And so here we are my dear readers... that time we've all been dreading. The semester has drawn to a close and it is not time to take a fond look back on all the things I've learned and done. Will I continue the blog from here? Perhaps. But one thing still remains certain. I will forever remain the spooky fellow I am today, and I hope you all keep that morbid curiosity that drew you to me in the first place. I love you all, my dear readers!
0 Comments
So now, finally onto the topic of my niche blog! After thinking long about the ideas I had put before myself I decided that the best topic to translate to a blog would be my love of the horror genre. While for a time I considered falling into line with the immense number of simple horror movie review blogs that already exist, but I quickly swept that thought aside; I would simply drown in a sea of nearly identical blogs if I followed that path! So then I began thinking of what it was about horror that drew me to it in the first place, and after a time spent pondering this I had found my answer: the story! I have settled on my blog’s niche being a focus on the analysis of the plots of horror movies! Growing up I would always enjoy watching horror movies with my mother, but due to her condition I would have to take time to describe the events occurring on screen, and over the years I’ve gotten pretty good at picking up on the finer details. Using this to my advantage I could pick apart stories and plots in ways even the writers may not have imagined, crafting theories and possible secrets to delight my readers and promote further thinking on their part, as well as discussion on my own site.
This topic (plot analysis) would easily set my blog apart from others that also fall under the umbrella of horror, by simple virtue of specific focus. While movie reviewers look over the plot in a general sense, deciding what is and isn’t good writing or entertainment, many don’t move any further. These blogs treat each movie as a simple experience, write their review, and move on. Many other “discussion” type blogs focusing on the horror industry do the same, talking and giving their thoughts in broad strokes, never truly taking the time to think over the ideas and actions presented in the media shown to them. My blog will pour over the details of the plot presented, and think as far outside the box as possible in the conclusions drawn. These blogs, whether reviewing movies, books, or even horror conventions, also run the risk of becoming influenced by advertising and sponsors, providing biases or at the very least planting the seed of doubt in the mind of the reader. My blog can avoid this all together due to the subject matter, as my analyses will not focus on influencing the reader to view or not view any particular piece of media. My specific audience would ideally be a mix of horror fans and those who enjoy brainteasers or puzzles. The second interest group would (hopefully) be drawn to my site for the logic and reasoning used in my posts as my conclusions are drawn. A number of older horror movie plot analyses would also be beneficial, as statistics have shown that horror fans are 23% more likely to be between 35 and 44 than the average movie goer. This leaves me with a very large potential audience, and appealing to the older group (and the movies they grew up with) would help me to further draw in that crowd. In my research for my blog I found a number of helpful sites that could guide me in designing my own blog as well as the tone it should be set in. The first grouping of sites I’d like to discuss is the horror movie reviewers, of which I found three: The little blog of horrors, the horror club, and horrors not dead, and each of them gave me some unique insight. The horror club, dating back to 2008 (judging by their archives), found itself a following of 500. With a rather fitting design as a mix of bloody and gothic, the site definitely told you what it was all about, even without words. The tone taken by the horror club was one of over the top excitement, leveraging the fact that many horror fans love the adrenaline rush these movies give them, and showing me that at least moderate excitement and “hype” for my posts would clearly help my blog. The next blog, horrors not dead, has a following of around 450 on twitter (where a majority of this information comes as the site has no about tab), and judging by the join date the site dates back at least six years. With review archives full of older movies, foreign films, and even some other media, all wrapped up in a calm, analytical style, this site seems to draw in its crowd through a major amount of diversity in the age and origin of the movies it covers, a lesson I can clearly draw on to help keep my blog fresh and interesting! The last of the movie review sites, little blog of horrors, was founded in 2013 (again according to its review and post archives) and has by far the largest following, at over 12000! Unfortunately, what I took from this blog was what NOT to do, as in its current state it is horribly inactive and honestly one of the ugliest sites I have ever seen, bogged down with random ads that have nothing to do with the topic at hand. Judging from the boring, basic tone used in the most recent posts, dated over a year ago, it seems the blogger simply stopped caring, while loading their own site with ads to maximize their own revenue.
