Official blog of Clark's Blogging for Journalists class, Mass Communication department

Tuesday, January 19, 2016

Find 10 in 20

Take 20 minutes. Go to
 blogoklahoma.com and to
http://www.blogher.com/network
http://www.bloggersblog.com/blogalistlinks/

1. Choose one of the blogs you discovered today, or another one you prefer.
Comment below to write a  paragraph evaluation of the blog, addressing the following ideas:
  1. What are its strengths?
  2. What ideas about blogging and your blog do you get from it?
  3. What are its weaknesses and how could be improved?
Be sure to include the link to the blog.

21 comments:

  1. I chose lovetaza.com as a blog I am interested in.

    1. Love Taza has many strengths. For starters, the website is easy to navigate through and visually appealing. Although she has several posts, it is easy to find what you are looking for.

    2. By viewing her blog it makes me want to get better pictures. She posts awesome photos with every post and I think that is why her blog is so successful.

    3. It's difficult to find weaknesses but I think hers would be that she doesn't post enough about things of importance. She posts a lot of pictures of herself and I would say that is her biggest fault.

    ReplyDelete
  2. The blog I chose is called Rocks in My Dryer. It is a blog about being a mom who doesn't always have everything together. I really liked the blog first because of its appearance. Its colors are attractive and the layout is easy to understand. The blog's strengths are its humor and its layout. The posts are centered and easy to read. She also writes with humor throughout her posts which keep it interesting. There are links on the side that easily take you to categories where you can choose from many different topics. I got more ideas to add humor into my blog and add links to the side that relate to each post. I like how she added the links with each post to explain or relate to what she was writing about. I think some of the weaknesses of the blog are that besides the posts and links, there isn't anything else on her blog. There aren't many pictures and I think if she added more pictures to the side bars and throughout her posts, it would be even more appealing.

    Link: http://www.rocksinmydryer.typepad.com/

    ReplyDelete
  3. A blog that I am interested in is a blog called takeabiteblog.com

    1. The strengths of this blog are that it covers many different topics. She shares lots of great recipes, life advice, and also personal stories. It's easy to navigate and it has a cute layout!

    2. This blog makes me want to blog more about my interests and share things that I am doing with my readers. I need to post more about what I'm reading, cooking, and listening to.

    3. I honestly don't see any weaknesses in this blog. I really enjoy it and I think it's what I would like my blog to be more like!

    ReplyDelete
  4. 1. Ed The Sports Fan caught my attention at first. Some strengths is you can see clearly how to navigate it. He doesn't limit to just one sport, he writes about all different kinds.
    2. Some ideas about blogging that I got from it is putting videos and pictures with my posts. Also putting my opinion with the posts.
    3. One weakness that I noticed is when you first open the blog it doesn't really catch your eye. A lot of it is black and white until you see the pictures that are with the posts.

    ReplyDelete
  5. The blog I chose is run by a university professor that I know. She also writes for The Lost Ogle, and is a really cool person to be acquainted with. I love that she is so candid about her life. Her most recent post "The Flaming Lips and that time I cried in Yoga" is about being really overcome with happiness, and I really appreciate that she can be so upfront. Her blog makes me want to upgrade my display. I don't really feel like she can improve it, but I would love to read her more often.

    http://marisamohi.com

    ReplyDelete
  6. I chose http://bigghostlimited.com/ as a blog I am interested in.

    1. It tackles music reviews in a funny and unbiased way except when it comes to Drake... He hates him.

    2. Makes me want to write about topics in an interesting and unique way that is honest to me and only me.

    3. There are no weaknesses to this blog. It is perfect.

    ReplyDelete
  7. I chose Julianne Hough's blog called Jules {http://juliannehough.com/}. I think that one of the strengths of this blog is that it includes a little bit of everything. She talks about her work as an actress, creates easy DIY projects, and makes shout outs to deserving causes. She gives readers an inside look on her life and shares information about upcoming projects. Another strength is that she posts about her blog on her Instagram profile constantly. I first found out about her blog through her posts on social media. Some ideas I got from her blog were how to incorporate many different ideas into one blog (like how to combine DIY, travel, inspiration, and fashion). I also really love how her blog looks. It's very simple and everything is easy to find on it. I honestly don't know if I can think of any weaknesses right now. It's fairly new so she's still getting her ideas together and finding a direction for her blog.

