Tag Archives: pub101

Process Post #9

Data Trail

In recent years, the most popular word is “big data,” which has been widely used in various industries. If statistical analysis of data is based on the vertical classification of existing data, then big data is based on processing existing massive data to make predictions and recommendations for data that have not yet been generated. Therefore, big data is often used to predict or recommend things that have not happened yet. For example, a weather forecast is one of the oldest and most well-known predictions. According to the forecast, people can decide what to wear the next day and whether to bring an umbrella. 

Big data is also ubiquitous in the film and television industry. Based on the analysis of audience preferences, predict and design the plot that the audience likes, find the actors loved by the audience to play relevant roles, and even predict the box office. 

Big data can even intervene in politics, the most famous of which is the 2018 Cambridge analytics and Facebook event. Cambridge Analytica improperly obtained the personal data of more than 87 million Facebook users (Ma, 2019). Moreover, they used these data to participate in and influence Donald Trump’s election activities.

It has to be said that it is terrible to be in an era of big data utilization. 

However, can we escape big data, or are we really willing to escape big data?

In fact, all of us are like Amanda mentioned in a podcast called Digital breadcrumbs: the data trail we leave behind us. As long as we turn on our mobile phones, we have begun to leave traces of our digital bread crumbs. 

Dr. Elisa Oreglia said: 

A “digital trail” is a trace you leave behind you. It’s almost like Breadcrumbs. Sometimes intentionally, sometimes unintentionally when you use a mobile phone; but also when you use a computer, or when you use really any kind of technology that has a chip in it.

Therefore, all our online activities are being observed and recorded. 

However, we have to admit that big data has gradually become our intimate housekeeper or best “friend” when it comes to snooping and recording our privacy because Big data can judge our possible preferences and even needs based on our historical behaviour and recommend the best results to us.

In the end, I think everyone has their own answer.

 

Reference:

Digital Breadcrumbs: The data trail we leave behind us. Pod Academy. (2016). Retrieved March 21, 2022, from  http://podacademy.org/podcasts/digital-breadcrumbs-our-data-trail/

Featured Image by wattpad via Pinterest

Ma, A. (2019, August 23). Facebook understood how dangerous the trump-linked data firm Cambridge Analytica could be much earlier than it previously said. here’s everything that’s happened up until now. Business Insider. Retrieved March 21, 2022, from https://www.businessinsider.com/cambridge-analytica-a-guide-to-the-trump-linked-data-firm-that-harvested-50-million-facebook-profiles-2018-3#where-did-it-come-from-3 

My Experience in PUB101

Since enrolling in PUB101, everything I thought I knew about publication has been expanded. I have learned so much about how much effort goes into creating a website. From branding to content, and advertising, there are so many aspects that are vital to a blog. I had to come up with a topic to write about, then how to identify and engage my audience, and how to understand my website analytics. This essay will reflect on how and what I have learned while establishing my presence as an online publisher over the past semester. 

Since the beginning of the term, I have been working to develop consistent branding, content, and cultivating my digital garden. In other words, space where I can focus on what I would like to research, rather than catering to a large audience (Basu, 2020). A digital garden is more about creating a niche to call my own (Basu, 2020). I did not struggle to set up my site at first. However, after receiving feedback from tutorials and peer reviews, many of my classmates found my blog a bit confusing and busy. I was quite happy with it up until that point, but I knew there must be a way to please both myself and my audience. Around week 7, I tried to work more on branding and completely changed the theme on my site. Fortunately, there are now many more options for customization. I decided to make my blog all about reviewing albums because I do a lot of research into music on my own time. I figured turning a hobby into productive schoolwork would be a win-win. While researching albums I reviewed, I learned more about each artist and found even more music I enjoy. In the first lecture, it was stressed to base my blog on a hobby or interest I already have, as it would make posting about it each much easier. I thought about doing album reviews because I knew it would be sustainable, there are so many albums out there. I believe that the content I have put out over the term has been consistently good because I have enjoyed writing all of my posts.

