Tuesday, August 30, 2016

Entry #1. Blogger's World

When it comes to blogs, I have little experience writing in this casual of a style. To be quite honest with everyone, I'm still a bit unsure what makes a blog different from any other website on the internet. I usually don't realize that those popular websites I frequently visit due to some click bait title are classified as blogs. However, the further I delve into understanding what makes blogs unique the more I find elements I like. Blogs allow people to connect to the author in a way that most websites don't; it's difficult to get a sense of self from a computer screen after all. By allowing people to use their imaginations, blogging allows for a much more diverse audience to be reached.

Source: www.tumblr.com
Blogs take what could be a boring website with thousands of articles and instead turns them into small bite-sized pieces of information. I can spend hours on blogs like Huffington Post and Mashable looking up after an hour wondering how I even got to the page I'm on now. For instance, anything that has 'alien' in the title I'm almost guaranteed to click on, just like this Mashable article. Huffington Post and Mashable do a tremendous job of being diverse and offering posts for everyone's interests. I gravitate more towards blogs that cover a wide array of topics, from politics to pop culture, instead of those based solely in one area. Blogs like Deadspin, for example, fail to capture my interest for longer than an article. Personally, sports articles are not as entertaining as other topics so I may be biased when I say I don't enjoy Deadspin. Besides just content, Deadspin isn't as organized as Huffington Post or Mashable, with no way to get to a specific sport or topic.

Overall, each blog made it's impact on me. Mashable being my favorite in terms of layout, photos, ease of use, and overall feel. Huffington Post was the easiest to navigate through but felt cluttered with ads and various other boxes getting in the way of the article I was trying to read. I hope to get the same sense of simplicity while not lacking substance as Mashable, while being easy to navigate like Huffington Post. Blogging is still new to me and changes are going to be constantly made but looking at other blogs really helps to create ideas of where I want my blog to go.



Wednesday, August 24, 2016

Practice Entry

Hi there! My name is Chrissy Tsaninos and I am 20 years old. I enjoy spending time with my friends, going to concerts frequently, eating all the breakfast food I can get my hands on, and most importantly long naps with my dog Rocky.
I've always been fascinated by biology and the inner workings of the human body, especially regarding how diseases impact our bodies on a cellular level which drives my passion to become a virologist. I'm currently in the major of biotechnology and molecular biology which leaves me pretty open to other careers in the biotech field if I decide viruses aren't what I want to focus on specifically. At GCC I'm looking forward to being in smaller classes and getting my basic classes done without having to pay the crazy price for ASU classes. I'm really looking forward to this ENG 101 class because I've never had a hybrid class and so far it's been very interesting. The last thing I have to say is look at this majestic photo of my dog and have a good day!