I was just remembering that tender time so long ago during which I had to publish my first post... okay, it was only 2 weeks ago. But that post was short, it was sad, and it contained no information at all.
Now it makes me laugh because I thought I was so clever for avoiding the ? of the Week at the moment.
Friday, February 27, 2009
"I love weddings, drinks all around!"
Haha I loved that part from Pirates of the Caribbean.
So, to test my new knowledge of how to include a picture with a post, I am going to include a picture of my friend's wedding dress, which can also be found at Mon Cheri Bridals.
The wedding is in one week exactly.
So, to test my new knowledge of how to include a picture with a post, I am going to include a picture of my friend's wedding dress, which can also be found at Mon Cheri Bridals.
The wedding is in one week exactly.
Blog Genre Analysis
Wedding Blogs
The purpose of the wedding blogs I've been following is to share the process of planning a wedding while making it interesting and helpful to other people in the same boat. They assume that you are a bride-to-be also planning your own wedding… or that you just love weddings. All of the blogs provide a lot of helpful info by showing step-by-step what each bride blogger is going through. They share tips, personal experiences, photos of results, and links to more information. Often they ask questions to the reader encouraging a response, such as “What are you thinking for table centerpieces?” or “Do you think wedding shoes have to be white?” Most of the blogs are collaborative; if not, they generally feature other people's weddings they liked.
Weddingbee
Includes about 2-3 very short paragraphs before the “see more” option. Sometimes I felt that because the paragraphs were so short that I didn't have enough info to decide what the post was really about or if I wanted to read it. Several members post entries several times a day-with so much information being shared, it can get quite lengthy so I understand why they formatted the page the way they did.
Theunbride
The “un” is for “unforgettable + unconventional,” showing unusual but attractive ideas. This blog also features full posts with photos, alternated with informational text posts. It also contained some tips in the form of embedded videos and had lots of scrolling per page, which I personally liked. The author included personal posts unrelated to weddings, too, which gave the reader an idea of what sort of author she is.
Style Me Pretty: The Ultimate Wedding Blog
Again, each page contained full posts, with lots of pictures, but very few links to other sites. It did contained great do-it-yourself tips that were easily visualized by the amount of photos; however, I frequently found multiple posts, generally featuring the “real wedding” that had just occurred. It was neat to see what other people came up with for their own weddings, but after clicking through page after page it got a little old.
Something Blue: Wedblog for Brides
Had long, picture-filled posts without hiding part of them, but it was not too annoying because the posts were less rant-y and more information-oriented. It included links in the posts to other sites so the reader can follow up what the blogger is talking about. The posts were varied by personal and general entries that included tips.
DC NearlyWeds
Includes full posts on the main page with photos. Several brides are blogging about their wedding planning experiences, but they do get long and chatty for being wholly included on the main page. I found it annoying to keep scrolling down to reach the end of a post I wasn't interested in after reading a few paragraphs. Also, because of this, only a relatively very few posts were on each page before having to go to the next one. There were not very many pictures, understandably, because each post was more of a personal opinion piece. However, it was feel-good talk that most brides could probably identify with because it dealt with many emotional issues.
My conclusion is that writing for the web is so different because everybody is trying to make their own work distinct and noticeable. They try to make it skimmable, interesting, easy to read, with enough information but not too much. Some bloggers anticipate readers wanting as much info as possible, so they include as much as they can of each post. Other bloggers anticipate readers to have ADD, so they include a little bit of each post as to not bore the reader; and, hopefully, something will catch their eye. All of us have our own preferences. All of the blogs I followed were good; I just have my own preferences as to how I would like the information to be presented, which is not quite how others would want it I am sure.
The purpose of the wedding blogs I've been following is to share the process of planning a wedding while making it interesting and helpful to other people in the same boat. They assume that you are a bride-to-be also planning your own wedding… or that you just love weddings. All of the blogs provide a lot of helpful info by showing step-by-step what each bride blogger is going through. They share tips, personal experiences, photos of results, and links to more information. Often they ask questions to the reader encouraging a response, such as “What are you thinking for table centerpieces?” or “Do you think wedding shoes have to be white?” Most of the blogs are collaborative; if not, they generally feature other people's weddings they liked.
