Tag Archives: pub 101

PUB 101 Peer Review #3 — The Power of Painting

For my final peer review, I had the pleasure of reviewing Carissa’s blog — The Power of Painting. As a 4th-year Communications Student, minoring in Publishing and Digital print, her website focuses on documenting her creative journey with painting!

Right off the bat, I was impressed with the simple yet stylistic choice of her theme and colour palette. The relaxing hues of pastels and neutrals contrasted really well with the overall white background of her website. Her content focuses on all things painting while describing her various experiences, techniques and ideas learned throughout. I would argue that her intended audience demographic would range between the 16-24 age group. Carissa is very vibrant and youthful in her writing and I think it would attract those who are similar!

In terms of organization, I really appreciated how her content was categorized in their respective sub-headers. At the top of her website, there is a dropdown menu that separates both blog posts and PUB 101 content, showing her eye for detail and functionality for users.

In Travis Gertz‘s reading by “Design Machines” (2015), he explains the impact design has to make or break a brand. I think Carissa did a great job at evaluating a website theme that would promote a relaxing and easy-to-navigate page. Her website is purely one the represents herself through her art/blog posts and puts the notion of “connecting the content to the medium” into action (Gertz, 2015).

One of my favourite parts of Carissa’s website, was the Gallery feature. In this particular section she displays a collage that showcases some of the past art pieces she has painted for herself, friends and family! I would argue that Carissa has created her own digital garden where she has cultivated her own little piece of the internet. In Tanya Basu‘s article she defines a digital garden as a space that “explore[s] a wide variety of topics and are frequently adjusted and changed to show growth and learning, particularly among people with niche interests” (Basu, 2020). I hope Carissa chooses to continue posting on her website as well as her instagram account so others can see her amazing work!

Possible Opportunity for Monetization!

After seeing this gallery, I couldn’t help but think about the opportunity it gives Carissa to monetize and gain revenue through her art (only if she wants to of course). In our lecture with guest speaker, Trevor Battye, he explains how success comes from a combination of one or more of these features:

  • A niche tribe which you lead
  • A voice that a brand can attach itself to, to speak to a tribe
  • A monetizing action, for your audience to respond to

Ultimately, I believe that Carissa’s website has what it takes to gain profit from what she creates. If I were to make any suggestions I would advise her to move the left and right navigation buttons to the bottom of the page instead of the middle. I found myself getting distracted a bit while reading a few of her blog/process posts.

Conclusions

Overall, I really enjoyed seeing the progress that Carissa has made with her blog and brand as an artist. The image to the left represents a bit of what has happened since she began her journey as a painter at the start of quarantine. I find it very encouraging to see a visual representation of what hard work and dedication can do. It’s great to see her using her extra time

Please make sure to check out Carissa and her wonderful website at — www.powerofpainting.com and her some love. I hope you continue painting after this pandemic is over & consider selling/commissioning your artwork online. Best of luck! 🙂

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Peer Review #3- Marylou Villegas

For my final peer review, I will be reviewing a blog by Marylou Villegas. On her About page, Marylou describes herself as “a singer-songwriter, a YouTube content creator and a full-time student”. When I read this, I was so impressed, I barely have time being a full-time student!

At first glance, her blog looks to be about her singing and music career. This was really interesting to me because I had not seen a blog like this before and was quite different than the other two blogs I previously peer-reviewed.

I first chose to watch a bunch of her covers, she has a really beautiful voice! You can really tell she is passionate about music and that she has a lot of experience. Clearly, her music and channel are well-loved by her audience, she has over 180k subscribers on her YouTube channel!

In general, I think Marylou’s audience comes for her amazing covers and updates about her music. She has a really great following on other platforms and hopefully, that transfers over to her blog!

Marketability

I think Marylou’s blog is a great place to market herself and push her brand. For starters, she mentions that she has multiple channels like YouTube, Instagram and Spotify. I noticed them all linked at the bottom of her about page, but I think that they could be more prominent on the home page or have their own tab! This way, her blog can act as a home base for everything Marylou and if some people didn’t know she had a Spotify or YouTube channel, they could find it all in one convenient place.

Speaking of her YouTube channel, while I was watching one of her covers, I got an advertisement right before. This is really interesting to me because she is already monetizing on this platform, which makes sense because the video I clicked on had 3.8 million views!!

Advertisement on Marylou’s most viewed video!

One of my suggestions would be that when she include outside links, she could choose the option to open that link in another tab, that way her audience can easily come back to her site. It’s a super small thing, but I personally find it a little annoying when I am on a site and when I click a link it leaves that site and if I keep clicking, I eventually lose the original site I was on.

In her future, I definitely see merchandise as a way for her to get some income from this blog and her other channels. This could be in the form of clothing and accessories or Vinyl/CDs that she would want to sell. I think that would be really cool to have and this could easily be included in a store tab or sidebar. This way of making money reminds me of some really big artists and Trevor Battye‘s friend who took his prints and paintings and made them into pillows.

While there is no shame in using her platform as a source for revenue by using advertisements for things other than herself, I personally don’t think they fit on this page. If you go on any authentic artists’ websites, you never see any pop-up ads or ads on the side-bar that do not have to do with the artist themselves. Because of this, the audience can tell that the artist is not just in this for the money but for the passion.

Conclusion

Overall, I think Marylou’s blog is a great place to market herself and bring together all of the different platforms she is on. I am really excited to see what she has in store for her in the future and I will definitely be following along with her journey!

Go check her blog out here!

Bye for now 🙂

<3 Carissa

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Remix Something

Hello!

For this assignment, I was trying to think what I could remix. For some reason, I instantly thought of remixing a song, but that doesn’t really make sense for my blog and/or is really out of my abilities.

So I decided to remix a painting I found on Pinterest.

  • Original
  • Remix

I decided to paint the exact same painting, just in cooler colours.

