Throughout this session at the University of Wollongong, I have kept and updated my blog for a couple of subjects. In particular, BCM240 (Media, Audience, and Place). Each week I have attempted to write my thoughts on the designated topic which have explored the way humans interact with various media outlets, the audiences of each type of media, as well as the way the media is consumed.
Writing out my thoughts and linking the weekly content to everyday examples has assisted my understanding of key themes and theories, as shown in each blog post.
I believe that my writing has greatly improved since I began my first subject involving blogging during autumn session 2014. I have written countless blogs since then and I believe my writing style has improved, whereas at the start my writing style wasn’t appropriate to the format. While I think my writing has improved, I wouldn’t say I’m proud of the other aspects of my blog. I’m not very creative and very knowledgeable when it comes to the behind the scenes side of blogging. Seeing other blogs from fellow students helps me understand what is needed when designing a site. I also struggle to incorporate humour into my blogs, or come up with witty titles to my posts. I’m a much more serious writer when it comes to blogging, which I think is detrimental to the readability of my site.
As blogging isn’t the most enjoyable form of university assessment, I often find myself lazy when it comes to writing my blog and choosing the correct aesthetics to accompany the writing. Just like essays and reports, I leave them to the last couple of days to complete. I think this is unhealthy and a recipe for low grades (and also detrimental to stress levels…) During the first couple of weeks I promised myself I would write my weekly blog posts by the weekend, but true to myself I would eventually not complete it until I had the following weeks blog to do.
And now on to the weekly blogs. Throughout the eight or so weeks of blogging, I wrote six entries on my site, as follows
- ‘Thoughts on Social Media and its Role in Society’ -– This was a general introduction to the subject where I introduced myself and my opinions regarding present day use of social media.
- ‘Television Traditions’ – I spoke to my mum this week about the differences surrounding the action of watching television today and when she was a child, about 40 years ago. This was a good post to write, as it was interesting to hear about the similarities as well as differences with viewing habits. I definitely learnt something new here.
- ‘Marketing the Media’ – This blog post was focused on how media outlets market their products to the audiences. It included commentary about viewing habits and advertising.
- ‘The Networked Home’ – The follow-up post to ‘Television Traditions’. This was about the prevalence of technology in my home, the use of devices by my family and their thoughts on internet speeds, and comparisons to technology habits of other countries. This was probably my favourite of all my posts due to my interests in the content and the way I wrote displayed my ideas.
- ‘Why am I not at the movies?’ – This week I was required to visit a cinema and talk about restrictions to social activities. As I was unable to visit, I discussed why I was unable and linked this to relevant theory.
- ‘Put the Phone Down!’ – This week I spoke about the restrictions on mobile phones, with reference to written and unwritten rules, and discussed the implications mobile phones have on person to person interactions.
After reading over my blogs I am happy with my level of writing and how my blog currently appears. I’d say that ‘The Networked Home’ was my favourite blog to write, and the post I am most happy with. I thought I approached the theory well and was able to articulate my thoughts in the desired manner. I thought that topic was particularly interesting compared to other weeks which showed itself in my writing. I felt more confident pressing the submit button and was happy with my incorporation of tables and relevant facts and figures.
On the other hand, I feel that there is a lack of confidence in my posts where I’m not interested in what I’m writing about, and therefore aren’t putting as much thought into my writing as I should. In particular, the ‘Why am I not at the movies? post was difficult to write due to the above reasons. I must ensure that I take more interest in the topic at hand in order to improve the readability of my work
I feel that blogging over the past year has opened my eyes to the positives the activity holds. Before I wrote my first blog I had negative thoughts surrounding it, asking myself why anyone would want to write them. But since then, particularly since starting BCM240, I have developed a further understanding towards blogging. I surprised myself when I thought I should make a blog for fun about my interests.
In conclusion, blogging has proved both interesting and difficult throughout the semester. While blogging sometimes felt draining and the last thing I want to do, I see the positives of the activity.I have learnt a lot about the activity (including how to hyperlink text!) and ways to make the blog more reader friendly, which can be used in other writing activities. I feel that while writing blogs isn’t my best style of writing, I am looking to improve in my writing style and other elements of the blog which will make it enjoyable for my audience to read.
Thank you for reading,
Daniel
Daniel Eves 