Analysis Never Ends

This post is going to wrap up the posts posted so far. From the previous posts, we examined the importance of layouts, the use of language and collaboration on the Internet.

For layouts, you have to realize that a specific use of layouts – such as center-margin – can represent the importance of the contents. The larger the space is given to the content, the more important it is. That’s why my blog posts, undoubtedly, are taking the most amount of space on this website.

As for the use of language, we, especially teenagers, now tend to write in the virtual word using informal language. For English learners, in my opinion, they may get used to using informal tone when writing. This may therefore pose an adverse effect on their language learning. One should hence pay heed to the correct grammar when writing something formal.

When it comes to collaboration, we should know that we can always find someone who shares the same interest. This is something that cannot be done in the past. For example, if you are a movie lover, you can definitely ‘bump into’ someone who is also passionate towards movies on Facebook. This is what I love about the Internet as well.

Last but not least, interaction is of utmost importance for a blog. For my blog post entitled ‘My Digital Life’ (http://enchunwlau6.blogspot.hk/2012/09/my-digital-life.html), I made use of different techniques to achieve the goal to interact. Asking questions is one of the ways to interact with your readers. A very simple question like ‘right?’ could already do. This is only to make your readers reflect on things that you say. Another way to draw attention would be using ‘you’. This you-approach could allow your viewers feel like you are really talking to them. (So am I using the you-approach effectively?) When you want to illustrate something better, putting up some pictures would also be a good choice. Pictures can definitely help your audience understand better. Maybe you should try using these methods when writing your blog next time?

Yet, for sure, my journey looking into the utilization of social media writing won’t end here. From now on, whenever I look at anything on the Net, I would probably analyze how a person makes use of his or her website to convey the message. So, you may also want to follow suit because it is fun to know how others make good (or bad?) use of the Internet. 

Facebook Addict

Remember what I wrote for my post, My Digital Life? In that blog post, I mentioned that Facebook is one of my frequently-used (or used-every-day) social networking websites. To be honest, you can never deny how great those websites are influencing on our daily lives. Without them, I do not know if I can even survive now… (See how addicted I am to Facebook?!)

However, we are Facebook (/Twitter /Wei Bo/ Instagram) addicts because of their one great function – collaboration. On those websites, you can like pages that interest you. For me, I usually like pages about movies. From the pages, I can keep myself up to date with the latest news of the actors and actresses. People from all around the globe would also participate in different discussions. This function could surely bring people sharing the same interest together. So far, I have liked 548 pages on Facebook. Do you think that is a lot? What about you? How many likes have you given?

Use of Language

Human beings are said to be better than other animals on this planet because of our language systems, both verbal and non-verbal. Without such a system, it is impossible for us to become who we are today. As time is elapsing, the use of language is changing as well, especially for the language you find on the internet, or on your mobile phone. Maybe you can first look at your messages with your friends, your posts on Facebook, or even your tweets? Do you notice how you use language on those social platforms?

Let me show you a conversation between me and my friends on Facebook.

From the comments, you can see how informal my and my friends’ language there is. For example, you can spot such short forms as ‘lol’ (laugh out loud), ‘ans’ (answer), ‘frens’ (friends) and ‘dun’ (don’t). ‘U’ and ‘r’ are also used to mean ‘you’ and ‘are’ respectively (because of their pronunciations). Influenced by their mother language, some people, including me, would also code-mix when typing English. For instance, terms such as ‘lor’ (from the above conversation), ‘le’ and ‘la’ can be found easily on the cyber world. Of course, emoticons contribute to the situation too!

But do you think if there is any problem regarding such use of language? To me, there is. Since I was back to Singapore one and a half months ago, I am even more used to adding ‘le’ and ‘la’ when I’m typing because Singaporeans like adding such items at the end of their sentences. Sometimes when I’m tutoring now, I would also add ‘le’, ‘la’ and ‘ma’. This is definitely against the proper grammar usage. And I have to keep telling myself this cannot be done anymore. Although there problem may not be very serious, it is still a problem. 