Thats all for this assignment! Let me know what you think 🙂

<3 Carissa

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The Democracy of Social Media

In today’s time, the impact of social media is such that if you were to not speak anything for the rest of your life verbally but were voicing your opinion digitally on a platform, you’d still be highly impactful. Social media, at its core is one of the biggest tenets of democracy but democracy is interpreted in different ways and is fluctuating constantly. The level of freedom an individual has on social media, is now dependent on their status and the audience they are connected to.

Social media, although claiming to be a space that is equal for all to voice their opinions, is heading towards becoming a completely authoritarian medium. The average person is told their actions on social media are in their control and uninfluenced. In reality, the authoritarians of social media, which can be further categorized as government representatives, officials, parties, etc., have become more and more strategic in their manipulation of the information that is distributed on digital media. Politics looks very different over the years as social media has become even more of an outlet to promote political campaigns, advertise groups of people believing in the same idea, and constantly influence the decisions the citizens of a country make. For example, Donald J. Trump, president of the United States of America, is one of the most talked about and well known people on social media, although not in the best way. His actions are the epitome of unacceptable and irrational, yet somehow he gets away with everything he says. This is because he has a following of people that support him blindly so he can say whatever he wants and to whomever he wants to. However, had it been any other person in place of him, they would have received more  backlash and faced consequences for their words. Being an authority figure and  a person in power gives him the buffer to be unfiltered. In the article “From Liberation To Turmoil: Social Media and Democracy”, authors   Joshua A. Tucker, Yannis Theocharis, Margaret E. Roberts, and Pablo Barberá talk about how “Social-media technology is young, but has already played a part in numerous turbulent protests and a highly polarized U.S. election. Social media have often been described as the site for conflict between “good” democratic forces who use social media to make their voices heard and “bad’’ autocratic and repressive forces who aim to censor this channel to silence these liberal elements” (page 47). This explains how the shift in the idea of democracy in social media has taken place over the years. Another example is Greta Thunberg and her receiving mixed responses on her responsible attitude towards the environment. Her freedom to express her opinions shows the democracy of social media but the attempts to make her points seem invalid by numerous people, demonstrated that the freedom to express comes with the idea that what a person says are not as important if you are not a person in power. This goes to show that the democracy claimed to be existent on social media in today’s time is a myth and used to make the general public believe that they have an equal opportunity to express their voice without any restrictions.

Secondly, the type of audience and the age demographic impacts the response received on a statement and in turn impacts the freedom to express. In general, whether it be praise and approval or backlash and criticism, it is different when it comes to the platform and the audience it is used and viewed by. For example, Tik Tok is a platform that has individuals sharing and creating content over varying age groups. One minute you could be watching a Tik Tok with a university student giving tips on how to schedule your life, and the next minute a person could be seen supporting Donald Trump. Each type of content affects a different type of audience and the thoughts expressed  in each one are drastically different as well. This goes to show that democracy does exist on social media but the backlash will be received on certain content that is found offensive or unappealing to the audience watching it. There will be people supporting the content receiving backlash and there will be people disagreeing with content being supported. If the response received on a statement or thought someone has to say, makes them change their mind about it, then the freedom of expression is not really there. In situations where the statement is negative and deserves backlash, for example with Donald Trump, freedom of expression or democracy of social media is an important thing so that the wrong can be criticized. This means that social media, however democratic we may consider it, isn’t actually so democratic because your thoughts can be influenced because of the audience it’s distributed amongst and that is not a negative thing all the time.

In conclusion, the existence of democracy in relation to social media is based on individual experience mainly. The freedom to express one’s thoughts and concerns while worrying about the  response it will receive is creating somewhat of an invisible filter between the person expressing  and the targeted audience. Social media is a democratic platform to begin with, but as the complexity of what it means to have freedom on such a platform increases, the more difficult it is to determine the democracy of it.

Works Cited:

Journal of Democracy Volume 28, Number 4 October 2017 © 2017 National Endowment for Democracy and Johns Hopkins University Press

Social media is rotting democracy from within January 22, 2019 https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2019/1/22/18177076/social-media-facebook-far-right-authoritarian-populism

Psychology of Cyberspace – The Online Disinhibition Effect http://truecenterpublishing.com/psycyber/disinhibit.html

Social Networks And Democracy: A Difficult Fit, Or Just Plain Impossible? October 16, 2019 https://www.forbes.com/sites/enriquedans/2019/10/16/social-networks-and-democracy-a-difficult-fit-or-just-plain-impossible/

Peer Review #1

This is a peer review on my classmate David Nam’s blog “Pro Gaming Review”. 

Firstly, we will talk about the design aspect of the blog. I can see that he has thought about and put effort into how his blog appears visually. At first glance, the colors are very eye catching and I’m sure a person visiting his blog will be intrigued and want to take a deeper look at the blog’s content. The color contrast is well chosen because the purple heading and blue background make the blog pop and stand out. The blog is very organized and it is easy to find posts because they are organized into relevant categories. The labelling is also done accurately and when skimming over his content I can see that he has put effort into what he’s written about. The vision board is a Venn diagram/mind map and he has a description to go along with it talking about how he narrowed down to choosing to make a blog on video games from a bunch of his hobbies. About the vision board, I feel that he can add more imagery so that it appears as an actual “vision” board rather than an infographic of some sort. I would also suggest talking more about further plans and ideas and where he plans on taking this blog. 

