Group 4: DeSmog Blog

Dear Class,
Please look at the site www.desmogblog.com. Leave your comments and questions about the various aspects of the site for us to talk about on Tuesday in class. The blog has a ton of articles about cleaning the environment, along with some statistics about the climate. The blog talks about what action major companies and the government are taking to clean the air. Read some of the articles and look at the overall layout of the website. Come ready to talk about these things in class on Tuesday.
Thanks!

Group 3: Anti-war Blog

Dear Class,
Please look at the site http://antiwar.com/blog/. Leave your opinions and questions about different aspects of the blog for us to talk about in class as comments below. This blog has articles along with plenty political propaganda, which is quite different from the rest of the sites we have visited. Along with being anti-war this site seems to present how the view the government itself. Click on some of the various links to find out what these bloggers have to say and how they site presents its opinion to the public. I am interested to hear your opinions.
Thanks

Group 2 Anti-Bullying

Dear Class,

Please take a look at the blog http://antibullyingblog.blogspot.com/. You should write your comments on various aspects of the blog here, and begin to think about some thoughts, comments, etc. that you would like to add to the in-class discussion, which will be taking place in the near future.

The blog discusses various aspects on bullying from cyber bullying to taking a stance against bullying.  Like the previous blog assignments, you can look at the layout/presentation of the blog and voice your opinions or thoughts about it.  You can also take a look at any of the posts on the blog.  It might be helpful to ask yourself have you ever witnessed someone being bullied or even been bullied yourself.  Have fun visiting the site and make sure you come to class ready to talk about it.

Thanks!

Group 1 Racialicious

Dear Class,

Please take a look at the blog http://racialicious.com/. You should write your comments on various aspects of the blog here, and begin to think about some thoughts, comments, etc. that you would like to add to the in-class discussion, which will be taking place in the near future.

The website, racialicious.com, is a blog that discusses the topic of racism and other discriminatory topics in our world today. The website is funny and entertaining, yet serious and informative at the same time. Like our previous blog assignment, you could look at the layout/presentation of the blog and voice your opinions or thoughts about it. We would also like you to take a look at the post “Trayvon Martin And Walking While Black”. Have you yourself ever been in a situation such as this? What do you think you would do if you witnessed something like this taking place? There are, however, plenty of other posts on this blog that you should feel free to talk about in your response. Have fun visiting the site and make sure you come to class ready to talk about it.

Feministing

The Feministing website has a very plain, to the point setup. A white background, stories and updates listed down the page, and the simple black and white text with links mixed in makes for an plain yet easy to read setup for the blog that covers feminists and whats going on in the world that affects women. The main (but highly subtle) color throughout the page is purple, from the logo to the color of the links. The first thing I thought of when i noticed this was the phrase from (church) youth group, 'don't make purple', which stands for pretty much any form of displays of affection. The color signifies the mixing of boys, generally thought of as blue, and girls, who are pink. The logo is a reference to the truck mud flap icon, except in this case the silhouetted female has her (assumed) middle finger up.
The color scheme and the simplicity of the design help to establish ethos for the blog, which i felt was helped by the fact that the creators of the blog kept the number of adds down that are mixed in with the articles. There are important and highlighted links to and articles about many things other than feminism, such as activism for racism, child abuse, rape, and civil rights.

Feministing Post

I find the feministing.com page to be rather plain.  Yes, the page has a lot of different stories going on, but the page itself seems a bit unorganized.  The top stories banner consists of the Adrienne Rich, the author, poet and feminist passing away at 82, then jumps to Mad Men spoilers, and how there are racist Hunger Game fans out in the world.  I can see why Adrienne Rich would be considered a top story on the site because she was a leader in the feminist community and the fact that this is a feminist site.  I also see how the Hunger Games fans showing racism toward a particular female character can be a top story since it is currently the number one box office hit.  I do not see how spoilers from Mad Men fit in.  

                The site posts current stories and videos that are controversial such as Rep. Joe Walsh’s comment regarding Tammy Duckworth and some others that are humorous like “What We Missed.”  The articles prove one point, but some show bias.  Rep. Joe Walsh’s comment about Tammy Duckworth holds true to the fact that he acknowledges her efforts and sacrifices for her country, but just because she lost her limbs should not automatically guarantee her a spot or vote in office. 

Feministing Article Comment

I read a short article about a small bomb that exploded at an abortion clinic in Wisconsin on Sunday.  The article was short and to the point featuring a one paragraph conclusion by the blogger that clearly lets the reader know where she stands on the issue.  When I read the comments I decided that I wanted to contribute to the conversation people were having.  While there wasn't much of a disagreement going on in the comments, I still wanted to weigh in.  Unfortunately, since it is my first post on the website it was sent off to be moderated before it will be posted for viewing and hopefully commenting.  I will include the comment now.


People are entitled to their opinions, but where's the logic in this kind of an action?  If the criminal(s) behind this attack had succeeded in burning down this clinic and killing all the doctors, nurses, and patients inside how many babies wouldn't be born as a result?  


