Writing In & For Digital Environments

At times, the Internet acts as a trap that allows us to aimlessly scroll our lives away. But what gets our attention? How do we end up on pages about how to spice up our wardrobe when initially starting on a blog about last nights Giants game?

The answer is, a well thought out and designed page that is interactive, multimodal, personalized, and creates a sense of community.

With such a fast paced society that encourages having some sort of screen within reach at all times, it is crucial for a blog to be “good” to have someone stay on it.

First, a good blog is a blog that someone will go to. This requires having a catchy title, something this grabs the attention of the reader. It also has to be well designed. Naturally, we are attracted to beautiful things. As Lance Hosey states, we literally reach for beautiful things as attractive products trigger the part of the brain that governs hand movement. A well-designed blog is one that is neat, has good use of colors, and is not too long in length.

Quick video  on how to spice up your blog if your a newbie:

[youtube_sc url=”https://youtu.be/KAOpo10Xaak”]

Second, a good blog contains organic writing. It doesn’t have to be as linear as an essay. As Pete Rorabaugh states in his article, writing is organic and “permits a clearer view into the pulpy, fleshy process of giving linguistic, visual, and electronic architecture to our ideas.” There can be words that pop out, don’t fit perfectly in the structure of the writing, and can be fun and free flowing. It’s your blog, make it fun and easy to read rather than the formal writing drilled in your head from previous classes.

Third, the blog has to be interactive and multimodal. As Sean Michael Morris states, “words themselves are active. They move, slither, creep, sprint, and outpace us. Digital words have lives of their own.” A good blog not only has active words as its online, but also should have videos, links, photos, that not only grasp the reader but also lead them to click on more links to get them more and more invested in the blog and the internet itself.

Finally, if the blog builds some sort of community and allows followers to communicate and congregate – then its made it. As Carroll states, a blog is a place of community that makes the blog and writing have value and an even larger voice. A good blog is one that allows all those voices to be heard and unite.

In what ways will a blog be different from an essay? Well before going into all the essential differences, how about what makes the two similar? Whether it’s a post to the internet or a paper for class, whatever I write will be a hard copy of my thoughts or feelings for all to see (figuratively speaking). It takes careful consideration and constant thought to muster up the right words and deliver onto paper or keyboard. And whatever I compose the first time will probably need editing and revision before it becomes the piece I am willing to share.

Now this may sound like the prep-period to writing most essays, but do people really think like this for something as ‘freely-expressed’ as a post to their blog? Whether or not it is something a majority of internet writers do, it is something I try to always do. Now, I have very little experience in writing blogs, however, I do have a reputation amongst my friends and family as someone who loves to post long statuses on Twitter and Facebook. And for each of these posts, no matter how short, I go through the processes that Pete Rorabaugh mentions in his piece, “Seeds and Organs”. I usually have a single thought, at first, that, after some pondering, sprouts into enough of a coherent sentence/phrase to make me think I’d like to write it down.

So in the cases of idea-analyzing, prep-work, and early construction, I think that the traditional essay and the internet posts of the new age share many paralleled qualities. Whichever style of writing you prefer, I’m sure you prefer it to be pretty darn good, or at least just good. Now the disparity between blogs and essays, I think, comes into view when the digital posts become multi-modal (because they’re interactive). Though essays in the traditional format can contain graphs or pictures or other secondary forms of visual stimulus, they cannot quite reach the level of interaction that can be done with blog posts. To borrow a quote here, “Essays quake and tremble at the digital”, (Morris, Digital Writing Uprising).