Over the term, I have not had much engagement on my site, besides my classmates. Ideally, my audience would be composed of individuals who have an interest in music. The albums I have reviewed are mostly from the 2010s, with a few exceptions. However, their genres are relatively expansive in hopes to garner an audience of individuals with different tastes in music. This would allow for constructive debates about albums, where my audience could propose their opinions and perceptions of the albums I have reviewed. According to Nancy Fraser’s article Rethinking the Public Sphere: A Contribution to the Critique of Actually Existing Democracy, any media that provokes social interactions could have its own public. Meaning, if I were able to garner a wider audience, their comments and discussions with one another would be enough to create my own little public. In an attempt to address my audience, I incorporate links to my current favorite music, as well as the albums I review in every blog post. I provide in-depth knowledge on popular albums to educate my audience on why or why not I think they are good projects. In terms of analytics, I have found that the majority of my audience visits my home page or PUB101 page, usually the days before class. I have found that most people come to my page to look at assignments for class, rather than the reviews I post each week.

I never realized how expansive the term publication is until I enrolled in this course. Originally, when thinking of publication, I thought about print or books. Now I realize that there are so many different aspects in publication. I now know that publication is the creation of a public through the circulation of text, a digital commons where discussions take place (Stadler, 2009). My online self is already fairly expansive in terms of my personal social media. Instagram, Snapchat, Twitter, Pinterest, VSCO are all platforms that I use consistently. I hope to continue taking publishing courses, and will likely continue posting on my blog, as it is something I have come to genuinely really enjoy. In the future, I hope to be able to expand my blog a little bit, incorporating more than just reviews. Overall, I hope to continue portraying myself as authentically as possible online. 

Although developing my website has been a lot of work, and still needs some tweaking, I am extremely proud of the content and design of my blog. From cultivating its overall look to putting in work each week to produce the best album reviews I could, this is a project I hope to expand. With it, my online identity, which I am constantly working to put forth my most authentic self. I am excited to see what the future holds for my blog and to see it grow to its full potential.

References:

“Make Your Thing”

This week’s reading, Jesse Thorn’s “Make Your Thing” highlighted 12 steps to guaranteed success. In order, it goes;

  1. Start Now
  2. Make Deadlines
  3. Keep Your Legs Moving
  4. Don’t Confuse Content & Medium
  5. Be Authentic
  6. Follow Your Passion
  7. Focus on Great Work
  8. Connect with People You Like
  9. Own What You Create
  10. Find the Money
  11. Build a Community
  12. DO A GOOD JOB

I have read articles and seen videos similar to this one before, but this one just seemed more realistic than the others. While YouTubers preach about the consistent output of content, the monetization of their videos is not what is making them the most money, brand deals are. This article emphasized the importance of taking time to create good work while also sticking to deadlines. I am not entirely sure what I want to achieve going forward in my life, past post-secondary. But, I know that once I find something sustainable, that I am truly passionate about, I will continue to put as much work in as I can to make that my career. This course has taught me a lot about publishing and is definitely steering me in the right direction. I plan on taking more publishing courses in the future and possibly minoring in it!

This article made me think a lot about some of my favorite artists, and how they have worked incredibly hard to be successful. Some that come to mind are Tyler, The Creator  and Kevin Abstract. They are individuals who inspire me to go after my dreams, much like they have. Though I (unfortunately) have little musical talent, I love writing and this course has helped me harness that ability. Hopefully in the future, I will find an opportunity to demonstrate my talents in a career that I love.

Here are some of my favorite interviews from the artists I mentioned above:

 

 

References:

Community Guidelines

Please Do:

  • Be respectful towards others opinions
    • Understand that different people may have different taste in music and it is okay to disagree.
  • Share your knowledge
    • If there were details missed in the review of an album, leave them in the comments.
  • Communicate with kindness and respect
    • This is self-explanatory, treat others with kindness and respect their opinions.
  • Share your favorite music
    • If there is an album you want to be reviewed, send us an email or leave it in a comment!

Please Do Not:

  • Advertise or post repetitive messages
    • This includes third-party advertisements, petitions, spam, or any other form of unauthorized solicitation.
  • Use any offensive or insulting language
    • This is self-explanatory, be respectful of writers and commenters on this site.
  • Make personal attacks toward other users
    • Again, self-explanatory. Debate is encouraged, but when you disagree, do so respectfully and constructively.

Considering the lack of engagement I have on my website at the moment, it would be easy for me to filter through comments myself. Any case of inappropriate behavior will be handled and removed. However, going down the line, if I receive more engagement, I could consider using a content filter. This would remove any comments with words that I consider inappropriate. These community guidelines will help discussions stay relevant and courteous.

