Assignment 19: Classmate Blog Critique

A blog that I enjoyed very much and actually rather envy belonged to Justice Seymour. His theme is very simple, the font is sizable and easy to read, each graphic is crisp and clear to see, and his writing style is inviting. I like how detailed he is with his stories, and how each one seemed uniform and visually pleasing. One thing I did not like about his blog is the randomness or color between the blog's title, the words, and blog post titles. Although they do stand out, I feel like it doesn't have a theme really and that could be distracting. I also found it a little harder to notice the blue words in comparison with the bright yellow, but it is not a big problem. Perhaps it is just that the title font does not seem to compliment your content words or your writing style. I wouldn't say that your style is strict and to the point, but it is attentive and animated. I sort of sensed that the randomness of colors could be representing the essence of comic book which is creative! I would just suggest playing around with more serious fonts for your titles or even a more playful font for your content.

Another well executed blog belongs to Houston Taylor. First and foremost, I love the theme. It gives me a USA Today vibe where the scenery is very much alive in the background, but the main focus (the content) is upfront and not overshadowed. His writing style does not beat around the bush, and you can tell right away that he does his research. My favorite blog post by him would have to be the "#3 - Twitter News Leads". I am not so much fascinated by the content as I am the execution. The tweets are completely interactive as if you were on the actual app. What I did not like is how inconsistent the font type and font size are, even within some of the singular posts. I would like to see the titles of the posts stand out a little more; they sort of merge into the body of the content. Also, the blog title is plain compared to the theme; I feel like your blog resembles a newspaper and the title of a newspaper should really grab the reader's attention. The large amounts of white space keep the blog pleasing to the eye along with the definition of the graphics. This blog, overall, has very modern feel that I think is really nice.

Assignment 18: News App Critique

As a college student, I am perched on information/entertainment hosts constantly looking for the latest event on campus. The fastest way for me to know about things that are going on is through a combination of Outlook and Snapchat.

Southern Arkansas University is not the greatest with its communication, but if you need information, your student email is the place to be. Our student emails are run through a software called Outlook that is compatible with most devices aside from being easy accessible online. On both the desktop and the mobile version, Outlook opens directly to your inbox as any other email carrier would, but you are directed to your focused mail group first. It has the convenient features of "Focused" and "Other" to help separate your incoming mail from things you would like to know about right now and things you would like to know but do not necessarily need to know.

THINGS YOU WOULD LIKE TO KNOW WOULD INCLUDE:

• Emails from your professors (Conversations, class cancelling, deadlines)
• Emails from organizations you participate in
• Emails about your financial status or FAFSA
• Emails from your advisor

THINGS YOU WOULD LIKE TO KNOW BUT DO NOT NECESSARILY NEED TO KNOW:

• Lost and Found Emails
• Emails from other organizations and their events
• Emails from professors of classes you do not take
• Emails about volunteering

These are just examples of how you can filter your inbox. You may tailor it to the way you need in your settings. 

Snapchat is almost a follow-up app to my college experience. As most people expect, Snapchat is a very personal and intimate app where you can visually inform your friends/viewers of anything that may happen around you. You have the options of taking photographs to which you can add a timer up to 10 seconds for viewing or set it to infinite so that it will not go away until the viewer pleases. You can also take videos up to 10 seconds long or even consecutively up to a minute. You can allow the viewer to see the video once or to loop the video where they can watch it over and over until the viewer stops it. Snapchat has color filters, interactive filters, and geofilters that can be used to either enhance the content or give more information about the your surroundings. Viewers have the option to click on you "Story" where any "snaps" you have uploaded will reside. Each snap has a 24 hour timer from the time it is uploaded, and after that timer is up the video is gone and can no longer be seen or accessed by you or the viewer.

I use Snapchat typically to see anything that I cannot get in Outlook like where parties and events are, when they will happen, and how they are going. I have a busy schedule, so if there are very few or no snaps of the events then I tend not to waste my time on them. Also, you can see if a party is "lit" enough to spend your money. If I have not seen a flyer around campus, I can go straight to Snapchat to see if anyone has posted about it. I can also watch a story and contact that person directly for more information about their snap. If you pinch the home screen, you can pull up the Snapchat Map that will tell you exactly where people are if they have the information available. Also on the map you may see glowing color splotches that are interactive. If clicked on, you can view any snap that was taken in that area. And, just like any social media platform, there is a section for news/ information that is trending or extremely popular at the time. SAU has its own story that can be seen and added to as well as other colleges, events, national days, celebrities, etc.

