So when I was publishing my group's assignment #3, I saw that there was an option to post to my blog. I just wanted to test it out and see if it worked. Guess it did! So, here is assignment #3 (I only posted my part because you prob won't read the whole thing because it is really long). If you want to view the full document go here here. Katie Acuff Social Networking and Business Assignment #3 Sometimes people just need to voice their opinions in somewhere other than a personal journal. Blogs have become the place for just that. It does not matter what the topic is, a blog can be found or created. Have a problem in your work place? Then, send your problem to the HR Lady, there is no doubt that she will give you an upfront opinion about what should be done. Want to learn how to cook with different kinds of salt? No problem, look up Deglazed. Matt, the computer nerd turned culinary master, would love to give you a lesson. Outraged about the state of schools in the US? The NYC educator will be sure to let you know that it's even worse than you thought. These are just three bloggers out of millions and they cover a wide range of topics as it is. There is no doubt that you can find a blog on any topic that sparks your curiosity, but whether it is worth reading or not is the question. There are definitely some things that can make a blog stand out and some things that can set it back. For this assignment, I went through some of the best blogs to find out what really works. Evil HR Lady evilhrlady.blogspot.com Writing Style: The Evil HR Lady has a slightly different approach to her posts than most blogs I have read. She will pose a problem or question submitted by reader in italics and then goes on to describe the situation in greater length and really pick it apart. She is very upfront and opinionated, but not in a good way. I really like to hear different opinions on topics, but in this case, her opinions are very self centered and irritating. I feel like she tells the reader what to think instead of allowing the reader to form their own thoughts. I almost feel as if I posted something in opposition to her blog entry she would snap back at me and tell me that I am wrong. The posts on the Evil HR Lady blog tend to be longer than desired in my opinion. I read about half way through and I feel as if she drags on her point and could have cut a lot of words. While the wording is easy to read, the posts are not concise. Writing style evolution: The evolution of this blog has been formed not by the writer's commentary but by the questions submitted. As time has gone on, the questions and dilemmas have gotten to be more complex, deserving more extensive answers. The questions and answers have gotten longer and longer. However, as the posts have gone on she finally stopped referring to herself in third person, which was much less irritating. What attracts comments: Up until recently, there have been about 2-8 comments on each post of the Evil HR Lady blog. Now, each post gets anywhere between 10 and 20 comments for each post (which makes sense seeing as the blog made the "Best Business Blogs" list at the end of 2007). The posts that get the most comments tend to be the posts that affect more people than just the writer. For example, the post with the most comments is about paid time off. Most people have a very strong opinion about what they think they should get as far as vacation time and sick days go. Also, this topic can spark a lot of discussion because there is no consistency in companies and their policies on time off. The posts that attract the least comments tend to be those where it seems like the Evil HR Lady has addressed all sides of the dilemma and therefore does not seem welcome to posts (because she clearly knows all about the topic). Gadgets and Advertising: There are very few gadgets on this blog, much less than the blogs we have created for class. There are very few small icons at the very bottom right side of the page that allow you to see the site's stats and a visitor counter. The only things that she includes on her blog are links to HR sites and things that she reads. There is also no advertising on her blog except for the small picture that you can click on to see that her blog made the "Best Business Blogs" list. While it is nice to not have many distractions on the page, it makes the blog seem a little bit less legitimate. If the blog had not made the "Best Blogs" list, I may not have trusted the HR Lady's credentials. Deglazed Writing Style: Matt, the blogger responsible for "Deglazed" writes with very clear jargon. I can almost hear someone saying what is written on the page. The language is how anyone would speak to a friend and therefore makes it fun to read. The thing I like about the posts are that they allow us to follow his thoughts and day to day activities. He tells funny stories that relate to the food content of the post, since, after all, it is a blog about food. The only problem with giving the reader information about himself is that occasionally it makes his blogs a little longer than desired. I read about three fourths of the entry and then am ready to move on to the next no matter how interesting the post is. However, most of the blog entries are a great length. Writing Style Evolution: Surprisingly, the authors writing style has not evolved much over time. He has stayed very consistent from the beginning. This is an odd case though. The author of this blog has switched from a career in computer