What is On My Mind

Well now, I am overly angry at Blogger because this is now going to be my third attempt of doing this blog post. Every time I went to put a picture on it would freeze and not let me do anything. So here I go again. It will only be writing which I love anyway. What else is on my mind is summer. I am so excited to not be doing any homework and just enjoy getting tan, relaxing, and working. Only fave weeks away! I do love being at school too though because I have so many friends here and I have the freedom to live my life the way I want it. Being with my family though and away from my roommates will be a dream come true. I need a break from them for sure!

Another thing on my mind is the engagement announcement of Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie. Angelina has always been my favorite actress and I admire so much of what she does for communities around the world. If I ever became a celebrity stalker it would be for her! Brad Pitt is also a hottie but professionally, I have to say she takes the cake for me. I will be waiting impatiently to see wedding pictures in the magazine for this wedding of the year.

The last thing that has been taking up my mind space is my internship with PromoWest Productions this summer. I just found out that I was accepted last week and could not be more excited. I find it hilarious somewhat too because my passion in life are movies. To be working for a music industry blows my mind! It is out of my element but I am more excited than I ever thought I would be. Another reason why I can't wait for summer!

 Ahhhh Summertime :)

Comments & Classmmates

I liked what Brogan said in Chapter 73 about leaving comments. Even though you may visit hundreds of blogs each day, you are really only doing good if you leave a thoughtful and decent one. Just because you read the bog, does not mean you must comment on it. The person who wrote it will get much more out of a good comment then one that is just there to add space.

In addition to my blog, I have commented on three classmate's blogs that are fabulous individuals.
Here they are:
 Carly Straight
 Carolyn Shea
 Jenny Alu

My Super Awesome Media Class

I feel I am learning new things from this course, but more than that I feel I am just going deeper into what I already knew or had heard about. For example I have and know about Facebook but through discussions in class I have learned different ways to use it, how corporations/businesses may use it, and fun little stuff I never took the time to notice before. My favorite concept has been talking about the blogs. I had a blog for another class and it was used just to write my feelings on for English 470J. I already knew how to make it pretty and appealing to the eye but I never knew how to do other things such as taking a snap shot of a page or putting pictures on my page. Learning how companies use blogs was also very interesting to learn.

The most boring thing I have learned was about the Tag Clouds. I do not know if I even fully understand what they are yet but I was not connecting with the subject at all. It was just dry and I had no interest in the subject. I like things to be fun and exciting but Tag Clouds to me seem too simple to have a discussion on.

I can take what I am learning from class and start improving my blog, Facebook, Twitter, etc. in many ways. I can add links, pictures, images, tags, etc. to them to make them more interactive with my followers and friends. If anything , I have learned how to protect my material (privacy) and come off more professional to those reading my posts. While blogging can be a fun activity, you never know who will see it and what opportunities it will bring for you.

 I have added this picture because this is now the new background on my Twitter page. It was plain with just colors so I wanted something new that represented me more. I am a hopeless romantic so I thought this was perfect!

Wikia Wikia

What I was able to take away from Brogan was for one, there are so many tools you can use for businesses or your job. By listing in his toolkit examples of listening, search, social profile, etc. I was able to understand the meaning and purposes of each one more. There are so many ways to use these tools to your advantage. Through photo and video sharing you can post visuals that express the story of your company making the readers more engaged. Society today lives on their cellphones so by adding Utterli as a tool, you can post anything and text about your company or job on the spot to keep it very up to date. These tools can all act as the foundation for what makes your business/organization because it starts communication with the outside world and gets people chatting about you. They also help you keep track of what is going on with your job by being able to keep a journal or notes that are hidden from others. Organization is key in keeping a successful blog.

I find Wikis to be a good tool for collaborating with others on a specific topic but overall I do not feel I can take them too seriously.  They are a source like Wikipedia that you can find really good information on but not 100% reliable being most can be subject to change. I feel it is worth the investment if you are passionate about what you have created because it brings people together to discuss topics and find people who love what you love. Wikis to me serve as the ultimate blog because it is free to change and not limited to what you write about, but it should be factual. Personally I do not see myself creating one or really following them either.

A Wiki that interests me is "Healthy Recipes Wiki" and some topics of discussion are Gluten-Free lifestyles, the "Weekly Dish", and healthy living. These are most likely the prominent topics right now because due to Miley Cyrus coming out saying she is on a gluten-free diet, many have criticized her for it and it has become a hot tabloid topic. I think the weekly dish is something the readers look forward to each week so they can try new recipes and healthy living is always a topic because it is important that your body is on a healthy track. The wiki is very easy to read giving headings above each post and all videos/extra content to the sides. It is not an attractive page. It is bland with very little color and exciting pictures. I would suggest livening it up through bright colors. This wiki is publicized/promoted through culture and lifestyle. It is easy to find on on Wiki site and is one of the top choices for lifestyle within the community section. That is how it first caught my eye because it was on the home page and easy to see. Other than that it is hard to see where else it was promoted from.

