. Second, there are no advertisements. I know what you’re thinking… But I personally enjoy advertisements because I like evaluating them and dissecting how they, if at all (and they usually do), reflect who I am. I am intrigued by the psychology of marketing and I also like the break; why must I read an entire article about starvation in North Korea without a saunter into the sidebars of new Nikes? Sure, I get the irony of this and I am being somewhat facetious, but I like the contrast as much as the relevance. Since the beginning of print, advertisements have driven publication, so should we eliminate them, or view them as part of the publication process? This brings us back to blogging; successful blogs, which for argument here is measured by visitorship, is are ones that have advertisements. One may argue that books, in their traditional sense, do not include ads, but phrases like, “try these other great reads from Harper Collins” refute this…
Speaking of rabbit holes, you can see that this Process Post has dug deep in a field in which it didn’t start, but in reflecting on how to build my blog to appeal to others, it’s important to know that what one likes is not necessarily liked by the other, and in creating design, it’s valuable to make it comfortable. I am a fan of Hygge [hoo-gah] design, which you can read about straight from it’s Danish source here, and in knowing it, I like how it’s predictable (like I hope my site is), but comforting with a pop of flair, color and juxtaposition. So, in evaluating, reevaluating and of course, publishing, it’s my hope that ReRouted is a place where people stop, stay a while and return.
Peer reviews are daunting. Completing a review for someone else is difficult, especially when you’re not necessarily an expert on the content (blogging), or when you, yourself have a blog that will receive a review in return… in exchange for a grade. They are also challenging to read when you’re under scrutiny; will they like what I have to say? What will they think about my photos? Will the content of my writing be clear, offensive, engaging or just plainly boring? I feel this is one of the issues we face as bloggers (I’m calling myself a blogger now, apparently); personalizing a space to reflect yourself and your interests, then publishing it for the universe to troll, critique and destroy. Blogging is simple, but it is not easy. What you post, share or reveal is vulnerable to what others think, and what others think can be as destructive, like Cyberhate, which you can read about here, as it is liberating, enjoyable and of course, democratic (see a variety of #Posiel posts debating this). I argue for.
For the latest review I received, I was delighted to attain significant positive feedback from Jill’s Book Blog, which you can access here, but also some constructive feedback that will greatly benefit ReRouted. In being transparent, of course I take delight in reading her humbling feedback, but I truly value her primary suggestion that images/photos within the posts would better serve the overall layout and theme of the blog, as well as make the reading more approachable and intriguing. With this in mind, the process in which I encountered this week was incorporating photos directly into the blog and process posts, which involved consideration of suitability for the post and aesthetics.
Because much of the photography on my blog is of myself, I wanted to balance the images with ones that are less personalized, but still reflective of the content and overall theme of my experience of change. I feel that my blog is very personal, so in seeking greater balance, I am enhancing relatability and hopefully broadening the appeal of my content by doing this. I have done a lot of thinking about how my writing is interpreted by others, but have neglected the idea for how images can or haven’t been doing the same. Brown University has a fascinating presentation on why people perceive text differently, which made me think, perhaps my text isn’t what I think, and if so, or even if it is, how do photos support either conclusion?
In consideration of images, I wanted to be cognizant of colour, size and focusing on finding relatively simple images that support the writing as opposed to detracting from it. Likewise, I wanted the images to be a part of the writing itself, so as the image itself can offer some greater context or meaning of the conversation. I want the image to be an anchor in the post that organically reveals some of the content. I feel this is important because for many readers, busy ones especially, as well as keyboard warriors on the prowl, photos provide a quick glimpse into what’s new, relevant and a part of my thoughts and life. I also took some of Jill’s advice in having the layout of images reflect that of the landing page; like an advent calendar, which is what I was kind of going for from the conception of this blog. Notorious blogger, Neil Patel has some great insights on selecting images which you can read here. Additionally, Shout Me Loud outlines several reasons why including images on your blog is valuable, which you can also see here.
There is still some general tidying-up that needs to be done to enhance upload speeds, function and layout. I have been working on paper to come up with something a bit more user-friendly and hope to make these changes soon. I’m hoping to implement some more major edits soon, as I would like the blog to be a little more polished. That said, Jill’s comments regarding her appreciation for the content and the theme or feel of the blog is reassuring that I’m on the right track… for some people at least. For others, they can go here for entertainment value.