programming and online marketing. I am sure that through online marketing he learned how to conduct himself online. The writer of the blog has had a sense of purpose from the very beginning with his blog. He has a very clear personality through his writing and has kept it constant. He has a great sense of humor which adds greatly to a blog that has the potential to be a very bland and straight forward blog about cooking. What attracts comments: The reader can definitely tell when the writer of the blog is excited about something that he is writing about, whether it's a great new recipe or a movie that he loved. The posts that have an attitude of excitement tend to get the most comments on this blog. However, the comments are typically not very long because they are simply thanking Matt for a suggestion he made or complementing him on a recipe. Also, something I find very impressive, he gets a lot of posts when he asks for suggestions. He asked for a suggestion about what would make a good winter pizza and people definitely seemed to have their own opinions. Gadgets and Advertising: The main gadget used on Deglazed is Stumble Upon. I like that this is used because it is a fun site and something I would like to run into when I am bored. It shows that it is a light hearted blog and is meant for enjoyment. The only other gadgets are for making the blog a favorite on different accounts like Yahoo, MSN, AOL and Technorati. As far as advertising on this blog goes, the advertising used is simple. They are the sites that have given his blog praise and sites that he finds entertaining. NYC Educator nyceducator.com/ Writing Style: The writing style of this blog is a little bit less conversational than other blogs. However, it's an education blog so it has to be, right? The topic of this blog makes it difficult to be lighthearted and fun to read, so it's not. Instead, the blog uses the interesting facts and the bleakness of the situation facing US schools to attract readers. The writer does add humor through pointing out the ironic comments from people who have a significant influence on the education system. It is so sad that it is almost funny. The writer finds the holes and pitfalls in the arguments made by government officials. He is very blunt about the situation and seems as if he feels there is not much hope. In each post, there is a lot of information as well as commentary. Some posts rely on facts about schools and some rely on his thoughts and narration of his experiences within the schools. The balance really contributes to his point that nothing is really improving in the school system. The author does a great job at making sure the posts are not too long so as to keep the reader's attention. Writing Style Evolution: The blog entries have evolved slightly from the blog's beginning in May of 2005. The entries are more in depth about the topics he presents. The writer ads more of his opinions and has gained more of a sense of humor as if he has become jaded. He continues to experience the downfalls of the schools today and find the ironies in public policy and school board decisions. What Attracts Comments: Since the NYC Educator blog addresses so many controversial topics about the United States education system, there does not seem to be a pattern in the blog entries that attract the most comments. The beginning entries on his blog have little to no comments, however, they also rarely have tags. As he continues blogging he ads more tags, which seem to increase comments on his posts. There is a definite positive correlation between the quality and number of tags and number of comments on each entry. Gadgets and Advertising: This blogger does a great job with adding pictures to each post which can draw people in to the article. However, once again this blogger does not use many gadgets. He advertises other blogs that he has enjoyed and where his blog has been ranked highly but that's really it. You can also see the websites that probably inspire many of his posts, sites about the problems with education today. By adding those sites, he adds legitimacy to his posts because you can go and get the solid facts and see that he is not just making things up. I guess you can include the normal site traffic tracking as a gadget but it is small and not very noticeable. The writing styles of the blogs that I reviewed are all very similar. They have a colloquial feel and all add a little bit of humor to their posts. The writers all pose questions to the audience in one way or another which encourages reader interaction. The trick of great blogging seems to be approaching a usual topic in an unusual way along with adding appropriate tags to make the entry searchable. If a writer can make the reader think about something in a different way encourages continuous interest and commentary. Also, an important thing in blogging is to use gadgets sparingly (or maybe I am finding that this is just a pet peeve of mine). A moderate use of gadgets is best. Too many provide too many distractions for the reader and too few make you wonder if the writer knows much about blogging.
finarelli.com/blog/
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
Google Docs Posts on my Blog: Assignment #3
Organization is key, make sure your readers can navigate your website
When you decide to voice a controversial opinion, make it aware that the opinion is your own and encourage conversation regarding it.
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