The Internet gives us an opportunity to portray ourselves in many different ways. Public blog posts can be spread to all lengths of the world and how people interpret what you say can differ. In Digital Writing Uprising by Sean Morris he explains that writing is a rebellion. I believe the meaning of this is that blog posts are communal and encourage collaboration. Although this can be useful, we often don’t want or need collaboration with certain people because it can be harmful.
What makes for an excellent blog? I don’t believe there is one specific way, outline or formula for creating one but I do believe there are several reoccurring themes that all good blogs have. Here are three important ideas to writing a good blog.
The layout and visual presence of a blog is something I believe is really important. In “Why we Love Beautiful Things”, Hosey states “Instinctively, we reach out for attractive things; beauty literally moves us.” I think this holds true for blogs because I am more motivated by pictures and color than most writing we have read throughout school. This directly relates to Hosey when he mentions German research and how “that just glancing at shades of green can boost creativity and motivation.” A colorful blog with pictures and a different layout is something I find important in making a good blog and below is a good example of that. I find the layout of the writing to be motivating in terms of reading and the added pictures are a big plus. Overall, I find this an excellent blog.
http://www.humansofnewyork.com/
Making your writing useful is something that can help attract and reach a broader audience. I think that is something that helps in making an excellent blog. Yes you want to post what you think is right in terms of how you feel. But if you can use your writing to empower others and make them think or question your blog can be excellent. This is explained in Moseys piece, when he states “ If what we say is only made valuable by what readers say with what we say — how what we say is reconstructed, not just interpreted, how it is rebuilt, refabricated, repurposed — then we must write accordingly.” I believe this means our writing can take many shapes and forms and allowing people to let the writing speak to them is something that can make your blog excellent.
One last thing I find important to a blog is adding an emotional piece to it. I am usually attracted to something funny or satirical and Barstool stool sports is a good example of that. I find their writing to be somewhat harsh but I think it’s mostly meant for a good laugh. I think that attracts a large audience and can make your blog extremely attractive to a lot of people.