I want to extend a kind thanks to Jill for providing such a positive and helpful review; I only hope that I offered her even half the same in return. As many people as blogs reach, the act of blogging can actually be quite lonely. You are trying to build a community, but the vacuum in which you do so is a cyclone within yourself and your own interests. Your reach is far in terms of potential, but you’re in isolation, behind a screen, sharing what it is that you find shareable. This in and of itself is intimidating – here you are, in front of the world, one in which can judge you without repercussion, offering your thoughts, feelings and fears. The blogosphere is yuge, but like the universe, there are many constellations and systems to discover, view and get lost in.
Before I get a chance to understand publishing, I thought it was merely publishing a book, sell it to somewhere, people read it and done. I never thought about the actual work and story behind every process until I get a chance to started writing my blog, publishing my work and sharing content to the audience. In the past 12 weeks, fortunately, I have an opportunity to experience how is it to be an online publisher. It might I need to overrate my self, online publisher, but I did have a chance to understand more details regarding editorial, design, marketing and content. After the brief online publisher career, I realized that publish good content. A successful model is much more complicated than I imagine. There are so much more than I could imagine before, lots of affording and work behind every process.
In this semester, I get a chance to experience to open my blog lift for live. I created my blog and shared my idea and through to other people. I created a fitness-focused blog to share my workout ideas and recommendation to other people so as to motivate people who are new to workout or want to know more about it. Everything started from sketching on my sketchbook, I drew the outline of the blog, considered the focus of the content and what was my purpose of creating a blog. Throughout the semester, I constantly change and improve my blog editorial concept, design layout and content. At first, I was using a big cover picture with a link at the middle. I thought that was a good idea that matches the current trend of blog design until I read Travis Gertz “Design Machines. How to survive in the digital Apocalypse.” In the article, Travis explained that all the webpage design are the same right now. All of them are sharing the same elements, and he asked a question to the audience “Without the logos, could you tell which companies own which screenshots?”(Gertz, 2015, para 7). I realized that If I put my page in one of the design, I could not tell which website is mine. Travis indicated that digital design is a human assembly line, designers are like a designer machine, they use the same elements over and over again to fulfill the trend of the world. As a design student, it was a wakeup call of mine. Therefore, I started to search other themes on the template. Although I can not do much configure on the webpage, I tried to find the theme that produces a different atmosphere but meanwhile match up with my theme. I ended up using the theme right now which is a slideshow post along with posts content below.
Besides the design elements, editorial and content design are also crucial in online publishing. Choose of words and tones are essential to content design, what do you want to build up the relationship. Friendly? Inform? Alternatively, Educate? Based on the tone we choose, the blog purpose may shift. In my blog, I decided to use a relatively friendly tone to my audience, and I intended to share my personal experience rather than teach them how to do it. I wanted to shorten the distance between me and the audience. Befriend with them rather than be a teacher of them.
Marketing strategies are one of the parts that I feel interested the most. From Shelby Carpenter essay “The Toast Is Toast: Literary Humor Site Shuts Down Over Ad Revenue Woes,” it gave me a brief concept of the current online publishing industry. Absorb the failure of the Toast, and I understand that as a publisher, it is necessary to set up the mission statement and ensure the niche of the topic. It will be challenging if the purpose is unclear throughout the publishing process. Also, proper marketing is crucial in a successfulness of business. In other words, you need to make sure your company earn money and make a balance in your business, increase the sustainability of the publishing of the business. In peer review 3, Joanna Kim gave me some ideas about what should I do to make my blog profitable. She points out that my blog should more closely relate to my training. She suggested that I should post a blog about my transformation to let the audience pay close attention to me so as to increase the publicity.
Looking back the semester, I learned many concepts from the course. It expanded my vision, publishing is not only in paperback and e-book, but the online trend is also taking over the publishing industry. Online publishing and marketing is the new benchmark in the publishing industry. No doubt printed publishing is still playing an important role in publishing, but the trend of online publishing is also arising.
Community guidelines for any social media platform is an important element to have in order to lessen the risk of possible inappropriate behaviour with your site. For this week’s process post, we were to develop our own community guidelines and think of how we would implement them.
My site and its content can be a very touchy subject as it deals with very real and personal issues that many individuals have to face on a day to day basis. The content can also be different for those who may not be comfortable yet with such diversity and it may either clash with certain beliefs or challenge their thinking. It is important that my blog does not force any opinions, but merely highlights and brings to attention the importance of having diverse narratives and identities published online.
