Socialgo

Using Socialgo was helpful to expanding my knowledge for other types of social networking sites are available today. For the majority of social media uses I tend to stick with those that are more familiar and known, like Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. However, there really are a handful of other social networking sites that have potential to grow in to something much bigger. Like Pinterest for example, the site has grown to gain so much recognition recently it's exploding with new users. Socialgo is different because it serves as a platform, and a place for others to start and create there own personal social media networks, for whatever reason, cause or organization deemed appropriate by the user. It definitely is a site I would consider in the future should I need to use something of it's nature.

Blog Topics

I really was happy with the fact my group chose 'sustainability' as the topic for our site's cause. I worked over the summer in the PR department for a hotel which stood out in their sustainability efforts so I have had some experience working with sustainability. I turned to their website to seek out some information about what they have done in the past to make their hotel a more sustainable place for not only it's guests but employees as well. I used some of the projects I worked on during my internship as content for my blog posts.  

More Group Work Online

     After having finished Project 3 and having to work with group members I felt like I was a little bit more prepared to start Project 4 as it also involved online group work. At first I was a bit confused by the project and what we had to do but once my groups site was up and running I had a better understanding for what it all entailed. Having worked on a few different blog type projects so far in this class has helped me to gain better knowledge of how online sites work and operate. Although I am still not 100% confident with my graphic design skills, it's definitely been something I have been trying to improve through out the semester and hope to continue working on in the future.

WikiTravel Post Write

I feel that I definitely learned a lot through doing the WikiTravel project. I obtained greater insight for the use of wiki’s, how they work and their purpose. I was unfamiliar with WikiTravel initially starting this assignment but I think with more input from knowledgeable sources the site has room for great potential.

Completing this assignment helped me to gain better understanding on how to draft entries for sites like WikiTravel and what content is most beneficial to its’ readers. It is important as the writer to put yourself in the shoes of the reader, and in this case the reader is aiming to travel and explore new things. 

At first I was unsure of what destination to write about and what exactly should be included in the entry. I then thought back to the few times my friends from here at URI have come to visit me back home in New Jersey. They are all originally from Johnston, RI and in planning their visit I thought about all of the most unique places I would want to show them and included those sites in my post.

As I continued writing I realized I had much more information than I realized and had to cut back a bit. A well-organized and detailed entry for WikiTravel definitely is something that would prove to be very helpful to someone looking to travel.  

I enjoy going to new places and sharing my experiences with others, writing for some type of site like this would be something I could potentially be interested in for the future. 

Interworking on the Internet

               I’ve taken an online class before and was already somewhat familiar with the workings of such classes. Adjusting to online classroom environments is difficult at first but as the semester has progressed I’ve learned to better understand how things work. However, I’ve never had to work on any type of group projects online previously so it was something new to me.

After initially getting in contact with my other group member it wasn’t too difficult to communicate and coordinate working together. The great advance that technology has made, even small changes over the past four years as a college student, makes for a more feasible group work schedule. It’s sometimes difficult to balance your own life, let alone manage time to work on a project as a team with the busy lives of others.   

The use of the Internet allows group members to contact one another at any point during the day. Communicating via the Internet or cell phones makes it easy to set deadlines and discuss what sections of a project each member is to cover. Also, not having to always meet face-to-face takes a little less pressure off each member giving them the leisure to work on their part wherever they feel most comfortable.

Bella Brow Design Analysis

The website for the new eyebrow threading business, Bella Brow, in the South County Commons was the site we chose to redesign. The business itself is fairly new as well is the website. It has a great start and is very easy to follow through out all of the pages. There aren’t many link options and each page is consistent in its lay out as well as color scheme. As all pages follow the same color scheme and lay out and don’t provide a great deal of information, they do seem to be a bit repetitive and could be improved.  

WikiTravel Manual of Style

WikiTravel provides a lot of guidelines, tips and instructions when it comes to their ‘Manual of Style’. There were three pieces of information outlined that I found to be helpful for writers as they craft entries to be submitted on WikiTravel.

First, as the writer you should think what exactly it is you want to get across to your audience. The ‘Main Page’ guideline offers five main concepts that are typically featured on the site. If aspiring to ‘make it big’ on WikiTravel selecting one of these options as your goal is a good place to start. Subcategories for this page include the ‘Destination of the Month” and “Off the Beaten Path”, “Discover” articles, selected major “Travel News”, a group effort for “Collaboration of the Month” or a “Star Article”. These options provide some starting point for writers as they begin.

