Reviewing the World of Blogging

After reviewing various blogs listed in the course content, I found two to be of particular interest to me.  The “Ogilvy PR 360 Digital Influence Blog” and “Mashable” were the two blogs that most impacted me, albeit for different reasons.  Ogilvy’s blog was a phenomenal integration of the social media world and the sporting world.  Many posts included information regarding how different sports are connected with social media.  Ogilvy also produced a very aesthetically pleasing web design, with easy to read headlines and short blurbs of each post to spur interest.

“Mashable”, on the other hand, specifically drew my attention through its coverage of technology and business.  The posts are clear and concise, offer external links for more information, and even integrate posting each blog entry to Twitter or Facebook with a click of a button.  Navigating through the blog was extremely fluid and the different authors seemed very knowledgeable about the topics they covered.

I chose to review these two blogs specifically because they were most relevant to my interests.  Furthermore, I found that one of the most important qualities I look for in a blog, or any website for that reason, is site design.  Of all the blogs I read and reviewed, Ogilvy’s and Mashable were the two that seemed to most excel in this area.

Twitter has become a great tool for staying up-to-date on the latest technology trends, fashion, or sporting news.  However, I have found that these two blogs specifically offer valuable information and tend to go into further depth about the issues being discussed and the news being offered.  This is extremely valuable information and I would most definitely recommend it to others as well.

One of the personal benefits staying updated on blogs could offer me personally is appearing very educated on current issues.  After learning that most people read the newspaper to appear knowledgeable at work, I have found blog reading has a similar effect. Reading the various blog entries daily or a few times a week would allow me to stay current on the technological, business, social media, or sporting news in the world.

Twitter Blog

As a relatively frequent Twitter user since June 2009, I have often engaged with and utilized the benefits of Twitter in both my personal and professional life.  The nearly 900 tweets posted from my primary Twitter account address various topics including my personal views on world news, sports, pop culture, and society.  Despite initial abhorrence, I have come to revere many aspects of this particular social networking site including its ability to connect celebrities to their fans, deliver breaking news quickly and efficiently, and offer a large professional networking venue to promote marketing and business relations.  However, the journey I have taken to learn and appreciate Twitter has been influenced by both positive and negative interaction with the site.

            Even before I had been assigned the task of using Twitter and subsequently blogging about its features and usefulness, I spent about a year and a half developing the cyber-image of myself through tweeting.  This assignment has particularly allowed me to retreat and cognitively examine my interaction with Twitter.  My tweets, both from the account used for this assignment and the one for personal use, could be generalized into one of four categories: my personal opinions regarding world news, sports, or pop culture, “retweeting” articles posted by others that are of particular interest to me, gauging friends’ opinion or interest by posing intellectual or debate-centered questions, or composing tweets about random, light-hearted, and often humorous events.  The four categories I have listed also represent the type of tweets I pay closest attention to and most enjoy reading.  Twitter, therefore, can fulfill both a personal and professional need by offering valuable news information and a personal need by offering humor.

            One of the other benefits of this assignment was to learn of new twitterers to follow.  For example, my personal twitter account lacked local news and announcements regarding events in the Columbus area.  @nbc4i, @ExpCols, and @ColsUnderground are a few of the twitterers I have enjoyed following over the past week and I look to continue following these companies on my personal account. 

            Twitter is a great resource for students, young professionals, and business men and women to stay connected to the world of news, their favorite friends, celebrities, and politicians, and pop culture media outlets for updated insider news.  Twitter has taught me that the value of information and thought-sharing can help individuals begin and maintain connection through social networking.  Assimilated by only a common use of twitter, people can subscribe to individuals in a personal or professional setting to establish and maintain a social media relationship.  Twitter constantly reminds its users of the importance of practicing professionalism and self-censorship by illustrating the social ostracism a person inevitably receives as a result of an inappropriate post.  Ultimately, users are able to best employ Twitter by considering how they might offer their personal talents, thoughts, or business expertise to the site, not how the site can offer that same resource to them.