Four core community guidelines could go as follows (more could be added with further development of the blog):
Create a Welcoming Space
Here, There stresses on diversity and opening up to listening and understanding multiple narratives, thus, it is important that the site creates an open and welcome space for all voices. By not offering a welcoming space, we are inhibiting the ability of those who may feel marginalized or already silenced to not be able to speak up and feel included within the discourse. No matter where someone may come from or who they may be, by creating an open space, Here, There will be able to carry out its objective of challenging hegemony and the “single narrative”.
2. No Hateful Comments
As a space that opens up to topics about issues regarding race, gender, and sexuality, topics can sometimes be very personal. As a space that encourages the freedom of speech, it is key to note that Here, There will carefully look at separating free speech from hate speech. We each have a perspective on how we view the world, but it is important to understand that hateful comments will not be tolerated and often come with negative repercussions.
3. Outright Discrimination Will Not be Tolerated
In conjunction with the second guideline, it is crucial that users do not make comments or post content that is discriminatory. As a blog that deals with the marginalized, discrimination is not uncommon for certain groups of people, so, having a no discrimination policy will help reduce what many have to face on a day to day basis.
4. Privacy
It is crucial for Here, There to make it aware that all comments and activity from users will be kept confidential. As the topics discussed can enter very complex and complicated situations that some may feel uncomfortable or uneasy telling, it will be the utmost importance to keep this information private – unless given permission by the individual to publish and share.
But How Will It Be Implemented?
The community guidelines for Here, There, would be a separate page to click at the top so that it is apparent and visible for visitors to the site. It will also be linked at the footer of the site as well so that when scrolling and navigating, it is easy and obvious to read and get to. The community guidelines will continue to grow as I learn from my audience as well as continue to learn of what constitutes a good blog of my subject matter.
But How Do We Regulate This?
The importance of having community guidelines is not to add heightened censorship to the site, but to enforce certain rules to minimize certain actions that will have negative implications towards the blog and its users. It will be key to have these guidelines carefully looked at so as not to create problems regarding the freedom of speech. Additional community guidelines that would be implemented would have to go under careful analysis to make sure that it continues to provide an open space for all, but still enforces the reduction of hateful and discriminatory behaviour and action.
With plenty of media outlets in the world today, there is without a doubt plenty of ways to implement transmedia integration to your site. As described by Henry Jenkins, transmedia storytelling, “represents a process where integral elements of a fiction get dispersed systematically across multiple delivery channels for the purpose of creating a unified and coordinated entertainment experience.” (Jenkins 2007). This can be highly beneficial in enhancing the experience for users on the site and the possible objectives and message that you envision.
Luckily for my site, I already have one form of transmedia integration added, which is through the use of Soundcloud playlists on my “Let’s Listen” posts. This form of transmedia integration helps enhance the entertainment experience whilst aligning with my message for Here, There in terms of representing diversity within the arts and entertainment industry. This media integration also connects with my target audience of artistic individuals who have an appreciation for music and who are interested in discovering diverse artists. An additional benefit of including Soundcloud playlists would be the option to implement audience recommendations, both to increase engagement, but to also make full use of this type of transmedia integration.
Another way of adding transmedia integration for the future development of my blog could be through YouTube videos. As a blog that focuses on the arts, but also societal issues of race, gender, and sexuality, there are many opportunities to have visual and auditory media implemented. Possibly, having my own Buzzfeed or Cut style videos could help enhance the entertainment experience, in addition to videos posted that are partnered with, or directly connected to my site. This can help build relationships with other artists and individuals, help develop the blog and its audience, and enhance my message and objective.
Inspired by sites like Them. who provide subscription emails for important posts and issues, my blog could also implement this form of transmedia integration. As Henry Jenkins notes, the use of dispersing elements systematically across multiple channels can be beneficial in spreading a message. Having an option to subscribe through an email may not only offer a means of engagement and audience retention, but also spread awareness of my website and of important topics and issues.
Lastly, an additional transmedia integration for my site would be including multiple social media accounts. Nowadays, it is a given that most businesses, organizations, sites, and individuals use multiple social media accounts. The use of social media for my site would be a core element as it would not only link my Instagram (in order to establish a personality behind my blog), but also link a specific Instagram for Here, There. Photos would fit a certain aesthetic that relates to my blog, but also highlight diverse people, events, artists, shows, and current events. Additional social media integration would include a Facebook page and Twitter account, in which there would be specific posts on events and key topics discussed. These accounts would also create an additional place for engagement between the audience and my blog and hopefully maintain a welcoming and communicative space.
