Reflection

Creating a blog may seem very hard at first. Especially when it comes to the technological part of it; editing your blog post over and over again to make sure there are no spelling errors in it and also making sure your blog looks consistent and easy for readers to read. However, after writing a few blog post, you will find it so much easier to write in it.

I have learnt so much updating my blog with blogposts. 

Readers and Audiences

Sometimes the blog posts do not appear the way that I want to in the blog. But I had to be patient to make sure that the blog looks professional. I had to edit the page over and over again and also delete a few posts to make sure every part of the blog looks similar. I also had to make sure that the readers are able to read my blog well and try not confuse them with different font size and font colour. 

Besides that, I wanted to make sure that my pictures are related to the article so that the readers will be able to understand better. In addition, because the readers tend to skim through the article, I try to put the more important information in the first few paragraphs and also try to add more dot points. Also, try to add a twist to titles of posts and interest them with different articles. This is crucial to make sure that the information is received by the readers. If the blog posts looks very cluttered and messy, readers will not be interested and they will not read.

Design

The design of the blog is one very important factor that will either help draw readers to the blog. Design is important because it is also the first thing that the readers see when they open your blog. A bad design may cause them to lose interest without even reading the content of the blog. I try to use a simple layout of black, blue, grey and white to look more professional. Also I included a very simple header so that readers will be able to know what my blog is about by just looking at the header. The side bar shows some important websites and also the blogposts so that readers are able to pick whichever topic they want to read from.

The pictures I use in my blog are also of similar size and they are placed on the top of every blog post to keep the consistency of the blog. Besides, the font that I used is also easy to read. I decided to limit one or at most two pictures to one post so that the readers will not be confused. I also learnt how words in the blogs are not spaced out by double spacing. The spacing of the blog helps readers to read the article easier. I included dot points in the design of the blog helps readers to read it easier. There is also quite alot of white space in the blog so that the blog does not look too messy.

Blogging

I mentioned a few blogspots ago that there is a misconception with what blogging is about. Blogging is no longer an online diary but so much more than that. Blogs can be used for advertising, inspiration, cooking and so much more. Many individuals even became famous just by blogging, for example Perez Hilton. Blogging has changed the way people communicate and will continue to change. 

I personally thing blogging is a good platform for individuals to inspire other people because it is public and people all over the world are able to read it. Besides that, blogging can also help people to start their business especially since it is free. Many companies were started from blogging and they grew bigger and bigger as time passed. In addition, blogging can also help individual pass their time. 

Blogging can also improve writing skills. The first time I started blogging a few years back, I was hoping it will help me increase my tenses, spelling and also my vocabulary. Practice makes perfect and I believe that by blogging I am able to improve. This will be useful when I am applying for a job especially when writing a resume. Consequently, you will also get to increase your confidence in writing and also publishing your thoughts in public. Confidence in writing will then help you to be more comfortable when writing so your thoughts may be able to flow easier when writing. 

However, blogging also takes a lot of responsibility. Especially when you have to constantly update it with new posts for your readers. Also, with the increasing number of blogs around the world, you may find it hard to compete with other people for readers. Nevertheless, I find it highly beneficial to own a blog and hope that people will continue to use it. 

I have thoroughly enjoyed writing in this blog and I hope you have enjoyed reading it too.

Media Issue #5 New Form of Advertising through Social Media

Are you familiar with the new social media platform called Vine?


It is a 6 second video looping sharing service from Twitter. This app allows you to share the videos onto Facebook, Twitter and also the entire Vine network. This article believes that it is the 'shortest yet hottest thing in social media marketing'.


In this day and age, videos and images are used more often as marketing tool. This is because they are more interesting and more engaging with consumers than articles and blogs. A picture is worth a thousand words. This is why this social media website is increasing as a marketing tool. These days, more people access social media website through their smart phones and because of that there is a higher probability of them watching the video through their smartphones than on television or radio. Also, watching a Vine video only takes 6 seconds of an individuals' time while an article will take twice as long if not longer to read.


In my opinion, social media advertising have changed the way we view advertising. It not only saves time but also it is within the palm of your hands and consumers are able to watch it whenever they want. However, I think that promoting a product to consumers through Vine may not be very beneficial. This is because, in 6 seconds, the value of the brand may be very hard to portray.This applies to all brands. Especially when the video is segmented within that 6 second. On the other hand, if the product advertisers are able to attract attention of consumers within 6 seconds of the video, they will clearly be very impressed with the advertisement.


Also, using advertisement on Vine or other social media like Facebook or Twitter may decrease the value of the brand. This is because, consumers may think that the brand may have lower quality. Brands that are advertised on Vine may also confused consumers as they would now know whether it is an official site by the brand or just a website done by some random individual.


