Writing for the Web

My name is Maura Friedman and this semester I participated in a Writing for the Web Course. In reflecting on the pieces I'd created for this class, I realized a common thread- that of community- stitched it all together. This portfolio is a combination of that work and an exploration of that theme within the context of Tumblr. For a more in-depth explanation, see my post "Read Me First, If You Will."

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Read Me First, If You Will

This is a navigational guide and explanation of this Tumblr

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The future of Tumblr’s Communities

Community isn’t just a part of Tumblr’s rise within the web- it’s large part of its projected growth and future. 

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I love cats. And my cat. My cat is the best cat. 

^ This image is an example of a post that fits into a very specific niche- cat pictures. Within a matter of hours this picture received 11 notes, a high number for my blog. As Kaplan and Haenlein say, users don’t access information that is of no use to them, so niche Tumblrs have become the standard. This predictability of content gives the reader confidence they will predictably like that Tumblr’s postings. 
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What is the Popular Content at the Tumblr Table?

I wish this revelation had come sooner.

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first 20 reblogs mbf lotu-s quick - 5 promoted

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lotu-s:

and check out ibambz

^ This is an example of a non-genuine social gesture scheme that Tumblr tries to discourage in its Community Guidelines, thereby proving the merit of the communities on Tumblr. 

(Source: isabel-lens)

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Tumblr as an Intentional Community

The structure of Tumblr and its identity as a community-based platform are entertwined. 

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Isn’t a blank page so intimidating?

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Attempting my feature article for my journalism class in the Student Learning Center @UGA. Delightful distractions include: 

  • A boy whistling “Baby It’s Cold Outside” behind me
  • A girl giggling every few minutes while reading her novel next to me
  • The most beautiful French I’ve ever heard, presumably native, being whispered between a guy and a gal right in front of me.

I should probably leave for productivity’s sake, but it’s just too happy here. 

^ Although this post is old, it provides a great example as to how Tumblr’s structure can be used to post informative personal posts that aren’t too lengthy to fit into community norms, something that Marquart discusses extensively in her piece

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How Structure, Paired with Content Fosters Community

Tumblr’s content is necessarily affected by its structure, but this is part of what has made Tumblr

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How Tumblr’s Layout Fosters Community

Unusable web platforms will never be populated. It’s a simple idea, but it’s often taken for granted. And I used to think Wordpress was easy. 

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Voyeurism by Unknown Others

One aspect of the voyeuristic drive of Tumblr that the Kaplan and Haenlein piece does not touch on

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Permalink This is a picture of the analytics for views of my blog in the month of April. The high was at the beginning of the month with 164 page views on the day I posted a link to my blog as a status on my Facebook page. This supports Kaplan and Haenlein’s theory that the voyeurism that accompanies the virtual exhibitionism of Tumblr is a big drive of users to the site. 
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Virtual Exhibitionism and Voyeurism

This is the third limitation of microblogs such as Tumblr that Kaplan and Haenlein see as component of their huge success.

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I think this could be a cool point of inspiration for the design for our summer music issue at Ampersand. What do y’all think?

^ This post from my blog exhibits both aspects of push-pull communication because it both pushes the image from another blog onto mine and pulls additional information (the added context that this could be a point to design from for a magazine) by augmenting the caption.  
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Push-Pull Communication

This is the second limitation of microblogs such as Tumblr that Kaplan and Haenlein see as component of their huge success.

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