It’s a lot harder for me to keep up with a conversation about creating a website as it is.  So when I think about having a class assignment to read over laying out a webpage, I’m already a little hesitant about the topic before I even read it.

The resource on TRACS was a helpful read because it felt like you were reading the “boiled-down” version of what you’re supposed to do when creating a website. I felt like I was getting casual advice on the dos and don’ts of how to layout a page. Having the tips after the example pictures certainly helped with getting a visual of those examples were either good or bad and why.

The most helpful tips I learned were definitely universal rules like to never mix your alignments. Remembering to think about the contrast between the text and graphics will be helpful to think about as you’re choosing a color. I also didn’t realize that every web “site” is only one page.

My Twitter questions were asking how to get a job in a Sales job market and how to get into two PR departments for the Houston Astros and the Houston Rockets.

Let me tell you… designing your own website is both WAY more difficult than you would think… but at the same time it is surprisingly simple and easy. I feel like designing your own website is like the question, “Which weighs more? 100 lbs of bricks or 100 lbs of feathers?”… The answer is simple, but if you over think it you will end up not knowing what to do. And I am the QUEEN over over thinking so obviously I had a hard time trying to set up my Balsamiq and designing the wireframe for my website.

Thats when I decided that I should try to read the chapter from The Non-Designer’s Design Book that @_caryanne assigned to us. I was really taken aback at how interesting and easy  the chapter was to read and understand, and how much it helped me with getting my wireframe started.

The chapter starts with talking about alignment and how important it is to keep the same alignment throughout your webpage. The chapter said that if you mix alinements (like center and left) it makes your webpage look sloppy and makes it hard for your user to understand the flow of your webpage. So that was the first thing I fixed on my webpage. The chapter said that center alignment wasn’t the ideal alignment to use, but I liked the look of it so that’s what I stuck with.

Then the chapter moved to the importance of proximity on your webpage. I hadn’t really thought about the importance of the proximity of my headlines to my paragraphs. When I looked at all the examples given, I could see how putting too many spaces between parts of my site that are supposed to go together, can make those parts look like they aren’t supposed to be grouped together. So I fixed all those issues on my wireframe.

The rest of the reading talked about repetition and contrast of webpages. Before I had read this chapter I already had an idea about those two elements, and had incorporated them into my design. It was helpful to know why these elements were so important to design. Repetition is important because it makes your pages seem like they fit together and not like separate people designed every separate page of your site. Contrast is important because it makes it easier for your user to read, and also can point out the most important parts of your page.

All in all, the chapter really made my webpage design much simpler, and I felt a little silly for freaking out so much about how to design my page. I will definitely be reading all the assigned readings before I try to tackle our next assignment!

Now, for the Twitter assignment.

I had a little bit of a hard time with this assignment, basically because I still don’t know what I want to do after I graduate. All I know for sure is that I want to do something in the communications field, so I googled the top Public Relations and Marketing Pros on Twitter.

The first person I tweeted was Philip Parancias who describes himself as an “Industrial/B2B digital marketing specialist, blogger/author, speaker. New York.”

I asked him: @Flip2Market I am a student at #TXST and I was wondering what digital marketing tools you think are the most useful?

He replied: Hi @brittaniii there are many. Here are a few faves: For social – @hootsuite, email – @myemma for integrated/automated – @hubspot.

The second person I tweeted was Kathy Jacobson who describes herself as “A full-service public relations, brand building & cause marketing agency representing sports, lifestyle, fashion, philanthropy, events & consumer brands.”

I asked her: @KathyJacobsonPR I am a PR major at TXState and was wondering if you have any advice on what has helped you become so sucessful?

She replied: @brittaniii what a cool tweet! I would say work hard,learn everything you can, intern,volunteer,never give up & never ever quit. #girlpower

The third person I tweeted was Dorothy Crenshaw who describes herself as “CrenshawComm.com  #PR. Word nerd. Fiction fan. Adoptive mom. Fitness buff. PR,communications, social TV, marketing, tech, media, politics, popculture”

I asked her: @dorocren I am a PR major at TXState & I was wondering: What do you think the are the most important qualities of a PR pro?

