Exegesis
Easy Home Cooked Meals is a Web Presence designed to provide people with recipes and photos of some of my favourite meals that are easy to cook and enjoyed by my family. By creating a central node and three linking nodes, I am able to use different online communication channels to reach more online users in varied social network communities. This exegesis will explain, through my learning in Web Communications 101, why I chose the nodes that I used and the experiences that I had while exploring these Web2.0 platforms.
As my central node I created a website using Weebly. I originally set up an account with WordPress and after playing around I became frustrated with not being able to edit the webpage to suit the theme that I was going for. I read through the discussion board and noticed many students were using Weebly and that they had found it quite straightforward. I set up an account on Weebly and also found it simple to customise my page using their drag and drop system. I found a standard layout that was appropriate to my theme of cooking and from there I was able to add text, photos and pages, along with icons to link all my nodes together. With the style of my layout I chose the colour red for all my text as it matched, but most importantly was easy to read. I wanted enough information for readers to understand my page and what I was about, but felt the need to keep it simple and straight to the point. My site is easy to navigate and I feel that Weebly offers many tools to personalise your web page to desired standards.
The three other nodes I decided to use were Facebook, Twitter and Flickr. I am a regular user on Facebook and I am aware of the functions available on this site. With the ability to connect with other networking sites and being the most common, I knew that it was important to use in my Web presence. Facebook is said to be the most popular of the social network sites, Banks (2011) and when adding information on my website and Twitter it has the option of sharing directly on your Facebook page. Facebook is a great communication site that quickly gets your information out to millions of users worldwide and will your website URL displayed on your profile it allows other users to easily access your main source of information.
As described by Kennedy (2007,) Flickr is a networking site dedicated to photo sharing, while Twitter is used as a “microblogging” service that allows users to create 140 word length text messages known as tweets (Morris, 2012). Both sites work on the use of hash tags and by adding tags to my photos and tweets such as #cooking and #familyrecipes other users will be able to see my updates when searching for these words. This is known as descriptive metadata and in terms of Twitter and Flickr, it is that my posts will be organised and ultimately found, by how I tag the content I share (Mathes, 2012). I felt that these sites would be a great opportunity for me to keep others updated on what is happening in my kitchen and uploading photos of the finish product in a convenient way for others to see. I think I will also benefit from using these sites as I am able to do my own searches and see what other people are cooking, popular recipes and using photos to create new recipes to try. Twitter and other popular social networking sites are now available through third party search engines such as Google (Morris, 2012). This would be beneficial to my site increasing the chances of being found by internet users that do not have social networking profiles.
While working through the module three readings, I decided I needed to figure out my identity that I would be using on my Web Presence. Qian and Scott (2007) discuss anonymity in regards to blogging and although I was using alternative Web2.0 platforms, keeping my Web Presence anonymous from my everyday online social networks was my only concern. I set up a new email account using Gmail. [email protected] was chosen to keep with my theme of cooking and was used to set up all my other accounts. Although I did need to use my real name for this assignment, I agree with Qian and Scott (2007), that if I was able to stay completely anonymous or use a pseudonym, I would have been more comfortable in speaking freely on my website and linked profiles.
Creating my website has enabled me to be in control of my internet footprint. What I choose to display and how it all fits together is my decision and no other user can change my creation, however; my digital shadow is and will be controlled by others. By tagging and commenting on my photos and posts through my Facebook, Twitter and Flickr profiles, people are able to control my reputation whether good or bad (Solove, 2007). These tools allow other users to have their freedom of opinion on what I post, whether on my profiles, a blog, or profile of their own (Solove, 2007). Their opinion is passed on through their online networks and so on becoming my reputation and is on the internet to stay as my digital shadow.
The readings and learning’s I have done through the Web Communications 101 unit, has provided me with the information and understanding I needed in creating my Web Presence. With the use of Weebly, I was able to efficiently design my website Easy Home Cooked Meals. Using Facebook, Twitter and Flickr as my linking nodes, I was able to communicate and share my website, photos and information in a convenient online channel, popular for many internet users.
As my central node I created a website using Weebly. I originally set up an account with WordPress and after playing around I became frustrated with not being able to edit the webpage to suit the theme that I was going for. I read through the discussion board and noticed many students were using Weebly and that they had found it quite straightforward. I set up an account on Weebly and also found it simple to customise my page using their drag and drop system. I found a standard layout that was appropriate to my theme of cooking and from there I was able to add text, photos and pages, along with icons to link all my nodes together. With the style of my layout I chose the colour red for all my text as it matched, but most importantly was easy to read. I wanted enough information for readers to understand my page and what I was about, but felt the need to keep it simple and straight to the point. My site is easy to navigate and I feel that Weebly offers many tools to personalise your web page to desired standards.
The three other nodes I decided to use were Facebook, Twitter and Flickr. I am a regular user on Facebook and I am aware of the functions available on this site. With the ability to connect with other networking sites and being the most common, I knew that it was important to use in my Web presence. Facebook is said to be the most popular of the social network sites, Banks (2011) and when adding information on my website and Twitter it has the option of sharing directly on your Facebook page. Facebook is a great communication site that quickly gets your information out to millions of users worldwide and will your website URL displayed on your profile it allows other users to easily access your main source of information.