Helpful Links:

Transmedia Integration on My Blog

Transmedia integration or transmedia storytelling is when “elements of a fiction get dispersed across multiple media for the purpose of creating a coordinated entertainment experience.” The example given in the reading is the Pokémon franchise, which is composed of trading cards, a manga series, movies, and more. Each of these different facets must be accessible on its own, and add unique details to the overarching narrative. Each aspect is vital in its own terms, but can also be understood and enjoyed separately.

In terms of my blog, I already try to incorporate links to my Spotify and SoundCloud to enrich the experience, as there is not an overall narrative to what I am writing on here. These channels make the most sense on my blog because music is the most important aspect of it. In the future, I could incorporate more links to my social media to make the experience more personal. This would add a more individualized feel to my blog.

References:

The Dangers of Advertising in Journalism

Tom Bleymaier’s article, On Advertising – Maria Popova, opened my eyes to the dangers of advertising in journalism. In the case of Maria Popova, she has made an immense amount of money by using affiliate links and generating even more by soliciting donations. All while claiming her site is “ad-free.” According to Bleymaier, the Affiliate form of advertising is more disruptive, as it interrupts the reader with a link, and encourages the writer to change their tone in order to encourage the purchase. Ultimately, Bleymaier argues that it is morally wrong to claim to be “ad-free” when benefitting from Affiliate links and donations. He underscores the importance of transparency when using programs such as Amazon’s Affiliate links.

In terms of my site, it may be difficult to incorporate Affiliate links as there is not much for me to advertise. Hopefully, I will be able to come up with something down the road!

References:

Essay #2: The Conclusion of PUB 101

I always had an appetite for self-expression. In secondary school, I would post on multiple platforms including YouTube and Tumblr under a mysterious username. Although I constantly craved to speak my mind, I would always set my posts to private out of instinct. My self-expression was always limited to a privatized audience. This came as a result of being taught to keep things private online. In Danah Boyd’s book, It’s Complicated, she expresses the sentiment behind teaching the youth to be cautious online. She states that parents are usually concerned about their child’s online presence with worries that they might post something inappropriate or dangerous (Boyd, 2014, Searching for a Public of Their Own, para. 16). I was never posting anything harmful, but it was still a frightening thought to have something negative traced back to me in the real world. My past fears about having an online presence are important to recall when understanding how my habits have transformed throughout the semester.

PUB 101 forced me to defy the fears that I previously avoided. It troubled me to think about how others would perceive me online, so creating a public blog about myself was a significant disruption to the habits that I was normally comfortable with. The first disturbance came about when I was picking a blog name. It was such a critical decision to create a web domain that would last a year. Initially, I wanted my blog to be under a mysterious username, in the same degree as my old habits. However, I figured using my name would be my best bet at creating something unique. Since I was already taking a leap of faith by creating a blog in the first place, it didn’t seem too far off to also name it after myself. In hindsight, I’m surprised that I chose to post things under my real name where anyone could find me. This name choice was a shocking first step that paved the way for many other decisions because it went against all of the preconceived opinions that I had about creating an online presence.

After that first step, I decided to choose a blog theme. I wanted a theme that was minimalistic but also unique; something that wouldn’t take away from the content that I would post. I took a long meander through WordPress themes and initially settled on one of the lesser-known ones called ‘Pink Personal Blogily’. I enjoyed its simplicity, but I soon realized that this lone factor was its greatest downfall, since it lacked a number of customization features that I desired. Shortly after, I adjusted to the ‘Elfie’ theme. This theme allowed for the same minimalism but included more ways to customize features. I tried to keep in mind the design principles that were mentioned in class – balance, rhythm, proportion and scale, contrast and point of focus, and unity and harmony.

I was originally debating between two totally different blog topics – hockey or fashion. But since we’re in a global pandemic right now, the hockey season was constrained. With that being said, fashion was my best option. I consider myself to be heavily motivated by fashion influencers, so I thought it would be a good idea to experiment with fashion using my own personal twist. In “Digital Dressing Up: Modelling female teen identity in the discursive spaces of the fashion blogosphere” by Tara Chittenden, she explained how many females, including myself, choose to express themselves using fashion blogs. Chittenden articulates, “The complex interplay between individuality and connectedness comes to the fore in the field of the fashion blog as teens trade cultural and social capital through processes of posting, linking, and commenting” (Chittenden, 2010, para. 14). This is extremely relevant to the way that I view large fashion influencers and the way that I strive to become one as well. Popularity amongst fashion influencers stems from the idea of following trends while also creating new trends to follow. When reflecting on my own blog posts, I recognize that I do a lot to make myself become a part of the fashion community, but I don’t do a lot in order to differentiate myself from other people.     

