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Anaya Myles
WRT 302
Blogging
Growing up in the era where the usage of computers became extremely popular and
mandatory to use in school, writing became a passion of mine. Typing on the computer and
designing invitations were my specialty. As technology advanced social networks were born. The
amount of communication taken place over the internet evolved in different ways making it
easier for other online users to reach out to one another or get to know them via social media.
Your peers were able to create an online persona and provide you with an entire webpage
dedicated to themselves. A lot of people use these sites to build and maintain their brand
whether it is on a personal level in which advice is given based on experiences or a business
level in which a product of theirs is presented, advertised and promoted.
I personally use social media to push my writing. I write about my experiences in life and
as an outlet from my responsibilities. Social networks, in my opinion, are used to share bits of
information about yourself, your brief opinion on the topic of the day or things that interest you.
According to Jeremiah Owyang, social networks are like topic tables at a conference luncheon.
They allow members to organize around a persons relationships or interests, rather than just
focused on topic. People that know each other (or want to meet each other) will connect by a
variety of common interests.(Owyang) I, however, believe that the topics I would like to discuss
are too deep to discuss via social networks. Therefore, I publish my writing via blogging. Blogs
are like a key note speech where the speaker/blogger is in control of the discussion, but allows
questions and comments from the audience. They are journals authored by one ore more people,
in this case, just myself. I cope with life and all of my experiences by writing about them and

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providing unsolicited advice for my readers. I discuss certain difficulties Ive had in life and how
Ive overcome them, feedback on certain events Ive attended, inspirational relationship and self
love advice. Because I cannot provide these things via social networks without being a nuisance
to my followers, I use social media to promote my personal blog. I post screenshots of the new
blog post I published and ask my followers to take a look. This allows my followers to be aware
of my writing and if they are interested or have the time they are more than welcome to read it.
On social networks I can be myself unapologetically and share my thoughts and interests at my
leisure with no knowledge of the judgements being made.
Due to the fact that my attempts to rant and discuss certain topics on social networks
were a fail because of some of the negative feedback I received, I was lead to the decision of
creating my own blog page. I wasnt aware of how to publish my writing until I met a friend who
was a writer herself. I was interested in blogging before I started my own. I followed numerous
amounts of bloggers on all social networks. I follow mostly natural hair bloggers who talk about
the hair care, the dos and donts of having natural hair and beauty tips. Celebrity gossip blogs
are also a guilty pleasure of mine that I am not proud of (lol). I also am very interested in specific
sites that cater to people in their 20s in which advice is given on certain life experiences women
my age face. Her Campus | A Collegiattes Guide to Life (www.hercampus.com/) Elite Daily |
The Voice of Generation Y (elitedaily.com) being two of the websites I view often. Before I
became knowledgeable of how to go about the creation of my blog I was actively trying to share
my thoughts through Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat. Now a days, when you actively
share your thoughts, (especially when you decide a rant a day keeps the doctor away), people
classify you as annoying. Your rants flood their feed and they do not care about what you have
to say. The mere sight of your social network handle made your followers cringe because they

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knew what was coming, but unaware of how extreme it may be. The knowledge of your past
interactions with social networks could lead to a loss in followers and decrease in views. Because
you were unwillingly in your followers faces. Therefore, a blog couldnt be any more of a perfect
way to get your point across. A separate website no one has to subscribe to or view without their
consent. Hence the title of my blog, To Whom it May or May Not Concern.
Social networks began with the mixture of the five modes of communication. These
modes are linguistic, visual, aural, spatial and gestural.(Ball p.4) However, as the social networks
have evolved, each new site focused mostly on one specific mode. It started with linguistic, the
use of language and spoken words. The next social network focused on the visual mode, where
pictures and videos are uploaded with very few words. As a teen I was camera shy, my emotions
were thoroughly expressed via written text and I always had a story to tell. Due to the fact that
the most popular social network only focuses on pictures and videos, I wasnt able to express
myself the best way I knew how. Unless, I started a blog. A personal web page where I was able
to publish posts on whatever topic I would like and share my thoughts however, whenever. The
page was mine to create and publish to the world.
My duty is to inform you all the different modes of communication a blog will provide
and how to get one started. The linguistic mode, the mode used the most, is the use of language
which is written or spoken words. Most social networks are used with words. People use these
sites with written texts, when they write a brief biography about themselves or their daily posts
about a specific interest or thought they have to share. These written texts can be limited to 140
characters or less updates on Twitter, or several paragraphs worth of angry, happy, sad,
educational, motivational rants on Facebook. My personal blog mostly consists of the linguistic
mode because it is entirely made up of written text in each post I publish. My blog posts range