Therefore, I suggest that brands should remain in the old fashion media. For example television and also radio to attract consumers.


Reference:
11 Ways to Promote your Brand or Product Through Vine

Media Issue #4 Hoax on Twitter

Twitter hoax has been very frequent. Recently, The globe and Mail and other media fell for a hoax tweet about the shootings in LAX last Friday. 

In case you have not heard about the shootings that occurred at LAX, a gunman opened fire near Terminal 3, killing a TSA agent and several people were injured. However, a tweet from @HeadlineNews said that a former NSA director had been shot dead at the airport. The account that this twitter account had was also the same logo as @BreakingNews.This caused many confusion among the people who followed the news on Twitter.

After reading the news on Twitter, The Globe and Mail then reported of the death of the NSA Chief. They then removed the false information and apologized.

Social media has changed the way we read news. Twitter helps individuals to read news conveniently at the palm of their hands and the most important part of the news only appears in a 140 character Twitter update. Important news should always have a credible source. Especially when it comes to news as big as the LAX shooting. Twitter has already introduced the "official" Twitter account for many news and also celebrity accounts. Therefore, they should be more strict when it comes to publishing informations like this.

Social media like Twitter can alter the way we read news, especially for the younger generation. If there is no control over news that are true and untrue, there will be a big problem as individuals will not be able to differentiate the truth and hoax. Even though there is an importance in using social media for reliable news source, I would rather find out more information first before determining whether a news is fact or fiction. 


Reference:
 Twitter News Hoax

New Form of Publishing

Reference: Google

Have you done your tax return yet?

The closing date was on the 31st of October and about a week ago and my friends and I were frantically trying to fill up the form the day before as we had to drop it off at the post office. Later did we realise that we can do everything online now. 

E-tax is a new software the Australian government has introduced in the year 1999. It was tested out with a small group of individuals before making the software available for everyone.

Online forms have not only helped us save the environment but also made it more convenient and simple for us to file our taxes. Online tax return only takes about 10 minutes to complete and within 12 business days to get your tax refunded fully. It is much faster than filling up a conventional form and you can do it anywhere with a computer and internet connection whenever is convenient to you. Sometimes individuals find that they have no time during the day and if they have filled up a tax refund form, they will have to either post it or drop it at the tax office. However, with the convenience and availability of the online tax refund, individuals do not have to do that anymore. 

This has changed the way we fill up the form as well. For a paper document, we have to fill up everything on our own. With e-tax, we can now just verify our identity and most of the important information will be filled up for us using one of the programs in the software called pre-filling. It can also ensure the accuracy of the information with just a few detailed information from the individual like the tax file number and also the bank account number. 

Calculating your tax refund can be very stressful sometimes and hiring an accountant to do it for you will cost money. Therefore, with the availability of e-tax, we can calculate it all by our own without the need of an accountant. This will save us a lot of money. In addition, e-tax also help companies to fill up their taxes quickly and accurately.

In my opinion, this movement to use online tax refund benefits the younger generation as well. It will be much more convenient for them especially since they are online most of the time. Offices now should start moving towards a paperless environment and what better ways to do it than to do it online. 

Media Issue #3 Ads on Instagram.

Reference: Google

Facebook purchased Instagram last year on the 9^th of April 2012 for a whopping $1 Billion in cash and stock. In case you do not know what Instagram is, it is a social networking service that focuses on picture and video uploadings. It was released on the 6^th of October in 2010 and in 3 years time managed to garner more than 30 million users.

This photo and video sharing social network did not have advertisements before Facebook bought it. However, recently Instagram has started to display advertisements. Facebook is ‘carefully adding magazine-quality photo ads to Instagram’ in order to bring in revenue from providing the service. They plan to include advertisers including Adidas, Burberry and Ben & Jerry’s ice cream just to name a few.

In my opinion, Instagram has particularly been successful because of it not having any advertisements. Instagrams’ design looks very classy and is also user friendly. Advertisements clutter the page and may cause confusion and annoyance to users. Being ad-free for such a long time, I think that Instagram should remain like that so that the number of users will continue to grow. Including advertising will defeat the purpose of a conventional social network site that shares photographs. Although there is a big growth in the market by including advertisements, Facebook should test a few users at a time to see the feedback that they get from including advertisements in this social network site. 

Companies on the other hand can gain so much by advertising on such a big market and this may increase the revenue earned for the company. Also, not forgetting, Facebook will be able to make even more revenue than it already is. 