For the most part, I provide information about products, including reviews and dupes. When looking for influencers to follow, I usually follow people who also provide reviews and dupes. In that sense, I recreate the tactics that big influencers use so that I can garner growth similar to them. This concept can relate to the idea of copycat culture that Travis Gertz outlines in “Design Machines: How to survive in the digital apocalypse.” Gertz states, “When another company achieves success, there’s a lot of pressure to investigate what they did right and apply that to our own organizations” (Gertz, 2015, para. 24). Although this is a good way to start, I also realized throughout the semester that this tactic can quickly become a disadvantage. This downfall is because there are many people who already blog about fashion and do it better than me. At the end of the day, it becomes a question of who will choose to listen to my opinion over other influencers who have a larger following? The only way to win in this situation is to create something unique; something that I haven’t done enough of. I learned this by exploring the statistics provided by my audience. Most of the sessions on my blog are surface-level interactions, with no comments. Consequently, I still have a lot to learn about how to cater to my audience using Google Analytics.

My imagined audience is other fashion enthusiasts who have a similar style as me. Although this imagined audience is whom I would hope to reach, I presume that almost all of my real audience is actually students from PUB 101. I think it would be cool to reach more of my imagined audience in the future, but I also understand that doing so takes time and effort that I have yet to put in. Before this class, I thought it would be easy to create and maintain a blog. But I realized it takes a lot of work. There’s a big difference between having an idea and actually executing it with an audience in mind. I had endless ideas about what I could post, but the way that I imagined them in my head ended up being difficult to successfully market to an audience. Although this is the case, it’s a part of growth to understand what I enjoy posting and vice versa.

After this course, I will continue to blog. I will experiment more with catering content to my audience and trying to find ways to reach more people. It will be fun to look back on my content from the past and see how much I have grown from it. I gained unforgettable knowledge from this course that I know I will use in the future. Since I want to work in the marketing industry, it was fascinating to learn about content creation and analytics. It was a valuable experience to be able to casually experiment with ways to cater to an audience, especially because it is actually a lot harder than it seems. I also learned how to use many different tools like WordPress, Google Analytics, Canva, Pexels, and Unsplash. I will be delving deeper into these new tools to use in my work life.

Works Cited

Boyd, D. (2014). Searching for a public of their own. In D. Boyd, It’s Complicated (pp. 213-227).

Chittenden, T. (2010). Digital dressing up: modelling female teen identity in the discursive spaces of the fashion blogosphere. Journal of Youth Studies, 505-520.

Gertz, T. (2015, July 10). Design Machines: How to survive the digital apocalypse. Retrieved from Louder Than Ten: https://louderthanten.com/coax/design-machines

Process Post #12: Reflecting…

There are a number of things that occurred this semester that I wish I would have done differently, or I wish could have gone a different way. In reality, it’s bad to dwell on the should’ve, could’ve, would’ves that were out of my control… but I figured I would say my piece and let it go.

COVID Gloom and Blues

Since we’re in a global pandemic, I reflected on the idea that PUB 101 would have been a different course if it was taken in person. As Suzanne reiterates regularly, I would imagine that the dynamic of the class would feel more like a community of sharing ideas and blog posts. I enjoyed the relationship that was shared amongst people who talked and turned on cameras during class, but it still felt like there was something lacking. Although I do enjoy going to class and finishing work in the comforts of my home, I also miss the social interaction that comes with taking courses in person. Presenting class materials online was very hit or miss… getting hit with Internet problems is always a worry. In the future, if I end up taking PUB 201, I will take it in person. With that being said, I look forward to the day that we can all go back to SFU campus! I can relate to everyone that is feeling a loss of motivation or energy, and I hope everyone in the class is doing well with coping. Hugs all around!

Reflections on dimsumdyke: Curating a portfolio blog rooted in intersectional feminist praxis

Over the course of this semester, I have curated dimsumdyke to be a queer counterpublic that showcases my best writing and art pieces. The blog is intended to act as a platform that showcases a marginalized experience from an intersectional lens. Readers of the blog, aside from those in or instructing PUB 101, are imagined to be fellow queer folx, artists and academics. As a portfolio, this blog serves the purpose of preserving my works digitally, some of which are available for download, for fellow writers and artists to view and reference. While the blog acts as a tool for this purpose, I have constructed this virtual garden not only for this reason, but as a sanctuary for those who are marginalized themselves, especially those of a similar background to me, to find solidarity in my work. Representation of marginalized communities that is accurate and informed by lived experience is crucial to the well-being of marginalized folx and the vitality of communities. From personal intersectionally marginalized experience, I can vouch for the fact that representation matters.

