I have moved the contributing Nodes to this section so I can continue to use this blog for other units.
Just to recap, we needed to select at least 3 Web2.0 platforms and I chose Flickr, YouTube and Mixpod to share.
Thanks for following :-)
K
P.S. Just for storage purposes, below is my exegesis for this assignment:
My critical explanation of my web presence
When
thinking about my web presence and how I wanted my online self to be
presented, I took into consideration the things that are prominent in my
current life. After assessing this, I felt it best to use the concept
of my London life, considering my initial audience would be mostly
Australian students. When creating my internet footprint (Leaver, 2011),
I wanted to make sure that my online identity remained something I
would be satisfied with representing me for many years to come, for many
people to see. Most importantly, I wanted my web presence to act as a
creative outlet for my offline self.
The development of the web presence
required me to start with an identity and a themed concept. The use of
three WEB2.0 platforms to contribute content is also required. During
the design and content conception, considerations were given to the
impact of my internet footprint created by the web presence, and the
best way in which I can use audio and visual tools to help establish my
online self. I chose blogger to create a blog whereby I could post a
candid account of my life in London using images taken uploaded direclty
from my android phone, along with London related topics . Blogger was a
good choice due to the tools offered and the connection blogger holds
with many Web2.0 platforms. Blogger is extremely flexible in designing
the layout also and with my knowledge of HTML I was able to adjust
heights and widths to fit my various widgets in appropriatly.
My “London Life” themed blog, uses content from my personal profiles on Flickr, YouTube and Mixpod chosen so I can include audio visual content in each blog post. Any content used has been done so either with permission or utilised under creative commons licencing. The nature of these open source cultures (Wolk, 2009) reaffirm the ideal of my web presence as being a creative outlet. These contributing nodes along with the visual design of the site have led to a structured and informative representation of my online self. My desired affect is to have an audience for my blog that find the blog easy to read and use.
My “London Life” themed blog, uses content from my personal profiles on Flickr, YouTube and Mixpod chosen so I can include audio visual content in each blog post. Any content used has been done so either with permission or utilised under creative commons licencing. The nature of these open source cultures (Wolk, 2009) reaffirm the ideal of my web presence as being a creative outlet. These contributing nodes along with the visual design of the site have led to a structured and informative representation of my online self. My desired affect is to have an audience for my blog that find the blog easy to read and use.
I have used an about page to
introduce myself and give the viewer a good idea of what they can expect
from the blog. By using a photograph on my about page, I am creating a
visual representation of my online indentity while holding a good level
of anonymity. I also utilise this section to establish where I am
getting my content from and where the viewer can seek out the
appropriate credits for the content.
The concept behind the blog name, The
Pony and the Kilburn Fox, is a combination of my personal nickname and
local street art in my London neighbourhood of a fox symbol. I have
chosen to give myself the pseudonym of “the.pony” which is present
throughout my profiles on each node. I didn’t want to use my real name
in these profiles as I wanted to keep a level of anonymity an minimal
self disclosure (Qian, 2007) to my web presence. The colouring and
design was kept basic using only shades of black and white, with
highlights of red for additional visual stimulation. The imagery used
for the design of my header is a combination of two images found on
Flickr and Google images with the permission of the creators, which I
have redesigned using Adobe Photoshop CS5.
When assessing the various Web2.0
platforms available to use, I considered which platforms were are fair
representation of the presence I am wanting to create. The three
contributing nodes I have chosen (Flickr, YouTube and Mixpod) are Web2.0
platforms that offer three different artistic content sharing outlets
in the form of photo’s, film and music. These three outlets represent my
artistic preference well and therefore hold a positive reflection of my
offline self within my internet presence. All three nodes are clearly
visible to the reader on each blog post and page and my profiles for
each can be accessed easily using the links provided. More importantly,
all three utilise the use of Folksomies where by the users of each site
organise the uploaded content using metadata, which can be added by any
user (Mathes, 2004). This was important to me to incorporate into my
presence as the use of metadata has a strong impact on search engines
and the more tagging used that leads an internet user to my various
profiles, the increased chances I have of gaining a larger audience.
My choice of Web2.0 platforms was
also based on the share factor. At the bottom of each post, is a widget
by which the viewer can share a link to the post through various online
tools and social networking platforms. The use of this widget means a
compelled viewer of my blog may share the blog and content with their
social network. The use of these
widgets was described by Helmond (2010) as used to embed the scattered
web self into one place, which aids my purpose of easy access within my
blog.
I have also used an additional page
titled “Credits” within the blog to pay homage to each contributing
node. On this page I have embedded a logo of each which again links the
user back to my profiles for each node.
My London Life web presence is one
that has been designed and thought through with every aspect of the
internet and my online representation in mind. Using three contributing
nodes with a mixture of my own creations and others who are happy to
share, helps me approach each blog post as a creative outlet. The use of
metadata throughout each blog post and piece of content used is an
important part of creating a presence that will be seen by others.
Overall, the design and content shared is a respectable representation
of my online identity and one I will be proud of in years to come.
Helmond, A (2010, January) Identity 2.0: Constructing identity with cultural Software. Retrieved from http://www.annehelmond.nl/wordpress/wp-content/uploads//2010/01/helmond_identity20_dmiconference.pdf
Leaver, T (2011) Module 3 Introduction - Your Internet Footprint [Course Notes] Retrieved from http://lms.curtin.edu.au
Mathes, A. (2004).
Folksonomies – Cooperative Classification and Communication Through
Shared Metadata. Retrieved on (2011, August7). Retrieved from http://lms.curtin.edu.au/courses/1/305033-Vice-Chancell-1118175685/content/_1253746_1/dir_Web101.zip/Web101/2.4.html
Qian, H & Scott, C.R (2007, August 23) Anonymity and Self Disclosure on Weblogs. doi:10.1111/j.1083-6101.2007.00380.x
Wolk, D (2009, June
15) Future of Open Source: Collaborative Culture. Retrieved from
http://www.wired.com/dualperspectives/article/news/2009/06/dp_opensource_wired0616