You agree le?

2 share ur thoughts wif mi, dun hesitate 2 show mi your examples how u communicate on the net. :)

[To share your thoughts with me, don't hesitate to show me your examples how you communicate on the Net.]

xoxo (hugs and kisses) Haha!!!

What Does Layout Tell Us?

From the last lecture of my course, Writing for New Media, we learnt how a layout of a website tells the importance of the presented information. Let us first look at one simple example – the website of Apple.

With the recent release of iPhone 5, the advertisement of the smartphone (framed with red lines) takes up most of the space of the homepage. In the meantime, you can as well spot the boxes showing the latest news of Apple below the advertisement (framed with green lines). As for the top and the bottom of the page, navigation bars (framed with blue lines) can be found there. The layout of the website should be called ‘center-margin’. In a center-margin layout, the most important information is presented in the center while information that visitors may also be interested in can be found at the margins. This way can draw people’s attention to the latest news of a company. Obviously, the advertisement definitely drew your attention, right?

The same theory can be applied to the layout of my blog too!

 My blogposts (framed with red lines), for sure, take up most of the space of my blog site since they are the most important element of this blog. There is another section called ‘More Blogs, More Fun’ on the right hand column (framed with blue lines). In that section, you can find more blogs from my classmates. The column is smaller because it is not as important as the blogposts. (As mentioned previously, more crucial information is given more space.) Having said that, there is still a need for that column to exist undoubtedly. So, without further ado, just click on the links in that section and check out more awesome blogposts!

My Digital Life

I believe no one would doubt that technology has been playing an important role in our daily life. (Or say, ‘our daily life’ should actually become ‘our daily digital life’ right?). Day by day, we, humans, are attaching even more importance to technology. Electronic gadgets are ubiquitous. Walking down the street, you can easily spot smartphones like iPhone and Samsung Galaxy SII around you. I, myself, am also one of those tech addicts.

Here are some social networking websites on which I have accounts:

- Facebook (Add me as a friend if you’d like to: https://www.facebook.com/IvanJF)

- Instagram (Follow me for more photos of my daily life: @crazeater)

- Twitter (Follow me as you wish: https://twitter.com/ivanlaucw)

I’m fond of using those social networking sites a lot, because I just love sharing with others things happening around me, especially about food. The websites allow me to keep in touch with my friends as well. Reading others’ status can make my day sometimes. I really can’t imagine my days without those sites now. So, one cannot deny the convenience the internet brings us (I’m sure you won’t deny it either).

For this blog, it has been created to delve into the use of new media writing (of course, I’m taking a course about this). I just hope that I can learn more about how people, including you, make use of social media and, in the meantime, write when using new technologies. My aim is simple but I’m pretty sure hard work is needed. (Maybe you should leave some comments below so I can see how you use a language on the Net?)

By the way, let me share with you one website that interests me (as well as you, hopefully). This site is called PRexamples, http://prexamples.com/. A great number of PR campaigns along with comments regard them can be found there. PR companies are relying more on the use of social media like Facebook as the technology advances. By looking at websites like PRexamples, you can surely understand how PR agencies utilize technology to promote a product or solve a crisis. I hope you enjoy it. :)

Last of all, thanks so much for visiting my blog and hope you will continue coming!

Photo credits:
Smartphones - http://www.apollobravo.com/smartphones-fuel-m-commerce/
Facebook logo - http://www.facebook.com/

Instagram logo - http://www.instagram.com/

Twitter logo - http://twitter.com/

Welcome!!!

Hey I'm a newbie

And this is my blog

I hope you like it

And comment maybe? 

(Anyway, this blog is about how new media are influencing our world, especially in terms of new media writing. If you have any thoughts regarding my posts [which you will see more later], just feel free to comment :D)