All of my work on this blog, and in the rest of my life, is informed by an intersectionally feminist praxis – a theory put into practice in an ongoing effort to address the interconnected nature of oppressions. The embodiment of this praxis is inspired by Intersectional Apocalypse, “a student-run, peer-edited, open access journal focused on collecting and sharing knowledge that is intersectionally feminist, LGBTQ2IA+ positive, anti-colonial, anti-racist, and anti-oppressive“. I had the pleasure of being a member of the editorial team for the publication’s first issue and learnt a lot about the embodiment of theory in practice, thus fostering my desire to employ intersectional praxis into all of my works.

The values that the editorial team of Intersectional Apocalypse brought forth to the publication inspired the goals that I began my publication with. Dissecting the meaning of intersectional feminist praxis, the central values instilled in my own publication are anti-oppression, accessibility, and, of course, queer-positivity. In order to embody these values digitally, I began by utilizing one of WordPress’ accessible themes and ensured that I used acceptable contrast between text and background on my site. Building off of this design choice, I developed an About Page that encompasses my values of intersectionality, queer-positivity, and anti-oppression. Following, all of my portfolio posts are rooted in intersectional feminist praxis and center my marginalized experience, with emphasis on my queerness, through the media of art and writing.

After satisfactorily developing a space that encompasses my values, my goals shifted from engendering anti-oppression, accessibility, and queer-positivity to developing a design and content that both showcased my own aesthetics and spoke to the requirements of the class. Inspired by my other online publications, such as my Tumblr and my Instagram, I wanted to ensure that my blog followed suit with my other digital media. The high contrast used on my Tumblr and the visual aesthetics of my Instagram played an inspirational role in curating my portfolio. Also inspiring my blog, both through aesthetics and content, is the queer-centered news platform them.

As the semester comes to an end, this will be my last process post. However, I will likely continue to add to the portfolio section of my blog. This website has served me well, acting as a resource to link out in applications for jobs related to my degree in Gender, Sexuality and Women’s Studies. As such, I believe it would be beneficial to myself to continue to showcase my best work on this blog. Further, I would like to grow my audience by linking out to this site on my other social media, as to invite others to learn from my work and find solidarity in it. Prior to this class, I had established a fairly strong social media presence on various platforms. I had not, however, developed an academically sound presence. My presence on social media was simply surrounding my personal life, highlighting my queerness, mixed-ethnicity, and personal interests, such as spirituality. My academic life was sanctioned to my notebooks, documents saved on my laptop, and the work conducted on the school’s Canvas website. This class allowed me to expand my horizons of academic work, affording me the opportunity to hone my skills of blog development through an academic lens and give me the space to fuse the virtual production of the self with academia, in both the nature of this blog being created for a class, and of it functioning as a portfolio including academic works. I look forward to using the tools I learnt in this class to further develop my portfolio.

References

dimsumdyke. WordPress. 2020. https://dimsumdyke.com/

Intersectional Apocalypse. Simon Fraser University. https://journals.lib.sfu.ca/index.php/ifj/

Sailor Sar. Tumblr. https://dimsumdyke.tumblr.com/

sarxh444. Instagram. https://www.instagram.com/sarxh444/

them. 2020. https://www.them.us/

Queer Counterpublics

The internet has afforded me access to spaces that center queer experiences. These spaces allow me to fully embody and indulge in my queerness. I am a part of a multitude of trans, non-binary, lesbian and generally queer groups on Facebook; my Instagram and Twitter followings are largely queer and I follow many queer folx and pages; likewise, my feed on Tumblr includes queer content too. When I was given the opportunity to create this blog, there was no question in my mind that it would act as a queer counterpublic as well. Centering queer voices on the topic of queer experiences is crucial to the well-being of queer individuals and is vital to the community. Creating spaces for queer experience to be shared is something I value greatly and I wanted this blog to act as that sort of space.

PRINTS 4 SALE

This week I worked on building my art Instagram. Over the course of 3 days, I posted 3 photos a day from my series GIRLS!. Once the entire series was online, I promoted the page on my main Instagram. My friends also promoted the account for me. Shortly after my friends and I promoted the account, I gained a following and received likes on my posts. At this time, my account still read ‘COMING SOON’; however, the next day I changed the bio to ‘PRINTS 4 SALE’ and posted a pricing list for my photos. To price the photos, I did some research on various platforms on which people sell prints, and contemplated the monetary value of the work I put into the series and cost required to produce the prints. The prices are Angel Numbers as to fit the aesthetic I have online.

