Coevolution in Wiki travel!

 Adding new information to the Wikitravel pages was something new for me, and I found it to be quite useful. At first, I was a little unsure as to how the site functions, but after playing around with it for a bit, it clicked. Each place is broken down into sub categories such as see, do, eat, sleep, drink, etc. We edit these and display our knowledge for all to see. The combined knowledge makes it easy for us to fully understand these places. Wikitravel has definitely been put together in a way that allows the reader to go through and get information efficiently and learn about even the most remote places of the world.

After completing my additions into Wikitravel, It dawned on me that Wikitravel has a strong use with the ecology “coevolution”, which is about taking our old technology and improving upon it for the better. Wikitravel users do this daily, since the information is getting edited, added, and deleted daily. Giving the user this form of communication, we have a great amount of space to work with, hence the success of Wikitravel. We are able to share our experiences and hidden secrets with the outside world. One thing I did notice was the lack of descriptions on the Wikitravel page. In my posts, I added a little description of what I was talking about, in an attempt to give the reader a sense of exactly what it is we're talking about. 

Peer Review *Personal Reflection

After reading through both Jenna and llya's descriptions and about me statements, I have began to think about what I should improve upon in my own. I tweaked my about me statement last week as we explored various blogs, because a powerful description and about me statement is what keeps your blog intriguing. My creativity is what I am aiming to expand here, and I plan to find a way to do things differently from everyone else (re my blog), which will (hopefully) make my blog stand out among the others. 
While searching through the blogs of many of my classmates, I feel that a lot of the enthusiast blogs could be a bit more personal. It is easy to tell who in the class is taking things seriously and who isn't putting in the effort.
All in all, I have learned quite a bit from conducting this peer review, and over the next few days, I plan to go through my description and about me to clear up any vague sections of my writing. The Picture I chose for my profile is my dog Angel, and I chose it because of it's relative nature to my blog. If you read through my Enthusiast blog, you would see how the photo does in fact add quite a bit of personality to my blog, given the strong relationship the two of us have.

About the Blog!

http://www.nikeblog.com/about/

I found this description to be strong because in a short paragraph, I knew exactly what the nike blog was about. The very first sentence in the description describes why nikeblog.com was created.

My blog is for the Siberian Huskys enthusiast, and has been created for the display of compassion towards the breed. In addition, I will encourage others to post stories, pictures, and news about their favorite Siberian Husky. Here you can look for all sorts of various information about the nature of these truly wondrous creatures.

About me

http://blog.oregonlive.com/dogs/about.html

In this about me section, Janel Hanson gives a brief description about who she is, and what she has accomplished. She then goes into the subject of her blog, which is her love for dogs. She keeps this short, but does not exclude any information. Straight to the point is exactly how the about me section should be.

My name is Mike Ryan and I am a second semester freshman student here at the University of Rhode Island. In my blog, I plan to display the goofy nature of the Siberian Husky, and my posts will show my readers my true passion for my girl Angel.

Siberian Husky!

As I read through the description of the enthusiast blog, it dawned on my that I can finally display my passion for my dog. As almost all my friends know, I am completely obsessed with my girl Angel. I will aim for my audience to understand the goofy nature of these creatures, and I would like to display my own views and opinions about these compassionate creatures. In my blog, I plan to post pictures of my own Siberian Husky, along with others that can accompany my writing. I plan to have a far from serious tone in my blog, and I am aiming to create an environment where others can freely display their opinions on the Siberian Husky, and post stories that contribute to my perspective on this unique breed of the canine. 

Successful Blog Examples

Blogs have rapidly become an essential part of our communication. The subject of a blog can vary from something specific, to something completely outrageous. After reading through the three blogs, I felt that I am able to differentiate the strengths and weaknesses between them. In “The Future” the blog discussed how we should view our technology as means of improving our futures. This blog did a strong job of displaying the technological improvements that we have made thus far, and the style of writing definitely gave this blog a “personal” feel. I found that to be one of it's strengths, because a blog that has style is much more interesting than one that only blurts out the cold hard facts. While reading through “Stitched Personage”, I couldn't help but notice the pictures and media that were incorporated. The pictures that were included definitely contributed to my understanding of the subject. At first, it was difficult for me to understand that this girl was discussing props for anime. The weakness I found in this blog was it's lack of “background” or even any information for that matter about anime. “Through the Gypsies Eye” was in my opinion, the strongest blog of the three. In this blog, the author included media (pictures) as well, but this time, the pictures follow exactly what the blogger was talking about. Throughout the writing, the pictures were there almost as a guide, giving us a visual image of the authors experiences. Once I finished reading through thse blogs, I grasped a better understanding on how important media can be in a blog. Nobody wants to read a boring blog, people want excitement in their lives. After reading through Danielle's blog a few times, I got to her about me section, and I have realized the importance of showing the readers who you are, and maybe that the author should even begin to explain why you have a passion for the subject of the blog.

The World of Blogging

At a fast pace, the world of blogging has evolved and it is far from finished. A wide range of blogs exist, from Business blogs to more personal blogs. Some of the most popular blogs these days are www.tumblr.com, twitter.com, and www.huffingtonpost.com. What makes these blogs so popular is the consistency, design, awareness of audience, and various topics. Nobody wants to hear about the same subjects day after day, people want diversity. 

Blogs have undoubtedly become a place where users can vent thoughts and listen to others. Many of my friends use twitter and I have only heard fantastic things about the site. I have considered becoming a user but I just haven't had the time to create the account. Maybe after learning more about blogs I can venture out on my own and explore the rather popular blog. 

Successful writers of blogs know how to hook a reader. One of the most important components of a successful blog is it's title. There are very few people who click on topics with no title, they want to read blogs that catch their attention. Organization of material in blogs is key for success, and keeping things interesting is always a top priority.