What makes a good blog?

A good blog is something that can contribute to a creative society by creative means. Creativity comes in a variety of forms through visuals, form of expression, layout and physical design, and subject matter, not to mention delivery of subject matter. If one was to creatively present a blog about organic coffee, it should expressively pull the audience into the aromatic world of the bean, intoxicatingly reeling in people through its presence and aesthetics. The idea of creatively presenting a more academic topic comes at greater challenge. Academics can still be presented in an interesting manner. In this course we accumulate the knowledge gained throughout the communications major and formulate a blog to deliver a specified set of information. The communications major prepares the individual to understand technical writing to properly understand how a platform, and technological medium as blogging can be utilized to reach an audience appropriately. In regarding three fellow classmates’ blogs I was able to acquire more, practical knowledge regarding the creative use of blogs in reaching an audience, through their own design and in comparison of my own crafted blog.

The first blog I reviewed was created by Deneishreon Washington, found at http://communicationjourney2013.blogspot.com/2013/06/delivering-bad-news-tactfully-and.html. This blog takes more of an academic approach to presenting the blog posts. She borders the centered text with a wallpaper picturing shelved library books, which brings a whimsical look to the subject matter. Dee, choose a very neat look for the layout, centering the text on an eggshell colored background, and plain black text. Her header is simple with the title of the present course, Communication 480, in eggshell, on a taupe background. The color scheme suits the book border well, and equally the subject theme.

Dee’s blog is easy to read by aesthetics alone, but it could stand a bit more of a splash of color. Perhaps some images, not necessarily pictures, but graphics could parallel well with her theme while complementing the subject matter. It could also use some warm touches like a pic of herself, or some icon to represent the person attached to the text. The ideas presented in the text are cohesive and present a good working knowledge of practicing communications. However, the articles could use some further editing and proofing.

The following blog considered was created by Jeannie Swint, http://thereshouldbea12stepprogramforthis.blogspot.com/. This blog is of great contrast to the previous, using many visuals throughout the blog. Each post is accompanied by a complementary graphic or picture to visualize what the text is presenting. The colors are set in a unique scheme: a charcoal gray geometric background pulls the reader’s eyes toward the text. The text is centered on a plain charcoal background with white text, which makes it easy to read through, as well as visually interesting. The visuals sometimes carry the text; indeed, often I find myself looking at the pictures only to realize I had not been reading the text.

The text itself is full of creative thought and ties together well to suit one audience, whether that audience fits the classmates of a communications course, or people plainly interested in commentary on human interaction. The blog is strong with its level of visuals and its blogger profile and picture in the margin, yet the posts still require some proofing and editing. The post “Be careful: your faux pas is showing…” (June 27, 2013) still needs some formatting assistance to group text together. This blog is a great reference point for visuals absolutely.

The third blog was put together at http://coffeewithcolette.blogspot.com/, by Tracy (Colette) Tennant. This blog captures more of a heartfelt presence in its text rich posts. The blog posts featured are lengthier than others reviewed, employing an approach to the heart. They tell stories and use dynamic text to give imaginative and real events to allow readers to comprehend the communications principles included. The posts provide great insight into what it means to use a proper understanding of communications in daily life. Together they create a cohesive blog to reach any mom-blogger, the individual studying such a subject, or the single girl. The name says it all in its truest of personal approaches using: coffeewithcolette.blogspot.com.  The layout, lastly, makes reading though the text clean and clear, with proper line and paragraph breaks, text size, and use of bulleting to break up monotony. The wallpaper is subtle and whimsical, while allowing the audience to concentrate on the readings.

All of these blogs are invariably different, using different color schemes to enhance the visual display of the text, employing visuals, and through a functional or whimsical use of text. Each of these blogs brings something creative to blogging. For the use of my own blog they show me the ability of versatility even when our posts parallel in topics, they are altered in usage and presentation. I see for myself, I can choose to maintain my blog, but be sure to continually tie in my own creative touches; I feel in these considerations of each blog that what makes a good blog is ingenuity and creativity. People enjoy being a part of things that are new, whether that means how I introduce visuals or how I creatively write my post material, I need to carve that freshness for myself.   

           

 

References:

Swint, Jeannie. (27 June, 2013). http://thereshouldbea12stepprogramforthis.blogspot.com/. Retrieved 8 July, 2013.

Tennant, Tracy. (1 July, 2013). http://coffeewithcolette.blogspot.com/. Retrieved 8 July, 2013.

Washington, Deneishreon. (6 July, 2013). http://communicationjourney2013.blogspot.com/2013/06/delivering-bad-news-tactfully-and.html. Retrieved 8 July, 2013.