Additionally, I added this pricing list with a link to @dimsumdyke to my GIRLS! post on this blog.

I decided to scrap my art Facebook as it was too hard to maintain two separate platforms for promotion.

This week, I will continue to promote my art account on my main Instagram, and will expand to other platforms for promotion. I’ve started on Instagram as that is where my largest queer following exists; however, I also belong to various queer Facebook groups in which I may be allowed to self-promote.

Managing Marketability

After our lecture, in which our guest speaker, Trevor Battye, highlighted that I could monetize my website by selling prints of my photography, I decided that I would follow through with this idea. I had already contemplated selling my art, and getting the external unbiased validation from a stranger motivated me to take action. As such, I created a couple social pages to promote my art and linked them to my blog: http://instagram.com/dimsumdyke and https://www.facebook.com/dimsumdyke. While the pages have no content and only read ‘COMING SOON’, I will spend some time this upcoming week working on creating an audience on these platforms.

Additionally, I’ve added a Creative Commons license to my photos. I selected a license that allows my work to be shared and remixed, so long as I am credited for the original work and so long as the material is not used for commercial purposes. I selected this license as I don’t want others to profit off of the basis of my creativity; however, I do want my art to be distributed for non-capitalist intentions and to be used creatively. Here is the updated post with the license at the bottom: https://dimsumdyke.com/portfolio/girls/.

I’m contemplating setting up an Etsy or something similar to sell prints, tote bags and t-shirts. Otherwise I will sell them via the Instagram and Facebook pages I’ve set up. Stay tuned to find out what I decide and financially support my creative endeavors!

Peer Review of Blog “My films Blog”

My films Blog‘s homepage opens with a large image of a man in a movie theater. This image takes up nearly all the space above the fold, except for the margin at the bottom in which the main menu is situated. This design choice could pose problems depending on the image used, but it works quite nicely with the image selected by the blogger, giving a clear visual of what the blog is about. Also, there is a button on the menu to scroll right past the image, taking the viewer directly to the blog’s content. It is effective having the heading menu remain at the top of the page no matter how far you scroll down the blog, as to always give the viewer an option to further navigate the blog. Additionally, the blog features a search function which is a useful tool, especially if a viewer wants to search for a specific film. Also making the blog user-friend, My Films Blog features effective contrast in text/background, making it easy on the eyes for the audience.

Presumably, the intended audience for this blog is fellow film critics and fanatics – perhaps even those involved in the film industry. With some fine-tuning of the grammar, punctuation and capitalization used on the blog, it would be effectively professional-looking, thus inviting serious viewers from the film industry to engage with the blog. A consistent flow of syntax could make the blog more appealing to potential professionals viewing the blog, which could in turn lead to partnerships for reviewing certain films.

For example, the word ‘this’ should be capitalized and the last sentence may want to read ‘It’s a Sora and Riku mix’. Additionally, the word ‘near(est)’ is repeated twice in the address section. In the About this Site section, it may want to read ‘in which’ or ‘where’. The author of this blog could benefit from spell- and grammar-checking their posts, sidebar, and pages.

Content-wise, the blog covers a range of films which is appealing to a variety of readers. This is important in the marketability of their blog as to draw in a larger audience. The use of bold text at the end of each film review is effective in giving the reader a quick glimpse into what the film is about and how well-rated it is.

Lastly, having a contact page where the author invites the reader to submit film review requests is very effective in drawing in an audience. One issue with this page, again, is the grammar and punctuation.

‘if’ should be capitalized. ‘i’ should be capitalized’. And finally, ‘ill’ should read ‘I’ll’.

Sources of Happiness

Snow in Cantonese: 雪 [syut3]

It was the last day of Blackcomb and PEAK 2 PEAK Gondola yesterday, so my family friend took us to the PEAK 2 PEAK Gondola which I was two minutes late and missed it last time.

Some people dressed up as bunnies or unicorns jumpsuits, some children even added bunnies’ ears to their helmet to celebrate Easter. I managed to take a lot of photos of people smiling which makes me happy too. It’s heartwarming to see so many smiley faces that I don’t get to see so often in Hong Kong.