Darn good

Blogging is a way to express one’s thoughts and ideas on the web. It connects our perspective with others through multiple mediums. Mostly in the form of texts, blogging enables us to share ourselves with others. By incorporating music, videos, and pictures, the blogger joins the consortium of other thoughtful writers on the web. Together, a multimodal oyster is formed and discovered. Reading the work of other writers improves our own writing. At the same time, our creations contribute to the understanding of our peers particularly through this course. Pete Rorabaugh describes the act of writing as “organic and generative” (Hybrid Pedagogy). He explains that any form of writing is a process of self discovery. Through repetition, a writer matures with the words he puts on paper or computer. The tools we use are organs that come together to form a system of coherent thoughts. Rorabaugh suggests that digital writing has the potential to influence more readers than ever before with pen and paper or tablet. While Rorabaugh expresses the beauty of digital composition, Sean Michael Morris seems to demonstrate some nuances of blogging. He notes that “Digital writing is a rebellion” and that “Essays quake and tremble at the digital” (Hybrid Pedagogy). What he gets at is the erosion of good writing as access to instant information is everywhere. In an age where mostly everyone has access to the web, the need for academic writing recedes. One can find reliable information about all things relevant through a free and public computer. The process of learning is no longer limited to higher education. Essentially, an individual can make a living through the screen of their computer if they find a niche. As college students, we are fortunate to have a course dedicated to the art of blog posting. We work together as a group to express good digital content. In class, we learn to communicate through our iPads and other smart technology. Our professor instructs us towards the academic approach to making a good website. We receive feedback on our joint school blog in the classroom, outside of the lecture, and around campus with our fellow bloggers. Dickinson students working on a school blog help to create an online presence for the community. We embody the liberal arts through our study of the humanities, the physical sciences, and the social sciences. By reading classmates’ work in other academic departments, we begin to see beauty across all disciplines. Students who blog about ancient Greek vases are coupled with those who talk about microeconomics. In exploring the literature of Dickinson’s student blogs, both students and faculty can join the movement of massive online learning.  

After signing up for “Writing In & for Digital Environments” it made me realize the extent to which I am using social media as a part of my daily life. Although I comment on my friend’s photos or share links that I find interesting, I have never written something exclusively for public entertainment. When blogs are entertaining and evoke some sort of emotion, it is common for people to become drawn to them and want to follow them. This does not mean that blogs have to be funny, for many blogs that have thousands of followers are quite informative and serious. Pete Rorabaugh’s Organic Writing and Digital Media: Seeds and Organs article touches on important aspects to writing that are contusive to good blogs. He talks about the idea of “organic writing” and how writing is like a seed growing into a tree; a tree that grows to be big and tall with branches growing in several directions. Good blogs follow this same mechanism. They are founded off an idea, expanded and critiqued. I believe feedback from peers is important to creating a good blogs. When we post something to the Internet it automatically becomes communal because everyone can read it and critique it. Sean Morris’s article on the digital writing uprising emphasized this point. He says “Digital words have lives of their own. We may write them, birth them ourselves, but without any compunction or notice, they enact themselves in ways we can’t predict. And this is because digital writing is communal writing”. I think that this passage speaks volumes about blog writing, because the community reading the blogs helps push the author to write better and give ideas to the blogger to write about. One of my favorite blogs is “Humans of New York”. http://www.humansofnewyork.com

I love this blog because it makes a meaningful impact on not only our local community but also our worldwide community. It is a good blog because readers get the opportunity to read about people’s life stories from all over the world. HONY connects with its audience well because it evokes emotion from readers. It gives us an appreciation for the diversity and incredibleness of our world. In addition, it has embodied Rorabaugh’s and Morris’s ideas of “organic writing” and “communal writing”. HONY originally began as a catalog documenting New Yorkers and plotting their photos on a map, but then it turned into blog sharing photos of people with “snip its” of their life stories. It has also gone beyond a place for communal writing because it has touched so many lives and has started campaigns and drawn awareness towards numerous pressing issues. It is amazing how good blogs can come from any idea. As long as a blog brings some form of entertainment, whether it be funny or serious, can make a great blog. But what can make a blog great is if it evokes a form of emotion.

The internet is a place that everyone is familiar with. You can learn, read, post, and share. One of the most popular things on the internet is blogging.

Why is blogging so popular? The answer simply lies in the blogs out there. Take Humans of New York for instance. He takes pictures of people and finds the most incredible stories. Some stories may be funny and some serious but they all have one thing in common; they pull you in.