Reference: Instagram Launches Ads

Well Done!

Reference: Eat Drink Chic

Eat Drink Chic 

People stereotypically think that blogs are online diaries where people put their thoughts out there for the world. However, it is not the case now. Writers tend to blog a lot to improve their writing skills and also as a form to inspire others out there who might have the same passion as them. I

Recently, I came across blogs that are really interesting. I love to do art and craft and because I was involved very much with university club activities, I had to think of a do-it-yourself presents for all my club members. This blog, eardrinkchic.com is a perfect example of inspirational blog. The layout is very simple. Almost like any ordinary blogs with an additional twist. The colours in this blog are bright and cheerful. There seems to be a theme just looking at the pictures in the blog.

Pictures are very organized. They are all in centre alignment and easy to read. The blog focuses on more pictures and less words which interest readers and catch readers attention. The blog is by a graphic designer and she includes do-it-yourself cut out for gifts in her blog that is really interesting. I like the simple layout and the colour combination of the entire blog. It gives it a very creative and cheerful kind of layout.

Advertisements and sponsers are displayed in the right hand side of the blog which gives it a very organized layout. The header also has a very simple layout and each blog post is tagged with different topics so it will be easier for readers to find what they want easily.

Reference: Cook Republic

Cook Republic

Readers tend to do more reading online nowadays. Especially when reading a cook book. Cooking has never been easier with the presence of internet and a simple tablet, one can really whip up a storm in the kitchen.

Cook Republic has recently won the award for the overall Best Australian Blog 2013 Competition. The layout of the blog looks very professional and the tags of each blog posts are simple and organized at the header of the blog. The pictures are also very attractive especially since it is a food blog. I noticed that good blogs usually just have a simple header and a simple introduction at the bottom of the header. This is something to look for in a good blog. Besides that, the layout is also very simple and there are very few words on the main page of the blog.

Clicking on the picture in the blog, brings you to the link of the entire recipe which keeps the main page consistent and concise. This way, the blog posts does not look cluttered. Each picture in the blog also shows step by step according to the instructions given for the particular recipe which allows the readers to understand easily.

This blog only has a right side bar which includes details of the writer, advertisements, links to social media websites for example Instagram and also Pintrest where she includes recipes and photos that links to her blog. At the bottom of the blog she has also included categories so that the readers will find it easier when looking for recipes.

References: 

Amy Moss 2013, Eat Drink Chic, viewed 1 November 2013

<http://www.eatdrinkchic.com/>

Sneh 2013, Cook Republic, viewed 1 November 2013 

<http://www.cookrepublic.com/> 

Before Writers put ‘Pen to Paper’

Reference: Google

Structure

Before writing, we need to make sure our readers will be able to understand what we are writing. Structuring information is important not only for the readers but also for the writes so that they are able to understand their own argument.

To learn - Information must be logical, coherent hierarchy of levels so that readers can understand and recall.
To do - Information must be in scenario principle that is to be in chronological or narrative order.

According to Wurman (1989),
Manipulating information in different ways can help with critical thinking. Different ways of evaluating information can help you find out which method suits better for your own needs. This is the only way to find the meanings and relationship between each information (p.3).

Selzer (1989, p.44-47)
Arrangement strategies based on psychological grounds.

• Use first or final positions for emphasis because readers tend to remember what comes first or last.
• Climatic order for emphasis towards more important information or negative to positive information.
• Simple to most confusing, easiest to difficult, familiar to non-familiar or vice-versa.
• Least controversial or surprising to most controversial and most surprising.
• State generalisation then arguments or evidence and vice versa.

Document Design

MacKenzie (1994) states the importance to integrate words and the graphics forms to create information that will be accessible and useful for readers. "We write for action, we ust design for action" (MacKenzie, 1994).

We need to know

• Our readers.
• The needs of our readers.
• How our readers access information.
• How they act upon information.

Optimum legibility - Relationship between style of the letter form, the size of the letters, the length of the line and the amount of white space between the line.

Williams (1993) points out that 'visual media frequently offers a superior alternative prose for the communication of some kind of information'.

Revising and Editing

Satisficing

Make do with what comes out during the first draft.

Satisfice is to eternalise your thoughts without knowing what you're trying to say until you have said it. The need for elaboration, connection and perfection is almost irrelevant when it comes to writing. If we choose to accept that, we clearly agree that writing is basically re-writing.

Revision

To understand and communicate what is on the page when the writer finishes writing the draft (Murray 1978, p.87)

Changes that are initiated by cues that occurs continually throughout the written work (Sommers 1980, p.95)

Reference: Putnis, Peter & Petelin, Roslyn 1996, Professional Communication : Principles and Application, Writing to Communicate, Prentice Hall, Sydney.

