Blog 11-2: Writer's Perspective

The article I chose to analyze was written by Allegra Goodman. She highlights the stress that writers face when they’re up against their toughest critic: themselves! We’ve all heard the expression, “whether you tell yourself you can or you can’t, you’re right.” Writer’s block is intensified when the inner critic comes to call, which Goodman suggests, is around mostly all of the time! She suggests that the best solution to this type of writer’s block is to just concentrate on the writing itself. Don’t worry about what people will think of your work in the long run. Don’t worry about if your novel will be published. Don’t even worry about whether or not someone has written about something similar in the past. Instead, lose track of time, write in a trance, and hear only the characters in your head (Goodman 2001). When you fall in love with your material, Goodman suggests, others will fall in love with it too. Only allow positive thoughts to flow into your head while you write, and your writing will come out positive. Turn to your photos, music, and dreams for writing inspirations.

I completely agree with this author’s point of view. Instead of being too critical about my writing, I try to just write. No matter how well you write, there will always be room for improvement. The important part is to take constructive criticism and use it to improve your material. Throughout this course, I’ve learned a lot about the writer’s perspective in social media environments. After all, the Internet has one of the widest audiences in all publication channels! Writers may find that readers have a wide range of opinions on their material. It’s hard to not let that criticism rush the writer’s head and block creative juices. If a writer follows Goodman’s advice and falls in love with their writing, it will be more engaging and exciting for readers. While anyone can publish in a social media space, it’s increasingly important for writer’s to cite their work. That’s definitely one of my major take-aways from this course!

Reference 

Goodman, A. (2001, March 12). Calming the inner critic and getting to work. Retrieved June 9, 2014, from http%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2F2001%2F03%2F12%2Farts%2F12GOOD.html%3Fpagewanted%3D1

9-1 Blog: Multimedia Tools

Multimedia tools greatly enhance the quality of communication processes. When communicating via written word, people cannot decode body language or social cues, which makes it very hard to interpret the true meaning of a message. Multimedia tools and web 2.0 technologies, however, have greatly enhanced old school online communication. With the click of a button, two people on opposite sides of the world can chat via video conference. With products such as iMovie, Flip Video, and Aminoto, messages literally almost pop out of your screen with 3D effects. I believe that certain multimedia tools are more effective for certain individuals based upon their personal preferences. For example, I am a visual learner. I prefer to communicate with pictures, graphics, and maps over long paragraphs of text. I’ve found PowerPoint to be a great messing technique (https://aartechresources.wikispaces.com/Multimedia+Tools#Multimedia Tools-PowerPoint). This tool even allows me to add music to my presentation if I would like.

Multimedia is just that – many forms of media. Communication is not a “one size fits all” process. Communication is usually tailored to a specific target audience. The more tailored the message, the better it is received by the audience. Multimedia tools often make communicating fun and exciting. I once heard the phrase “it’s all in the delivery”. No matter the message, multimedia tools provide an engaging platform upon which to deliver.

Education Technology Resources. (n.d.). Multimedia tools. Retrieved May 26, 2014, from https://aartechresources.wikispaces.com/Multimedia+Tools

Module 8-2: Blog Best Practices

The blog that I chose to analyze is The Yoga Blog and can be found here: http://www.theyogablog.com/. I think that this blog does a great job at providing relevant, up-to-date information to those interested in the practice of Yoga. Blog posts here are constantly updated and include information from sources such as Yoga magazine and PBS. While this blog does have advertisements on the side, its primary purpose is not to sell products to the reader. I do not feel bombarded by advertisements when visiting this blog, which often turns a lot of people away. I believe that the top 3 best practices for creating an effective blog are:  

    1.)   Keep the blog up to date.

a.    If I visit a blog, and the most recent post is 4 months old, I immediately lose interest in reading further. Information nowadays is updated in real-time with technology all around us. In order to stay ahead of the latest trends, I want to read a blog that is constantly updated and on top of things as well.

    2.)   Choose fonts/backgrounds that are pleasing to the eye.

a.    Many blogs I came across were unattractive because of their large and obnoxious user interfaces. While colors are appealing to a certain extent, too many crazy colors and fonts can be a turn off. A lot of blog reading is done on smart phones, so writers should also consciously use fonts/colors that are compatible with mobile technology.