Secondly, I’ll talk about the content of his blog and his online self he has created. I like that he made a connection to his childhood in his ‘About’ section because as a reader/viewer it helps you understand where this hobby is coming from and even for non-video gamers it helps them better understand the personality of the blogger. He has a section dedicated to gaming reviews which I think is very helpful for people wanting to try those video games because if they search on google they can narrow down to David’s blog and will find helpful information. The reviews are personal in the sense that they come from his experience and don’t seem fabricated which connects to what we learned in class about having a true presence of yourself. It’s important for blog viewers to be able to see who you are as a person and what your opinion is not what others think or have said about the same thing previously. I can also see he has kept up to date on assignments and that is commendable because it is very hard to keep going and keep consistent. That’s also another thing about creating a successful online self. David staying on track and consistent with his work, is very good for his personality online because when he has more viewers and people who look forward to his reviews and content, they will stay engaged and be excited to see content. Eventually more people will be drawn to his blog  due to content but also because of consistency. A good example is “Wikihow” because they post so often that even if the content is not as helpful or engaging, they have people viewing their page a million times. This is why I feel David has done a good job with keeping consistent and making good content. Overall, I’d say his blog is doing well and learning has been applied well. Only suggestion is talking more about his vision of the blog and maybe adding more visuals if possible. Also his reviews and assignments could use a bit more thoughts. Other than that he has done a great job.

Below is a link to David Nam’s blog “Pro Gaming Review”.

http://progamingreview.com/

Installation and Vision Process

Blogs are A LOT of work, let’s just put that out there. If I didn’t have someone to guide me on the entire installation, editing, backend process I don’t think I could have gotten my blog up so fast. I found that making an account and registering the URL and domain was even a little hard for me. I couldn’t decide what name to use for my blog’s URL and the fact that I couldn’t change it after was something pressurizing. However, once I decided on the name I could tell that not being able to change it is better because you learn to own your URL name rather than keep changing and rethinking it continuously over time. After that, figuring out how to set up categories, make posts, edit the actual blog itself, was so mentally draining for me. I just couldn’t understand what I was doing wrong and how to access everything. I had a lot of help from Jaiden, my TA otherwise I was going to keep drowning in worry.

When I learned how to do editing I thought about how I was having such a hard time because of the mental block I had created for myself with overthinking. I have also learned that blogging is not easy at all. It takes a lot of you; your time, your energy, your personality, and your heart and soul literally. I’m still in the process of learning and making my vision of how I want my blog to look come alive. It’s very difficult to recreate the vision in your mind’s space out onto a canvas; whether it be on paper or digitally and you can’t understand that until you try it yourself. My blog is nowhere near what I want it to look like or “imagined” it. It’s a work in progress and creativity is not my strongest pursuit which I know a lot of people say but are saying it as a casual statement. I realize that my blog may not look like what I want it to right now, but I’ll keep working on it to get as close as I can.

Interaction with a Stranger

A few weeks ago, I was at chapters to pick up a book I ordered. I was waiting in line and this girl started asking me if she should get a hardcover copy or a paperback copy of the book in her hand since she couldn’t decide. I told her that I had done some research and found out that hard cover is meant to last longer but paperback is best for travel purposes or just carrying around. I myself, was getting a hardcover copy of my book so I figured she’d prefer the same. After talking about the book type she should get, the conversation continued. She seemed young, around the same age as me, so I decided to ask her if she goes to high school or university. She then went on to tell me she just graduated from high school and is now attending university online. Don’t worry we are getting to the good part….

So, our conversation kept going and I found out that we both graduated from the same high school! We were both surprised since we had never talked or seen each other and I know that may be hard to believe but I was always more of an introvert in school so I had limited friends and acquaintances. Plus there’s so many kids and your energy runs out by the time you graduate. We talked about our experience briefly with Covid-19 and how university is going and it was nice to get to know someone else besides the other people I already knew from school. We even exchanged socials and I have talked to her a few times since! It’s true when they say this is a small world-like really small for real.

Reflecting on that experience, I find that talking to someone face to face, is so much more engaging and connecting. I’m not saying that getting to know someone online through facetime, zoom, etc. is any less meaningful, but there’s a sense of disconnect when everyone feels like they have to act a certain way or say certain things in order to make a connection with one another. Another thing is, the fact that we are online so much now especially because of school, it gets tiring to talk to someone for “interaction” online repetitively. I’d rather meet people and talk in person. However, I still prefer a balance since I’m not super social but not super introverted either. I guess I’d call myself an ambivert because it really depends on whose company I’m in and the energy they bring with them while interacting.

Essay 2

When I was 17 years old, I started my first blog. I have always had a passion for writing but never had an outlet to do so. When I started university, I finally found my way to sharing my art. It started with writing an article for SFU’s newspaper, The Peak, to finding my voice in Her Campus at SFU.

The truth is, I have been waiting 3 years to make it into this Publishing 101 course. I felt like it would be the start of something new for me and finally make me feel like I have a platform for my words to be read. And it did.

I have always known I want create a publication that feels like a safe place for people to turn to and generally keep them entertained. I had a few goals going into creating this blog: Writing in the dark under the stars. Navigating life, Discovering New Music, Discussing Pop Culture, and Showcasing Other’s Talent. I have leaned towards lifestyle, music, personal stories, and serious themes. By serious, I mean talking about taboo topics people may not see often. I have a 3 part series planned for a future post that discuss the question, “will we ever truly know who anyone is?.” answering the question, digging into wondering if we will ever know who we truly are, and ending with finding yourself amidst all of this.  

One example was the article I have written about “Intersectionality.” It follows the story of Jennifer Harris being removed from her university basketball team due to the fact she is a person of colour and over the assumption she is gay. It is a story that is the perfect example of intersectionality that not many people seem to know about. I plan to learn more about these stories and inform my readers of them in the future. I also plan to talk more about life and the acceptance of some things not going the way we plan often.

Overall, I would say that I have created my publication in, as Amanda wrote in her peer review, a digital diary type of experience. It is about life, the ins and outs of the world, and genuinely enjoying what life throws at us. It would imagine my audience is for people of all ages, but I can also see it being catered towards people still finding themselves and looking for someone who relates to their situations.