Kourtney K. Blog Review

The primary blogger of the site "Kourtney Kardashian" is Kourtney herself. It is her official blog she has created and uses for anyone to use and see. She started blogging after hearing how much fun her sisters Kim and Khloe were having blogging on theirs. She likes having her blog to keep up with fans, share stories and thoughts, and post pictures of her day to day life. Kourtney is a reality star who had first risen to fame through her family's show "Keeping Up With The Kardashians" and from there has taken her success into her own hands. She is a successful business woman with her sisters as co-owners to multiple clothing lines and small endorsement deals. She seems to have two goals for her blog. First she wants her fans to get to know her better and let them know she is just like everyone else. Now a Mom to her son Mason and expecting again this Spring, she wants to connect with a wider audience such as mothers and share her experiences about being a Mom. She posts pictures of family outing, her son at the playground, and recipes that she says her family enjoys. The other goal of her blog is to market her clothing lines and businesses. She will keep her followers up to date on new apparel that will be hitting the stores, their new swimsuit line that just launched, and opportunities to win free merchandise.

http://officialkourtneyk.celebuzz.com/

Her blog would be a mix of a celebrity blog and a business blog. She keeps it very fun and lighthearted so that it is fun to browse through her pictures, read her posts, and easy to comment on what you see. She is a very well known person that everyone in America most likely has heard of so her blog can be a tool to see her fashion trends, who she hangs out with, or what new diet she is trying so you can be more like her. It is business too however because you can use her blog to learn about her businesses and when things are going on sale and where. You can also see her schedule of book signings or appearances. Her blog is organized in a professional manner. Her titles are fun and right to the point. For example her newest ones are "Happy National Siblings Day!" and "Shocking Pink Lips". Her paragraphs are not chunky but short and sweet. She does not drown you with detail about her topics nor does she fall off track in what she talks about. A nice thing about her blog is she does not have advertisements that pop up in the middle of the screen and most of her add-ons are promoting her Reality TV shows, stores, or books. She has a simple header that you can click "Home", "Gallery", "Press", etc. that makes it very easy to navigate your way around the site. She links a lot to her sister's blogs but not anyone else I could find, so she keeps it very family oriented. She does write back sometimes to followers and will share with them good places to eat, find recipes, or other cute things others may not have heard of. I find her blog to be informative and overall fun to look at.

My Social Networks

I am a Facebook junkie. I absolutely love it. I use it to stay connected with all of my friends going as far back as middle school as well as family members I only get to see every few years due to distance. It is easy for me to use because everything is laid out perfectly for me such as where to write my status, add pictures, write on others walls, and more. I am not that great at using technology but Facebook makes sure its easy for everyone to use. My favorite part about Facebook is how it incorporates pictures. It really helps me get to know others better cause I can see them in their environments. The site recently just changed by adding a bigger picture at the top. While I love a lot going on on my wall, I wouldn't change anything about it right now because it might get too crowded where I won't know what is going on or what I am looking at. I do not like the News Feed page that much because every time I try to scroll down and read others posts it skips around and can never keep up. It annoys me to the point that I hardly read anything else beyond what I see when I first log in. It is extremely collaborative because everyone is commenting on everyone else's comments and statuses, adding their inputs and opinions on subjects. We are able to post videos and news stories on our pages and it catches the interests of people and creates discussions about them.

 My Facebook Account

Twitter is another social network that I use but I do not use as often. I still use it but I do not "tweet" as much as most people. Maybe on the weekends I will post something and I have only posted one picture while others practically have albums on their pages. I just do not find it as interactive. This site is all about posting a status as many times a day as you want. On Facebook people write sentences about song lyrics or what they are doing that day while on Twitter it could range from what someones favorite socks are to where they are eating that moment. That is what makes it different though. It is colorful and gives you a vibe of being chill and calm. It allows you to just vent about what is on your mind and not feel pressured about if others will like it or not. If I were to change something about this sight it would be to choose who you see more posts from on the homepage. I feel like when I log in, I read posts about people I do not care about and even though my good friends post all the time, their posts do not show up hardly ever. Considering how much other people like it and use it, I think I may start trying to use it more and find myself adapted to it.

My Twitter Account

Google Blog

 

My goals for this class are to be an interactive as possible. I find communication to be very important in any field, especially media, because it is nice to hear the ideas and opinions of others about varies topics. I hope that this is a class with a lot of talking instead of lecture because I feel I have so much to say about so much. My goal is also to form strong bonds with my classmates. My goals for this blog is to make it creative and meaningful. I want it to be insightful but also fun and a reflection of myself. I want my blog to be educational, entertaining, and provide insights for those who read it. Blogs are a great way to network too. you never know how many or who will be reading what you say.

Google can be so fun to play with especially with all of the gadgets it has to offer. One gadget I like the most is the "Share It" gadget which I added to the top of my blog. This allows visitors to my blog posts on their social networks like Facebook or Twitter. This affects the design of my blog because it is the first thing people will see. I like that because they know right away that if they like my post they can easily share it with others. The second gadget I chose was "Cheeky Quotes" and placed it on the right hand side of the page. I did this because it represents my personality which is funny and light hearted just like my posts are. By putting it to the right side it is more out of the way though and not in reader's face which I like.