Tag Archives: blogging

Making Something of it All

Posted on by under Life, Networked Media

What’s more manly than dead dears? Photo: Itenney1225

Here’s an interesting look at how a blog grows and develops into something that becomes a full time job (A six figure yearly income job too). The Art of Manliness is a blog I have been reading for some time now, and while I started reading it after it had already come to power, I have seen it grow substantially even in that time. I have seen what was a successful Husband and Wife team blog go to being something with regular contributors from different websites, as well as having people contribute in other ways, such as creating the videos for the blog, etc.

I think what Adrian has been saying the whole time about blogging and what he said in the first symposium about turning a passion into a career comes through in a successful blog like this. If you’re writing good stuff then other people will read it. Especially if it’s good stuff that other people aren’t writing. If there’s something you know a lot about and something that you have researched and looked into enough to be able to provide a positive contribution to the topic, then go for it.

Here’s a couple of interviews with the blog’s creator, Brett McKay:

The Rise to the Top

Grind and Thrive

This kind of thing is great for writers and those who blog to look at. It teaches you important characteristics of today’s online market internet uses, as well as what it takes to turn something into something.

Hypertext, Books and Death

Posted on by under Life, Networked Media

Every fire needs a little kindling. Photo: Alienratt

Today’s symposium yielded a number of very relevant and intriguing discussion points. Elliot, Brian and Adrian provided some concrete knowledge from different perspectives regarding the nature of hypertext in itself. Brian’s point on hypertext not being a new “idea” but simply making used of pre-existing technologies, I felt, was an essential component of putting hypertext into context alongside the relevant theory we have explored in this subject and others. It is also important to note that hypertext interacts with different media mediums differently, and different forms work more effectively with different modes and mediums than others. I found Adrian’s link to Wolfgang Ernst’s idea of hypertext being more relative to music than print media to be an interesting perspective that helped to understand the very essence of hypertext and it’s relation to other media formats.

Jasmine reinforced for me the ideas that I expressed in my blog assessment essay – that blogging can be relevant if no-one reads it, given that the space is used appropriately for reflection and critical analysis and noting of one’s own practices and behaviours. It is also a great way to practice writing, and more specifically as Adrian noted, as a way of practicing writing to a speculative audience. When you start to write something good, the audience will come, as long as you put it out there and perform the appropriate transactions – links.

Onto one of my favourite moments for the lecture, being the morbid and often frightening discussion of death. More specifically, the death of books. Adrian raised good points, in that books are now only important because of their relationship with literature, and that in one sense, books are dead (look at how many textbooks, manuals, cookbooks, etc that are online, or e-books instead of physical books). In this sense, the equation and balance between convenience and experience have to be measured. For something like a manual or a textbook, or an academic essay the ease of access and convenience comes first. Even perhaps, for literature and fiction convenience may come first. But for those with interests closely tying into the experience that a book provides, the book is still very relevant. Personally, I like nothing more than to relax and read a good book, made of fine quality paper, with a nice leather binding and crisp pages. The experience is too rewarding for me to give that up. There’s also the collectors factor. I have books that I have collected not only because of the stories within, but because of the very object themselves too, being desirable.

On one final note I want to take a second to think about the health behind books and e-books. I for one, know that I sleep better after having read a book on paper, rather than screen. There’s plenty of evidence out there to suggest that screens do not allow your eyes to relax before sleep, which can significantly affect the effectiveness of your rejuvenation during sleep. Not only this, but as someone with poor sight, sometimes I struggle to focus on a screen. Paper holds the perfect contrast between black and white, but it is softer. It’s easier for my eyes to focus on, therefor the content of the read becomes more digestible.

With that, I can say that I’m a firm believer in books. But it’s also nice to be able to have a convenient portable version of a book. Maybe the book industry could take a page from the music industry and provide free e-book downloads with physical purchases. That’s something I would find very useful and could be a major factor in determining whether I buy a book or not. Is it economically viable for publishers? That’s not for me to know. Time to do some research.

 

Blogging about Blogs

Posted on by under Networked Media

The network in full swing. Photo: Adrian Miles

Re: Blog Assessment Task

Throughout Networked Media I have utilised the blog to develop my skills in writing and actively participating in the network, that is networked media. Not only this, but it has been a platform for personal development and self-discovery. The experience has been an ultimately positive one, with only a few downsides. It is obvious that it is an appropriate style of learning for me.