As described by Kennedy (2007,) Flickr is a networking site dedicated to photo sharing, while Twitter is used as a “microblogging” service that allows users to create 140 word length text messages known as tweets (Morris, 2012). Both sites work on the use of hash tags and by adding tags to my photos and tweets such as #cooking and #familyrecipes other users will be able to see my updates when searching for these words. This is known as descriptive metadata and in terms of Twitter and Flickr, it is that my posts will be organised and ultimately found, by how I tag the content I share (Mathes, 2012). I felt that these sites would be a great opportunity for me to keep others updated on what is happening in my kitchen and uploading photos of the finish product in a convenient way for others to see. I think I will also benefit from using these sites as I am able to do my own searches and see what other people are cooking, popular recipes and using photos to create new recipes to try. Twitter and other popular social networking sites are now available through third party search engines such as Google (Morris, 2012). This would be beneficial to my site increasing the chances of being found by internet users that do not have social networking profiles.
While working through the module three readings, I decided I needed to figure out my identity that I would be using on my Web Presence. Qian and Scott (2007) discuss anonymity in regards to blogging and although I was using alternative Web2.0 platforms, keeping my Web Presence anonymous from my everyday online social networks was my only concern. I set up a new email account using Gmail. [email protected] was chosen to keep with my theme of cooking and was used to set up all my other accounts. Although I did need to use my real name for this assignment, I agree with Qian and Scott (2007), that if I was able to stay completely anonymous or use a pseudonym, I would have been more comfortable in speaking freely on my website and linked profiles.
Creating my website has enabled me to be in control of my internet footprint. What I choose to display and how it all fits together is my decision and no other user can change my creation, however; my digital shadow is and will be controlled by others. By tagging and commenting on my photos and posts through my Facebook, Twitter and Flickr profiles, people are able to control my reputation whether good or bad (Solove, 2007). These tools allow other users to have their freedom of opinion on what I post, whether on my profiles, a blog, or profile of their own (Solove, 2007). Their opinion is passed on through their online networks and so on becoming my reputation and is on the internet to stay as my digital shadow.
The readings and learning’s I have done through the Web Communications 101 unit, has provided me with the information and understanding I needed in creating my Web Presence. With the use of Weebly, I was able to efficiently design my website Easy Home Cooked Meals. Using Facebook, Twitter and Flickr as my linking nodes, I was able to communicate and share my website, photos and information in a convenient online channel, popular for many internet users.
References:
Banks, E. (2011). Facebook is Most Popular Social Network for All Ages; LinkedIn is Second [Study]. Retrieved from: http://mashable.com/2011/11/04/facebook-most-popular-forrester/
Kennedy, L., Naaman, M., Ahern, S., Nair, R., & Rattenbury, T. (2007). How Flickr helps us make sense of the world: context and content in community-contributed media collections. Proceedings of the 15th international conference on Multimedia. Retrieved from: http://infolab.stanford.edu/~mor/research/kennedyMM07.pdf
Mathes, A. (2004). Folksonomies – Cooperative Classification and Communication Through Shared Metadata. Retrieved from: http://www.adammathes.com/academic/computer-mediated-communication/folksonomies.html
Morris, M. R., Counts, S., Roseway, A., Hoff, A., & Schwarz, J. (2012). Tweeting is Believing? Understanding Microblog Credibility Perceptions. Retrieved from: http://research.microsoft.com/pubs/155374/tweet_credibility_cscw2012.pdf
Qian, H., & Scott, C. R. (2007). Anonymity and self-disclosure on weblogs. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 12(4), article 14. Retrieved from: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1083-6101.2007.00380.x/full
Solove, D. J. (2007). The Future of Reputation: Gossip, Rumour and Privacy on the internet. Retrieved from: http://docs.law.gwu.edu/facweb/dsolove/Future-of-Reputation/text/futureofreputation-ch2.pdf
Kennedy, L., Naaman, M., Ahern, S., Nair, R., & Rattenbury, T. (2007). How Flickr helps us make sense of the world: context and content in community-contributed media collections. Proceedings of the 15th international conference on Multimedia. Retrieved from: http://infolab.stanford.edu/~mor/research/kennedyMM07.pdf
Mathes, A. (2004). Folksonomies – Cooperative Classification and Communication Through Shared Metadata. Retrieved from: http://www.adammathes.com/academic/computer-mediated-communication/folksonomies.html
Morris, M. R., Counts, S., Roseway, A., Hoff, A., & Schwarz, J. (2012). Tweeting is Believing? Understanding Microblog Credibility Perceptions. Retrieved from: http://research.microsoft.com/pubs/155374/tweet_credibility_cscw2012.pdf
Qian, H., & Scott, C. R. (2007). Anonymity and self-disclosure on weblogs. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 12(4), article 14. Retrieved from: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1083-6101.2007.00380.x/full
Solove, D. J. (2007). The Future of Reputation: Gossip, Rumour and Privacy on the internet. Retrieved from: http://docs.law.gwu.edu/facweb/dsolove/Future-of-Reputation/text/futureofreputation-ch2.pdf