Throughout the quarter the Writing In A Digital Age class has been constructing blogs which relate to the topics of the course. This Digitalk blog has been one of those blog and a few posts and comments on other blogs that I have authored I feel outshine many of the others. In this post I will outline which of the blogs and comments I feel are the best and why I feel that way.
Blogs
- This post examines a real personal story of how one teachers life was forever changed by false viral media. I outline the story and tie this viral media into the concepts that we talked about in our class.
- How does it meet the assignment objectives outlined in the “About Blogging” document on Moodle?
- This blog engages the audience quickly by the use of two very popular online videos. The audience and relate very quickly to the introduction through these videos.
- I use an emotional personal story in order to hook the readers into the content of the blog. The story being told is a somewhat sad one but is also a story that has a lot of social currency for many potential readers.
- How does it fulfill the qualities of a successful blog entry or successful comment outlined in the “About Blogging” document on Moodle?
- This blog is focused on viral media and how it can turn bad.
- The blog relates directly to our conversations of a viral culture and how it has changed our society.
- I relate the story that I am telling in the blog to the “Six Things” article that we read when discussing how the teacher’s statements went viral because it sparked strong emotion in many that saw the news clip.
- How does it meet the criteria outlined on the rubric on Moodle?
- The blog has a direct quote from the “Six Things” reading about emotion driven viral media.
- The video contains a video link to a TED Talk related to online shaming.
- The introduction contains two recent viral videos that are very recognizable to many potential readers.
GoFundMe: Digital Fundraising Or Cyber Begging?
- In this post I examine some of the negative uses of the site GoFundMe. I examine how this mostly positive advocacy site has also led to negative behavior in our society.
- How does it meet the assignment objectives outlined in the “About Blogging” document on Moodle?
- This blog post directly takes on the use of one of the most popular fundraising sites being used today. I question not whether or not the site is making a positive difference but I more question whether or not the site is creating a virtual begging ground for many people who don’t want to do hard work themselves.
- This blog post examines our topic of advocacy more deeply and tries to look at when good advocacy projects get spun around in a negative manner.
- The blog starts with an introduction that expands upon the “Take the “No Ice Bucket” Challenge” reading. This reading provides context to my skepticism of some advocacy projects and then my blog expands on this idea in detail.
- How does it fulfill the qualities of a successful blog entry or successful comment outlined in the “About Blogging” document on Moodle?
- The blog takes a looks deeper into our course conversations of advocacy and tries to determine whether or not one of the Internet’s biggest advocacy websites is producing some negative affects.
- The blog directly ties in to a course reading and our in class discussions about advocacy.
- I believe that this blog post can cause some people to evaluate different advocacy projects that they see online in a new light. I in no way try to suggest that GoFundMe is not making a positive difference in society. However, I try to help the readers evaluate when some advocacy projects get off track unintentionally and cause “slactivism” behavior in our society.
- How does it meet the criteria outlined on the rubric on Moodle?
- The blog directly quotes the “Take the “No Ice Bucket” Challenge” reading when discussing the validity of the Ice Bucket Challenge’s advocacy
- A link is present to a blog discussing whether or not GoFundMe is a valid place to fund raise for many small life issues. This link gives more examples of the type of behavior that I am directly discussing.
- Two links are present to GoFundMe pages that relate to the topic of conversation in the blog. These links are used to solidify the ideas that I am making in the blog post.
Comments
YURDAMNWRIGHT – Intimacy in the Digital Age
- This comment examines the post’s author’s viewpoint on crimes related to underage sexting. I raise questions regarding the post’s content in order to try to facilitate more in depth discussion on the topic.
- How does it meet the assignment objectives outlined in the “About Blogging” document on Moodle?
- This comment poses some questions in order to try to facilitate more conversations on the topic at hand.
- I also pull in some personal views on why laws are not being changed regarding underage sexting in order to provide a personal point of view on the topic.
- How does it fulfill the qualities of a successful blog entry or successful comment outlined in the “About Blogging” document on Moodle?
- This comment is phrased in a way that it should be able to drive the conversation forward.
- The comment does not attack the author’s point of view but instead is aimed at clarifying some lingering questions and expand upon what has been said.
- How does it meet the criteria outlined on the rubric on Moodle?
- The comment is thought out and is crafted in a way that is positive and can drive conversation.
CMorBlogs – Spreadability of Wolves
- This comment looks at the blog post’s content but then spins the discussion in a slightly different way. I look at both what the author said and my own view point in order to try to merge the two into an interesting discussion.
- How does it meet the assignment objectives outlined in the “About Blogging” document on Moodle?
- I look at the content and my personal opinions and state something slightly different about the post’s topic.
- I challenge academic professionals to remix their material in a way that fits in today’s digital age.
- How does it fulfill the qualities of a successful blog entry or successful comment outlined in the “About Blogging” document on Moodle?
- The comment takes the conversation in a new direction to try to expand the reach of the productive conversation.
- I take the author’s view of how some things aren’t very spreadable and expand on it to form my own view on the topic.
- How does it meet the criteria outlined on the rubric on Moodle?
- This comment is meant to drive conversation in a way that it wasn’t before driven. The hope is to expand the reach of the tread into areas that it wouldn’t have gone without the comment.