If you’re skeptical you have every right to be! This double page magazine spread is actually an art project I created that actualizes the social experiment data I’ve been collecting for the past three months. Back in September I was given the assignment to become famous on the Internet for SA 482 Advanced Photography and New Media II. It was somewhat of a friendly competition amongst classmates but also a hands-on learning approach to managing our resources and marketing ourselves through the use of social networks on the web.
I chose to use multiple venues to market my creation (this wedding blog). I started off researching popular wedding blogs. (Since my fiancé and I have been planning our wedding I found that everyone goes crazy over wedding stuff. Perfect for a popularity contest right?) Anyway I took note of their successful features and then chose a blog network that allowed me freedom to design a unique page that the public could interact with. Blogspot seemed to be the most user friendly and well known. As soon as I developed enough content for people to read through, I advertised the blog through Facebook. Almost everyone in my Friend network received an invitation to check out my blog. In addition, I decided to create a group on Facebook that provided a direct link to my blog and a wall for people to leave their comments on. This group was only visible to Facebook friends whereas my Blogspot page was visible to anyone and everyone with internet access! (Kind of intimidating when you decide to be yourself instead of constructing an alternate identity.)
I chose to keep the content of my blog personal in some aspects in order for friends and family to stay interested but also informational for the benefit of other engaged bloggers. The result was a collection of ways to plan Eco Chic, Indie, Avant-garde weddings that emphasized simple elegance and practical creativity. I received some interesting comments on some of my postings from web surfers who wished to stay anonymous. The challenge I found was that I had no way of tracking who these people were. Because my site was picked up by Google’s search engine it could have been any Joe Shmoe. Kinda creepy. I love my mother’s warning she gave me over the phone when I first launched this blog, “ohhhh honey be careful of creepers.”
I placed a link of all the popular wedding blogs on my page by listing them on my Blogroll. One by one I e-mailed the makers of the wedding blogs, asking for insight into the blogging world hoping they would find my site interesting enough to post on their Blogroll. I received several responses back. This was the most exciting part of the whole project for me. Now that my project is essentially over as of today, I’ve decided it would still be fun to keep my blog going but without the obnoxious facebook e-mails telling everyone to check it out all the time
As I drink my last cup of coffee this morning, post this blog, and head out to my class critique through the slush and snow, I wanna say a big thank you to everyone who gave me a hit, a visit, a comment.You were supporting my academics and you didn’t even know it!
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