Through my articles about a hair care routine, nostalgia on the past, lessons I have learned through my teenage years, and even my album reviews, I would say that I am addressing my imagined and real audience through captivating posts. I always made sure that I include an “aesthetic” so to speak photo and ensure my paragraphs are separated and easy to read.

My design includes large squares of photos that summarize the story I am about to tell. Thanks to my first peer reviewer, Maggie, suggested I change my background image to something that does not let the words get lost in it. That suggestion helped shape the way I see my blog and the way that it presents itself.

I take pride in the content I produce. I make sure to write about topics I enjoy and that I know other people will enjoy. I plan to produce more content that is challenging yet entertaining. Informative is more like it. The content I have provided thus far is more lifestyle based. I want to take a turn and make this blog be reflective of my 20’s. I am 20 years old and already feel like I have been through more than enough to keep me going for awhile. I personally enjoy story times, so I would like to incorporate more.

Google Analytics was really useful in terms of figuring out what I needed to do in order to boost my views. It was interesting to learn about the details of Google Analytics, such as bounce rate, and felt like it gave me that push to create the content I want to. I mainly kept my articles to this class and my friends. My friends have provided me with so many positive comments and thoughts. They genuinely enjoyed reading my posts, or so they say. It was not until I went into the analytics and tried to figure out how to boost my engagement and views. I finally took the plunge and posted the link to my article in my Instagram bio and gained 37 new viewers. I learned that people will read my posts when I promote them and they are most active in the mid- afternoon and early evening. This feature helped me gain the motivation I needed to carry on with my blog and reach as many people as I can.

Reflecting back to when I started this blog and writing in general, I have always been afraid to share my work. It reminded me of the article by John Suler that discusses the “You Can’t See Me (Invisibility)” section of our online disinhibition. I always hid in the behind my screen, as he explains “in many online environments other people cannot see you.” (Suler, 2015, par. 6). It is easy to hide who you are through your posts, but I have always made my posts personal, making it near impossible to hide my identity.

I find it ironic as I am afraid for some people to discover my work and read it. I believe moving forward, I need to understand that if I want to make it as a content creator and for the future of this blog, I need to start sharing my work. There really is nothing to lose if people I know start finding out about this blog. I am proud of what I post and would not post it if I felt like I did not want it associated with me.

Overall, my goal for this blog is to keep posting content I love and continue to expand my writing. I am very happy that I was able to get into this course. All of the lessons I have learned in lecture and from the guest speakers are areas of writing and producing content I never would have known about if I did not take this course. There is so much more to creating a blog than it seems on the outside. The analytics, incorporating transmedia channels, collaboration, marketing, and the list goes on. I will take every lesson I have learned in this class and move forward with this blog. I cannot wait to look back on this blog at the end of my university career and see where I am now.

May I continue writing and expanding my work through the creation of this blog and carry these lessons from Publishing 101 with me through these starlight adventures.

References:

Cook, Emily. (2017). Emcookxo.wordpress.com. Former Blog. Retrieved from: https://emcookxo.wordpress.com/.

Cook, Emily. (2019). Starlight-adventures.com. WordPress Blog. Retrieved from: starlight-adventures.com

McCrae, Amanda. (2019). Peer Review #3. Peer Review Blog Entry. WordPress. Retrieved from: http://www.amandasadventures.ca/academic/peer-review-3/

SFU, Her Campus. (2018). Emily Cook | Her Campus. Online Magazine. Retrieved from: https://www.hercampus.com/user

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

Su, Maggie. (2019). Peer Review #1. Peer Review Blog Entry. WordPress. Retrieved from: http://mlovetoshare.com/poisel/peer-review_1/. http://mlovetoshare.com/poisel/peer-review_1/.


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Starlight Adventures: Community Guidelines

Community Guidelines for starlight-adventures.com

The goals of starlight-adventures.com are to assist readers and contributors to maintain a safe space and an entertaining environment. I want to create connections that are mutually beneficial to both parties and promote collaborative involvement and opportunities.  

In order to achieve these goals, it is important for all of us truly create this safe space with our shared interests by following these guidelines:

Guidelines

  • Treat others online as you would treat them in real life
  • Be tolerant towards other’s view points and respectfully disagree when opinions do not align
  • respect the privacy of those sharing
  • communicate with courtesy and respect

Do not

  • make personal attacks on those contributing 
  • post prejudiced comments or profanity
  • avoid: name calling

Others

  • Stay on topic: keep all discussions relevant to what is posted 
  • If you see something, say something in a respectful manner
  • Always strive to be as supportive as possible in every discussion or post shared
  • No self promotion unless discussed otherwise 

This is overall a safe space and platform for those to share their opinions and new ideas that could be beneficial to us all. 

If needing to discuss any of these guidelines or wanting to contribute an idea, please contact me here. 

Featured Image Reference: My personal account on Canva designed by me

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Let’s Start Integrating!

After my recent process post focusing on my Google Analytics, I noticed how lost my visits are. They were decent, but not as a high as I know it could be.

View count from March 12-18

I decided to just take the shot and promote my blog to my Instagram followers. And it made all the difference.

View count from March 19-25 after promoting articles on my Instagram Story

I had gained 37 new users over the span of a week.

Using social media platforms can really impact how much of a following one has and how many views we are able to reach

Something I think I need to take note of is: consistency.

The reasons why people gain a steady following and consistent views is because of how often we post and how much content we produce and promote. 

I want to start posting more frequently. Whether that be posting more articles or posting more on social media, I feel that this will help me gain more readers. 

I want to start incorporating Instagram in terms of promoting my articles on my story so then people can easily access them through the link in my bio. I am more interactive on Instagram with my followers so perhaps posting photos related to my posts can help as well. 

Utilizing hashtags on Twitter can help me relate and reach more audiences. I want to start posting my articles on Twitter that have to do with music so then people who have fan accounts for certain artists will read them and hopefully provide feedback and support. 