Another blog is Hyperbole and a Half. The way she takes all these different subjects and makes them funny, childish, and approachable draws you in deeper and deeper into her blog.

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Why are these blogs so attractive? Why do they pull us in? What exactly makes a “good” blog? One of the most important things in a blog is to have a fantastic layout or design. This is the first thing the reader sees when they open the blog. If you see ads everywhere you look, more often than not, you will get distracted and leave the blog without completing the article.

In “Why We Love Beautiful Things” it says the “golden rectangle” has been used for many years because of its unique properties. It’s literally an infinite spiral of rectangles and squares. We are naturally drawn towards this shape. For exampl: the original ipod, paper, books, even bread is a rectangle. Then you take a closer look. The layout of a paragraph of text is another golden rectangle. We respond dramatically to this pattern that it can reduce stress levels by 60% at times. This happens with it just being in our field of vision.

It should come by no surprise that good design can have a dramatic effect. In my opinion, the author is 100% correct. Would you rather read a blog with no color, no pictures, no life, or a blog with all these interactive parts? Most would say they would rather read one that has all of these interactive parts. If you didn’t, you are atypical.

I believe that blogs have a huge part in how people get infomation and entertainment today. There are so many topics covered that there is something for everyone. If you want to create your own blog, my only sugestion is to use the golden rectangle in your design. Use this to grab the attention of every reader just by one glance at your design.

Sources Sited:

http://hyperboleandahalf.blogspot.com/2010/04/alot-is-better-than-you-at-everything.html

http://www.humansofnewyork.com

When I was applying to colleges, my teachers used to always tell me to target schools that incorporate writing into all subjects. They said this was because a good idea is wasted if one is not able to communicate it effectively to others, and so writing is valuable in every discipline. Though I do believe that they raise important point, having excellent writing skills is not enough in this day and age.

Writing is no longer solely based in physical books, essays, newspapers, etc., now more and more of it is ending up online. So what makes online writing “good” writing? Well one would still need the excellent writing skills, but that’s just the tip of the iceberg.

Even within excellent writing, the mindset of writing is vastly different online than it is in concrete and tangible form. Instead of having a distinct point and end to reach, there instead exists an ambiguous idea of an end which is reachable after getting input from the innumerable people and resources you have at your disposal: “Growth is determined by the encouragement and critique of the community… Organic material and compositions move through particular stages with a goal in mind but the process takes precedence over the product” (Rorabaugh). This means that in order to have interesting and superior online writing, and blogs specifically, it’s vital to not only keep in mind that online writing is more about the process, but also that there are more voices to listen to other than just your own. That might mean having no idea where a piece of writing is going, to just let it flow. That kind of freedom is exciting, but also intimidating and frightful. 

Not only is it important to let other voices help write a piece, but it’s also crucial to recognize the audience and the nature of the internet: “Our writing is in a state where every text begins at meaninglessness, until it finds harbor and use elsewhere, becoming meaningful only by association” (Morris). To have a good blog is to have a blog that initiates dialogue in whatever form that might be, whether it’s reposted, commented on, added on to, etc., it should have a purpose greater than simply being read, and that’s how it differs from most “hard” writings.

Sources:

Michael Morris, Sean. “Digital Writing Uprising: Third-order Thinking in the Digital Humanities – Hybrid Pedagogy.” Hybrid Pedagogy. 7 Oct. 2012. Web. 13 Sept. 2015.

Rorabaugh, Pete. “Organic Writing and Digital Media: Seeds and Organs – Hybrid Pedagogy.” Hybrid Pedagogy. 21 June 2012. Web. 13 Sept. 2015.

A successful blog requires dedication, time to building it and frequent captivating posts. It can even come down to a science. Digital writing is begins with a single idea and sprouts in unpredicted ways as Pete Rorabaugh suggests.  This proposes a blog shouldn’t be linear or formal. A blog is more about the process rather than the end product. By putting in the effort to make every aspect of the blog aesthetic, relatable, sharable, and informative then each post can be unique.

Each post should have a revised design to keep the readers intrigued and enthralled. Incorporating the “golden rectangle” concept is the ideal layout of a paragraph for text. This design speeds up our ability to perceive the world without realizing according to a professor at Duke University.