  • Showing her daughter how wonderful the nature is

Check out the other photos I took at Whistler here!

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Marine Wildlife at Stanley Park

Sea lion in Cantonese: 海[hoi2] 獅[si1]

Stanley Park is the place I would always want to go whenever the sun comes out. It’s my third time visiting Stanley Park since my arrival in December (fourth time in total because I paid a visit a few years ago). The first time I came for the sea wall, the second time I came for the cherry blossoms and the third time I came to show my father around.

It’s a sunny day and 420, I cannot think of other places to visit when downtown is filled with the smell of weed. Originally I wanted to show my father the cherry blossoms in Stanley Park so he can take photos, unfortunately, most of them have wilted already. I guessed the best time to visit was two weeks ago when all the flowers were in full bloom.

It was a bit disappointing not seeing the cherry blossoms in full bloom, so we just casually walked around the park and enjoyed the sunshine. While my father was taking photos of two ducks on the sea, I spotted a black smooth surface floating above the water and quickly dived again. We waited for several minutes and it appeared again. I immediately took some photos. Guess what is it?

It’s a sea lion!!!!!!

I have never seen a wild one before, I hope we’ll get to see more of them during our trip to Tofino in 4 days time! Let the travel marathon begin!

Click here for more photos taken today!

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Cherry Blossom!

Cherry blossoms in Cantonese: 櫻[jing1] 花[faa1]

It has been raining all week except for Wednesday, so I went to Stanley Park to look for cherry blossoms! It wasn’t as pretty as I thought it’d be because when I see the photos on Instagram, they look very pink, but when I see them in real life, it is much whiter than what I saw on Instagram (looks like people have photoshopped too much!)

I was a bit disappointed, to be honest, so instead of taking pictures of the cherry blossoms, I took pictures of people who are taking photos of the cherry blossoms. At first, I noticed a lady who was sitting under the tree smiling. I took a photo of her. She later started walking around and I noticed that I accidentally took quite a lot of pictures of her, so I thought it’d be polite to send her the photos. It was my first time to walk to a stranger and tell her I secretly took pictures of her. Imagine if someone walks to you and says things like this… Luckily, she was very friendly and was happy that I took photos for her! She has never been a model and has people take photos for her because she never knows how to pose, which I have the same struggle. So I kept chatting with her while I press the shutter in order to capture her most natural look.

I am so happy that she likes my photos and I can make her feel special and confident! Maybe I should do that more often when I secretly took photos of strangers, that could be one way of making friends. Who knows?

More photos that I took on Weds here!

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Process Post 11: Online Shaming

In Week 11’s class, we discussed online comments and online shaming, featuring Justine Sacco’s twitter post. It read: “Going to Africa. Hope I don’t get AIDS. Just kidding. I’m white!” It went outrageous on the internet after her flight took off to Cape Town.

When we comment online, we usually don’t think much before posting. Unlike person-to-person dialogues, it doesn’t require immediate reaction. You can think about the perfect response or how to defend. It is unfortunate for Justine that she doesn’t even have the chance to defend herself as she was on a flight when her post spread like fire on Twitter. Her life was torn immediately; she lost her job, online shamed by other users. People who retweeted barely know Justine in person, but they can ruin her life in just several seconds with a click on the internet. This is how powerful social media can be.

We are afraid to make comments in real life, worrying that it may hurt the person’s feeling, not knowing what to react to others’ criticisms. However, when you see other users posting similar comments like yours in the online community, you feel like your opinion is backed. You can also post anonymously which seems you don’t have to take that much responsibility. Therefore, netizens teamed up and created a hashtag – #HasJustineLandedYet and online shamed Justine’s reckless tweet.

I then start to reflect my online behaviour. I think I’ve never online shamed anyone because I rarely comment on any social media platform. I know how fast words can spread on the internet and I didn’t want to online shame anyone or be online shamed, so I’ve always been kind of passive when coming to online activities. I am afraid to voice out any opinion online because I’m afraid people against my stance would judge me. I think the online community would only be more harmonious if people can learn how to respect others’ opinions even if they’re against you. Also, online users should think twice before making a comment, the impact could be more viral than you think.

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Essay 2: Not the end!

Last April, I have created my first website with Wix.com. It serves as a portfolio to showcase my photography work to others, especially to the employers when I am applying for jobs. I did not intend to write and post other content on the website because I feel self-conscious when people read what I wrote.

