As I have stated before I plan to do my Wikitravel project on my hometown, South Orange NJ. As there is already a page for this town, I am going to add entries to enhance this page.
One entry I plan to add to is the "Eat" section. There are quite a few restaurants, delis, etc. that have not been listed on this site. There are also a few new eating establishments that are important for the readers to know about. I am going to add the information for the various traditional New Jersey diners: Texas Wiener, and The Village Diner, and the new eating establishments: Tratoria, and Eden's Gourmet.
Another entry I plan to add to is the "Do" section. Although the basic information for the South Orange Performing Arts Center (SOPAC) is listed, there is no information as to what exactly there is to do at this establishment.
One more entry I am going to do is list the local bars that South Orange offers. There is currently nothing under the "Drink" section of this page, but there are at least two bars I can think of in South Orange.
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
Wikittravel: Style
While reading through the assigned Wikitravel pages, I got a lot of useful information. As I stated in my first post for this project, one challenge I think I am personally going to run into is the way in which I write and how I am going to work to change it to fit Wikitravel writing.
Three tips I gathered from the readings:
1) Wikitravel writing is NOT blog writing
When writing for Wikitravel it is obvious that the writing must be informative, as it is an informative site. But the writer must not incorporate personal opinions or bias of any aspect of the particular location. for example, if I post about a certain restaurant in my town that I don't personally like, I cant write " I have been there and the food sucks." Posts for a personal blog, like out last project, leaves room for as many opinions and descriptions we want. Also writing for a blog is like writing how you would talk. Writing for wikitravel, although it should be somewhat conversational, is primarily for truthful information about the particular location.
2) Format of a Wikitravel page should be to the point
To be as simple as possible, don't go overboard! I am focusing my project on a town(small city) just out side of New York City. Even though there is a lot to do around my town, it is important to keep the readers focus on information relating to this particular town. After reading though the templates I notced that a lot of things I would have included are not needed. For example, if I were to write about the newly built entertainment building in South Orange, I should include only the useful information like address and contact info. and a short description of what is offered there.
3)Wikitravel is a travel guide NOT a brochure
Although it may seem like we are supposed to talk up our locations, Wikitravel is not a site where people go to discover the best place to visit. Wikitravel is more of a site that offers all the information one would need after already deciding to visit a location. Do not write as though you are trying to convince people to come visit, but write as though you are very knowledgeable of this particular place and that WIkitravel readers should trust what it is that you wrote.
Three tips I gathered from the readings:
1) Wikitravel writing is NOT blog writing
When writing for Wikitravel it is obvious that the writing must be informative, as it is an informative site. But the writer must not incorporate personal opinions or bias of any aspect of the particular location. for example, if I post about a certain restaurant in my town that I don't personally like, I cant write " I have been there and the food sucks." Posts for a personal blog, like out last project, leaves room for as many opinions and descriptions we want. Also writing for a blog is like writing how you would talk. Writing for wikitravel, although it should be somewhat conversational, is primarily for truthful information about the particular location.
2) Format of a Wikitravel page should be to the point
To be as simple as possible, don't go overboard! I am focusing my project on a town(small city) just out side of New York City. Even though there is a lot to do around my town, it is important to keep the readers focus on information relating to this particular town. After reading though the templates I notced that a lot of things I would have included are not needed. For example, if I were to write about the newly built entertainment building in South Orange, I should include only the useful information like address and contact info. and a short description of what is offered there.
3)Wikitravel is a travel guide NOT a brochure
Although it may seem like we are supposed to talk up our locations, Wikitravel is not a site where people go to discover the best place to visit. Wikitravel is more of a site that offers all the information one would need after already deciding to visit a location. Do not write as though you are trying to convince people to come visit, but write as though you are very knowledgeable of this particular place and that WIkitravel readers should trust what it is that you wrote.
Getting to know wikitravel
When this project was first assigned, I immediately decided to base my topic on my hometown, South Orange, NJ. I chose this because I knew that having lived there for 18 years of my life I could offer a great insider perspective for any reader looking to visit my town.
Originally I thought that this project would be more like advertising for people to come to my town, but after listening to my professor and exploring Wikirtavel I realized that is exactly the opposite of what I am supposed to do. After this realization, I knew that this project would not be as easy as I thought. It would be extremely easy for me to just talk my town up, since I know it like the back of my hand, but I am learning that Wikitravel is more informative rather than an advertisement.
Another challenge I predict that I will run into is accommodating my style of writing to fit that of Wikitravel. I am a very descriptive and lengthy writer, and the information posted on Wikitravel is actually simple, short, and to the point. I am glad that I understand this from the beginning and now I will be able to go through this project with the right mind set of what I am supposed to do.
During my exploration of Wikitravel I found that there is already a page for South Orange, and that I will have to add information rather than create an original page. While reading through this page, without much thought, i noticed several areas that need work along with a lot of information that was simply missing. Just from a first glance I plan to add restaurants, shopping areas, methods of transportation, as well as other "things to do" to the South Orange page.