This is such an in-effective way to get your point across.  All it does is force most people who are still on the fence about the issue to look at the pro-lifers as members of a radical group no matter if it was just someone acting alone.  No one could ever bomb enough buildings or picket enough sidewalks to win a battle against personal freedoms in America.  If someone wants to stop abortions then they should do it the only effective way, and that's increasing sexual education and contraceptive use.


I'm hoping that there isn't much argument in this class that is pro domestic terrorism but I do want and would love to read anyone's thoughts on this issue whether it's about a persons right to protest abortion or a pro-choice/pro-life comment.  I really enjoy hearing other peoples opinions and their reasons behind them.

feministing

Feministing.com works. The logo being used shows the author pointing out that women are angry, and that the blog feministing.com is the place to see why. The use of purple for the logo and the headline text shows consistency and ties things together. The use of pictures and video gives people something tangible to work with. This allows for people to develop a connection to things like the picture of Trayvon Martin holding a baby which gives some a warm feeling but at the same time feelings that his death is not receiving the justice it deserves. The meet us section is a huge plus. It shows diversity, which is important for establishing open mindedness, and bringing in lots of viewers. The post about the hunger games did a good job using tweets to prove their point. Showing photos of the people and the kinds of comments they made may bring out emotions in the audience and cause them to speak up. The only downside would have to be the ads. It was very easy to get distracted by ads that were larger than some of the photos in the blog.

Feministing

When I first went to this blog the first article, I guess you could call it, was the “what we’ve missed” and at first it really confused me because I thought it was supposed to one big article on one topic. Because of this my first impression of the site was not to great, I thought it was disorganized and confusing but then after scrolling down farther I caught on and understood what was going on at the very beginning. After that I noticed how bland the site was which could make someone think that whoever is running the site doesn’t have time to make it look nice and modern and not like it was from the 90’s. While there wasn’t much presentation it showed to some extent that the blogger cares more for the articles than the presentation, which is another way to see the blandness.

                After that I noticed how wide spread the stories were on the site. While some articles covered what one might expect to cover in a feminist blog such as rape and gender inequality it also covered articles that were pertinent to women in general. When people think of the stereotype of a feminist they would envision the creator of this site to be all about getting more power and hating men but in fact this site gives the audience the notion that they care about more than power. They post about issues relating to the gay community, hot news stories, and general ways of living better. But the thing that most gives them authority is how they present feminism as something a man can be involved in and still be a normal man in society if not a better one.

Feministing.com

I believe that the fiministing.com does a great job in showing its point convincing readers. First, the website is concise and precise about the webpage; there is no fancy decoration, no noise background music, or lousy pop up advertisements, which creates a good circumstance that makes the readers focus on the main topic discussed in the website. The website also has lots of discussions of feminist from several directions. Lots of posts on this website share similarities such as criticizing the behavior or events that showed disrespect to female, raising the unnoticed social problems to the readers’ notice, also showing gratitude to the symbols of feminists who stood up and showing people that something needs to be done.

The one post that attracted me is the post “The Feministing Five: Dregs One” (by ANNA, published in March 31, 2012). The post first described about life experiences of the rapper called Dregs One, then talked about the contributions that the rapper has done with his albums, cited some works of Dregs One to store credibility, creating the image of hero of the feminists in reader’s head by the use of words, then show the record of interview with the rapper to make the point clear and even more convincible. By the end, several video footages of the rapper are placed to let reader meet their hero. At this point, the author’s objective is complete.

Feministing Post

      The overall presentation of the blog feministing.com is very bland and uninteresting. I understand that this very well could be because she is trying to focus on not distracting the  reader from her point, but also it could also be interpreted as a contradicting point to her argument about what a "real woman" is. Henceforth the lack of visuals on the page. They really stress "there is no right way to hate your body" throughout the entire blog. I agree and disagree with this statement. I agree you should not be upset with your body because our society says you need to be skinny to be considered pretty. However I also disagree because sometimes its ok to hate your body in some way to give you some motivation to do something about what disappoints you.
      The two things that really stood out to me is the pictures of the women with a middle finger up and the  picture of the arabic woman. The logo of the middle finger I think is very misleading because it presents a attitude that women don't care and have a care free life style of who gives a crap. When in reality this entire blog is about how women hate their bodies and go to great lengths of trying to be like the women they see on television. The second picture of the arabic woman i honestly do not understand if it is an allusion to the story of Trayvon or what? If it is then the post could have used a better picture that correctly spells his name because in that case it could be interpreted as mocking the whole situation. I think overall the blog did present a valid issue, but could have done a much better job representing it.

