Ning is a social media site that is often used as a way to communicate some sort of social change. As a group, we decided to focus on something that was important to us, so we chose to advocate a social change for Childhood Obesity. This was something that really stuck out in all of our minds because we are all active in sports and healthy eating. This project really allowed us to have the opportunity to use our previous knowledge and also research more into the issue.
Ning provided our group a venue to get our message out into the public. We used videos, pictures, discussion boards, and facts in order to really stress the seriousness of the issue.
I really loved this project because I am always looking for ways to generate a sense of awareness for autism. I think that most people rely on facebook. While I do believe that facebook has the ability to reach large audiences, it is nice to know that there are other places and more options to do this.
Social media is a really effective way to reach people and get a message out. As I have learned beign a public relations major, more and more businesses are relying on different forms of social media to raise awareness of their organizations and services. It is a way to connect with people all over the world and bring attention to businesses. In a time of economic turmoil, social media seems to be the number one venue for advertising because it is free and very easy to use.
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
Letter to Organization
We found a website that we really thought could use some help with the design of their website. We really liked the idea of what the organization had to offer, but the website did not reflect this at all. We wrote them a letter in hopes that they would use our sample templates that we created, or atleast take some of our advice on how to better improve their existing site.
To Whom It May Concern:
We are a group of students attending the University of Rhode Island, majoring in a wide range of disciplines. We stumbled upon your website while doing research for a writing class specifically focused on electronic environments. We found ourselves interested in your website because of what it offers. Being students, we feel that tutoring is extremely useful, but a very underused service.
After reviewing and analyzing the contents of your website we came up with some ideas that might give it a better flow. We truly believe that the services you provide are extremely unique. With tutoring for math, science, and standardized tests, free of charge, this offers your community something that no one else does. The current styling of the website discourages further navigation. Therefore, we really feel that you could easily and accessibly grab the attention of a much wider audience with a more user-friendly and aesthetically pleasing page.
Some of the items we wanted to focus on was creating a navigation bar that would be more organized including options like About Us, Contact, and a separate navigation button for each school subject you tutor in. We also felt that a huge part of drawing people in would require changing some content wording, the color scheme, fonts, and other style choices.
There are certain design principles that make for a quality website including alignment and contrast, which we hope to focus on. We came up with some templates that follow these ideas. We want all page elements to be lined up for a sense of organization. The items on the page will be pulled together with repetition in colors. Along with this, placing certain items closer together will allow users to understand what elements are related.
We hope that you like some of our ideas and would be willing to take them into consideration. We believe in your service and think your website could be great!
To Whom It May Concern:
We are a group of students attending the University of Rhode Island, majoring in a wide range of disciplines. We stumbled upon your website while doing research for a writing class specifically focused on electronic environments. We found ourselves interested in your website because of what it offers. Being students, we feel that tutoring is extremely useful, but a very underused service.
After reviewing and analyzing the contents of your website we came up with some ideas that might give it a better flow. We truly believe that the services you provide are extremely unique. With tutoring for math, science, and standardized tests, free of charge, this offers your community something that no one else does. The current styling of the website discourages further navigation. Therefore, we really feel that you could easily and accessibly grab the attention of a much wider audience with a more user-friendly and aesthetically pleasing page.
Some of the items we wanted to focus on was creating a navigation bar that would be more organized including options like About Us, Contact, and a separate navigation button for each school subject you tutor in. We also felt that a huge part of drawing people in would require changing some content wording, the color scheme, fonts, and other style choices.
There are certain design principles that make for a quality website including alignment and contrast, which we hope to focus on. We came up with some templates that follow these ideas. We want all page elements to be lined up for a sense of organization. The items on the page will be pulled together with repetition in colors. Along with this, placing certain items closer together will allow users to understand what elements are related.
We hope that you like some of our ideas and would be willing to take them into consideration. We believe in your service and think your website could be great!
Website Redesign
This project truly intimidated me when first presented. When thinking about redesigning an entire website, I think about professional graphic designers who get paid large sums of money to help organizations get their goals and objectives out to the public. The design of websites is such an intriquete process. It seems as though there needs to be a purpose to every element on the page. Users need to be drawn into the site through its colors and layout in order to navigate further and explore the web page.