Twitter is very versatile and I believe this platform has the most room for growth and I plan to focus on these trends and post more. Perhaps tagging who the articles may feature can help as well. 

The one transmedia channel I need to integrate is Facebook. I have way too many family members on there and do not want them reading all of my articles. I feel like there will come a time where I will start promoting them on there. I think I will share this  blog when the course ends to show off all my work I have done through this semester.

I also had an idea to promote my blog on groups I am part of on Facebook. 

Overall, my main issue is my insecurity. I feel like people may judge my work and not truly support me. But honestly, that is just part of life.

I want to be a content creator so I need to get over this fear to get anywhere. 

I plan to work towards integrating more social media platforms to promote my work and even collaborate with some others. 

If all goes to plan, look out for me on your social media platforms sometime soon!

Featured Image Reference: @Keti_98 on weheartit.com

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Accepting Change: Meet Bean

this is bean

I heard a little bell around 3 A.M.

I walked into my kitchen and was greeted by my new furry friend. 

On March 11th, I was sick in bed and was sleeping away. My phone started to ring and it was my mom, who I obviously had to answer.

She texted me a photo of a 7 month old tabby cat that needed a new home. “Bean” was the name. 

She asked me if I thought she was “cute.” I said “yes,” thinking it was just a casual question. 

“Should we get her?” was the next. 

I was very hesitant about the decision and cried for several hours later next to our cat, Scarlett.

Almost 3 years ago, I lost my beautiful cat, Rainbow. We had her since I was 2 years old and she was our absolute pride  and joy, the best television watching pal, and had so much love to give everyone.

During our time with Rainbow, we also got another cat, Scarlett.

Rainbow always made sure to show Scar who the boss is. Scarlett is a less affectionate cat but jumped right on my lap when I had to say my last goodbye to Rainbow.

Since then, Scarlett and I have become closer. We formed a bond when I came back from New York and I was very scared to let another cat come into our life. 

I was afraid to let my memory of Rainbow fade and have a new “replacement” of her. 

I came home after a long Tuesday and was about to meet Bean for the first time.

My life changed for the good.

What was once hesitation is now pure happiness. 

I learned that Rainbow will never be replaced and I am blessed to have those memories with her to hold on to forever. To reflect back on. Those will never change.

Only a week later, Bean has acted like a therapy cat to me. Between her cuddles, noises, excitement to see me… she gives me so much that I was missing.

I am writing this in the middle of the night just filled with love. In fact, I am currently refereeing a fight Scarlett is trying to start with Bean.

All of the hard times I face and tough days, she helps heal them. Pet’s really do cure all.

Scarlett is not a fan of Bean (yet) and it has been very hard to accept. 

I know the time will come when they get used to each other.

But for now, I appreciate both of their love.

And for the first time…

I am thankful for this change. 

Featured Image Reference: @BlueBittyMoon on weheartit

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What I Learned As A Teenager

On September 2nd of 2018, I had to say goodbye to my teenage years and hello to my twenties. I personally feel like my teenage years ended when my mom cancelled my Seventeen Magazine subscription. It was a weird feeling to not have my age end with “teen” anymore. It feels bittersweet. I also find it weird that this is the decade I will have to truly become an adult. I have no idea what these years will hold but that makes me excited. I may move across the country, land my dream career, could potentially get married, see my friends have kids, and all things in between. Yikes.

I would say I have had the “typical” teenage experience. I experienced a lot of “firsts” from first “date” to first “heartbreak” (lol), skipped school to go to McDonalds, went on midnight drives and adventures with friends, sent those risky texts, had a room full of J-14 posters, went through a black eyeliner phase, spent summers at the lake and in my backyard with my best friends, turned the legal drinking age, had a Twitter fan account for various celebrities (which I have been forced to use because Twitter locked me out of my original account), and just truly lived my best life.

It has definitely been years of exploring, loving, and learning. One thing I am proud of is through all of this transition is that I have not lost myself. Being a teenager can be a really hard and a confusing experience. You don’t really know yourself and are trying to find out while juggling life.

I can proudly say I am still the Taylor Swift Loving, Concert Obsessed, Lost and Insecure, Sushi and Starbucks Loving, basic white girl you all know! I have dreams of living in a big city with my dream job and having a lowkey Hannah Montana life raising a family in the countryside. I want to open my own agency and potentially start my own magazine. I never would have thought my love for all things pop culture could lead me to this whole field. I hope to travel the world doing what I love and continue to live my best life. I hope one day I make an impact on someone’s life for the better.

Now, on a serious note, I decided to make this post to reflect on what I have learned and experienced through the years of being a teenager. Whenever I post something, I hope it helps someone in someway.

I hope you take something away from this post that could benefit you, help you from not making the same mistakes I have, blackmail me, realize you are not alone, anything.

Now, I present you the journey I have experienced as a quirky and relatable teen!

Take A Chance On Life

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Something I have learned is to give everything a try, even if it may turn out really bad.

I regret skipping out on a job interview when I was 15 because I was too nervous to go. I could have started gaining experience and breaking out of my shell earlier on, but my mental health is alwaysgoing to be more important. Thankfully I have come around and am not afraid of taking chances.

I wish I didn’t care SO much about what people thought about me growing up. I would not want to wear certain things, dye my hair, and many other things because I thought people would secretly think it was weird.

Here is my first story: I decided to be a wild pre-teen and add blonde streaks to my hair in the 6th grade. People definitely thought it was weird, even telling me it looked like “Halloween.” I kept that hair till grade 9. I think people were just so used to seeing me as the same person all their life that me doing something drastic threw them all off. I also used to have a unibrow, that someone “kindly” pointed out to me in elementary. I tried to fix it myself in my mom’s bathroom and ended up shaving off half my eyebrow before my softball windup party. Honestly, I am blessed with the thick Italian gene brows that people strive for these days, so I should have embraced it. It wasn’t until last summer that I truly realized I need to put MYSELF first. Wear the clothes you want, cut your hair, love who you love, and all the things.

