Reactions...
1) As a regular visitor, I would be a bit surprised by Marcy Wheeler's latest post. While it relates directly to the economy and Americans in general - something I've come to expect from her - it does so by criticizing comments made by Mika Brzezinski, a broadcast journalist for MSNBC. In the post, Wheeler belittles Brzezinski, who is currently pushing a book on careers and families, stating that her remarks on the matter are not only insensitive and moronic, but show a total disconnect from the average American. In the post, titled Mika Brzezinski and her 7% Husband, Wheeler uses Brzezinski's own words against her:
"The odds are definitely better on getting the right job than getting a good partner for life. Someone who will grow with you. Someone to develop memories with. Someone who was there in the beginning. Someone who will be there at the end. Don’t push away that chance if you’re one of the lucky ones who find that partner. And remember, you can always change a job. I hear it’s much harder to switch out a husband."
To which Wheeler responded as follows:
"Now maybe this will come as a surprise to someone born into fame and connections like Mika, but it’s not actually all that easy to find a job. As CNN pointed out the other day, statistically it’s actually harder to find a job right now than it is to get into Harvard."
While I, as a regular reader, applaud Wheeler's decision to call someone out on their stupidity, this subject seems to be a bit below her usual radar, which usually includes big name politicians. That being said, I would chop it up to a bad day, and continue checking back regularly.
2) As a first time visitor with some interest, I would feel like Wheeler's post adds little to my current bank of knowledge. While it is interesting to see someone called out, the only information that seems halfway important is that provided by CNN in the form of statistics.
"Since the beginning of the recession in December 2007, job openings declined from 4.4 million to 2.4 million and the number of officially unemployed persons grew from 7.5 million to 15.7 million," according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. "If the 15.7 million officially unemployed workers were to apply for those 2.4 million jobs, the chance of any one of them finding a job are about 15 percent, or roughly the same odds as being accepted to the University of Pennsylvania."
Other than this, the post seems to act only as a chance for her to let out her frustration, not offer valuable news or opinions. Based on this, I would be unlikely to return to the site.
3) I'm honestly not sure I would finish the post if I were to stumble upon the site. As I stated in the previous reflection, it seems to offer littler to her regular readers, who have a sense of her better work, and even less to those not familiar with the blog.
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Emptywheel - Assignment 5
A Look at Yglesias' Appeal to Visitors
Matthew Yglesias’ most recent Think Progress blog, Too Much Ms. Nice Abortion Rights Advocate? , is formatted similarly to the rest of his blogs – basic opinion and analysis of current events expressed through his intelligent and sometimes witty writing.
Regular visitors to his site, would notice that his posts reflect exactly what they would expect from him. There is no ‘new’ information, per se, but regulars get sucked into discussions and analyses of current events in our everyday world. Sometimes, Yglesias writes about topics that regulars may have missed in the morning’s newspaper. In this case, he always provides direct hyperlinks to those specific articles for others to further investigate about the issue. Yglesias’ blogs fits the needs of a regular visitor. And I’m sure they will continue to visit his site.
From the perspective of a first-time visitor with interest in the topics or site, Yglesias’ posts are relevant to that particular visitor directly because of the primary, initial interest. Yglesias’ brings light to ideas about a wide variety of current events and issues – he creates a discussion and forces others to think outside of the box. Yglesias’ site can definitely be valuable for a person who is actually interested in its topics. They may even become regulars.
For a person who visits by happenstance – simply because s/he conducted a google search and clicked on a random link, perhaps – Yglesias’ site can be quite confusing and give a wrong impression on first glance. As we know, Internet users give only a few seconds to a Web page before choosing to continue on, or exit and pick another site. Just a few seconds, that’s it. New visitors may be attracted to the initial layout and headline of the Web page, keeping their attention a bit longer. Whether they read through his blogs and return, or exit and never come back, is determined by the user him/herself. If they are interested in only hard fact news, then the latter would pertain to him/her. However, if engaging in analysis and discussions about the current news, then the first-time visitor would return again.