Monday, October 4, 2010
Post-Write and Reflection for Project #1
I know that I have stated in a number of posts for process blog, that I am not at all computer savvy, and completely new to the world of blogs. In fact, I don't think that I have ever even read a blog before this course. So its no surprise to say that this particular project has been a struggle.
In the first stages of this project our professor told us to explore the world of blogging. After looking though blogger.com and reading a few blogs in class I thought I had at least a beginners grasp on this whole blogging thing. Oh boy was I wrong. I quickly realized that the research I had done on blogging, which I thought was adequate, was in fact no where near close enough to the amount that needed to be done. I do admit that I did not put the amount of effort into learning about and understanding blogs in the beginning stages of this project, and after a talk with my professor during class I was forced to come to the conclusion that I was far behind the majority of my classmates. So that day when I got home from class, I sat down on my computer, which is mainly only used for writing papers and facebook, and I explored blogger.com until I positive that I had a grasp on every little aspect that I could manage to find and understand.
At this point I began to feel more confident in my technology skills and began to truly immerse myself in my blog, Hops To It. I discussed in a previous post on my process blog the way by which I came to settle on a blog about beer. At first I though that it was kind of a little weird to dedicate an entire blog to beer, but after writing my first post I realized that, although it can be considered an odd subject, I really did like writing about it and chose to stick with it. After each and every class meeting, my understanding of blogging grew, and after each blog entry I became more comfortable and confident with my blogging skills. Finally after some rough patches concerning aesthetic design, I can honestly say that I am proud of my blog thus far.
Looking to the future, I am excited. I am excited to take what I have learned so far and continue blogging and building upon my new found skills with technology. During the reflection part of my blogging process, I came up with a few ideas that I think are sure to improve my blog and further my technology based education. In my opinion, one of my weaker points of my blog is the aesthetic design. Even though, as I have previously stated, I am light years ahead of where I was before this course on blogs, I still feel as though my aesthetic design leaves room for improvement. As the semester continues I plan on exploring the aesthetic aspects of blogs a lot deeper. I am going to take what I have learned from this project, suggestions from my peers both classmates and friends, and also do some more research and hopefully I will be able to mold my blog into the blog I can picture in my mind. I also have a few plans for future posts. I want to incorporate another one of my passions, sociology, into my clubhouse blog. Being a sociology major, and having an immense amount of love for the subject I want to create at least one post on the social construction of a college campus and the roll beer plays.
Overall this has been a stressful, yet amazing learning process for me. I always considered myself as someone who was horrible with computers and technology, but I can honestly say I have my foot in the door and can't wait to continue my technology based education.
In the first stages of this project our professor told us to explore the world of blogging. After looking though blogger.com and reading a few blogs in class I thought I had at least a beginners grasp on this whole blogging thing. Oh boy was I wrong. I quickly realized that the research I had done on blogging, which I thought was adequate, was in fact no where near close enough to the amount that needed to be done. I do admit that I did not put the amount of effort into learning about and understanding blogs in the beginning stages of this project, and after a talk with my professor during class I was forced to come to the conclusion that I was far behind the majority of my classmates. So that day when I got home from class, I sat down on my computer, which is mainly only used for writing papers and facebook, and I explored blogger.com until I positive that I had a grasp on every little aspect that I could manage to find and understand.
At this point I began to feel more confident in my technology skills and began to truly immerse myself in my blog, Hops To It. I discussed in a previous post on my process blog the way by which I came to settle on a blog about beer. At first I though that it was kind of a little weird to dedicate an entire blog to beer, but after writing my first post I realized that, although it can be considered an odd subject, I really did like writing about it and chose to stick with it. After each and every class meeting, my understanding of blogging grew, and after each blog entry I became more comfortable and confident with my blogging skills. Finally after some rough patches concerning aesthetic design, I can honestly say that I am proud of my blog thus far.
Looking to the future, I am excited. I am excited to take what I have learned so far and continue blogging and building upon my new found skills with technology. During the reflection part of my blogging process, I came up with a few ideas that I think are sure to improve my blog and further my technology based education. In my opinion, one of my weaker points of my blog is the aesthetic design. Even though, as I have previously stated, I am light years ahead of where I was before this course on blogs, I still feel as though my aesthetic design leaves room for improvement. As the semester continues I plan on exploring the aesthetic aspects of blogs a lot deeper. I am going to take what I have learned from this project, suggestions from my peers both classmates and friends, and also do some more research and hopefully I will be able to mold my blog into the blog I can picture in my mind. I also have a few plans for future posts. I want to incorporate another one of my passions, sociology, into my clubhouse blog. Being a sociology major, and having an immense amount of love for the subject I want to create at least one post on the social construction of a college campus and the roll beer plays.
Overall this has been a stressful, yet amazing learning process for me. I always considered myself as someone who was horrible with computers and technology, but I can honestly say I have my foot in the door and can't wait to continue my technology based education.