As I discovered through research and reading, there are many other important aspects to a website besides a nice color, in order to make the site effective and user friendly. There needs to be a sense of allignment. This simply means that all of the elements on the page should be lined up with one another. Along with this, there is a principle of proximity. All items on the web page should show a relationship through its placement. When items are close in proximity, it typically means that they are related in some way. As another principle of designing a website there is repitition. This means that throughout the page there are certain elements that should be repeated in order to tie the page together. This could be certain fonts or colors that are repeated. One of the final basic principles is the idea of contrast. When parts of a website have contrasting colors, it draws the eye in and creates a sense of interest. Contrast does not always mean colors, however. It can also be a contrast in shapes or fonts that create interest to users.
These simple principles really help to illuminate the importance of a well designed website. You want people who are viewing your website to have the urge to navigate further based solely on the aesthetics. Once the user is drawn in, the information provided by the organization should also keep the user interested.
As I discovered through research and reading, there are many other important aspects to a website besides a nice color, in order to make the site effective and user friendly. There needs to be a sense of allignment. This simply means that all of the elements on the page should be lined up with one another. Along with this, there is a principle of proximity. All items on the web page should show a relationship through its placement. When items are close in proximity, it typically means that they are related in some way. As another principle of designing a website there is repitition. This means that throughout the page there are certain elements that should be repeated in order to tie the page together. This could be certain fonts or colors that are repeated. One of the final basic principles is the idea of contrast. When parts of a website have contrasting colors, it draws the eye in and creates a sense of interest. Contrast does not always mean colors, however. It can also be a contrast in shapes or fonts that create interest to users.
These simple principles really help to illuminate the importance of a well designed website. You want people who are viewing your website to have the urge to navigate further based solely on the aesthetics. Once the user is drawn in, the information provided by the organization should also keep the user interested.
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Enthusiast Blog Post Write
1) The title of my blog is View from the Outside. The blog focuses on autism, more specifically autism awareness. I currently work for an organization that provides services to adults and children with developmental disabilities. I work one on one with children, as apart of a home based therapeutic service. Prior to working with these children, I did not know much about autism; I had my beliefs and stereotypes. These were completely broken down once I got the amazing opportunity to work with these kids and see how unbelievable they truly are. It was the change in my attitudes about autism that guided my decision to write this blog. I want to help others have a change of heart or at least see autism from a different perspective.
2) I can’t say that there is necessarily a rhyme or reason to the organization of my blog. I want to give people a mix of both facts about autism along with personal experiences dealing with the children. I think that this mix is important for the message that I am trying to give out because I want people to realize how prevalent autism is and the figures behind this disability in our world. However, in order to truly get someone to have a change in attitude, telling personal stories can really capture the emotion of the reader and allow them to put themselves in another’s shoes.
3) I think in my first few entries my personality tends to be more serious. Typically I write with some sarcasm and satire, but I think with the nature of the blog and the fact that I feel so strongly about the topic, this made it come out with more of a serious tone. I think this personality really shines in my first entry when I talked about what autism means to me. It got pretty personal, which is probably something that I should stray away from when talking about something so controversial. However, because I am so passionate about the topic, it got difficult for me to hold my personal views back.
4) I can’t say that I have really fallen into a particular blogging style. Before this class, I never really did anything with blogging or social media in general. I actually don’t really like blogging, so it has been hard for me to have a certain style. If I am passionate about something, I usually like to go act on it; I can be rather impulsive. I guess I feel like my blog won’t reach out to the people I want, so I have been pretty hesitant about the whole idea.
5) I actually picked a template that has colors representing the organization that I work for. It worked out really well that there was already a pre-made template on the blogger site that had these colors. I also included a picture of a child with autism riding a bike. I thought that this picture was important because the child actually looks like a normally developing child and he is performing an activity that every child does.
6) I think that my blog would change pretty drastically. I think the reason that I have not expanded my blog beyond what it is now is because I do not know anything about computers. I would like for my blog to come to life with videos, a larger burst of colors, more interesting fonts, and more pictures. If my job did not require such a high amount of privacy, ideally I would like to include pictures and videos of the kids that I specifically work with.
7) Honestly, when I have compared my blog to other students in the class, I feel like mine is pretty boring. I guess I really would like to learn how to change it to make it more interesting. I think the part of my blog that could use the most work is the aesthetics. I have seen people with videos and personal photos on theirs. I have never considered myself the creative type, so I feel like any colors that I would pick might just look weird in the context of my particular topic. I would say that the strongest part of my blog would be the entries, and even these I feel like could use some work. The hardest part about writing my entries is the privacy issue. I have to leave out names and certain places making some of the entries seem pretty vague. This is something that has held my creativity back a little.