The next three blogs I found were mystery and horror, LLC, the horror writers association (HWA), and the personal blog of peter Labrow, a relatively popular horror writer. The mystery blog and that of Mr. Labrow both have very basic, uninteresting designs of mainly black and white, and when this is coupled with the boring, almost lecture like tone employed by both sites, it’s easy to understand why both sites have large amounts of inactivity on their posts, with next to no comments or reviews whatsoever, showing to me that while a small dip into the printer word might be a good idea for diversity, entirely focusing on it on the web is simply not something many people are interested in. On the other hand, the HWA boasts a site that looks very professional, with the site itself having a far more professional tone as it takes to its subject matter, showing that having an air of seriousness can help to keep interest on topics like books. The next two sites both have further shown me that diversity in my topics is a wonderful idea. The sites, anythinghorror and terrorthreads, both boast a relatively large following, to the tune of around 2000 followers, with wonderfully designed, thematic sites with an air of excitement about in their posts. They both review far more than movies, even delving into news about the genre as a whole, and while I cannot find any statistics showing when they began, they both seem to be doing better than some of the older sites I’ve seen. The final two blogs I researched taught me ways I could improve my site in regards to things other than just the tone, focus or design. The first, now dead site, bewearthehorrorblog, was the blog of a graphic designer started back in 2012 with 356 followers. His blog was purely for displays of his art, and the while the site itself was beautiful, the imagery appealed to the oft-terrorized senses of horror fans and showed me that imagery can and will be very important moving forward with my site. Lastly, the site Horrorbloggeraliance, founded in 2010 with over 1000 followers, dealt more with the networking aspect of horror blogs. With a well-made site that made navigation a breeze, I was shown that not only must I keep the ease of navigation in mind for my audience, but that networking with blogs similar to mine might not be such a bad idea… Having reviewed all my information, it’s clear to me that diversity in the analysis’ I do is a must, and will help to bring in a much larger audience. Writing the posts will be done with a tone of excitement yet seriousness that will get my readers both excited and focused on the matters discussed. Imagery, site design, lack of advertisements, and ease of navigation are all important things I will have to keep in mind should I want to keep my audience from hating the look of my site. A simple name that invokes ideas of both horror and thought would be appropriate, something along the lines of “the spooky thinker” or something. Lastly, I could begin my blog with a deeper review of a horror movie I myself was left with questions about; A Cure for Wellness. This movie leaves an incredibly large amount of questions at the end, and an analysis of the films plot could help my readers and I look for any details that may have been missed, beginning my journey into this niche blog. While brainstorming ideas for my literacy narrative I did manage to come across a few good points.
Firstly, I could talk about the numerous times I've learned big, important news stories simply by logging onto the web. I could also talk about my love-hate relationship with facebook, and how at times I would post deep, insightful commentary, while at other times I would simply read up on how others were feeling or thinking. Lastly, I think I just might talk about my use of reddit, and how the advice I had gotten from it had helped me in all kinds of different ways, as well as the fact that I came to find that all their advice is not always correct... "New developments in information and communication technologies (ICTs) during this first decade of the 21st century enabled many of them to keep in touch with family, colleagues, and friends from around the globe, as well as acquaintances they had met only online, with an ease and speed that had been impossible prior to this time." This quote is a rather adequate way to sum up my own digital history, as with the technologies of the 21st century the way I communicate has become defined by them. The image you see here is the logo for a site called reddit, a social media site dedicated to all sorts of different topics and ideas. While it wasn't the first ever site I visited on the web, it was one of the most important, as it taught me many different things about the use of the internet. Reddit is a place filled with your average everyday web surfer, where the community is very open and helpful about the variety of topics they cover, and through my use of the site I have learned everything from internet ettequite to current events. The site itself is so interesting due to the fact that its sheer size and user base allow for a look into much of the internet's opinion as a collective, or at least the most popular or prevelant opinion. The fact that the users of this site not only present their ideas but also evidence to back them up has helped me to shape they way I present my own arguments, be they online or in real life, as well as the fact that this site has shaped my behavior and use of the web.
After reading Rheingold's work, I feel that his stance essentially boils down to the fact that with the world being the ever changing technological marvel that it is, we need to be able to understand and use our many devices to the fullest extant as tools to assist us, not as crutches or something to simply follow. The point of his work that particularly caught my interest was his points on multitasking, and how much it happens today with technology. He makes the point that while multitasking is not bad if done well, most common multitasking that takes place on the web can cause our focus to simply dull, stating that "we need to explore and understand how to train attention now, so that we, not our devices, control the shape of this alteration in the future." I personally understand his points, as I myself will simply go home, open up some Youtube video, start texting someone, and soon just tune out to the world around me. Imagine what people like you and I could do with that time if we spend that time focused on a particular goal or trying to learn a new piece of information! the possibilities are limitless!
Upon reading the work of Barton and Hamilton it was rather easy to make the connection between their ideas and the things we do everyday. A simple (or should i say SAMPLE) of the way communication works with different methods would be a teacher trying to convey a lesson to her class while using both visual aides and writing the points of the topic on the board to help keep her class on task. Sadly, a teacher student relationship is essentially what i have found myself in with my group of friends, as they are not the most focused people. Due to a combination of short attention spans and poor listening, they tend to forget important information, so I've taken to texting them the main points not to forget, almost like a teacher presenting notes to a class, while giving quick, simple information though speech and phone calls. This all circles back to Barton and Hamilton's main points as it can clearly be seen not only within my circle but throughout much of society that combinations of communication methods, be they pictures, texts, or even the spoken word, make the way we communicate far more efficient and effective.
|
AuthorI'm Anthony Russo, a simple college student with a simple but effective blog. Here you'll find my take on all the blogging and commentary world has to offer, piece by piece. In other words, you can find SAMPLE TEXT here. Archives
May 2017
Categories |