   3.)   Do not make your site “salesy”.

a.    Advertisements are a big turn-off for people. People are marketed too all day long with junk e-mail, side banners, etc. The last thing they want is to be flooded with more advertisements when they’re trying to read a blog at their leisure. I used to visit a blog on a daily basis, until a Progressive Auto Insurance advertisement would play for 30 seconds before I could continue to the site. I would suggest that a blogger keep his or her blog as ad-free as possible. 

7-2 Blog: Press Release

Joseph Vincent Paterno (Penn State) dies at age 85

1/22/2012

Joseph Paterno, longtime Penn State football coach, died at age 85 on January 22, 2012 after his battle with lung cancer. Paterno won more games than anyone in major college football, but was fired among a child sex abuse scandal.

His family released a statement shortly after his death on Sunday: “His loss leaves a void in our lives that will never be filled. He fought until the end, stayed positive, and thought only of others…”

Bobby Bowden, major league football coach and rival of Paterno, says that he hopes Paterno can be remembered for all the great things he did for Penn State. “It’s just a great tragedy”, he says.

For more information, please contact Cathy Doherty at c.doherty@snhu.edu

References 

McCarthy, M. (2012, January 22). Media dead wrong to repeat false report of Paterno's death. USA Today. Retrieved April 28, 2014, from http://content.usatoday.com/communities/gameon/post/2012/01/media-outlets-dead-wrong-to-jump-the-gun-on-paternos-death-joe-paterno-poynter-cbssportscom/1#.U0WZBqhdXAl 

ESPN. (2014, January 23). Joseph Paterno dies in state college. Retrieved May 14, 2014, from http://espn.go.com/college-football/story/_/id/7489238/joe-paterno-ex-penn-state-nittany-lions-coach-dies-85-2-month-cancer-fightv

Facebook post

Joseph Paterno, famous Penn State football coach, lost his battle with cancer at age 85. Paterno was fired after officials learned he had knowledge of a sex abuse scandal and did not take the appropriate measures. He will be missed by many dear family and friends. As one former co-worker puts it, "This is simply just a great tragedy overall". 

6-2 Blog: Social Media Tools

The three social media tools I decided to try were:

1.) Pintrest - http://www.pinterest.com/cathydoherty22/ 

2.) LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/profile/view?id=130876462&trk=nav_responsive_tab_profile 

3.) Vine - https://vine.co/ 

I believe that social media tools which incorporate pictures and videos will be the most successful. I think that part of the reason why Twitter is so popular is because there is a 140 character limit of text. People often tend to like to get things done as quickly and efficiently as possible. If there is a large block of text to read, people will often think, "I don't have the time for this." Pintrest, Vine, and Instagram all take advantage of this quality in people. I also browsed LinkedIn. This is a professional networking site. Unlike Facebook, you don't post pictures of your weekend, but you do post descriptions of your most prestigious awards and accomplishments. This social media tool is specifically for developing your professional network,and is therefore successful without incorporating flashy pictures or videos into the equation.

Reference

Aids.gov. (n.d.). New media tools. Retrieved May 05, 2014, from http://aids.gov/using-new-media/tools/index.html#tool-bookmarkingNew

3-2 Blog: Unrestricted Web Publishing

The article I have chosen to look further look into is 5 Surprising Health Benefits of Yoga in the Huffington Post by Kristen Domonell (2014). The sources listed within this article all seem credible based upon Virginia Montecino’s “Criteria to Evaluate the Credibility of WWW Resources” (2014). Although there was no reference section at the bottom of the article, the author uses several interactive hyperlinks throughout the text to cite seven sources.

• Does the author have any authority in the field?

Although we don’t know it Domonell herself is a yoga expert, she refers to Mitchel Bleier, an established yoga professional in the industry for 18 years.

• Are there any clues that the author is biased? Are they selling a product?

The author is not trying to sell a yoga mat, a yoga ball, etc. She is promoting health and stress management techniques, but is not referring readers to any specific studio or instructor. She does not sound ‘sale-sy’.

• Is the web information current?

The article was only published a little over a year ago. Readers can count on this information being up-to-date.

• Does the author have a complete list of works cited?

Although the author does not have a completed works cited list, all of her sources hyperlinked throughout the body of the article.

• Can the subject be fully covered with WWW resources or should print sources provide balance?

This subject is fully covered with WWW resources, some of which are online versions of printed literature. Some sources include works of researchers from Harvard & Washington University.

• How are the URLs deconstructed?