8) Because of the fact that I am so concerned about the improvements of my aesthetics, I think suggestions from my group on how to improve them was the best feed back I got. Along with this, I thought it was really important for me to hear that the topic of my blog was interesting. While I know it is not something that everyone will want to stop and read, my group members informed me that it actually was interesting because they were pretty unknowledgeable about the subject.
9) In another class, I actually was asked to describe blogging to an older woman in the class. As an assignment we were asked to incorporate some sort of social media into our projects. The woman was really hesitant because she had never used any social media before. I told her that I felt like it was a diary; a way for someone to write down how they feel about a particular topic; a way to provoke some sort of emotion and allow readers to feel what you feel. As I described this, another student intervened and proceeded to attack my views on a blog, telling me that it is not a diary, but an information provider. I guess we all have different views on the actual purpose of a blog. Blogging allows for a huge array of people to access your writings and indulge themselves. It allows for people from all over the world to share their views on the same topic. I think that this is what is truly interesting about writing in the electronic environment. There is such a diverse group of people that can read your writings whenever they want. Blogs allow for dialogue; a place for people to converse back and forth about how they feel about something specific.
10) While I can’t say that I like blogging yet, my views about it have actually changed. I have heard the term “blogging” in many of my business classes. I seemed to attach the meaning of a blog to a business atmosphere. However, blogs can be so much more personal than simply for business matters. They allow for a sense of connectivity and networking that I never really realized prior to doing this project.
11) I think I would really like some feedback on how to improve my writing so more people would be interested in reading it. How can I work around the fact that because of my job I have to keep a lot of things private?
2) I can’t say that there is necessarily a rhyme or reason to the organization of my blog. I want to give people a mix of both facts about autism along with personal experiences dealing with the children. I think that this mix is important for the message that I am trying to give out because I want people to realize how prevalent autism is and the figures behind this disability in our world. However, in order to truly get someone to have a change in attitude, telling personal stories can really capture the emotion of the reader and allow them to put themselves in another’s shoes.
3) I think in my first few entries my personality tends to be more serious. Typically I write with some sarcasm and satire, but I think with the nature of the blog and the fact that I feel so strongly about the topic, this made it come out with more of a serious tone. I think this personality really shines in my first entry when I talked about what autism means to me. It got pretty personal, which is probably something that I should stray away from when talking about something so controversial. However, because I am so passionate about the topic, it got difficult for me to hold my personal views back.
4) I can’t say that I have really fallen into a particular blogging style. Before this class, I never really did anything with blogging or social media in general. I actually don’t really like blogging, so it has been hard for me to have a certain style. If I am passionate about something, I usually like to go act on it; I can be rather impulsive. I guess I feel like my blog won’t reach out to the people I want, so I have been pretty hesitant about the whole idea.
5) I actually picked a template that has colors representing the organization that I work for. It worked out really well that there was already a pre-made template on the blogger site that had these colors. I also included a picture of a child with autism riding a bike. I thought that this picture was important because the child actually looks like a normally developing child and he is performing an activity that every child does.
6) I think that my blog would change pretty drastically. I think the reason that I have not expanded my blog beyond what it is now is because I do not know anything about computers. I would like for my blog to come to life with videos, a larger burst of colors, more interesting fonts, and more pictures. If my job did not require such a high amount of privacy, ideally I would like to include pictures and videos of the kids that I specifically work with.
7) Honestly, when I have compared my blog to other students in the class, I feel like mine is pretty boring. I guess I really would like to learn how to change it to make it more interesting. I think the part of my blog that could use the most work is the aesthetics. I have seen people with videos and personal photos on theirs. I have never considered myself the creative type, so I feel like any colors that I would pick might just look weird in the context of my particular topic. I would say that the strongest part of my blog would be the entries, and even these I feel like could use some work. The hardest part about writing my entries is the privacy issue. I have to leave out names and certain places making some of the entries seem pretty vague. This is something that has held my creativity back a little.
8) Because of the fact that I am so concerned about the improvements of my aesthetics, I think suggestions from my group on how to improve them was the best feed back I got. Along with this, I thought it was really important for me to hear that the topic of my blog was interesting. While I know it is not something that everyone will want to stop and read, my group members informed me that it actually was interesting because they were pretty unknowledgeable about the subject.
