First Assignment

Hello? Is anybody actually reading this?

The concept of a blog is a marvelous one: a public forum open for anyone to freely speak their mind. Whether you're sharing stories with friends or fantasies with strangers, this little 21st century wonder lets anyone share their thoughts with the world, no matter how irrelevant they may be. Without knowing much about blogs, I quickly realized there is a major factor that determines the quality of every the blog - the author. From travel blogs to diet blogs, if the writer fails to captivate the reader - the blog is simply worthless. Now after analyzing several past students' blogs, I have identified some other universal factors in a successful blog.

Being a rookie to this whole blogging thing, I have no idea how to put a picture on here. But the important thing is: I want to put a picture here. Something exciting, something real - I've got a few goodies in the arsenal that would catch ANYBODYS attention, but you'll have to wait for those (I'm such a tease). Pictures bring life to a page of text and they are necessary in any complete blog post. In a past student's blog "Through the Gypsies Eye" (found here at: http://beautyinlocation.blogspot.com/), the author posts pictures that complete every entry. Being a travel blog, these posts would not be nearly as interesting without pictures. Also the personal photos add a human touch to the blog, giving the reader a personal connection to the author.

Even in cyber space, style is still important. Although, I guess I shouldn't be preaching because of the empty walls housing my own blog, but I have come to appreciate the value of a visually pleasing webpage. Much like a man's outfit - a perfect webpage must walk the line between flamboyance and blandness. If I go out wearing a sweater, jacket, backpack, necklace, and cowboy boots: I'm trying too hard, not impressing anyone, just looking downright desperate. But if I'm wearing a coat, scarf, and cuff my jeans just a little bit: we're in business. A webpage is exactly the same - you can't have two videos, four pictures, and eight hyperlinks - it's just too much garnish, not enough meat.

Finally, I will conclude with what I began with: the most important part of a blog is the writer. With this technological wonder open to anybody and everybody, a good blog is hard to find. To be honest, many of the blogs I looked through were rather... uninteresting. My favorite has to be the travel blog I mentioned earlier. I love the personal connection the writer is able to create; she really brings you along on her travels. Will I be able to create the same connection with you guys? Not sure, I guess we'll see.