Issues when Designing Text for the Web

Reading Online is Harder than Reading from Paper.

Reference: Google

Online reading uses projected light while reading from a document involves reflected light. Reading online tend to cause fatigue in the eyes because of the foreground and background contrast and difference in brightness level. In the printed document, the white background absorbs different amount of light which is why there is less eye fatigue.

Therefore, there are many different design suggestions when it comes to online publication.

1. Avoid Multicolumn Layouts

Print publications tend to have multicolumn. This is because it helps make the best out of all the space available. Print publication readers tend to read from the first column to the bottom of the first column and continue with the top of the second column. However, it is different when it comes to online publication. Readers rarely read from the top to the bottom of the page and if there are multicolumn in the online publication, readers will have to scroll up and down the screen. This will be hard for readers to understand the article as there is a constant need to scroll and look back on what was previously read. Therefore, online publications should have single columns and the type size and line-spacing should be adjusted in order to compensate for the long line of texts.

2. Reducing Line Length

White space is very important when it comes to online publication. With very little while space, it will look as if the page is cluttered and will make it hard to read. Both the left and right margin should have margins to increase whitespace. Margins will help split up the page and also provide with short text topics in the sidebar. This will help reduce line length so that readers will be able to scan through the article quickly. 

3. Indicating New Paragraphs

Online publications could benefit from having some extra spacing in the beginning of the article. This can help open out the pages making it easier for the readers. Spacing of one halfs can help make a difference to the page immediately. The closer the spacing between paragraphs, it will appear cluttered.

4. Divide and Conquer

Subheadings and sidebars help compress long documents into a manageable size. Subheadings help readers who prefer to scan through the article before reading to find the most important information. Headings should use different typeface, type size and type style in order to stand out. Using san serifs in bold will be good for headings as they help the information stand out. Besides, without subheadings on screen, the reader will be clueless when it comes to the information in the article as they want to be able to skim through important information.

5. Typographic Contrast

The importance of each information should be clearly identifies by just looking at the headlines, subheads and sidebars. The importance of each element in the article should be determined and clearly understood by just looking at the typeface, type size, type style and other decisions. 

Headlines should be less noticeable than titles as they are significantly smaller than the main titles. However, subheads should be smaller than the headlines. Parenthetical information are usually not important to all readers. Therefore, the type size should be smaller than the type size used for the body of the article.

6. Text Hyperlinks

Online readers will find it easier to flip through pages of the documents when hyperlinks are used. They are able to see what the topics are by just skimming through the article. You want to be able to help the readers move from the topics by just clicking on a subheading. Hyperlinks can also help readers by clicking a topic to check on the hyperlink rather than going through the entire article.

7. Do not use Thin & Ornate Typefaces

The typeface or type faces chosen in the publication but be taken into consideration that it might not be printed out before reading. Therefore, thin and ornate typefaces (“modern”) should not be used. Typeface that has different stroke thickness tend to be easier to read on paper than on screen. The thin serifs and strokes usually get lost when it is projected through an online document. Also, try to avoid ornate typefaces that are fancy as it tends to clutter the page.

8. Colours

Colours should always be used in restraining amount. It is because, strong impressions can be made by using just black and one or two other colours instead of using all the colours. Using black fonts, accenting dark and also bright colours, usually does the best results. Adding shades of the same colour helps instead of using multiple colours. Lighter and darker colours help bring the colours together instead of disrupting the document. Bright colours on an online document sometimes appear too bright and distract the readers. Areas that are largely covered with colours also cost waste as it forces the readers to spend more on ink-jet cartridges. You must always be considerate that most readers will be printing out the document before reading it and using different colours will cause the publication to appear in different shades of grey. This will cause the readers to lose interest.

9. Keeping Readers Informed

Readers tend to be informed by the headers and footers. The publication title is the most important and also the section and chapter that they are currently reading. Page numbers should be included into the online publication so that the readers will be able to keep track of the pages easily especially when they print it out. Besides, page numbers help track the progress of the publication. Without them, readers will be lost especially since they are unable to determine their progress.

10. Backgrounds and Visual Elements

Try to keep the designs as simple as possible especially when it is for online distribution. Avoid complicated special effects. This is because each readers printer might be different and so would the quality. Keep the effects that are safe and turn out simple and easy to read when the online document is printed out. 

Reference: Parker & Roger, C 2003, Designing Documents for Web Distribution, Looking Good in Print, Scottsdale, Ariz, Paraglyph Press, Ch. 14, p. 265- 293.