Regular visitors to his site, would notice that his posts reflect exactly what they would expect from him. There is no ‘new’ information, per se, but regulars get sucked into discussions and analyses of current events in our everyday world. Sometimes, Yglesias writes about topics that regulars may have missed in the morning’s newspaper. In this case, he always provides direct hyperlinks to those specific articles for others to further investigate about the issue. Yglesias’ blogs fits the needs of a regular visitor. And I’m sure they will continue to visit his site.
From the perspective of a first-time visitor with interest in the topics or site, Yglesias’ posts are relevant to that particular visitor directly because of the primary, initial interest. Yglesias’ brings light to ideas about a wide variety of current events and issues – he creates a discussion and forces others to think outside of the box. Yglesias’ site can definitely be valuable for a person who is actually interested in its topics. They may even become regulars.
For a person who visits by happenstance – simply because s/he conducted a google search and clicked on a random link, perhaps – Yglesias’ site can be quite confusing and give a wrong impression on first glance. As we know, Internet users give only a few seconds to a Web page before choosing to continue on, or exit and pick another site. Just a few seconds, that’s it. New visitors may be attracted to the initial layout and headline of the Web page, keeping their attention a bit longer. Whether they read through his blogs and return, or exit and never come back, is determined by the user him/herself. If they are interested in only hard fact news, then the latter would pertain to him/her. However, if engaging in analysis and discussions about the current news, then the first-time visitor would return again.
Reflecting on the Daily Kos
The health care debate is currently one of the biggest issues being knocked around the Daily Kos website and it would be hard for a regular of the site to not understand the top post item. From Mcjoan at least, a recurring angle I've seen from her posts on health care usually addresses the angle of the importance for democrats to be unified on the issue and to squash the opt-in or anti-choice debate. It's an angle that never fails to get the comments section fired up and at the time of this blog post, managed to gather 56 comments in less than half an hour. For the most part, the post served mostly as a reinforcing tool to tell conservative democrats to squash the debate.
As somebody who happened upon the site because I was interested in the topic, if I agreed with the views the topic presented, I could see myself deciding to become a regular on the site, especially if I saw the comments section and read the posts there to help reinforce my beliefs. Even though the post was very thin on content, the message of the post was clear. A person who is interested in the site and its views would enjoy these kinds of posts. As Mcjoan said on the subject in her post, "It seems like everyone heard what they wanted to hear on this one."
But if I were a first-time visitor who just happened on the website and looked at the first item, the thin content would turn me off. If I wasn't someone who was strongly decided on the issue and agreed with Mcjoan's views, I wouldn't see myself coming back because of the lack of context and information the top posting provided. Anybody can see the message that's trying to be delivered by the post and the only first-time visitors I can imagine who would come back to this site would be the visitors who strongly identify with the topic.
As somebody who happened upon the site because I was interested in the topic, if I agreed with the views the topic presented, I could see myself deciding to become a regular on the site, especially if I saw the comments section and read the posts there to help reinforce my beliefs. Even though the post was very thin on content, the message of the post was clear. A person who is interested in the site and its views would enjoy these kinds of posts. As Mcjoan said on the subject in her post, "It seems like everyone heard what they wanted to hear on this one."
But if I were a first-time visitor who just happened on the website and looked at the first item, the thin content would turn me off. If I wasn't someone who was strongly decided on the issue and agreed with Mcjoan's views, I wouldn't see myself coming back because of the lack of context and information the top posting provided. Anybody can see the message that's trying to be delivered by the post and the only first-time visitors I can imagine who would come back to this site would be the visitors who strongly identify with the topic.
Assignment 5
The top post on the blog I follow which is Kevin MD.com http://www.kevinmd.com/blog, is called Doctors and Patients need to learn to live with health insurance companieshttp://www.kevinmd.com/blog/2009/11/doctors-patients-learn-live-health-insurance-companies.html#more-41095 It is a story about two patients, with two different medical situations. It also gives helpful points that doctors and patients should follow in dealing with health insurance.
As a regular visitor to the site I think this is a very interesting story. The topic fits exactly with the mission of the blog. The blog Kevin MD. was set up to help the common people understand health care, and the top post did just that. The author made it interesting by getting her point across in a story telling type way, which is a change from the regular articles about health care. This was actually the first post I have read on this blog that I really got interested in. It made me more interested in the topic.