    ReplyDelete
  8. When looking over blogs in the links you provided, I searched "sports" and the first one that came up in the blogoklahoma.com database was Ed The Sports Fan. There are two things I like about the blog and the two strengths that immediately pop out to me are its design and its post topics. These are two strengths that I think I can learn from and use on my own blog. For example, his design is nice especially in color scheme because even though it's black, white and gray, it isn't boring or bland. It also allows for the artwork on the blog posts to stand out more and your eye is almost drawn to whatever athlete or event he's talking about. I also like how the layout of the stories on the page isn't generic and linear; they're posted throughout the page, but not in annoying or out-of-control fashion. As for his topics, I love that what he talks about is a little bit out of the box. He talks about hypotheticals and abstract things in the sports world and I love that. I think I'll try to take that into consideration when I make my own sports posts: how can I make it stand out and be interesting? As far as the blog's weaknesses, I think that he needs to use more color artwork for stories. As nice as color photos look against the black/white layout, using black/white pictures look just as bad if not worse. What makes that even more problematic is that the black/white artwork is at the top of the page. Overall I think it's a very good blog and I plan on reading several of the posts I see here.

    http://www.edthesportsfan.com/

    ReplyDelete
  9. The blog that I chose is Daily Thunder. The reason I chose this particular blog is because not only is it one of the first sports blogs I encountered, it has a lot of great content, in regards to the Thunder. The writer of the blog is Royce Young, who is a writer for ESPN, therefore he is an accomplished writer. One of the things that I really like about Daily Thunder is the approach in which it takes. While many people blog about the Thunder, I feel Royce does the best in not sounding like too much of a homer. His credibility is also something that makes it such a good blog. I don't really know if I'm specifically getting anything from reading his blog, as it is very advanced, but I do think it is a good template of what a good blog can contain, such as videos, articles, etc. I find it very hard as a first time blogger to find anything wrong about this blog, as it is quite established. Royce Young is a great writer and has been this for quite some time, so as a first timer, I don't think that I am really in any position to suggest changes.

    http://dailythunder.com

    ReplyDelete
  10. So I looked at the BlogHer. I really enjoyed the option of searching for topics of interest. I searched the type of articles that I am writing about for mine. The post that I read were different in styles, one was a how to deal, and laughter being the best medicine. They were opinions for the most part, but it felt heart felt. It really gives you a good idea of what a blog's purpose is suppose to be. I think one of the author's way of doing things was a "pity-me" blog. I find those very annoying, and redundant. It was in noway helpful to anyone. I found it to be a very weak post, in the aspect of everyone dealing with different problems and there is a difference a post of awareness and complaining.

    ReplyDelete
  11. A blog that I am most interested in is postsecret.com
    I have followed this blog for about six years and am constantly impressed with the steadiness and amazing content it provides.

    The strengths of this blog are simple, once a week this blog is updated by posting copies of postcards that have been sent to Frank, the starter of this blog, who chooses some of his favorites to share with the world. This is a strength because it is novelty and its always very interesting and it is constant. The followers of this blog know when to expect something new to appear on the page.

    I hope that I can use the idea of novelty in my own blog so that other people want to continue coming back to read my blog for the difference it holds against everyone else.

    I would say the biggest weakness is that it is a niche blog, not everyone is going to like it but then again, I would assume that wasn't why it was created.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Out of the 10 blogs, I chose ratherbereadingblog.com as my favorite. The strengths of this blog would include easy navigation, descriptions of the readings and reviews. The colors aren't to distracting and they write about books. What's not to love about that.
    Ideas: This blog makes me want to post a little more about what I am reading and why I chose that book out of all the others and to start incorporating more pictures into my longer posts.
    Weaknesses: I couldn't find a weakness really, except maybe that It is a blog that has two authors and some of the posts don't say which author wrote it.

    Check the blog out:
    http://ratherbereadingblog.com/

    ReplyDelete
  13. The blog I chose is called The Cream to My Coffee. It is the blog of a woman who lives in Oklahoma with her husband, baby boy, and cute dog. She blogs about style, decor, do it yourself's, and her life. The strengths of this blog include consistency in the style of the posts as well as good content that is not repetitive. She includes many aspects of her life, from her love story to her 30 before 30 bucket list. This blog inspires me to blog about my life. I wanted to do a lifestyle/personal blog and this shows me that I can be successful with this dream. The one weakness I notice is the lack of posts lately, however this could be due to her recently having a baby and raising him. Other than this, I love her blog and cannot wait for future posts.

    ReplyDelete
  14. When looking over blogs in the links you provided, I searched "sports" and the first one that came up in the blogoklahoma.com database was Ed The Sports Fan. There are two things I like about the blog and the two strengths that immediately pop out to me are its design and its post topics. These are two strengths that I think I can learn from and use on my own blog. For example, his design is nice especially in color scheme because even though it's black, white and gray, it isn't boring or bland. It also allows for the artwork on the blog posts to stand out more and your eye is almost drawn to whatever athlete or event he's talking about. I also like how the layout of the stories on the page isn't generic and linear; they're posted throughout the page, but not in annoying or out-of-control fashion. As for his topics, I love that what he talks about is a little bit out of the box. He talks about hypotheticals and abstract things in the sports world and I love that. I think I'll try to take that into consideration when I make my own sports posts: how can I make it stand out and be interesting? As far as the blog's weaknesses, I think that he needs to use more color artwork for stories. As nice as color photos look against the black/white layout, using black/white pictures look just as bad if not worse. What makes that even more problematic is that the black/white artwork is at the top of the page. Overall I think it's a very good blog and I plan on reading several of the posts I see here.

    http://www.edthesportsfan.com/

    ReplyDelete
  15. Blog: http://technolifetl.com/

    This blog is very similar to what I want my blog to be. It covers all news regarding technology.