My blog has been primarily used to reflect upon components of my study such as lectures (or “unlectures”), readings and tutorial activities and exercises. Although after developing confidence in writing and publishing online, it has taken on a broader and diverse range of personal interests and beliefs. This blogging has helped me to develop better habits in reflecting and noting my own behaviours and practices. It’s helped me to better notice the way I learn and process information. John Mason quotes Bateson in Researching Your Own Practice: The Discipline of Noticing, “the essence of noticing is being awake to situations, being mindful rather than mindless”, this mindfulness of how the world around me is developing, changing, progressing and behaving coupled with a greater self awareness of my own behaviour has developed important skills and habits that I feel have contributed to increasing my successfulness in the key areas of my life; personal relationships, study and overall happiness. Apart from these overarching life skills and personal developments, I feel as though my technical ability and skill in writing and networking is vastly improved, as well as my confidence. I have strived to write at least once a day in my blog, and generally post at least twice a day. By applying myself to these activities regularly and consistently I feel more confident in my ability to express myself and also in my literacy capabilities. Perhaps these are the rewards of endeavouring and diving into a process.

On the other hand, there have been a number of negatives – nothing major – that I have encountered by participating in the network. The main problem is the feeling of being disconnected despite being an active participant in the network. Although the problem may rest with my ability in itself, I feel as though I am not as closely connected to my peers within the network, as I would like to be. The reasons – a lot of others aren’t participating, which makes it hard to develop interactions. Although I shouldn’t rely on others to fuel my own link to the network, as this course is sort of thrusting the student into “the deep end” – so to speak- it is encouraging to have the support of your peers around you. There does not seem to be too much interaction between students, without the middleman developing a link (Networked media blog). That relates closely to the other issue I encountered initially, which was a lack of confidence. Not being confident by nature, I struggled to swim when I was thrown into the blog. Thanks to the ideas being shared by Adrian and the other tutors in the unlectures and tutorials, I have been able to develop my confidence and adapt my habits so that I can embrace challenges and change. Chris Argyris identifies Mode I behaviour as having an emphasis on control and defensiveness. I guess you can’t shoot the messenger; perhaps the negatives are developed on the back of my own inability to approach and manage challenges.

Perhaps what the blog has been most effective in is surprising me in regards to my own abilities. It’s taught me to understand what I’m good at and identify my passions. This, I feel, is a benefit of applying yourself in the best way possible to the task. By continuing my engagement with my writing skills and the network, I have caught glimpses into what interests me and how I express it. The recurring motifs, themes and ideas that I present in my blog posts have helped me to articulate my interests. I have a greater understanding of my passion. The way the blog impacted my confidence levels has caught me off guard more than anything in particular. Being someone who often lacks confidence, my ability to connected with strangers and express myself and my writing through blogging has surpassed my own expectations. It’s a medium that has helped me feel comfortable about my own writing, my own personality and the positive aspects of my character. As I have already discussed, it has benefitted me immensely in developing strong, positive habits as well as more adaptable behaviours and reflective practices. This is part of the reason why I intend to carry on making regular entries into my blog for the remained of semester and the future ahead.

I plan to keep my entries regular, hopefully on a daily basis. The reason for this is keeping myself engaged in the network, actively practicing my writing and skills as well as reinforcing positive habits and behaviours. I have found the blog to impact positively on my studies, and I think it will be a great way to manage my passion and interest in the future. As the traffic on my blog slowly picks up, I have found the next challenge in reaching a wider audience outside of my immediate social group, family and classmates. To achieve this, I will need to present content that is relevant and useful to people, as well as learn how to deliver it most effectively to these people. This is a challenge that I intend to take up over the next year and indefinitely into the future. Finally, one of the draw cards in maintaining a blog is the online presence it has not only helped me to create, but also taught me to maintain. In a future that revolves around technology this is ever-increasingly important as employers, colleagues and people around the world look to learn more about you through your “online footprint”.  As Adrian states in Blogs in Media Education. “How you are recognised within the context of [the network] can be controlled by you through your blog.” My presence in both the online world, as well as my success in my own endeavours in life can both be managed and supported through the regular upkeep of this blog, and that is exactly what I intend to do.

