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?
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
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.
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