Summary- At the beginning of the article it talked about how college students spend a lot of time on writing assignments. Most of the time while doing these assignments students have not motivation or interest in writing. But when you turn to blogging instead of just writing on paper, its gives you a wider range of ideas to work with. And students tend to be more engaged and interested. With saying that making a blog or blogging is not the easiest thing to do and many people have different thoughts when they think about what blogging really is all about. When blogging became apart in the internet world not a lot of people blogged. Most of the individuals that did blog, they blogged about things like the news or current events happening in the world. Today blogging can range from cars to funny pictures. When making a blog you have to ask yourself questions like, what is my blog gonna be about or how is going to interact with other blogs out there that might be similar. It’s also a good idea to view other blogs to reflect on and give yourself some ideas. As the article goes on it explains in great detail about how to blog. Between the ups and downs and all the decision-making that is required when forming or building a blog. Along with advice on how to keep it simple But at the same time unique.

 

Commentary- As Alex Reid goes on further in the article he talks about the layout of your blog. While talking about the layout and templates when creating a blog he explains to make a good decision on what you choose for a layout for your blog. And that even if you change your mind later, it is an easy fix to go back and change. For myself so far in this blogging world while setting up my layout I had a lot of trouble trying to go back and adjust certain things or even trying to change my layout. There for, I disagree with his say when he states that its easy to change thing around later. Instead I would more agree with his first statement about making sure you decide wisely on your layout. Instead of going back and trying to change things later. Alex Reid also states that the thoughts or how to define a blog can be difficult when thinking about what to write about. Especially when there are so many question you have to ask yourself. For example, thinking about if the topic of your blog is going to be interesting to others. Or if other people are going to comment or argue on the subject/topic of your blog. Are you going to have an audience? All these things are important when thinking of starting a blog and what you want your blog to be about.

 

Making connections When reading this article it kept bringing me back to the thought of social media. Especially MySpace, I remember with MySpace there were a lot of fundamentals. For instance, like creating a background and a picture icon with audio as well. I always heard about blogging. But never really gave it too much thought. In the back of my mind I thought posting on Facebook was the same a blogging. But after reading this article it has opened my eyes and mind to what blogging really is and all its benefits and advantages it really has to bring.

As I started to read this article I found it really interesting and relatable even though there were times I would get to certain parts in the article and my brain would wonder. I was still able to bring it back in and become engaged again with what I was reading. I could relate to when having to do a writing assignment all the time on paper can become very boring and didn’t really give me motivation to write. It was almost like it was a chore that I would dread to do. As it went on to talk about the new age of blogging I got even more interested. And started thinking to myself what am I really all missing out there in the world of the world-wide web. And also thinking why have I never looked up a blog or that maybe I have and I never even knew it. Today the world and the technology and internet are expanding at such a fast rate I find it hard to keep up with. And with that might also come so frustration if I were trying to find a blog and certain topic of a blog and couldn’t find it. Alex Reid goes into really good reasons and details about the how’s and whys of blogging. And really breaks it down for you and gives you steps and guidance for first time bloggers. Which I think is completely amazing! Because before reading this article or even starting a blog I was really unsure of the whole thing. Probably because it is something foreign to me and for the majority of people new things tend to feel nerve-racking or overwhelming. And there are others that get excited when trying new thing. For me myself I feel pretty good about this blogging thing. I feel it gives me a chance to express myself and my writing in a whole other light. Especially being able to show your creativity all around your writing too. I mean I know when writing a paper assignment when you got it back you might have got a well done or good job sticker on your paper. But this is a new way to explore your thoughts and really dig deep inside and bring that beautiful writer out in ourselves and show the world. At the end of reading the article I thought I really wished that I would have read this before I started my blog. I think it would of help me out tremendously. I found it very useful. I also very much agree with the thoughts behind blogging. And why blogging is a good thing when it comes to writing. It bring excitement and a flow of creativity . It also keeps interest for the writer to keep writing and helps them to stay motivated and productive.   I am very excited to keep moving forward with my blog. I think it was an amazing idea for my English teacher to take this route in teaching her English class.

So this is my first time ever blogging. It sounded a lot more complex then it actually was. At the beginning there was a few things that I had troubles with but after going through the prompts it got easier. I feel that the most challenging part of creating a blog was to find something to blog about.

Hi, and welcome to my blog my name is Amanda and I am going to just get this started by telling you a little about myself and kind of give you an idea to what you will be seeing in my future post. As I said before my name is Amanda and I live in Minnesota in a town called Owatonna. I have live pretty much my whole life either in Owatonna or in surrounding towns that are with in county. I am 27 years old and am about to turn 28 this November! I have two beautiful little girls. My oldest just turned eight and her name is Kirra and my youngest will be four years old coming up here the beginning of next year and her name is Mila. I also currently just started my first semester of collage and at this time my major is a veterinarian technician. You can say I have a soft spot if animals! But I also have a caring heart that goes out to addicts and recovery. As for myself I am a recovering addict. And my mission is to carry the message that no addicts never needs to be alone or left behind. There is a way out!  And its called life after addiction!