The next section I found helpful was in “Travel Topics”. This pushes writers to think outside of the box and put themselves in the shoes of other travellers. It points out that perhaps people aren’t just looking for a great restaurant to get dinner at and are interested in other helpful details, such as weather. For example, the first time I travelled to Florida I had NO idea that it rained almost every day for at least 20 minutes. Other areas of information travellers may wish to know include if the destination is handicap friendly or is there fast access to a hospital for a traveler with health concerns.

Lastly, I found the section about article length and content to be very useful, especially for help in my own WikiTravel project. I love to talk which sometimes takes a toll on my writing causing it to be lengthy. The idea that an article should be long enough for a traveller to print out and put in their pocket is helpful to keep in mind. This allows for the writer to really focus on including only the most important information needed.  

Wikitravel

I've heard of Wikitravel before but have never personally used it or explored the site myself. The concept though is generally the same as Wikipedia as it was noted to have been an inspiration in the creation of Wikitravel. It could be a potentially very helpful website to people seeking travel advice and tips, especially if a specific destination is easily locatable through their search engine. The destinations that are edited frequently provide more accurate and up-to-date information for site visitors. The negative side is that it still is a wiki and can be formatted by ANYONE. This leaves room for false, outdated and inaccurate information as well which may misguide those who read articles. If wikis could find a way to have the information posted verified perhaps the credibility of such sites would increase over time. 

Still Working On It...

            After finally deciding what my 'clubhouse blog' was going to be about I felt much, much better and was on the way to getting things up and running. However, I still am having technical difficulties with the actual lay out of the page. I'm trying to learn how to do the graphic end of this all and am still struggling to get it all how I have it pictured in my head. I also am not really positive if I want to keep the blog's title but it's all still a work in progress. I have been having a good time turning what I love to do in to something I can look at online.

Clubhouse

             So, over the past week I've come up with the five topics I believe I would not only be interested in but would also be influential and credible in my writing. I'm the type of person who gets bored easily and I'm always thinking of new ways to do things or new things to do all together. However, I've come to notice there a certain few things that keep my attention consistently but that I've always loved and had a passion for. I believe that in doing this project I will be able to find a way to tie all of those things, or at least a few of them, together and share the things I love so much with others who share the same interests as well. With that being said my five topics include the following, music, food/cooking, beauty/lifestyle, nightlife and lastly, travel.
            Music has been a part of my life since... basically since I was born. My parents both have a serious passion and love for music of all kinds and I grew up with music playing in my house 24/7. Their passion for music ran off on me at an early age and I purchased my first CD when I was in Kindergarten (No Doubt 'Tragic Kingdom' one random childhood detail I'll never forget) and went to my first show when I was in 5th grade, Nsync, seats right next to the cat walk, it was amazing, the end. Ever since then I was in love and music has never let me down since. Over the years I've gone to countless shows and still have a whole bunch coming up this year already as it is. My friends joke around and call me their DJ because I'm always the one they go to for new CD's, a good new song or for any good music news or details about upcoming shows. When it comes to music, I guess you could say I know a thing or two...
          The second topic I chose was food and cooking. This is because my appetite for cooking and food are one in the same and like music, I grew up with this in my life as well. I've never been trained in any sort of cooking techniques by professionals, but I think learning from my mother over the years qualifies as a close second. My mother has always catered our family dinners, parties, holiday celebrations and countless dinner parties. She has cooked with well-known chefs and has even held a few cooking classes   before herself. Needless to say her love and talent for cooking rubbed off on me as my curiosity always caused me to ask questions, taste her food and watch what she did as she went along.
        Now that I live away at school on my own I'm thankful that I paid attention all the times she was preparing various dishes, and I'm sure my close friends will agree. I love cooking when I have the free time and I love it even more when I get to enjoy it with all of my friends, especially when I get them all to help me. This is definitely another topic in which I have a lot to share and talk about.
        I chose my third topic, beauty and lifestyle, because I also have a strong interest in both. I've worked doing a lot of stage make-up growing up and through out high school and have a love for the art on a personal level. I make sure I stay up to date on the latest trends and news in the fashion and beauty world. However, this topic selection as far as my knowledge goes would only draw in a female fan base.  Next, I picked nightlife because I have been fortunate to experience some of the best night clubs and lounges. Public relations is part of what I'm studying and I'm a pretty good judge at what different crowds will enjoy. I've been to all types of lounges and clubs and know who would have a great time where.
       Lastly I picked travel as a topic. However, I don't get to travel quite as much as I get to. I visit a lot of random places with in the states I've lived in and visited but never really been anywhere international. Needless to say I'm beyond PUMPED to be going to Puerta Vallarta for spring break this year. I enjoy this topic and would be able to write a thing or two but perhaps this topic is one I should save for later down the road after I've had the chance to visit all the places I hope to.