I am so thankful that I got over my freshman year of university shy self and joined a sorority sophomore year. It has brought me a community of support and I do not think I would be enjoying the whole university and life as an adult experience without them. I am currently very content in where my life is at right now. I am happy I can say that.

I am so for the whole “shooting your shot” mentality when it comes to dating and anything. I mean… it has failed for me every time I have tried but it is still worth a try! Slide in their DMs, ask for their number, apply to that job, just do it! I see all of this as, what is the worst that can happen? Rejection sucks but the sooner you try the quicker you can get over it and move onto the next. You will learn if you are wasting time that you could be putting into something better.

Balancing The Obstacles

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I have dealt with a lot growing up. Some things I am not comfortable sharing. One thing I have learned is to take a step back and pinpointing what is important.

One ongoing obstacle that I am slowly feeling ready to open up about is my problem with my body and eating. Ever since I can remember, I have always had a hard time loving the way I looked and allowing myself to eat certain things. It is still something I deal with today, but I have learned it is okay and will take time to find a balance. It was hard discovering social media at such an early age and seeing all of these perceptions of what the expected body is and the look you need to have. Social media has changed the perception of my body. It is really hard to look past all of it and love who I am, but I make sure to remember I am doing the best I can and not feeling too guilty about how I may not be “living up to the idea image.”

Balancing my studies and social life has been awkward. I definitely found myself living a more social life this past fall semester and having my grades slip. I have such FOMO and do not want to remember my university years missing out on things I won’t be able to do in a few years because I have to do a reading. This upcoming year, I am going to make sure I find a balance and use my planner efficiently. I will find ways to allow myself to have a social life but making sure I maybe do a page or so of an essay before then. I blame my high school for making me a major procrastinator.

I think it is hard to help people find a balance, because we all have our own priorities. Knowing what is important in your life and letting yourself be wild can take time to balance. Education and mental health is important.

Take Risks, live in the moment (“My parents live in Ohio.” I had to), set goals, and take control of your life.

The One Where I Cried In A Club

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Now, probably the most *tea* filled part of this post and adventure during my teenage years that I just needed to add because it was just… so dramatic.

A little disclaimer- You know I love you, but I kindly ask you to not message me questioning who these stories are about. (If you know, please do not leak it HAHA). Although part of what I do is producing content on the internet, I do have a private life and a lot that I do not share. You know I am always down for a conspiracy, but I share what I feel comfortable with and have (hopefully) moved on from the situations and would not like to relive them. But, as always, I have a lot of saved tea to spill for some future endeavours… so I will share all eventually (in detail), but for now, this is the only cup filled.

Inspired by one of my favourite content creators, Katy Bellotte, she wrote a post on her blog thekatyproject.com titled “Almost-Lovers”, and it basically talked about all of the boys she has had “things” with that could have potentially been lovers, but of course, has ended the same as they all do. Ghosting, second choices, ignoring you at parties, and all things inbetween. Every person has left us with a moment they cannot take away. After recently listening to her podcast (Thick & Thin), I have decided to share the first time I truly felt a “heartbreak.” A.k.a I discovered I do have a heart and can feel things. Crazy!

Well, this is not the story I am telling (mainly because I forgot why) but in the first grade something happened with my “crush” and all I remember is laying on my parents bed, faced up at the ceiling, and aching inside. I really wish I knew why but that was the first time I FELT heartbreak. How random. ANYWAYS, this is my more grown up story of the time I cried in the club over someone who I thought felt the same way I did. (Narrator- we still do not know if they did, but that is besides the point. At the time, I assume THEY DID NOT).

A month or so before I was literally the “I don’t know why I’m crying in the club right now” meme, I met someone who I instantly felt a connection to. I ignored the feeling at first because I haven’t experienced that feeling in years. Since then, I still haven’t. It wasn’t until a few people came up to me a week later telling me they noticed it too and asked me about it.

I do not trust anyone these days. Even the thought of them being interested was not enough to make me BRAVE and talk to them more. Little did I know what was going to happen in the months to follow.

I pushed the feeling aside and ignored it. I was not going to go through another ninth grade dance watching my crush sway with my friend to “She Will Be Loved” by Maroon 5 and having a single tear roll down my cheek. CLASSIC. My best friend still makes fun of me for it TO THIS DAY and we decided to make a playlist of all the songs I have cried to. (You’re Welcome.).

ANYWAYS.

My friends event was coming up and I was really excited to see everyone again and go out. The day before, this person messaged me asking if I was busy that day. I will never forget seeing “ This person is typing…” for the first time since we met and feeling like I was in some Taylor Swift song.

Of course I was busy that day, so I told them but we had a plan to meet up later on and just say hello. 

I was not comfortable going out alone, so my friend was going to come with me but got sick and did not stay long at the club and at this point I was already drinking and there was no way I could have gone.

I was messaging them throughout the night and it was going really well. But, here is the downfall: When I was in the club, I told them I couldn’t leave because I was, well, not functioning, and did not want to leave my friends. They were trying to find ways to see me but ultimately it was just not going to happen. I could feel something coming.

All I remember reading was “Okay. Whatever.” and I was SHOOK. It felt like everything that could have potentially happened was destroyed and they had given up on me. I thought I ruined something that could have grown.

My friend that was with me messaging them was like, “are you okay?”. I say “yes”, as tears are streaming down my face. If I have learned anything these years it is that I have MASTERED hiding my crying. There have been so many times I have been in the car or in public bawling and no one notices. Maybe no one cares about me but I like to think I mastered the art of hiding my emotions.