This was also a good article for someone who is interested in the site or its topic. I say this because, the article explained problems with health insurance in the simplest way possible. As someone who gets confused by health care myself, the article was very understandable. For someone who is a first-time visitor its a good article to read because it is not filled with medical mumbo jumbo. The post is straight to the point, using words a regular person can understand. For a person who is interested in this topic, I think this article will definitely bring a person back to the blog, because it made the topic even more interesting.
From the perspective of a first-time visitor who happens to come across this site, I also think this is a good post to start with. The story was interesting and had a lot of helpful information for patients and doctors. Not only that but, it brought light to issues dealing with health insurance that might make people want to look more into it. It was also a good post, because it was something that we might all deal with at one point in our lives. I think if a visitor is interested in the topic of health insurance, this article will definitely bring a visitor back to the blog.
The top post on the blog KevinMD.com was a interesting and informational at the same time. I think anyone who reads the top story would want to visit the blog again and read more.
As a regular visitor to the site I think this is a very interesting story. The topic fits exactly with the mission of the blog. The blog Kevin MD. was set up to help the common people understand health care, and the top post did just that. The author made it interesting by getting her point across in a story telling type way, which is a change from the regular articles about health care. This was actually the first post I have read on this blog that I really got interested in. It made me more interested in the topic.
This was also a good article for someone who is interested in the site or its topic. I say this because, the article explained problems with health insurance in the simplest way possible. As someone who gets confused by health care myself, the article was very understandable. For someone who is a first-time visitor its a good article to read because it is not filled with medical mumbo jumbo. The post is straight to the point, using words a regular person can understand. For a person who is interested in this topic, I think this article will definitely bring a person back to the blog, because it made the topic even more interesting.
From the perspective of a first-time visitor who happens to come across this site, I also think this is a good post to start with. The story was interesting and had a lot of helpful information for patients and doctors. Not only that but, it brought light to issues dealing with health insurance that might make people want to look more into it. It was also a good post, because it was something that we might all deal with at one point in our lives. I think if a visitor is interested in the topic of health insurance, this article will definitely bring a visitor back to the blog.
The top post on the blog KevinMD.com was a interesting and informational at the same time. I think anyone who reads the top story would want to visit the blog again and read more.
Monday, November 9, 2009
Reflecting with The State Worker
As I arrive at my new homepage-away-from-homepage, the top story grabs my attention: SEIU staff and state worker blows, accusations . Since I am now a regular site visitor, I instantly relate and am compelled to read more about the story. A local well-known figure and television show host in the area was caught up in a fight at a union hall last week. The coverage by The State Worker is terse but gives me all the info I need to know: who, what , where, why, and affiliation. Because there were two television news stations on scene to report from the event anyway, and The State Worker was "out of town when the altercation became known," Ortiz provided a brief synopsis of the incident on The State Worker, but then linked full stories by CBS 13 and KCRA Channel 3 in the same post. What I also liked was links to the television program that the involved state worker was a part of. As a frequent visitor of the site, I am happy to read about a little drama involving state workers - It makes me forget about the budget deficit for a few minutes.
Coming to the site because of the topic at hand (Ken Hamidi gets in a fight), I stumble upon The State Worker due to searching Google for more information regarding the incident. I am distracted slightly by the glowing Drexel University ad to the right of the page, but I quickly recover from my ADD and see the headline to the story I was searching for in the first place. Although I think the actual information and depth in the story is void, I appreciate Ortiz posting links to the TV stations' stories about the topic. Although I am unfamiliar with the site, I am familiar with the names and organizations that The State Worker mentions, and that is what ultimately hooks me in. I am impressed by the fact that The State Worker seems to have all its bases covered in regards to state worker-related news.
Here I come - a long-time reader of the Sac Bee, but because my family just recently bought me an internet connection at home, I have stumbled onto Sacbee.com . Curious to see what the hell they have to put on the net, I root around and find Jon Ortiz (a favorite writer of mine) and some "blog" called "The State Worker." As a 30-year veteran state worker, I wanna see just what this internet site is all about. At first, I am unsure of what I'm reading. But after reading the short story and the reader-submitted comments, The State Worker grows on me a little bit. I am turned on to the fact that it is a website entirely dedicated to issues and news stories directly related to state workers like me. I also like that I can speak my mind and interact with other state workers who feel passionately about the same things I do (or things I hate). So far so good; I think this site just might actually be growing on me.