She replied: @brittaniii Writing/content skills, verbal comms, media sensibility, renaissance knowledge (knowing re many things), intellectual curiosity

I was EXTREMELY surprised that every person I tweeted, tweeted me back. Everyone gave me great advice. This assignment has showed me how helpful Twitter can be, and how I need to keep tweeting and stop resisting Twitter.

I’ve had a Twitter for awhile now, although I don’t really know why because I probably only average two tweets a year. It does seem like it’s pretty useful at spreading news around, because if one person tweets something important it can get retweeted and spread around pretty quickly. I’ve retweeted before so I didn’t have too much trouble with this assignment, except that my computer is slow and terrible and I want to throw coffee on it like that guy in the commercial that want’s to upgrade his P.C. The problem is I don’t like coffee, so don’t have any.

https://twitter.com/bacongrease55 There’s my twitter handle if you want to follow me… but remember you’ll have to wait another six months for my next post.

MY PREVIOUS TWITTER EXPERIENCE

I’ve had a Twitter account for awhile now, though I don’t use it consistently. I enjoy using Twitter to post quips, to communicate during large events, and to enter contests. It also has served me well as a platform for self-promotion, though I try to keep that to a minimum.

RETWEET ASSIGNMENT

The retweet assignment was interesting. I had retweeted before using the one-click button, but had never used the RT function. It was confusing at first, because I wasn’t sure whether or not to put a space between RT and the @handle. Like with many things technological this just meant some trial and error.

LINKS

If you’d like to follow me, click here: @tu_pint and then click follow!

Blog Post Three: #TwitterStruggle

My experience with this assignment was rather difficult. It probably wouldn’t be as bad if Twitter was a part of my daily routine. I created my Twitter account about a year ago because of another class required for all PR majors at Texas State University. I like the concept of Twitter but with my busy schedule I just don’t have the time to Tweet all the time. This really applies to all social media, I am not big on Facebook and I don’t even have an Instagram. Prior to this assignment I can’t really remember Twitting about something that interested me. With that being said, I do tweet about my #SprintProblems all the time, because let’s be real, Sprint is awful.

To even complete this assignment, I needed to call a friend over to walk me through this. I’m sitting here just trying to figure out what a retweet with the “RT” and added commentary even means when I get a Twitter notification on my phone. When I open the Twitter app I see that she had tweeted about me. I couldn’t help but laugh. She is sitting here trying to explain how to use Twitter via my computer, instead of the app like I normally do, and simultaneously tweeting about my struggle.

Clearly….technology is not my thing and it never will be.

I’m not an avid tweeter, but I’m opening up to it for this class. I saw an article online about the latest Twitter handle to take Austin by “winter storm” — @AISDclosures is really the only thing parents are finding funny about the recent “snow days” and delayed opening fails.

For the exercise, I used the app on my iPhone, and I both re-tweeted using the easy route as well as copying the tweet and pasting with my own comments. It made me appreciate the short and sweet tweets that actually leave you room to comment. Most of the tweets in my feed were too long for me to add anything to the end of.

So that was a cool discovery — the shorter the tweet, the better engagement you’ll get from others that add on to it.

Also, I received some spam tweets shortly after I RT’d @TorchyTaco and @LearnVest. I did receive a follow from two people — I’m not sure if one of them is a robot.

I have used Twitter many times before this class but had taken a bit of a hiatus so it is nice to get back into it. I really like the immediacy of news and updates on Twitter and the ability to customize your feed based on who you are following and what the site decides for you to see. I like using Twitter to stay current on what concerts and events are going on around Austin, promoting my music, and networking with likeminded people.

I have used the Twitter app on my phone in the past when I was in Fundamentals of Digital and Online Media with Jon Zmikly, but did not use it for this exercise. I recognize the benefits of being connected at all times, but sometimes I get a bit overwhelmed by the constant Facebook and Twitter updates on my phone so I keep it all on my computer (which I’m on several hours a day anyways).

This is a link to a cool image I found on Twitter about why everyone is moving to Austin: “Why Everyone is Moving to Austin”

Also, feel free to check out my webpage now that it is up and running at: Jeremy-Goble.com