I haven’t updated the website for months as I was too busy at school. But when I receive my acceptance letter as an exchange student in SFU, I thought it’ll be a great opportunity to reactivate my website to post so I can document my journey in Canada. I am glad that I took PUB101, which “forces” me to post on a regular basis. It was frustrating at first when we have so much freedom in this course and I was still adjusting to the new learning environment here, jet lag and everything. I remember I couldn’t think of a name for my domain until I was unpacking my clothes from my luggage, then I realised how many stripes clothes I have. That’s how lilyinstripes was born.

It took me a whole night to complete the setup of the blog, from purchasing the domain and picking the theme that best matches my content. As these 12 weeks progresses, I am proud of the content I created and the positive feedbacks that I received from peers and friends from around the world.  It has resulted in a reduction in bounce rate to 61.67% and an increase in session duration to 2 minutes 13 seconds compared to the last 30 days. Google Analytics is by far one of the most useful and important tools that I’ve mastered in this course. The analytics provides me with insights to create intriguing content that will allow users to stay longer on my blog.

According to Patel (2019), bounce rate refers to the “bounce” that someone visits your website and leaves without interacting further with your site. As of the statistics by Google Benchmarks 2017, the bounce rate in the arts & entertainment industry is 58.69% (Ritwick, 2018), which is three per cent below mine. I will continue to post when the semester ends, aiming to reach through this three per cent difference by including more engaging content. When I look at the pages that my users most frequently visit, I notice that more people visit the photography page rather than the portfolio page. I think they may have expected to see more of my photography work under “photography” while I put them under “portfolio”. To avoid confusion, I will remove the photography category and use portfolio instead, so people can easily access to my photos.

When I started my first blog, I asked myself “How should I differ from other travel or photography blogs?” I knew exchange or studying abroad may seem interesting to my audiences, so I thought it’ll be a good idea to share Hong Kong culture to my Canadian friends and also allow my family and friends in Hong Kong to know what I’ve been up to in Canada. Tobi Cheung, one of the classmates who did a peer review on my blog said the Cantonese characters and pronunciations in each blog posts adds a personal touch and connection to my audience (Cheung, 2019)[, which is exactly what I wanted to achieve. Even though Cantonese is not a very common language to most Westerners, I hope to connect with my audiences by showing Hong Kong’s language so my users can understand my background and the place where I grow up in better. I see language as a way to connect with others. I realise most Westerners cannot tell the difference between Hong Kong and China (that’s the most frequently asked question by Uber and taxi drivers), we share similar language, similar characters but they are not the SAME. Therefore, I’ve decided to always include a Chinese keyword in traditional Chinese characters and its Cantonese pronunciation, so it tells more about what’s special about Hong Kong. As Adam wrote in the peer review, “One of humanity’s defining features is its ability to communicate with language.” (Schmidt, 2019). I hope my audience can get an overview and know more about Cantonese and Hong Kong culture when they read through my blog posts.

Looking back at the blog posts I’ve written, I realized how much I’ve grown and experienced in the past couple of months. First time blogging, first time studying abroad, first time skiing, first time seeing aurora and of course, my first solo trips. I am glad I stepped out of my comfort zone and experienced so many new things here! I will keep on posting when the semester finishes. I will be doing lots of travelling before I head back to Hong Kong, hopefully, there’ll be more photos coming up! Also, stay tuned to my blog if you’re interested in my life in Hong Kong! The support from all of you is the greatest motivation to keep my blog running.

This is by far the most rewarding class I’ve taken in university. Thank you all for making the first half of 2019 extra special and memorable!

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Product of the Month

The product of the month that I have chosen is fashion related instead of beauty related. If you guys haven’t read my other ‘Product of the Month’ posts then let me give you a short explanation. This is an area where I share my favourite product of the month that I have been wearing or trying out. All of the products I have chosen so far have been beauty related so now I’m going to show you guys a fashion favourite for March.

This months product is the ‘Levi Ribcage Straight Jeans’. These jeans are some of my favourites for many reasons. They are very comfortable and they fit very true to size. They haven’t stretched out on me yet and I’m not sure they will. The bow on them makes this jean super different because I’ve never seen a pair of jeans with a denim bow attached, but the good thing about these jeans is if you aren’t into the bow, it is also detachable. I love these jeans because they are long enough and aren’t cropped looking at me. I am tall enough for normal lengthed jeans to look cropped on me and it is one of the most annoying things.

Hope you guys like these jeans and find them comfortable. Definitely go and try them!

xx