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from confessions of my personal life to advice given based on my experiences in which I share
with my readers as motivation in case they are experiencing similar life situations as myself or
will in the future.
The visual mode is the use of images and other characteristics. This mode is used to
communicate representations of how something looks or how someone is feeling, to instruct, to
persuade, and to entertain. This includes: color, layout, style, size, perspective.(Ball p.6) When
creating a blog site, besides the written content, your biggest concern is the design of your page
and how to keep it attractive. Your main concern is to keep your readers attention and in order to
do that you must make your page interesting to look at. Your blog is a representation of you and
if you were a webpage this is what you would look like. Your layout would consist of maybe
your favorite color or something you take interest in whether it was your favorite music artist or
cartoon character, sports team etc. You can also include an aural mode. This mode focuses on
sound. The music playing on your page could be your favorite song at the time or the song that
matched your mood for the day. The music could also be a sound effect that represents your
brand. Kind of like when you logged onto America Online and anticipated the, Welcome,
youve. Got. mail. (I loved that part)
Another mode of communication is the spatial mode. This represents the physical
arrangement, the placement of navigation on a Web page to maximize access for users.(Ball
p.10) This mode is important for the readers in which it provides them easy access to your text.
The organization of your content will help your readers navigate your web page without
difficulty. The main thing I focus on (besides the content) of my blog is the arrangement of all of
the content provided. I strongly believe the tidiness of your page will help keep your readers
attention. How easy it is to navigate a web page will hold their attention enough for them to find

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out what you have to offer. Personally, if I am able to navigate a website with ease then I will
continue to look into it. If it is difficult for me to find anything on a website then I am
immediately turned off and will navigate elsewhere. It is very important for me to keep my page
attractive, organized and interesting to keep my readers attention and for them to return.
The fifth mode of communication is the gestural mode. This refers to the way movement,
such as body language, can make meaning.(Ball p.12) The gestural mode includes facial
expressions, hand gestures, body language and interaction between people. The gestural mode
provides an important way of connecting to other people. You are able to connect on a different
level with your readers and provide them with videos for whatever reason you may choose.
Whether it is a video of yourself switching things up and producing a visual blog post or a video
of someone else that relates to the written text you have published. I have not done this yet but I
have been meaning to. I believe it will make my page a little more interesting because change is
good and it would be a turn from the usual stuff I post.
Now that I have provided the different modes of communication a blog can have, I will
be explaining how to start one. In the multimedia part of my final project I will use the software
iShowU to present a step by step tutorial on how I started my blog and how to create one. The
website I use to is Weebly.com. Weebly is a web hosting service that features a drag and drop
website builder. This website allows you to create a blog or webpage of your choosing as well as
your own domain. The domain I chose for my blog is http://theanayalater.weebly.com/ On this
website I have also created two eportfolios for two writing courses in addition to my personal
blog.
Once you have created an account and chosen a domain you are now ready to start
building your page. Weebly provides different layouts to choose from in which you pick which

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layout best fits you. Each layout is preset with different backgrounds and colors as well as
different fonts. As soon as you choose the layout that best fits you you are now ready to add
content.
When I started my blog the first page I created was a home page. This is the very first
thing your readers are going to see therefore you have to make it pop.This page welcomes your
readers to your world and it sells who you are right away. It is important to catch the readers eye
and keep their attention. This is going to determine whether or not your readers are going to

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continue to
look through your page and navigate further. This is what my home page looks like

Before you go any further, take a second.