Through the loud music, people dancing, friends giving me the classic “You are so much better! He’s not worth it” pep talks, I felt an overwhelming about of emotions I have never experienced.

It was later when I got home (after finally finding a taxi. @Vancouver, why is it so hard?) I realized it was the beginning of what was going to be a new found feeling I have never experienced before.

I sat on my bathroom floor like the dramatic teenager I was and cried to “Getaway Car” and “New Year’s Day” by Taylor Swift. Random song selections, I know. I laugh at it now but at the time I was so sad! Tragic.

I ultimately got up and continued to live my best life because I had to go to work in a few hours. But since that moment, I have seen this person here and there. The feelings are not as strong, but something has stayed consistent and has worn off. I have seen people in between these times, but I have not found anything close to the feeling I found. And that is okay. I looked at this as being thankful I even found a feeling worth holding onto and know it is out there somewhere.

So moral of the story is: Feelings are weird and I am not a fan. I have definitely grown a lot since that moment and thank this summer for giving me the time to realize my worth and learn. The Emily at that moment thought this was the end of something special, but today I know there is so much more to experience and it is not worth the tears. I can now say I will not settle or fight for anything I feel is not reciprocated. I know love is out there and time has been my bff.

Even though this was a dramatic experience with an awkward ending (a story for another day), I thank this person for helping me realize my worth and discover this feeling. As Katy said:

“He or she was not just a failed attempt at what you will eventually have with someone else. Every potential relationship is either love, or a lesson. Don’t look at it any other way.”

Like, Realizing Things

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I guess ultimately I can say that it is WILD how nothing truly matters.

Everything I cried about, was worried for, and thought I would never get over, eventually wore off. I think I have just become numb to everything that used to bother me and I am kind of glad.

Of course, there are some things I do need to worry about. I will worry about them when the time comes and continue to just live in the now.

Life is hard. Being a teenager was hard. Trying to find your place in this world and living instead of just existing has taken some time but I am happy with where I am at.

A Special Note

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I just wanted to say thank you to my family, friends, sisters, mentors, teachers, and everyone who has played a part in getting me to where I am today. I am so lucky!

I Am Left With This

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  • I am a firm believer of dress like you are okay with that outfit being your ghost outfit for the rest of your life
  • Elle Woods is my queen
  • Appreciate your family
  • Laughter is the best medicine
  • School work is not worth the cost of your family
  • It is okay not to know what you want to do in life
  • Order your favorite dessert
  • Send that text
  • Be unapologetically yourself
  • Quality over quantity
  • Surround yourself with the best people you can grow with and conquer life with
  • Give everyone a chance
  • I will be on a reality show one day
  • Be confident
  • LIVE
  • Spend all your money on concert tickets
  • Remind people how much you care for them

In my 20’s, I am not letting anything hold me back. I am taking this time to be unapologetically myself and live the best life I can for me.

*All photos are my own*

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Who Is Following Me?

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

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Peer Review #3: amandasadventures.ca

First off, I would like to start off with my apology that this Peer Review #3 is posted late. I have been fighting a throat, ear, and skull infection the past 2 weeks. It has been hard to stay awake and focus on school work but I am here now for Amanda’s peer review!

Amanda’s home page is very welcoming. The title “Amanda’s Adventures” with the pale pink background and photo collage adds a beautiful start to the adventure we are about to have on her blog. 

As she writes in a personal journal style, I believe her intended audience would be friends, family, classmates, and people who generally like to follow along with others lives and lear new things. Like me!

Audrey Watters states: “Having one’s own domain means that students have much more say over what they present to the world, in terms of their public profiles, professional portfolios, and digital identities. Students have control over the look and feel of their own sites, including what’s shared publicly.” (Watters, 2015). 

This quote reflects with Amanda as she envisions her audience. Amanda is presenting her true authentic self through her posts and creating a digital identity that her viewers will see. She shares personal stories that can resonate with others. 

Amanda definitely does not have the “You Don’t Know Me” effect in “The Online Disinhibition” John Suler describes. Amanda makes it clear who she is to her audience and opens herself up to them.

Some of Amanda’s tags include “adventure”, “democratic”, “awareness”, and “SFU.” These are great navigations when exploring her blog and finding exactly what we may be looking for. 

This was all I have learned based on her home page alone. So let’s dive into her pages!

Her about me is also very welcoming as she lets her audience know she is an English major and potential REM minor. This relates back to my review of how her audience may potentially be other students looking for others to go through this journey of university. 

A few of her hobbies include reading, writing, and listening to music and she also emphasis’ her passion to travel. These could reach a wider audience as the travel community is huge and people of all age groups are interested in music and reading. 

“Follow me on my journey as I experience the ordinary, extraordinary and everything in between.”  

I clicked on her article “Reflecting on a Year Gone By” and felt connected to her passion for travel. This feels like a true travel journal and could be marketed as such.

Her article “Girls Night Out!” and “Why Tuesday’s Are My Favourite Day” are so wholesome and reminded me a lot of what my former blog was all about and the adventures my friends and I had in the 11th and 12th grade. The simpler times, before university took over our lives. 

I believe her marketing to her audience would include, as mentioned earlier, people interested in more personal and travel posts. If she posts pictures on her Instagram relating to her traveling posts, I feel she could get a lot of traffic from there!

She linked her Instagram and icons below to find her on social media and e-mail which helps when connecting to her audience.

I noticed through her loading page, the pink and purple stripe that sways back and forth, occasionally caused pages to load slower on a mobile device. Using the lab computers worked fine! I believe this was made with Elementor and potentially can be the cause; which is common. Overall, it adds a cute and friendly look! Just potentially changing something in terms of loading speed could help but that is only a minor critique. 

Overall, my general impression of Amanda’s blog is that it reminded me a lot of why I started writing. I have to admit, I have been in a very big creative block lately and have not felt inspired to write. This blog was like a breath of fresh air and I cannot wait to continue reading in the future! And fangirl over Ariana Grande together!

