As this project comes to an end, I feel like I have enough substance to really think about the progress I have made and things that I could do to make it even better. I feel like its strengths lie in the effort put into it. I didn’t do so well on my Print Media Project, so I felt inclined to really make this blog good. I played with the templates, came up with a travel theme to reflect my blog’s overall theme of spreading my wings into a digital world, while incorporating pieces to create dimension in my personal endeavors. Some weaknesses would be that I’m somewhat new to the blogging scene, so it doesn’t look or function nearly at the same level as a blog done by a professional blogger. I also don’t have a specific career that I am pursuing since I honestly don’t know what one thing I want to do. There is always room for improvement with research for content, links, templates, design, audience reach and more to make it a top-notch professional piece of online material.
Although it is a rather amateur blog, I feel like I learned a lot when it comes to how to blog. I became familiar with the Blogger program, how to move things around, publish and adjust settings to my desire. Every time I log in, I find something new to incorporate to my blog to make it more interesting and more professional, and ultimately show my growing experience. Also, writing about content that interested me was rather enjoyable. Even though it was a bit difficult to figure out what to write, once I had a solid idea the post seemed to write itself. I also spent a lot more time editing than I had anticipated, and that’s where I found the real work. The question of ‘how do I say this?’ can sometimes be more difficult than ‘what is it that I want to say?’ Although the posts didn’t take much time to write, the revision process definitely took a few hours! I would have to say the three most important changes I made were in theme adjustment (title, background, colors, etc.), narrowing down the focus in each piece, and the About section at the top. These changes help clarify the blog so the reader knows exactly how to relate each post to the theme, effectively communicate my purpose of career and interest exploration for future jobs while incorporating the digital media and new technologies, navigate easily, and so that it ultimately comes together as a wholesome, interesting blog.
Overall, I found it to be a bit challenging and that I definitely need to work on writing professionally online. Since my prior experience was minimal, I found that learning by doing was the best method of improvement. I know that my current desire to be a good writer and my previous skills provide a foundation to make me a great writer, but I know that I have to practice to master anything. I will admit that the work load was daunting since I have a lot on my plate with other classes already, but I somehow managed to put in the effort needed to complete the tasks at hand and learn along the way. If I had three more weeks, I would probably work on making it look more professional, add more interactive content and apply more fine tuning and maybe even report on my application statuses for possible internships and new careers I find intriguing to pursue.
If I could give this blog a grade, I would give it an A. I feel like the design is simple and easy to navigate, there is variety in content, there is a variety of interactive media, it’s visually appealing with complementary colors, and the theme creatively ties my posts together. I chose the title to be Bon Voyage because that’s exactly what my pursuit is- a trip, a voyage, and a process of arriving at a destination. I also elaborate on my love for travel, so that ties the theme together even more. The background is a post card to complement the title while enhancing the aesthetics so that it is appealing to look at. I feel like I adequately address the specific topics and have a clear message in each post that is relatively interesting to read while still relating to the emergence of new technology and digital composition in my chosen career paths. Although I don’t have one specific career in mind, I feel like I lay out my interests, goals and plans of finding my dream career pretty well so that the reader knows the general direction I want to go and what types of jobs I would want to do while simultaneously gaining experience in writing through digital media.
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