Many websites have options implemented to help the publisher or developer obtain some form of income from it – whether it is through advertisements or the actual selling of a product. For this week’s process post, we were to think of whether or not we would monetize our site and if so, how we would go about this. As my blog focuses on societal issues, similar to that of a nonprofit organization, it is a little challenging to think of monetization so as not to diverge from the message and objective of Here, There. It would be key to not become driven by monetary means and risk diverging from the core meaning and value of what my blog entails. However, there could be a few ways in which monetization can be implemented for the site and how it could be altered so that it would be beneficial.
The first way that Here, There could be monetized is if there are advertisements implemented. These would not just be random advertisements, but carefully reviewed advertisements that align with the focus for the blog. It would be key to have advertisements that would relate to issues regarding race, gender, and sexuality so that it not only fits my site aesthetically but also provides further ways to explore the ways to challenge the norms within society.
Another option for monetizing my site would be adding affiliate links to other sites. This could also work in terms of partnering with other groups, organizations, or sites that have a similar objective. Affiliate links that could be posted on a “Let’s Listen” playlist could direct my users to albums, artist’s sites, concerts and live shows, in addition to possible organizations that the artists themselves have started or are a part of. Affiliate links within a “Let’s Talk” post could direct users to something I am either discussing, such as a book or talk, or to an organization that may have partnered with my site in order to help a cause. Lastly, there could also be a donation option on my site where the proceeds would go towards a new organization every month.
Logo for Here, There to be put on merchandise
Apart from the online ways of monetizing my site, I could also implement more physical means such as going to events and being a representative for, Here, There, and possibly making connections and getting partnerships. Another way I could help monetize my site is creating merchandise, such as tote bags, T-shirts, posters, or phone cases. I would go about this by having my header image on every merchandise in order to have Here, There recognizable and to help bring new visitors to the site (and hopefully purchase merchandise as well). This would also connect with my target audience of artistic individuals and hopefully would help engage new and old users.
All in all, it is key to note that much of the monetization for my site would go towards specific causes. The majority of money that is gained from the site would go towards specific organizations (a new one every month as mentioned earlier) in hopes that this would increase audience engagement with the knowledge that their actions would have a positive impact.
The infographic image I was based on my blog content to develop the infographic. I use numbers to catch people attention at the graphic. All the numbers came from my weekly blog concept, such as 6 fundamental movement pattern, 5 muscles parts split routine, etc. The infographic is aiming to minimal the content but gives out the largest concept to the audience.
I designed this infographic on illustrator, use lines and boxes based on my original blog design. The text I used “PROHIBITION” typeface which is provide a relative strong and muscular feeling to the text. It can brings up the theme of the topic.
Our online activity plays an important role for many businesses in terms of understanding their audience and the activity of users online. For this week’s process post, we were to discuss analytics and some of the pros and cons of collected data.
According to the business dictionary, analytics “often involves studying past historical data to research potential trends, to analyze the effects of certain decisions or events, or to evaluate the performance of a given tool or scenario.”. Understanding analytics can be key in improving one’s business or site and to confirm whether or not certain elements of your work actually have an impact on users. It is quite interesting to be able to track your audience’s activity and be able to make any necessary changes in order to create a desired objective or message. According to Hugo Moreno from Forbes, the concept of analytics is no longer just a nice option, but the core of the enterprise; they drive an enterprise and the formation of a strategy. The fact that technology has progressed to allow us to view, analyze, and dissect the analytics and data of our work and be able to alter our decisions based on this information is something quite profound for our time.
Although analytics is proven to be helpful, there can also me downfalls. Things that I find to be of a challenge would come from the creator and publisher’s side, but also as a user. As a publisher, such as myself, looking at analytics can sometimes be of a burden and diverting my attention to actually enjoying the work I put in. People may resort to unethical decisions just so they can improve their analytics or social profile, but disregard anything important about their own mental health. Take for example Instagram, by constantly viewing the analytics of a personal profile, the worry of what to post and when to post becomes more important than the actual enjoyment and freedom of the social media platform.
When does it become something for your own pleasure versus something only for the sake of others?
In addition, from a user’s perspective, knowing that websites (Facebook anyone??) can record and track your data may also be worrisome. How do we know what is being tracked and where our information is going? For large companies like Facebook, I tend to wonder parts of my online activity is being tracked and if I would want my activity to be tracked in the first place for monetization purposes. Are we really free to do what we please online? Or, is our every move just crucial sets of data for large companies to record and sell? Analytics has its pros and cons – I would argue that, especially in today’s technological age, that it is very important for us to understand what happens with our data online and when it can be of use and when we should take precautions.