 

Sources:

Smith, M. K. (2001) ‘Chris Argyris: theories of action, double-loop learning and organizational learning’, the encyclopedia of informal education,www.infed.org/thinkers/argyris.htm

Miles, Adrian. “Blogs in Media Education: A Beginning.” Australian Screen Ed 41 (2006): 66–9. Print. vogmae.net.au/vlog/research/network-literacies/blogs-in-media-education/

Mason, John. Researching Your Own Practice: The Discipline of Noticing. London: Routledge, 2002. http://vogmae.dropmark.com/133224/2127749

 

Blogging Builds Brains

Posted on by under Life, Networked Media

Stars and a power pole. What’s more inspirational than that man? Photo: Lisa Ng

Clever alliteration. Thanks, I know. With the assessment for the blog due in a week, I have been putting some thought into why I blog and what I gain from it. Obviously as part of the requirements for the class, the purpose of the blog is to engage with the relevant content and topics in a thorough and speculative manner. I’d like to go a step further than that and look at the greater and wider purpose of my blog. There’s got to be more to life right? Some divine purpose, holy mission, etc, etc. There is. As I celebrate my 40th blog post, I’d like to think that blogging helps me to reach that purpose.

So, at the end of semester one, I knew that my time had come. It was time to do that thing that so many people do. Defer for a year. Why didn’t I do it straight out of school. I think I wanted to get my degree over with as soon as possible. So why don’t I think that any more? Well, I don’t want my degree to end. Don’t take it that way, I actually do, but I don’t think I’m ready for it yet. I feel there’s a lot more I can put into this degree, and at this moment in my life, I’m not ready to engage with the degree in the most beneficial manner. So I’m going to take a year off. Find my passion, invigorate my brain, get some real world experience. It’s not that I’m not enjoying the course, or doing well enough in it. I’m not happy with doing well though. I want to take advantage of every opportunity that is available to me in this course. Kevin is someone who has done the hard yards, and is willing to get into the mix. He dives right in. To his credit, this is something we can all learn from. It’s something I feel I need a little more confidence to do first. So that’s what I’m going out to do.

Anyway,  let’s nut this down to the point. What this blog has done has created an opportunity for me. Someone who can often have trouble expressing things in face to face communication, this blog has really helped me become more expressive and literate in my communication. It’s also shown me the power of being connected and involved in the network. It’s helped me find things I love, express how much I love them and share it with other people. Sure, it might get 15 views a day. But those 15 views are irrelevant. It’s how it makes me feel on the inside.

I feel empowered at the moment, with a whole load of positive energy. This course has got me thinking differently about everything. I speculate, appreciate, evaluate. I plan, I take more risks and I think of things in a long term sense, rather than acting quickly and irrationally. Everything I do, I put more thought into and notice more. The set up of this class has really helped me and my brain. We’re in a good place now, me and brain.

So you might ask, why defer now when you’re feeling such good vibes man? That’s exactly why I’m going to take a break. I’m taking these positive vibes and continuing to work with them. I’m putting them into life, instead of just my studies. My plan is to continue to use this blog, over the next year and throughout my degree and career. Overall, I feel the best way to use this positive energy is to do some hard work, build some resources and get myself involved with my craft and what I love. I need to produce some work, gain some experience and really stretch myself to explore my potential. When that’s done and the year is up, I’ll come back refreshed, keen and eager. Just as I am now, but with a little bit of confidence, a little bit of experience and a little more backing.

For me, this blog has given me a little bit of confidence and a few handy skills, but most importantly it’s helped me feel creative and find my passions. I love to write, so it works well. How well I write will change as time goes on. Things can only get better. But we’ll see if my plans are a golden dream or whether I can make them happen.

Who am I kidding. Of course I can. I’ve got this, man. Anything’s possible (be realistic). Let’s do it. Thanks Kev for the inspiration.

 

Networked Media Marketplace

Posted on by under Networked Media

The Networked Media Marketplace is almost as impressive. Photo: Jpellgen

Incase you didn’t see, the Networked Media Marketplace is now live. The staff and students involved in this suggestion/idea have outdone themselves. I think this is a fantastic way to get people interacting with the course and their peers, even if it’s not direct engagement. Hell, someone’s questions might even be answered. Someone needs help – they don’t want to ask in person (that’s scary) – but it’s still to scary to ask a stranger on their blog. Introducing the middle-man. The marketplace should remove those barriers, as it creates a central hub for help and assistance, without creating unnecessarily frightening personal contact.

But it stops people connecting, isn’t that bad? Well, it stops direct connection. Now there’s a location where people can go to meet their saviour, people have help to sell, they sell it. If you’re looking for help, you buy it. Once you buy it, you go to the person’s blog and check it out, then you read their other posts, perhaps they’ll contain useful content? You might get even more knowledge then you came looking for. The beauty of the network. The cost? Help doesn’t cost a thing. Except for the small cost of clicking a link, and connecting to someone else’s content on the internet.

That’s hardly even a cost, is it? Really, you don’t even lose anything. There’s nothing to lose at all.

Disclaimer | Background image: Emma Gawen
Skip to toolbar