9) In another class, I actually was asked to describe blogging to an older woman in the class. As an assignment we were asked to incorporate some sort of social media into our projects. The woman was really hesitant because she had never used any social media before. I told her that I felt like it was a diary; a way for someone to write down how they feel about a particular topic; a way to provoke some sort of emotion and allow readers to feel what you feel. As I described this, another student intervened and proceeded to attack my views on a blog, telling me that it is not a diary, but an information provider. I guess we all have different views on the actual purpose of a blog. Blogging allows for a huge array of people to access your writings and indulge themselves. It allows for people from all over the world to share their views on the same topic. I think that this is what is truly interesting about writing in the electronic environment. There is such a diverse group of people that can read your writings whenever they want. Blogs allow for dialogue; a place for people to converse back and forth about how they feel about something specific.
10) While I can’t say that I like blogging yet, my views about it have actually changed. I have heard the term “blogging” in many of my business classes. I seemed to attach the meaning of a blog to a business atmosphere. However, blogs can be so much more personal than simply for business matters. They allow for a sense of connectivity and networking that I never really realized prior to doing this project.
11) I think I would really like some feedback on how to improve my writing so more people would be interested in reading it. How can I work around the fact that because of my job I have to keep a lot of things private?
Potential Wikitravel entries
Section About Madison, Connecticut...
Madison is a town located in New Haven County of Connecticut. It is located in the central part of the Connecticut shoreline. The population of Madison is around 19,000 as of 2006. The total area of Madison is 38.6 square miles. It was first founded in 1641 but was originally known as East Guilford. It was named its own town in 1826, which separated Madison from is bordering town of Guilford. Much of Madison is known for its pricey, historical homes and its miles of beach. It is 15 miles east of New Haven and 35 miles south of Hartford. Madison is immediately bordered to the east by Clinton, on the north by Durham, on the south by Long Island Sound, and on the west by Guilford.
Do...
Hammonasset State Park, exit 62 from Interstate 95 North, if you are already in Madison take a 20 minute drive east to the major shoreline. This state park offers various things to do for couples and for families with free parking and admission. There is over 1,000 acres of campgrounds, parks, beaches, walking trails, bike paths, and fields. Meigs Point Nature Center is also within Hammonasset State Park, offering aquariums and reptile and amphibian exhibits for the kids. The park is open 7 days a week at 8 am until sunset. Contact: +1 203 245 2785.
Sleep...
Beach Tree Cottages, 1187 Boston Post Road, Cottages set within a tranquil landscape. Cottages consist of bedroom with queen size bed, full bath, living room with pull-out couch, and kitchenette with all necessary appliances. Walk or bike to Hammonasset State Park. Contact: +1 203-245-2676.
Madison is a town located in New Haven County of Connecticut. It is located in the central part of the Connecticut shoreline. The population of Madison is around 19,000 as of 2006. The total area of Madison is 38.6 square miles. It was first founded in 1641 but was originally known as East Guilford. It was named its own town in 1826, which separated Madison from is bordering town of Guilford. Much of Madison is known for its pricey, historical homes and its miles of beach. It is 15 miles east of New Haven and 35 miles south of Hartford. Madison is immediately bordered to the east by Clinton, on the north by Durham, on the south by Long Island Sound, and on the west by Guilford.
Do...
Hammonasset State Park, exit 62 from Interstate 95 North, if you are already in Madison take a 20 minute drive east to the major shoreline. This state park offers various things to do for couples and for families with free parking and admission. There is over 1,000 acres of campgrounds, parks, beaches, walking trails, bike paths, and fields. Meigs Point Nature Center is also within Hammonasset State Park, offering aquariums and reptile and amphibian exhibits for the kids. The park is open 7 days a week at 8 am until sunset. Contact: +1 203 245 2785.
Sleep...
Beach Tree Cottages, 1187 Boston Post Road, Cottages set within a tranquil landscape. Cottages consist of bedroom with queen size bed, full bath, living room with pull-out couch, and kitchenette with all necessary appliances. Walk or bike to Hammonasset State Park. Contact: +1 203-245-2676.
Manual of Style
When reading through the manual of style for wikitravel, I have to say I was a bit overwhelmed. As I have said many times before, I am completely computer illiterate, so using different formatting techniques is jibberish. It's hard to read something like how to link pages and actually picture the outcome. My brain works in those ways for certain aspects in my life, but certainly not for computer use.