♡♡♡

Audrey Watters. 2015. “The Web We Need to Give to Students.” https://medium.com/bright/the-web-we-need-to-give-students-311d97713713#.4d7j8rs6x

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

Featured Image Reference: Tumblr User

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Week 8: Remixing and Choosing

So for the mini assignment this week was about remixing something. At first I was very interested in the smartphone trends. For example, Tik Tok is gaining popularity over here in North America where you can post a video of yourself acting or lipsyncing to a song and someone can add onto yours or remix it. I thought that would be a great idea to do a remix, but it would just be copying someone else.

But just a few days ago, my girlfriend was in an elevator when these 2 dogs were interacting with each other. The Shiba Inu in the picture was very affectionate to the other dog, and the dog was quite hesitant. We exchanged a few edits back and forth then that gave me the inspiration to make my own.

While it was focused primarily on what I feel in studying, I guess I should give some background too. The courses that I’m taking in my last semester are heavily involved in technology. Sending in assignments, writing emails, and writing blogs. Mixed in with what I have to check for things I bought, my work schedule, updates on graduation, etc. it becomes exhausting. The Shiba Inu is representative of that. And I, kind of just taking it. I’m not claiming my remix to be deep, but a better context to how it fits overall!

Essay 2: Reflecting as A Blogger

When reflecting on my own blog, I see a stark difference on what I expected and what the course has taught me. In the beginning, I had an innocent idea of blogs. It’s an online space to express yourself and connect with people who have the same ideas. I still keep that idea when I write on my blog. However, throughout the course, I have changed my perspectives because I am more conscious on how it affects cultures, individuals, and workers. As ‘neutral’ as my content is, I don’t feel ‘safe’ because I am vulnerable with my content. Anybody can find my information and turn it against me or misuse my words to feed their own narratives. I want to explore this ‘fear’ and how the course has made me more careful about what I post and what I share online. It doesn’t necessarily discourage me from using the internet and social media. But my awareness has allowed me to be more appreciative of the people who create ‘controversial’ content that can endanger them or the people around them just because one person on the internet does not agree with it. My goal is to express my self-awareness in an active role. It’s not enough that I consume media writing about someone’s demise to the pitchforks of the internet. I want to be aware of that in my daily conversation online and offline.

Alice Marwick and Rebecca Lewis writes about media manipulation and the dissemination of disinformation online (2017). They discuss the events revolving around Wikileaks’ distribution of the hacked emails of John Podesta, Hilary Clinton’s campaign chairman (Marwick & Lewis, 2017, p. 2). Users from the message board 4chan quickly spread misinformation about the emails and how subcultural groups such as the alt-right groups who have given this scandal greater media attention than Trump’s own allegations (Marwick & Lewis, 2017, p.2). These groups leverage their online presence and take advantage of the ‘vulnerabilities in the news’ and increase the coverage of their messages (Marwick & Lewis, 2017, p.3). This topical example has impacted U.S. politics today and in my opinion, gave voice to the hateful and divisive groups in America. I am reflective of how this affects my own online presence. It’s good to be knowledgeable and aware of the power of these groups, and I want to be more conscious about that in my own online interactions. In my blog, I speak about productivity and the impacts of smartphones on our day to day lives. I address the conflict between our attachment to our phones and this growing dependency to it. I think part of this conversation that I learned from the course is also the responsibility of the user. I cannot mindlessly use my devices and ignore what exists in the same spaces I connect in. I try to have ‘conscious’ content and express that throughout my blog.

Mike Caulfield writes a thought provoking piece on Digital Literacy and what we should follow (2016). What I found relevant to my reflection is his example of the Tree Octopus. These digital literacy acronyms and rules that are commonly shared to schools are useless in determining what is real or fake on the internet (Caulfield, 2016). The tree octopus is a fake cephalopod with a fake creature page that shows it has evolved into an amphibian and survives on land (Caulfield, 2016). What Caulfield found was they did not distinguish this by using acronyms to detect fake news, but just by knowing and learning that it’s impossible (2016). This leads to his proposal that to be digitally literate, you must know the web (Caulfield, 2016). What I think he means by this is that we must be aware and critical online as we are in our day to day lives. There are going to be groups and individuals who will misguide users because they don’t know anything better. Dissemination will be used for political gain or to harm minorities. I want to continue practicing these conscious ideas online. My blog is as vulnerable as anyone else’s. But I try my best to learn more and carry that knowledge with me.

I am reminded of UCL’s social media discoveries and why it’s important to be conscious of how it is affecting our day to day lives (2018). Discovery #12 writes that social media has a profound impact on gender relations (2018). This is a small example on this bigger picture of bettering myself in the online space. They find that users have benefits in using real or fake accounts to express sensitive topics and coming out against heteronormative relationships (UCL, 2018). Even though I am still cautious of my own personal information, I think there will be ways in which I can express myself. Knowledge and discussion will better me as a blog writer or an internet user. While I still carry this fear, I want to play an active role and this course helped me prepare for it.

References

Caulfield, M. (December 19, 2016). Yes, digital literacy. But which one? Hapgood. Accessed on November 26, 2018. Retrieved from https://hapgood.us/2016/12/19/yes-digital-literacy-but-which-one/.

Marwick, A. & Lewis, R. (2017). Media manipulation and disinformation online. Data & Society. Accessed on November 26, 2018. Retrieved from http://posiel.com/outline/full-semester-outline/.

UCL (2018). Social media can have a profound impact through gender relations, sometimes through using fake accounts. University College London. Accessed on November 26, 2018. Retrieved from http://www.ucl.ac.uk/why-we-post/discoveries/12-social-media-can-have-a-profound-impact-on-gender-relations-sometimes-through-using-fake-accounts.