Weddingbee
Includes about 2-3 very short paragraphs before the “see more” option. Sometimes I felt that because the paragraphs were so short that I didn't have enough info to decide what the post was really about or if I wanted to read it. Several members post entries several times a day-with so much information being shared, it can get quite lengthy so I understand why they formatted the page the way they did.
Theunbride
The “un” is for “unforgettable + unconventional,” showing unusual but attractive ideas. This blog also features full posts with photos, alternated with informational text posts. It also contained some tips in the form of embedded videos and had lots of scrolling per page, which I personally liked. The author included personal posts unrelated to weddings, too, which gave the reader an idea of what sort of author she is.
Style Me Pretty: The Ultimate Wedding Blog
Again, each page contained full posts, with lots of pictures, but very few links to other sites. It did contained great do-it-yourself tips that were easily visualized by the amount of photos; however, I frequently found multiple posts, generally featuring the “real wedding” that had just occurred. It was neat to see what other people came up with for their own weddings, but after clicking through page after page it got a little old.
Something Blue: Wedblog for Brides
Had long, picture-filled posts without hiding part of them, but it was not too annoying because the posts were less rant-y and more information-oriented. It included links in the posts to other sites so the reader can follow up what the blogger is talking about. The posts were varied by personal and general entries that included tips.
DC NearlyWeds
Includes full posts on the main page with photos. Several brides are blogging about their wedding planning experiences, but they do get long and chatty for being wholly included on the main page. I found it annoying to keep scrolling down to reach the end of a post I wasn't interested in after reading a few paragraphs. Also, because of this, only a relatively very few posts were on each page before having to go to the next one. There were not very many pictures, understandably, because each post was more of a personal opinion piece. However, it was feel-good talk that most brides could probably identify with because it dealt with many emotional issues.
My conclusion is that writing for the web is so different because everybody is trying to make their own work distinct and noticeable. They try to make it skimmable, interesting, easy to read, with enough information but not too much. Some bloggers anticipate readers wanting as much info as possible, so they include as much as they can of each post. Other bloggers anticipate readers to have ADD, so they include a little bit of each post as to not bore the reader; and, hopefully, something will catch their eye. All of us have our own preferences. All of the blogs I followed were good; I just have my own preferences as to how I would like the information to be presented, which is not quite how others would want it I am sure.
Friday, February 6, 2009
? of the Week: Bloggers blogging about blogs and blogging...and ethos
So, I am following wedding blogs because what girl doesn't love weddings, right? Plus, there have been a bunch of people I know getting married recently, which gets me thinking, and it doesn't hurt to get info and ideas now so that I can be a little better prepared when my big day comes :)
When it comes to blogs, the reason I was attracted to them was because they seem to provide a lot of information , a variety of sub-topics, and good sources for their ideas. This all ties into the author's ethos, or good will toward the audience, good sense, and good moral character.
The blogs I'm following show me ethos in that they are concerned about fashion but also keep expenses [relatively] in mind. Trying to find a way to have the best wedding possible and getting all the elements you want while finding good deals and not getting ripped off sounds like good sense to me! They look at fashion magazines and are up-to-date with style: they want to show what they've found to other people who are looking for ideas, which shows good will to me. So basically they establish ethos by showing knowledge on the subject and sharing tips that are beneficial to the readers.
For real though...
Okay, so i think what keeps readers coming back for more is a combination of things: good writing skills, actually having something to say (relevant information), and well-thought-out ideas; readability (if that is even a word) is a must, and, for me, humor helps as does a conversational style. Interesting design and other cool visual stuff doesn't hurt either ;)
Friday, January 23, 2009
? of the Week: What keeps blog readers coming back for more?
I don't know. I will have to think about this.
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