    One of its strengths is that it is well organized and covers up to date news. It looks nice and the person writing the blog definitely knows what they are talking about.

    An idea that I am getting from this blog is how I want to write my blog and how I want it to look. It also gives me some ideas about some of the things that I want to write about.

    The blog's biggest weakness that I am seeing is their writing and grammar. I have noticed several simple spelling mistakes that can be improved. Its other weakness is the design of the blog. With a better look and better spelling the blog would definitely be improved.

    ReplyDelete
  16. I chose http://bigghostlimited.com/ as a blog I am interested in.

    1. It tackles music reviews in a funny and unbiased way except when it comes to Drake... He hates him.

    2. Makes me want to write about topics in an interesting and unique way that is honest to me and only me.

    3. There are no weaknesses to this blog. It is perfect.

    ReplyDelete
  17. 10 blogs that interest me:

    1.Urban Outfitters:
    http://blog.urbanoutfitters.com/?cm_re=HOMEPAGE-_-Feature_8-_-%0A____________________________%0A________________________

    2. Thatsmoderatelyraven
    http://thatsmoderatelyraven.tumblr.com/

    3. Infinitedreamscape - If you ask him a question, he responds hilariously.
    http://infinitedreamscape.tumblr.com/

    4. Gangster Doodles - This one is the best, guys.
    http://gangsterdoodles.tumblr.com/

    5. One Tiny Hand - This blog knows whats up
    http://onetinyhand.com/

    6. KB
    http://kotbonkers.tumblr.com/

    7. KIMMICHEY
    http://kimmicheyxo.tumblr.com/

    8. IBRA AKE - This guy is Childish Gambino's photographer
    http://kimmicheyxo.tumblr.com/

    9. Moises Arias 490tx
    http://490tx.com/

    10. Mike Perry Studio - does the animation for Broad City opening credits
    http://mikeperrystudio.tumblr.com/

    ReplyDelete
  18. http://music.tumblr.com/

    The blog is simple but not boring. It gets straight to the point, presenting viewers with new music and more. The blog grabs viewers' attention by using large images, gifs and videos. Everyone loves a good aesthetic. The blog could benefit from more writing, however. If it were to go more in depth on some of the topics, the blog may become even more interesting.

    ReplyDelete
  19. This blog is quite different to all the other blogs I have seen and read, this is mainly focused on doing charity challenges. She seems like a very positive individual that is passionate about helping others. When talking about ideas, she very creative and her layout is very organized. Everything is easy to find and well designed. She also has plenty of videos and pictures showing her charities. I really didn't find a weakness in her blog, I really found it interesting and very self made.

    Blog below:

    http://amelialiana.com/2016/01/ameliascharitychallenges/

    ReplyDelete
  20. Okay, so I misunderstood the assignment. I chose out of those ten, "Gangster Doodles" http://gangsterdoodles.tumblr.com/

    One major strength of this blog, is that all of its content is completely original and made by the actual creator of the blog. The content is also incredibly unique but appealing to the public. This blog really encourages me to make my own content from scratch. Not only do I want to create my own content, but I want to make sure that it has a continuity and a uniqueness to it. So it gives me ideas on how to be original and something that people know is all me. Honestly I don't see any weaknesses with this blog. They don't ever make text posts, but I'm more of a visual person anyway. Their overall content that they deliver is based on visuals. Besides a small caption, I don't see this blog needing anything else.

    ReplyDelete
  21. I chose to write about the blog entitled "pucker & pout" by Katie Maloney. I heard about this blog a few weeks ago from a TV show I watch, but today was my first visit and I was pleasantly surprised.

    1.) I am new to blogging and the blogging world so I'm no expert, but I thought one of this blog's most obvious strengths was the way it is laid
    out. The navigation bar was categorized clearly so you knew exactly what to click on based on what you were looking for. The overall design was really nice and simplistic, but not basic or boring. It was very appealing to look at and had great pictures to go with the posts.

    2.) This blog had basically everything I enjoy. When I first heard about it, I thought it was just a beauty blog but it's so much more. There's fashion, an inspiration/lifestyle section, recipes, DIY info, etc. I originally had several ideas for what I wanted to/ could do with a blog but wasn't sure how to organize them. I think this blog is a good example of how to combine and write about things that interest you and that you're passionate about without restricting yourself.

    3.) Overall I didn't see too many obvious weaknesses with the blog, I really enjoyed it. The only thing I could say is that the "about" section is slightly more difficult to find. I would expect it to be on the navigation bar or a side panel somewhere, but you have to scroll to the bottom of the page to find it. Also, the blog hasn't been updated since November 30th, which I find disappointing.

    http://www.puckerandpout.com/blog?category=DIY

    ReplyDelete