Back to reality, my conclusions are as follows:
* The post serves well to each of the three audiences - the news story is just too tempting and juicy to pass up.
* Because of the nature of the story and the highly opinionated responses already on the blog post, I think there is high probability that each of the three types of readers will come back to the blog because purely to see how the nature of the comments on a particular article have evolved.
TPM's Range of Traffic
The Talking Points Memo has a direct affiliation with politics. This political theme is fairly objective and covers both parties, but the title of today’s headline may make Conservatives wonder. The headline story is entitled, “GOPers Fixin’ To Eat Their Own: Who Will The Right Devour Next?” The content underneath the headline includes a still photograph of Doug Hoffman, and links to different articles relating to the 2009 special election for New York’s 23rd congressional district.
As a regular visitor to the site, I know that the lead stories change sporadically. I have noticed that every few hours a new headline will appear in the center of the web page. The lead story always has different articles associated within the top story and subject. The news articles related to the subject are written by correspondents to the site, not the lead editor or publisher. I know this because the blogs by managers are written to the left portion of the home page. So today’s top story seems usual for the site, and the TPMDC section included a story that related to this article. Since the “political phenomenon” of the right wing taking down a moderate republican occurred, it makes since that TPM reported on it.
As a new visitor who is interested in the site, I tend to notice that the lead story is in large font, and located at the center of the screen. The still photograph of Doug Hoffman is highly apparent, and the content lets me know that this is the main story for the website. I knew that politics and politicians were reported on throughout this site, so I got stories that I expected.
As I clicked on the title, it sent me to a two paragraph article. I assumed that since it was a news article it would be in the proper newspaper layout. However, I was mistaken because there were no quotations or inverted pyramid format. The style is known as a blog, and I got my information about the NY-23 special election in this conversational, blogging manner. The bottom of the article contained pictures and names of different Senate members, including the list of representatives who were in crisis.
As a first-time visitor to the web site, I realized that TPM is the Utopia of political stories. I was overwhelmed with the amount of information, so I just clicked on the title and picture that appeared the most interesting. When I entered the home page the top story was visually larger than the others. The hyperlink took me to the lead story, where I read about “The Right Devouring” representatives. The text of this title made me assume TPM had a left, liberal vibe.
The format of the article was confusing because it was divided between Senate members and small paragraphs associated with their pictures. Some Senate members in crisis were listed as Joseph Cao, Carly Fiorina, and Charlie Crist. I wanted the story, but there was not much to it. The text was small, short, and the red hyperlinks took me away from the story. I know that the red hyperlinks should strengthen the story with more information, but they tend to distract me from the article I chose to read.
The post served the regular visitor best. The regular visitor knows that this website has a blog style and format, assisted with hyperlinks to supporting articles. A first-time visitor may not know where to go, and then be confused by articles and wary of the blogger's credentials. The regular visitor and new visitor may be more encouraged to revisit the blog. The reason being is that they are comfortable with the format, and the way in which opinions are presented. Once one can see the format of the home page and sections at the top, they will be able to easily direct themselves. Also, the bottom of TPM introduces the reader to the TPM media, including the reporter-bloggers. This will enable the reader to meet the reporters and bloggers, and view their credentials.
As a regular visitor to the site, I know that the lead stories change sporadically. I have noticed that every few hours a new headline will appear in the center of the web page. The lead story always has different articles associated within the top story and subject. The news articles related to the subject are written by correspondents to the site, not the lead editor or publisher. I know this because the blogs by managers are written to the left portion of the home page. So today’s top story seems usual for the site, and the TPMDC section included a story that related to this article. Since the “political phenomenon” of the right wing taking down a moderate republican occurred, it makes since that TPM reported on it.
As a new visitor who is interested in the site, I tend to notice that the lead story is in large font, and located at the center of the screen. The still photograph of Doug Hoffman is highly apparent, and the content lets me know that this is the main story for the website. I knew that politics and politicians were reported on throughout this site, so I got stories that I expected.