Six out of seven of Domonell’s sources come from PubMed, an online source of biomedical literature. This is a government site, and we can trust the information coming from this source. Government websites are generally well-kept and not open to just anyone.

Unrestricted web publishing through mass media can certainly have negative consequences, but not in this case. For health-conscious people who don’t have a lot of time on their hands, this article is available online via smartphone for someone to scroll through on their lunch break. Just as we did in this exercise, however, it’s important for people so know the credibility of an article’s sources. Who published the article and how much do they know? Unrestricted publishing through mass media can become especially dangerous when an article with false sources is widely interpreted as true. This is usually when you see a lot of ‘crisis-management’ take place.

References

Domonell, K. (2014, February 12). 5 surprising health benefits of yoga. The Huffington Post. Retrieved April 14, 2014, from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/02/12/yoga-health-benefits_n_4768746.html

Virginia Montecino. "Criteria to Evaluate the Credibility of WWW Resources."Education and Technology Resources. GMU, Aug. 1998. Web. Apr. 2014.

2-3 Blog: Social Media and Truth

Everything that I know up to this point in my life, I’ve learned through several different avenues. At a very young age (even before I was able to read or write), I learned mainly through observation. My knowledge base was built by observing my environment first-hand. As I grew up (but before I was able to read on my own), I mainly obtained information through word of mouth. What I knew to be true, I had heard from my parents, siblings, teachers, and friends. When I became old enough to seek out information on my own, I learned through books, newspapers, magazines, and many new media sources. We are “consum-nivores” because we thrive of off consuming information from these many new media channels. Once we consume it, we feel the need to regurgitate the story not just to one person, but to many people through channels like social media (NPR 2010).

People from all over the world use social media sites every second of every day. While social media sites are always buzzing with the latest top story, we must remember that everything we hear is not always 100% true. Anyone has the right to post something on Facebook, real or fake.

One thing that I learned from Facebook today is that April is National Poetry Month. Because this information is very light-hearted and doesn’t affect my life much, I believe it to be true. Generally, I use a second (if not, third) source of information to verify the information I come across on Facebook. Because this fact is harmless, I didn’t’ feel the need to confirm it. On certain occasions, social media sites are a reliable source of information. On the other hand, if I read on Facebook that we were supposed to get a huge storm next week, I would check the weather channel. Facebook is a public site and many people post even their briefest whims. These posts are then left open for interpretation by users. By the time information hits your newsfeed, it may have been twisted and manipulated several times.

Reference

NPR ombudsman / new media [Interview by A. Shepard & N. Bilton]. (2010, September 15). Retrieved April 6, 2014, from http://wosu.org/2012/allsides/npr-ombudsman-new-media/

1-5 Blog: Influence of the Media

On a daily basis, I interact with several different forms of new media. When I wake up in the morning, I always watch at least a little bit of the channel 7 news on tv. At work, I communicate through many different social media sites. I also occasionally read online news publications such as www.cnn.com. These new media channels certainly have an influence on my life. 

With the rise of social media, information was able to spread faster and further than it ever has in the past. Often times, before a story even reaches the news, millions of people have already tweeted about it! "We are becoming our own editors and groundskeepers" (Kovach & Rosenstiel, 2011). Unfortunately, similar to your modern-day high school, social media sites are ripe for spreading rumors. If I come across something on a social media site, I will always verify it from a reliable news source before I hold it to be 100% true. If social media sites have taught me one thing, however, it's that nothing is private these days. Once something reaches the web, it's no longer yours. 

There are many pros and cons to this way of communication. We are able to communicate on a global scale anytime. Unlike older media sources, technology allows instantaneous interactions. I feel like it's slowly overcoming the world, though. People are constantly on their smartphones, even when out to dinner on a date. We prefer interacting with technology than with each other. 

As Curtis (2012) states, "We trust the media as an authority for news, information, education, and entertainment. Considering that powerful influence, then, we should know how it really works." I'm hoping that throughout the course of this term, I am better able to understand how it works. 

References

Curtis, A. R. (2012). Mass media influence on society. University of North Carolina at Pembroke. Retrieved March 31, 2014, from http://www2.uncp.edu/home/acurtis/Courses/ResourcesForCourses/PDFs/Mass_Media_Influence_on_Society.pdf

Kovach, B., & Rosenstiel, T. (2011). Blur: How to know what's true in the age of information overload. New York: Bloomsbury.