Why are you here?
Do you really care? Are we friends? Have we spoken, ever?
Now stop.
I think the importance of this is that I can sit here and dish some dirt or some really
fucked up thoughts and say whatever it is that I please and I will have absolutely no idea
who is reading this. The importance is that you read it and I'm being heard. Whether or
not you care or if it interests you is none of my concern but you actually took the time out
of your day to acknowledge the voice that I have, the voice that I decided to project.
And for that, I thank you.
Thank you for reading. Thank you for agreeing. Thank you for disagreeing.
THANK YOU.

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Next is your biography page. I also think it is incredibly important to have a bio section.
Your readers are going to form a connection with you that will allow them to get to know you
through your writing so why not allow them to know a few fun facts about you? Here, you can
include a picture (if you wish) and some of your interests. When I first started my blog I wasnt
too sure if I wanted my picture just in case I got too personal, I still havent decided to post one
yet but I did provide a brief bio of myself.
I am Anaya.
FIRST and
foremost.
I have been on
this Earth for
23

years and
counting..
I am incredibly
blessed.
I am well aware that I serve a purpose, however, I am still finding out what exactly

my purpose is.
I have a love hate relationship with just about everything.
Which leads me to further announce that I am a Gemini.
Some of you will understand, some of you won't.
I love to read, write and laugh.
Music is 99.9% of my life.
I am extremely indecisive.

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I could go on and on about myself but I'm sure you will get to know me better
through my blogging than what I claim to be.
Growth is one of the most important things about life.
I f i t ' s not g r o w i n g, i t ' s d e a d
Now its time for your blog. Your blog is a work in progress. As time progresses you will
definitely become aware of how much you grow as a writer/blogger as each post may become a
bit more personal or a bit more interesting or your writing skills will become a bit more badass
than it previously was. With each post is different kinds of emotion, for me at least. I write my
best when Im really sad and when Im really happy. Maybe I just write really well overall. (lol)
But I do know that I only write when my thoughts that day are I feel like writing. Some days I
will want to write but will feel really lazy but no matter what, I still write. I write when
something happens to me, good or bad or when a topic of discussion between my friends and I is
up for debate. If I have an opinion, I write. Anything I want the world to know about just in case
someone else feels the same way or I can help another person in the same predicament, I will
write about it.
My advice to anyone that feels the need for their voice to be heard or would like to share
something they are passionate about whether it is writing, cooking, fishing, fashion etc., create a
blog. It is your online space to be whoever you are and show it off to the world (if theyre
interested). This is your space to reveal yourself to others or even to yourself without the option
of a like button. It doesnt matter who likes your blog, if they took the time out to read it well,
at least they read it :-)

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Works Cited

Arola, Kristin L., Jennifer Sheppard, and Cheryl E. Ball. Writer/designer: A Guide to
Making Multimodal Projects. N.p.: n.p., n.d. Print.
"Downloads @ Shinywhitebox | Great Software for Mac." Downloads @ Shinywhitebox |
Great Software for Mac. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Apr. 2016.

Fantagemagorical. "Ishowu Tutorial." YouTube. YouTube, 07 July 2010. Web. 19 Apr.

2016.

Owyang, Jeremiah. "Understanding the Difference between Forums, Blogs, and Social
Networks." Http://www.web-strategist.com/blog/2008/01/28/understanding-the-differencebetween-forums-blogs-and-social-networks/. N.p., 28 Jan. 2008. Web. 26 Apr. 2016.
<http://www.web-strategist.com/blog/2008/01/28/understanding-the-difference-between-forumsblogs-and-social-networks/>.

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"Weebly Is the Easiest Way to Create a Website, Store or Blog." Weebly.com. N.p., n.d.
Web. 19 Apr. 2016.