Feministing.com

       I think feministing.com does a really great job of getting their point across. They don't use any elaborate design on their page so when a reader goes on to the site they focus on the issues the writers are trying to convey. The fact that the background is white and there is nothing elaborate on the site shows that the writers only care about one thing and that is trying to get the issues they feel passionately about out to the world and make the world see their disagreement or agreement towards that issue. Feministing.com doesn't just focus on one issue though. They focus on many different types of issues which I believe helps their site establish credibility. People want to see different issues going on in the world, they don't want to just hear about the same one over and over again which is why i think feministing.com actually does do something for the readers.
        While reading feministing.com I believe that this website effects people's knowledge, ideas, and values. The one post that caught my eye was the post about women hating their bodies. The idea that goes through pretty much every women's head is that they hate their body and they want to change it. Reading this post could really help women see why they shouldn't hate their bodies and why they shouldn't follow what society believes is the "perfect" body. Another post that caught my eye was the girl wearing the hijab and holding up the sign saying "racism is racism." A lot of people have different values dealing with racism. This post could really change people's view points on racism and how it affects so many people in this world. Overall, I do believe this website does a really good job of actually doing something for their audience.

Feministing Post

The logo of woman flipping her middle finger on the Feministing.com website demonstrates a carefree, independent, and to some degree a rebellious nature. This website is definitely pro-feminist and repeatedly reminds the readers/ audience that woman have a strong voice. Another message that is conveyed through the different articles and videos is that woman play a vital role in society, and should not be undermined. In some articles they discuss the advocacy groups Women Under Siege and Women's Media Center, which are female dominated groups. The mentioning of these groups is demonstrating the use of Logos, which is the use of data or facts to persuade the reader that this is an important topic. The fact that articles are written about very controversial issues such as abortion and at the same time have articles that discuss the newest female cast member on SNL, is very interesting. To some degree the use of inappropriate language to talk about serious topics such as the age of consent laws, loses credibility or ethos of this website; but at the same time attracts the reader to want to read it. I clicked this article right away when I saw the "f" word on the link, I then read the article and the use of pathos pulled me in emotionally and I began to connect with the writer and understand the message of the article.

Feministing Post

The first thing that caught my eye in this blog was the bright purple logo of the woman giving everyone the bird. I am not sure what they are trying to say with this, other than maybe they have had enough of the demoralization of women. Even so, there is definitely a more appropriate logo that cold be used to make the same point. I realize that I am an older guy, and this blog is meant for young females, but this turns me off immediately. It immediately takes away any credibility.  Then, as we scroll further, there is a picture of an Iraqi woman demanding justice for "Trayvorn." Who the hell is Trayvorn? His name was Trayvon. I don't know if this is some different acceptable way of spelling his name...but doubtful. How can anyone take this blog seriously? The plain text on the white background is a very professional choice. Without the inappropriate logo and misspelled words, one could make an argument to use this as a credible source. 

If we were to look at this site just for entertainment, there definitely are no disappointments. The strong language in some of the titles and articles definitely grab one's attention, which is what the site is trying to do. I feel like the pictures could be more attention grabbing. They aren't bad pictures, but it isn't like i look at one and say "Oh my God I need to read this." They don't have problems with inappropriate language, might as well throw in an inappropriate attention grabbing picture.

Feministing Post

The blog site, feministing.com, has a pretty simple layout where its users have little difficulty navigating around the site. A few explicit words jump out at me that make me want to open its link and check what its all about. The site’s symbol is also very interesting. It features what feministing.com believes society views woman as and she is holding up the middle finger to show that she doesn’t really care what anyone else believes. You can also tell that this is a very liberal site, since most of the links, if not about feminism, are about education, social status, and equality. After browsing through a few posts by various authors, I like the fact that the blog not only features issues concerning feminism, as the name of the site suggests, but it also goes over controversial issues regarding race and so fourth. For example, in the post about the racism in the Hunger Games tweets, the author used both pathos and logos to get the reader hooked. She provided real statistics that linked to other trustworthy sites and used meaningful language to help get her point across. She also included the real tweets that were blatantly racist. 

Feministing.com post

The first thing that catches my eye about this online blog is the plain text it uses. There is nothing fancy about the design of the website. The top of the page is a simple, solid color (white) that does not draw much attention to it. Also, the background being white draws the attentions to the statement that they are making and shows that they focus on the text and the reading and not a fancy designed website. It makes the viewer believe that the site is legitiment and reliable. Also, the symbol at the top of the woman possibly flipping everyone off makes a serious statement about the blogs feelings towards the equality and wrongs of demoralizing woman.
The plain simple photos they use in the headlines of articles are blunt and straightforward in conveying the over-all theme or message of the article and grabbing peoples attention to continue reading. Also, the use of strong language in the titles grabs the readers attention, which is what this website is trying to do. They are trying to draw attention to the issue of womans rights and equality and get rid of the immoral acts some people choose to participate in against woman. \
I agree with the use of the photos to grab peoples attention because it works and it made me want to continue reading the articles.
I disagree with the use of strong offensive language becuase it will turn a lot of people off to the website and its message, which is a good message.