What I found to be the most useful tips in the manual of style all came from th section of writing style. I think this was especially useful for me because I have always found myself with a certain style when I write. However, writing for something like wikitravel requires a much different tone and writing style all together.
When I was doing my wikitravel, I found myself using very descriptive words which made me give off a biased tone, as if I were advertising for the town. As one of the style rules in the manual, it mentions that it is extremely important to avoid doing this. They point out that in your writing you should simply provide useful information to the reader that will allow them to make a decision on their own. After reading this, a lot of my writing definitely needed to be altered.
I also found that "Words to Avoid" section to be extremely important. In this part, wikitravel gave a large list of words that definitely need to be eliminated from the writing. Many of these words were actually things that I found in my own wikitravel page when I was describing a restaurant or hotel. I felt as if I was becoming more of a travel guide than a source for information.
It seems, for me anyway, that the most useful section in the manual of style was the part about determining your tone accordingly. They say that writing should be fair. However, they also mention that this does not mean that your writing needs to be boring. Also, they hope that you can find a conversational and informal tone. In this section, it says that you should not be afraid to write with a humorous tone as well, as this makes the writing more interesting for readers. Also, you should never assume that your readers are idiots. Originally I thought that anytime there was a word or place that was out of the ordinary, then I should go into depth about it. However, after reading this, I really changed my attitude realizing that people probably know more than I was giving them credit for.
Writing for wikitravel seems pretty complicated. There are so many guidelines to follow in order make a suitable page. It actually reminds me of writing for a newspaper. There are so many style guidelines to reference in the Associated Press handbook, that it often feels like you are focusing more on the style opposed to the actual writing.
What I found to be the most useful tips in the manual of style all came from th section of writing style. I think this was especially useful for me because I have always found myself with a certain style when I write. However, writing for something like wikitravel requires a much different tone and writing style all together.
When I was doing my wikitravel, I found myself using very descriptive words which made me give off a biased tone, as if I were advertising for the town. As one of the style rules in the manual, it mentions that it is extremely important to avoid doing this. They point out that in your writing you should simply provide useful information to the reader that will allow them to make a decision on their own. After reading this, a lot of my writing definitely needed to be altered.
I also found that "Words to Avoid" section to be extremely important. In this part, wikitravel gave a large list of words that definitely need to be eliminated from the writing. Many of these words were actually things that I found in my own wikitravel page when I was describing a restaurant or hotel. I felt as if I was becoming more of a travel guide than a source for information.
It seems, for me anyway, that the most useful section in the manual of style was the part about determining your tone accordingly. They say that writing should be fair. However, they also mention that this does not mean that your writing needs to be boring. Also, they hope that you can find a conversational and informal tone. In this section, it says that you should not be afraid to write with a humorous tone as well, as this makes the writing more interesting for readers. Also, you should never assume that your readers are idiots. Originally I thought that anytime there was a word or place that was out of the ordinary, then I should go into depth about it. However, after reading this, I really changed my attitude realizing that people probably know more than I was giving them credit for.
Writing for wikitravel seems pretty complicated. There are so many guidelines to follow in order make a suitable page. It actually reminds me of writing for a newspaper. There are so many style guidelines to reference in the Associated Press handbook, that it often feels like you are focusing more on the style opposed to the actual writing.
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Places, Places, Places...
My original thought about a place to focus on for wikitravel was Coventry, Rhode Island...it is my hometown afterall. I have lived in the same town, in the same house for the 20 long years of my life. I know a lot about the town including the cheapest gas stations, the places to go for sightseeing, and pretty much just basic history that someone might want to know when researching my town. I thought that this would be a good place for wikitravel specifically because there is very little information about Coventry on wikipedia...I have to say, I was a little offended...I mean, who wouldn't want to search for Coventry and learn all about?!
Then, as a class we came up with this brilliant idea to tackle the town of Kingston, the home of our beloved university. I actually think that this is a really good idea. We all have our own specific knowledge about random things on campus that would all come together and form a great wikipedia page.
Then, as a class we came up with this brilliant idea to tackle the town of Kingston, the home of our beloved university. I actually think that this is a really good idea. We all have our own specific knowledge about random things on campus that would all come together and form a great wikipedia page.
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