Golden Rectangle Concept

Within the design of the blog come interactive features such as links to related articles/ blogs, pictures, a comment section, hyperlinks to previous posts by the author, any social media account by the author and the ability to share to popular social media outlets (Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, LinkedIn, etc.). The users blog experience should make them feel as if they are at the center of the universe and they could utilize the post however they wanted it.

In my experience what dictates how successful a blog is dictated by the ability for users to share the post to anyone through all social media outlets. For a single blog post to go viral across the Internet that is how I measure a success of a blog since it has the ability to reach any one that you have connected with on the Internet so easily.

The Internet is a tool of immense power that can be used for great good or great evil. On the one hand you have things like massive drives for charity and pushes for worldwide social justice, and on the other you have things like child pornography, illegal trafficking, and cyber warfare. One party on the web that remains neutral in this good-versus-evil tug-of-war is the “blogosphere” or the community of blogs and bloggers that has become increasingly prevalent as more and more people being to log on to the net.

So why are these blogs so popular and why are people so attracted to them? What exactly makes a blog “good”? I believe that one of the most important factors for creating a good blog is the design and layout of the webpage itself. Scientists researching human psychology and behavior have found that a product that is well designed, most importantly in terms of shape and color, can quite literally provoke us into picking it up, looking at it, reading it, ect. The “Golden Rectangle” that has so enamored artists, scientists, and  philosophers alike can be found in the designs of anything from the greatest architectual wonders to a paragraph of text. And paragraphs of text, unsurprisingly, are extremely common in blogs. Some blogs even go the extra mile  and include pictures on their front pages that have suspiciously similar proportions to the “Golden Triangle”. One magnificent example of this is Brandon Honey’s “People of New York”, a blog showcasing New Yorkers and their stories (Hosey, Honey).

So what does all this mean for you and I, the readers? It just means that we’re the (somewhat) helpless victims of our subconscious, which is, whether we like it or not, attracted to certain designs and layouts, which bloggers use to suck us in and keep us reading. While this spin on the situation might sound pretty depressing or even frightening, one consolation is that anyone can use these same tactics to attract and keep readers on their blog, yes that means you too! The Golden Rule is this: if you want a blog that both attracts potential readers and keeps them coming back for more, you have to start with a couple of things you more than likely learned way back in Kindergarten: colors and rectangles.

Sources:

1. Hosey, Lance. “Why We Love Beautiful Things.” The New York Times. The New York Times, 16 Feb. 2013. Web. 14 Sept. 2015.

2. Honey, Brandon. “Humansofnewyork.” Humans of New York. N.p.,           n.d. Web. 14 Sept. 2015.

Blogs are every which way we look as soon we sign onto the Internet. For someone who gets easily distracted, like myself, will click on every blog they find interesting. Although I will click on a variety of blogs, I will not like all of them and quickly lose interest in most. The blogs I do read in full are the blogs that I believe to be an “excellent blog”. I hope to share what it takes to write that excellent blog.

I am an avid NFL fan. So, around this time of year I sign onto ESPN quite often. Right away, a blog has already captured my attention and I haven’t even read one word. Then how could I possibly be into this blog? I see a big picture of one of my favorite players, Jason Pierre-Paul who plays on the New York Football Giants. Just seeing the blue jersey and his recognizable face has already snagged my eye. In Why We Love Beautiful Things, Hosey talks about how something like a picture can easily catch the eye of a reader. In this case, Hosey puts it as: “Instinctively, we reach out for attractive things; beauty literally moves us.” (Hosey, p.1)

Granted, this quote sounds a bit weird considering I am talking about looking at a picture of a Giants football player, but the point he makes is right on. I am attracted to the royal blue jerseys I love to watch on Sundays in the fall.

I am a big believer in first impressions. If the first thing you see on a blog is something that captures your eye, you will almost always have enough of a desire to read the whole article. This is why I think something like a picture, a quote or a short statistic is imperative to having an excellent blog post.