Comments are a big part of the online world. Nowadays most online influencers are sharing how they deal with the hate, and how they try their best not to read the comments. The commonplace understanding that comment sections are terrible comes from the excessive amounts of hate there is online. I feel like it’s very hard to avoid hate online, as there is always someone who has something negative to say. It often feels like one hate comment outweighs all the positive ones. Meanwhile, I’ve heard people say that they try and focus on the good, rather than the bad. Comment sections can also be a positive place. Konnikova claims…

I mentioned a while back how I created an Instagram page. I wasn’t sure where my direction would go with that, but recently I’ve figured it out. I want my blog to be my main channel, but I want the Instagram page to reinforce it, and be used as a different outlet to showcase similar content. I’m aiming to make a blog post about a specific topic, and then make an Instagram post that visually captures what I wrote about. It’s a different form of expression that I’ve been enjoying. For example, I made a blog post about the show Grey’s Anatomy, and I made a post on my Instagram…

I added Google Analytics to my blog! Google Analytics provides comprehensive insights that empower creators to make data-driven decisions for their blogs. By leveraging these analytics, you can optimize content, enhance user experience, and implement strategies that align with the preferences of your audience. While there are many different things Google Analytics tracks, there are a few that stand out for me. The first is which pages and blog posts are the most popular. This insight would help me identify the content that resonates most with your audience, allowing me to create more of what they enjoy. To add to this, I want to see where my blog traffic is…

Trevor came in this week to talk about marketing and monetization. Shout out to Trevor, he is the best. What I found interesting was the segment at the end, when he looked at our websites and told us ideas of how we can make money from it. This got me thinking… How would I make money off my site? I didn’t have to think too hard because I quickly realized that there were many things I could do, very similar to the influencers I know and love. Affiliate Marketing: Sponsored Content: Ad Revenue: Product Giveaways and Contests: Sell Merchandise: Membership or Subscription: Consulting Services: Subscription Boxes or Curated Lists: Event…

I started this week by making some adjustments to my site thanks to feedback from my peer reviews. Eva called out one of the things I was struggling with, and this motivated me to finally find a solution. She wrote about how when you press on my main menus, it opens a blank page. I wasn’t sure if this would be an issue or not, because for me, I know to just hover over the button and select one of the drop down menus. However, I found that other people are tempted to click the main menu right away, leading them to a blank page and utter confusion. I wasn’t…

A big topic this week was digital literacy. Digital literacy is the ability to critically analyze stories presented in the media and determine their credibility. Gottfried and Liedke, claim that “In a recent Pew Research Center survey, half of 18- to 29-year-olds in the United States say they have some or a lot of trust in the information they get from social media sites” (2022). As a blogger, this means carefully evaluating the sources I use in my content. I also need to be aware of the potential for inaccuracies or biases in the information I encounter or share. It is a tricky situation since I’m not posting news, I’m…

Gertz’s article, “Design Machines. How to survive in the digital Apocalypse” talks about how digital culture is taking over the world. One thing that resonated with me and my blog was when Gertz said, “The best and worst thing about the information age is the ability and our penchant for sharing every damn thought that enters our minds” (2015). I understand where he’s coming from and I do see the positives and negatives of sharing every thought that comes to mind. In consideration to my blog, I need to be aware of what I am putting out there, since I am openly sharing my thoughts. If I am talking badly…

In my last process post, I covered who my audience is. I’m going to explore how this informs my editorial process. To begin, the main thing I want to ensure with my posts is consistency in tone, style, and formatting. Since it is diary style, it’s essential to create a personal, authentic, and intimate feel with my content. I’m using a conversational and friendly tone, which is very far from academic writing, but really resonates with readers. I’m aiming for my writing style to be very reflective, while also humurous, building a recognizable brand for my blog. I’ve been sharing my genuine thoughts, feelings, and experiences, allowing my personality to…

Setting up my website has been anything but easy. I felt very on my own, trying to teach myself how to navigate website curation. It was even more frustrating when the tutorials I was watching online weren’t aligning with my own screen. After being set on my theme, I had to work through adding content. This was my next big challenge as I couldn’t figure out how to get my posts to show up. I had no idea what plug-ins were and how important they would be on your website until I saw something about it online. I decided to give it a shot and I installed the WP Show…

This week I initiated a social media platform to help my online presence. I decided Instagram would be the best one for my diary style blog and the username is @mydigitallldiary. I also added the rest of my personal social media accounts onto the blog under “Contact” and as well on the top menu. I added my Spotify, Goodreads, and Pinterest. To add, after reading “How I Got My Attention Back” by Craig Mod, his experiences really resonated with me. “All of humanity’s problems stem from man’s inability to sit quietly in a room alone,” wrote Blaise Pascal. In other words, we constantly need to be putting our attention somewhere,…