Blog Week 8: Blogging Best Practices           

    Ohdeardrea.blogspot.com is a blog run by Drea Duclos, a wife and mother of one. Drea lives a very natural and healthful life. Her blog talks about life, veganism, a natural lifestyle, motherhood, marriage and lots of food. This blog is a lifestyle blog and focuses more on personal stories and opinions rather than outside information. At times Drea will incorporate outside posts from other bloggers and does a great job crediting them and always cites where she gets her information. She is a wonderful photographer and creates a lot of her own recipes which she is using to create her own cookbook. The function of the blog is to help readers learn how to live a natural life and learn about veganism from somebody's personal experiences. There is only information and answered questions, no push for anybody to change their health habits unless they want to. The substance is purely antidotal. Drea brings us into her life and home. She talks about veganism for herself, raising a vegan child, leading a natural, healthy life, and how she and her family live happily. Drea doesn't hold back, she takes the reader through her ups and downs in life and the journey she has been on for the past 4-5 years. "I'm Andrea Duclos, but more commonly known as Drea. I reside in South Florida with my tiny wonderful family, where we live as simply, naturally and as happily as possible" (Duclos, About, para 1). 
     I believe the best practices for creating a blog are to remember your audience, remember why you started your blog and stay true to yourself. It can be hard to try and keep all of those thing together but it is important to create a meaningful blog. There also needs to be a consistency, blogging frequently keeps your audience interested and curious. Drea has always followed through on posts she promised, always considers her audience's requests, all while staying true to her life and all that is important to her. I love her style, her photos, and her knowledge on a simple lifestyle. She always looks at the positives and I always find myself checking in for new posts (which luckily happen frequently). 

Duclos, A. (n.d) About. Ohdeardrea. Retrieved from http://ohdeardrea.blogspot.com/p/about.html

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Joe Paterno was a valued, well known football coach for Pennsylvania State University. He suffered his toughest loss, at 85, to lung cancer. Joe Paterno, also referred to as, JoePa, left behind a wonderful football legacy and will be greatly missed. Ohio State coach Urban Meyer said “He will go down as the greatest football coach in the history of the game”. This only further proves how respected this man was in the game of football. Penn State president Rodney Erickson also had remarkable things to say about JoePa, stating he was “a great man who made us a greater university” and that JoePa’s “dedication to ensuring his players were successful both on the field and in life is legendary”. JoePa will be missed by not only his friends and family, but by his players, his university, and football. 

Facebook post: Football lost one of its greatest contributors, Joe Paterno, on January 22, 2012. He will be greatly missed and always remembered as one of the greats. 

Schlabach, M., & ESPN.com news services. (Jan, 2012). Joe Paterno, 85, dies in state college. ESPN College Football. Retrieved from http://espn.go.com/college-football/story/_/id/7489238/joe-paterno-ex-penn-state-nittany-lions-coach-dies-85-2-month-cancer-fight 

Blog 3:

New media tools are a great way to reach a large audience. They can effectively spread information quickly and reach new people that would otherwise not be reached. 

Blogs: Blogging is  a great outlet for anyone. There are no limits to what type of blog you want to run. There are picture blogs, written blogs, written with pictures. There are information blogs, life blogs, medical blogs, the amount of different blogs is endless. There is something for everyone. There are sites that you interact with other bloggers more, and there are sites that you keep your own blog more on your own. As blogs are becoming more popular they are becoming more well known. There are some blogs that have hundreds of thousands of followers or readers. It is a great way to get information out. 

examples: tumblr.com, bloodspot.com, wordpress.com, and blogger (what we are using for this class).

Social Networking Sites: Social networking sites are similar to blogs in that you can post any information you want, but they have a little more structure than blogs. There are places to post information, pictures and contact information. Social networking sites are more accessible than blogs. Once you find a blog you want to follow, it is easy, but there are so many blog platforms it is hard to discover new ones. Social media sites are easily searchable and you can easily find people or companies you are interested in. 

examples: Facebook.com, twitter.com, pintrest.com, linkedin.com, (some overlap: tumblr.com).

Video Sharing Sites: Video sharing sites are another great way to spread information. In this case you don't have to rely on written word to get your message out. Videos are a great way to connect with people. Using charm and charisma you can connect to many people and create a following that way. 

examples: youtube.com, vine.com, vimeo.com.

New media tools are an excellent way to spread your message in this new technological age.