As I clicked on the title, it sent me to a two paragraph article. I assumed that since it was a news article it would be in the proper newspaper layout. However, I was mistaken because there were no quotations or inverted pyramid format. The style is known as a blog, and I got my information about the NY-23 special election in this conversational, blogging manner. The bottom of the article contained pictures and names of different Senate members, including the list of representatives who were in crisis.
As a first-time visitor to the web site, I realized that TPM is the Utopia of political stories. I was overwhelmed with the amount of information, so I just clicked on the title and picture that appeared the most interesting. When I entered the home page the top story was visually larger than the others. The hyperlink took me to the lead story, where I read about “The Right Devouring” representatives. The text of this title made me assume TPM had a left, liberal vibe.
The format of the article was confusing because it was divided between Senate members and small paragraphs associated with their pictures. Some Senate members in crisis were listed as Joseph Cao, Carly Fiorina, and Charlie Crist. I wanted the story, but there was not much to it. The text was small, short, and the red hyperlinks took me away from the story. I know that the red hyperlinks should strengthen the story with more information, but they tend to distract me from the article I chose to read.
The post served the regular visitor best. The regular visitor knows that this website has a blog style and format, assisted with hyperlinks to supporting articles. A first-time visitor may not know where to go, and then be confused by articles and wary of the blogger's credentials. The regular visitor and new visitor may be more encouraged to revisit the blog. The reason being is that they are comfortable with the format, and the way in which opinions are presented. Once one can see the format of the home page and sections at the top, they will be able to easily direct themselves. Also, the bottom of TPM introduces the reader to the TPM media, including the reporter-bloggers. This will enable the reader to meet the reporters and bloggers, and view their credentials.
Joanne Jacobs - Points of View
1. The top post on Joanne Jacobs’ blog is about using hip-hop as a teaching tool. Jacobs quotes a Teacher Magazine article that claims incorporating hip-hop rhymes, songs, dances and videos with other traditional teaching material helps students connect to tough concepts more easily. As a regular visitor to this site, I actually like this post because it is longer and more colorful than some of her other posts. As usual, I would like more commentary and opinion from Jacobs, but she only offers one vague sentence at the end of the post. I definitely think the teaching method mentioned in her post is innovative and clever and I found the reference links in this post helpful. I would visit this site again because I like the variety.
2. If I were visiting this blog for the first time because of interest in how hip-hop relates to education, I would not be very pleased with this site. I might use this post as a first step in a search for information, but it is not deep enough for me to get a complete picture of hip-hop teaching methods. Jacobs’ latest post could point someone in the right direction and provide good links, but I don’t think this first-time user would return. Jacobs’ posts are varied and will probably never touch on hip-hop education again. This post does serve a good purpose for someone doing preliminary research, but provides nothing substantial on the top item’s topic.
3. If I stumbled on this blog purely by chance, I would still find this top post interesting and somewhat useful. I like the idea of a NASA-endorsed hip-hop group that teaches kids about Newton’s Law. I think Flocabulary’s method of teaching rhymes sounds like an effective spin on old ways of memorizing information. But without commentary from Jacobs, I have no idea if this site will keep posting content that is relevant to my interests. I would prefer to get a sense of the author’s point of view upfront in their blog. It’s those strong opinions or analysis that hook a reader and keep them coming back.
2. If I were visiting this blog for the first time because of interest in how hip-hop relates to education, I would not be very pleased with this site. I might use this post as a first step in a search for information, but it is not deep enough for me to get a complete picture of hip-hop teaching methods. Jacobs’ latest post could point someone in the right direction and provide good links, but I don’t think this first-time user would return. Jacobs’ posts are varied and will probably never touch on hip-hop education again. This post does serve a good purpose for someone doing preliminary research, but provides nothing substantial on the top item’s topic.
3. If I stumbled on this blog purely by chance, I would still find this top post interesting and somewhat useful. I like the idea of a NASA-endorsed hip-hop group that teaches kids about Newton’s Law. I think Flocabulary’s method of teaching rhymes sounds like an effective spin on old ways of memorizing information. But without commentary from Jacobs, I have no idea if this site will keep posting content that is relevant to my interests. I would prefer to get a sense of the author’s point of view upfront in their blog. It’s those strong opinions or analysis that hook a reader and keep them coming back.
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