My favorite post from my clubhouse blog
While finishing up the last touches to my clubhouse blog and reading through all of my posts, I found myself asking the question: which post is my personal favorite? Sitting there and thinking, I realized how hard this question was to answer, mainly because this entire blog is devoted to a subject I love and am passionate about, so how was i supposed to choose a favorite? After analyzing each and every post I created, I noticed that although I am proud of every single one, the posts I truly think came out the best were the ones with the most personality. Anyone can sit at their computer and spit out facts and information, attained through research or personal experience, but the posts that seem to come out the best are the ones where the writer's voice jumps out of the text and into the reader's ears. The posts where the reader can really can not only gain an understanding of a particular subject, but ones that display an individual's personality through a medium as difficult as the internet.
Which is why my favorite post is my post about my love for Yuengling. I consider myself an decent writer, as it is one of my majors, but I have always noticed that my greatest strength in the world of writing is my voice. I have an ability to compose pieces in which my reader's can literally hear my inner voice as they scroll through my text. Writing happens to be one of my passions in life, so when I do write, I write from the heart and I think that my post on Yuengling best represents that aspect of my writing.
This post was not only my first post, but also the post in which I didn't really have to think, I just wrote. Throughout my extremely short writing career I have always known that writing about subjects I not only know well, but love never fail to produce some of my best work. I didn't have to "pretend" while writing this post, and I think that is the reason why my voice shines through in this most more than my others. I feel as through this post was the strongest in providing my readers with the means to relate and connect with me because my inner voice shines through the text on the screen.
Which is why my favorite post is my post about my love for Yuengling. I consider myself an decent writer, as it is one of my majors, but I have always noticed that my greatest strength in the world of writing is my voice. I have an ability to compose pieces in which my reader's can literally hear my inner voice as they scroll through my text. Writing happens to be one of my passions in life, so when I do write, I write from the heart and I think that my post on Yuengling best represents that aspect of my writing.
This post was not only my first post, but also the post in which I didn't really have to think, I just wrote. Throughout my extremely short writing career I have always known that writing about subjects I not only know well, but love never fail to produce some of my best work. I didn't have to "pretend" while writing this post, and I think that is the reason why my voice shines through in this most more than my others. I feel as through this post was the strongest in providing my readers with the means to relate and connect with me because my inner voice shines through the text on the screen.
Thoughts for new posts
The other day while reading through the posts of my clubhouse blog, I realized that there was something missing. In my description and my About Me I promised my readers some posts that reflect on my actual experiences relating to beer. Although the majority of my posts are personal and the content is primarily derived from my own knowledge, I composed them in a more formal format than I originally intended. So in an attempt to make my blog more about my actual life I created a post revolving around an actual conversation about beer that I had with my close friends the previous night. The post re-created a debate I had with my friends about our favorite ways to consume our favorite drink. By incorporating this post I feel as though my readers will not only get to know me on a deeper level, but also get to be introduced to my friends, and fellow beer lovers, who are such a huge part of my passion for beer and my daily life. I included direct quotes from that night as well as thoughts and opinions myself and my friends had about this particular subject. I really think my readers will appreciate the inside look into my daily life and I think this post defiantly added more personality to my clubhouse blog.
Saturday, October 2, 2010
Keeping up the posts
My most recent post on my clubhouse blog was simply about a discussion I had with my friends last night relating to my topic, beer. While composing this particular post I realized that I really like writing about my personal experiences and sharing them with my readers. I feel as though this post not only helps my readers understand me as a person, but also lets them into my life and relationships with my friends while staying on the main focus of my blog. I really love being able to integrate my daily conversations and experiences I have into my blog.
Every time I create a post on my clubhouse blog, I try to enhance my understanding of blogs and further my technology based learning by constantly exploring blogger.com and various aspects. Today I discovered how to incorporate pictures into my posts. I spent a good amount of time experimenting with different pictures and how the best format to use in order to enhance the visual appeal of my blog. One thing I noticed was that pictures not only add to the aesthetic appeal of my blog, but also provide my readers with visual aid that may help them understand the text of my posts. For example, I posted a picture of a beer ball next to text in which I was attempting to describe what a ball is. Another thing I learned from my discovery of how to post pictures was that they can also be a way for my readers to get to know me and relate to my blog. I posted a picture of myself holding my favorite beer in a post discussing my love for this particular brand. I feel as though this picture adds a great deal of personality to my blog, which I think my readers will really appreciate!
Every time I create a post on my clubhouse blog, I try to enhance my understanding of blogs and further my technology based learning by constantly exploring blogger.com and various aspects. Today I discovered how to incorporate pictures into my posts. I spent a good amount of time experimenting with different pictures and how the best format to use in order to enhance the visual appeal of my blog. One thing I noticed was that pictures not only add to the aesthetic appeal of my blog, but also provide my readers with visual aid that may help them understand the text of my posts. For example, I posted a picture of a beer ball next to text in which I was attempting to describe what a ball is. Another thing I learned from my discovery of how to post pictures was that they can also be a way for my readers to get to know me and relate to my blog. I posted a picture of myself holding my favorite beer in a post discussing my love for this particular brand. I feel as though this picture adds a great deal of personality to my blog, which I think my readers will really appreciate!
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