Your First Post - Fall 2021

Welcome to COMM 373! Your first post should be a basic introduction to who you are and what your blog will be about. It's your first post, so you can really carve out your place in this space. Remember, while you will have freedom to write about what you want from week to week this semester, you'll also want to make sure you relate weekly posts in the future to something we talk about in class. Much of what we talk about is #relatable -- I mean, we've already talked about the milk crate challenge in class.

Photo Courtesy of Michael Lee Stallard: Helping Leaders Create Cultures that Connect

So this week: Introduce yourself. Who are you? That's a LOADED question. Unpack it (using as much self-disclosure as you deem fit for an online space, of course). Things you might want to include: Your first name, where you are in life right now, what you want to do... things like that.


Now, as you went through the process of creating your blog, you [probably] made some specific decision in terms of the theme, background, images, font, etc. etc. Was there a reason for that? Offer some insight into your decisions. Do you have a theme you want to stick to throughout the semester? If you haven't customized your blog, please do that as a part of this week's blog post assignment. Make this space yours.


Next - what are some of your interests? If you're struggling, this could help with some direction for your blog. Like I said, personalize this space. Make it your own. Give your reader (me, your classmates, anyone else who stumbles upon your blog) an idea of what you plan to do. If you want, feel free to add a photo but it's not necessary to -- at least not right now.


Your blog post should be a few short paragraphs. Notice how in this post, you have small chunks of writing with space between paragraphs. It makes for a more pleasurable reading experience. Remember, you're writing for a specific audience, and I encourage you to share your blogs with others, too. This week your blog post should be written; but in future weeks, we'll entertain the idea of a vlogs if you'd rather do that than write.


Don't forget, posts should be up by end of day Friday. You do not have to send your post link to me - I have the address for your blog's homepage linked to the course blog, so I should be able to find it (I hope!). Happy blogging!

The Last (required) Post

Hello bloggers! Well, our time in COMM 373 is coming to an end. It's the last week of class, and most of us are super ready for summer break, and hopefully some relief from COVID protocols and everything. 

Image courtesy of K12 Online

For your last (required) blog post, I'm going to throw out a few options just to keep things interesting. Respond to one of the following:

• In the spirit of David Letterman's famous Top 10 lists, tell me ten things that you learned or liked about this course. Be thoughtful; be creative. Include pictures where appropriate, and have fun with it!
• Now that we've made it through a whole semester, tell me: could you live without social media? Do you think our society could adapt to a life without social media? Based on your social media audit, do you think you could limit or eliminate it entirely? Support with material from class discussions, the text, and/or other readings.
• Define social media in your own words (based off of our discussions this semester). What are some of the different types of experiences users might have with different platforms? Choose two platforms to discuss and explain what their primary use is.
• Overall, choose a position and justify your agreement or disagreement with the following statement: Social media generally has a positive impact on society. Your reasons should be based on course discussion.Posts are due by end of day Friday. I hope you've enjoyed the semester and continue to learn more about what platforms are the best for your professional and personal needs!

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That said, I encourage you to keep blogging either here or somewhere else. Make yourself marketable as you get ready for the future. For many of you, graduation is on the horizon. For others, you're pursuing internships. Be thoughtful of your online presence as you begin/continue on your career paths!

Your Second to Last (Required) Post

This week is another "Choose Your Own Adventure" post where your post can be about anything as long as you make sure that you relate what you write about to the theme you've been establishing in this space and that whatever you write is appropriate, of course.

Meme courtesy of Cheezburger Memes

Have fun! Be interesting, authentic, and you. Posts are due by end of day on Friday.

Analysis Projects!

I think the last assignment of the course is one of my favorites because you can see how all of the things we've talked about all semester come together AND you get to flex some of your creative muscles by making creative suggestions for a client that you select. You can read all about the Analysis Project on the assignment sheet posted to Canvas, and we'll talk more in depth about it in class on Tuesday. 

For this week's blog post, you're doing the first small part of the Analysis Project, which is to select a local (to you) small business or organization and do a little background research on them. Specifically, the assignment sheet says: 

Choose a small organization or business (non-profits, local/home churches, student organizations, businesses in Emmitsburg/Frederick/Gettysburg with which you have familiarity, or businesses local to you in your hometown). Preview your “client” in your blog post (this will be blog post #11) due on Friday, April 23. Your preview should include basic information about your client and a SWOT Analysis (see handout on Canvas.)

The business can and should be in an area that interests you because you'll probably feel more passionate about completing this last project for an organization or cause that you care about. (Note: I know it's been a long semester. It has been for me, too.) 

As you begin look into their online presence, complete a SWOT (analyzing their Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats) and provide a little background information about them. 

Image courtesy of Word Stream

This will help you to start thinking more about the analysis paper you have to write and potentially even give you some inspiration for creative suggestions.

Blog posts are due on Fridays. 

The Importance of Social Media Measurement and Evaluation

In class over the past several weeks, we talked about how being creative on demand is difficult and creating content for a social media account isn't as easy as it seems. Last week, you created a branded image for your blog and explained your creative process. 

Gif courtesy of Giphy

This week we are talking about measurement and budgets. So now, we have a pretty complete picture of what professionals in social media do - it's a little bit of writing, it's a little bit of creativity, and it's also a little bit of math (shocking!) For your blog post this week, give me a little bit of feedback (oh hey, it's an evaluation...)

• What have your favorite topics been so far? 
• What's been the most boring topic to cover?
• How do you think you'll be able to apply what you've been learning so far to the real world?
• Is there anything you thought you'd learn in class that we haven't covered yet?

I plan to take tips from your posts this week to help tweak the class for future students, so be honest in your responses. And don't forget: Blog posts are due by end of day Friday.

Gif courtesy of GIPHY Studios

Branding Your Blog and Creating Content

Now that we're nearing the end of the semester and have had several weeks of learning content about branding, this week I'd like you to think about your blog presence for our class. Given our new material on content creation and the intro to Canva from class on April 6, try your hand at creating a logo for your blog that is consistent with the content you've been sharing this semester. Think about your theme, color scheme, and your overall presence. Share your logo and describe the creative process you underwent in creating it for this week's blog post. 

Happy creating!

Surprise! It's another CHOOSE YOUR OWN ADVENTURE

This week our discussion in class is about strategic writing for social media, so it seems appropriate to make this week's post another choose your own adventure post so that you can flex your creative muscles and try your hand at written content creation. 

Meme courtesy of 55 Totally Awesome Travel Memes

So, your post can be about anything this week but make sure that you relate what you write about to the theme you've established and that whatever you write is appropriate, of course.

So have fun! Be interesting, authentic, and you. Posts are due by end of day on Friday.