I find both apps to be very well executed and straight forward about what they are used for. Outlook is more of a professional app while that can only reach so many at a time, but Snapchat is very open and available to everyone yet personal and  intimate to the user and the information given. In Outlook I love the "Focused" and "Other" feature as well as having the option to add other email accounts from other hosts so that I only have to download one app. Outlook is, however, very exclusive. Even though I can get campus news from here, it does not supply everything I need as a student. In Snapchat, I like how it is easy to document my life and my area so freely and under my own discretion. I also like how other people's lives are at my fingertips and how easy it is to get quick information about what is going on around me. But, Snapchat is way too personal to the user for it to be a source a news. There may be 1 piece of information I need between tens of snaps that I have to tap through. I also feel as though the Snapchat Map feature, as nice as it may be, is very dangerous. If you do not hide your location, you can be found very easily. It can even tell you if someone is driving or listening to music.

Assignment 17: Opinion (State, National, International Issue)

Several stories have surfaced covering women being sexually harassed and even assaulted by men of status or authority. It has been accounted that many of these stories are recent which could have triggered other women to plead their case, but a lot are stories that happened years before and were never reported.

While the media is addressing the career changing meltdowns, I want to know why now? If you were sexually assaulted over 10 years ago, is this situation still relevant enough to build a lawsuit?

I believe that it is both brave and noble to come out and hopefully bring justice to an otherwise growing situation; maybe your voice is the one that tips a recent case into the victims favor. But, I also believe that there is a significant monetary value that could open a mouth and cry wolf. 

Assignment 16: Opinion (Local Issue)

El Dorado, Arkansas is  beautiful city with loads of potential that needs to be taken advantage of. As a native and an active youth, I want to address the natural vs. entertainment fight that has been streaming  for years.

What many do not understand is that although the future does lie in the hands of the next generation, the elders are the ones that have the most say in what goes and what doesn't. El Dorado is basically a retirement town; A place to go and settle down after you have built riches and seen the world. Older people will see the purpose of preserving the essence of the natural state while the younger crowd longs to leave from boredom. 

Assignment 15: Entertainment or Popular Culture

A story battle emerges when DJ/producer The Gaslamp Killer, real name William Bensussen, was  accused of drugging an raping two females back in 2013.

Sometime in October, Twitter user @chelsealaynne announced her allegations, but Bensussen was not taking this lying down. The Gaslamp Killer, in fact, retaliated with not only a witness, but he is also suing Chelsea Tandros, her best friend, and her boyfriend for $5 million according to TMZ. The lawsuit may be a chance for The Gaslight Killer to revive his reputation, but this type of exposure could kill his career.

Assignment 14: #Trending on Social Media

Well established actress, Portia de Rossi, puts Steven Seagal on blast after he supposedly committed acts of sexual harassment during a one-on-one assessment for his latest movie.

She claims to have been in the process of an audition, and in her last stage, Seagal fed her details of "how important it was to have chemistry offscreen…" The two were in his office when he began to unzip his "leather pants" causing Rossi to scurry in search for help. 

Rossi then took to Twitter where the accusations caught wind resembling the Cosby controversy. She has received tons of support and sympathy from fans and peers as well as a seat next to fellow actresses who have claimed that Steve Seagal professes in more action than just the movies. 

     

Assignment 13: International Hard or Feature News

A hostage situation turned into abandonment for a family of 4. California residents, the Harteaus, were in the midst of falling in love with the beauty of South America when the boat that they were traveling in was taken over by pirates. The pirates redirected the boat and "stripped [them] of their personal belongings" before fleeing the scene.

The Harteaus family, however, were also gone once the police arrived according to Sergio Chene, "a spokesman for Para's Public Safety Department". The couple, Adam and Emily Harteau, and their two daughters, ages 3 and 7, had apparently jumped ship due to the attack and were found days later surviving rather well off of the jungle resources.

The family's original plan was to document their slow travels on their website which is what they consider the model of a "modern family" and return home to the U.S. and hopefully regain family intimacy outside of their cultured lifestyle. Fortunately, they were able to make it out of their detour with a few insect bites and scratches.

Assignment 12: Numeracy

Attention was brought to several areas in Ghana, Africa where children were struggling with comprehension of both reading and numeracy. A survey was issued, and the results were shocking. Between 60 areas in "Kpandai, Sagnarigu and Sawla/Tuna/Kalba Districts", it found that “94 out of every 100 children assessed in class three could not read a class two level story and correctly solve class two level numeracy questions up to division.” The ages  of these children were grouped between ages 3 to 15 and 6 to 15 totaling 3,429 children of Northern Ghana.