Ideas, ideas...

                     Since the weather was SO gorgeous today, one of my friends and I decided we'd take advantage and go for a beach walk. While we were walking and talking about our classes and what not, the topic of my 'clubhouse' blog came up and started a whole new conversation. As I mentioned in my other post I have blogged a little bit before but it didn't work out as great as I had hoped and my friend and I began to brainstorm with ideas on how to improve and expand on what is already somewhat in existence. 
                     I'm not going to say exactly what it is yet, but I think we might have come up with just what my blog is going to be based around. I feel a lot more confident about creating and maintaing the blog after having talked about potential ideas. I think tonight we're actually going to do a little bit of research and a test run I guess you could say, to get on the right track for providing the blog with the bestttt content. Let's see how this goes....

Blog Fail Take One

            I had a lot of free time on my hands toward the end of last years spring semester so I started a blog and was doing well with keeping up for a while. However, all of that free time disappeared quickly once summer came and I started working a 9-5 commuting in to NYC everyday. During the time I was blogging I really enjoyed it especially due to the fact I was blogging about something I really was interested in. Even my boss during the summer had told me numerous times to get back to blogging. Since I didn't really have much luck after the first two months with my last blog, I'm hoping the fact I'm going to be getting a grade this time around will help to keep me up to date with posts, pictures, etc. I'm still thinking if I want to re-vamp the blog I started or just have a fresh new start for my clubhouse blog. Either way, I'm looking forward to working on a project that will focus directly on something I'm very educated in as well as passionate about. 

Tech Learning 101

            I'm HUGE with social media, especially Twitter, yet unfortunately designing a cool profile for my account is probably the extent of my graphic designing ability. I've been talking a lot over the past few months with a close friend of mine, who is AMAZING with graphics, about how I've been hoping to improve my own skills. I was really intimidated upon first reading the syllabus and required projects for this class but then I realized the assignments would in turn teach me a few more things I need to know about blogs, how they work and gain a better sense for the graphic aspect as well. I also am looking forward not only in learning how to maintain a blog, but how to be effective in writing it as well.

"Weblogs: A History and Perspective"

             Thinking about the history of blogs, or 'weblogs', the first things that come to mind are LiveJournal and Xanga. These were, as far as I'm aware of, were among the first few online 'blog' type of websites I remember ever coming across. It's almost as if they were almost a foreshadowing of how big social media would blow up in the following years. These were some of the first online sites in which most of my friends joined and used as a place in cyber post to write whatever it was we felt. As the years continued and technology advanced greatly, as the article mentions, weblogs and other type sites blew up and grew immensely to create new online communities. 
            The concept of weblogs being link-driven I feel is still very popular today. Although as mentioned sites like Blogger have given bloggers more freedom to their blogs style, format and layout, top blogs I feel really still respect the practice of being link-driven. For example, newer sites like Pinterest allow its users to create their own profile with their own pictures and comments. However, the main concept behind the site is to link thinks you personally find interesting back to the original source giving them due credit. Also, it is common for blogs to have tabs or pages for 'other blogs we like', or some title along those lines. 
          While reading the section of this article about how these blog writers are experts at micro content, I immediately thought of Twitter. To me, blogs are meant for lengthier comments to express or convey some sort of opinion, information, story etc. The idea of micro content comes to mind for social networking in which you're only given a certain amount of character space to strategically get your word out. Blogger veterans who have mastered the art of micro content probably are doing well with the more recent online social networking sites where the length of your content is key. 
         It has been quite interesting to see how in just even the past ten years how much the blog world has began to take over the world wide web. There are new blogs being created every day giving people all over the chance to express themselves and become influencers in the community they are joining.