Cesar Ruiz (ENGL 3360)

  In our course this week, we discussed different aspects of publishing online. During our session on Wednesday, we analyzed the differences between the old website versions of the New York Times and The Huffington Post. The reasoning behind choosing these two publications is that they are both examples of publications born in physical print (The New York Times) and those born online (The Huffington Post). Specifically, my group analyzed the New York Times Page in 2006 and the Huffington Post’s page in 2005. Although their composition had many similarities in how they were composed (crowded with little negative space), the nature of their content is vastly different.  The New York Times contained headings that sounded more neutral and professional. On the other hand, the Huffington Post’s headlines were more sensational and provocative.  In class, we concluded that these news’ sources' differing styles have much to do with the format they were originally founded in. Our g...

This week in class, we touched on different subjects. This week, we read an article by The University of Wisconsin - Madison Writing Center titled "Writing an Effective Blog Post." In this article, the author discusses one of the most valuable characteristics of a blog by stating, What makes blogs so different from journalism, as the authors of The Elements of \Blogging: Expanding the Conversation of Journalism suggests, is the discussion between writer and reader." This makes a lot of sense, considering most blog readers are individuals searching for a community with similar tastes. Furthermore, the author discusses other characteristics, such as block quotes, links, and images.  After discussing the findings from the reading, we had an in-class discussion of different blogs found online. The blog that captivated my attention was “Humans of New York.” This blog showcased stories of dozens of citizens in New York City. The blogs’ use of different characteristics made the...

 This week in class, we discussed different methods of posting on social media. In our weekly reading, the author discussed the importance of these 10 steps:  1. Optimize what you write according to your platform.  2. Adding Images  3. Keep your audience in mind 4. Keep it about other people 5. Become a master of headlines  6. Experiment with different content types 7. Address your readers 8. Cover trendy topics 9. Keep it concrete 10. Don't make promises you can't keep  In my opinion, keeping it concrete and the audience in mind is the most important. Writing content for social media in lengthy posts that only the author is interested in reading does nothing for the message being presented. This results in people scrolling past that particular post, and if done enough times, it leads them to unfollow the page it is posted on. Last but not least, writing about trendy topics is more likely to get views because it's a topic people are interested in learning a...