Image: Idea go / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
New adventures astound me. Even if I’m scared, I take the road less traveled as much as possible. The minute I clicked on the Enroll button for JOUR 333, I thought, “This is going to be hard, especially during the Summer term.” Then I asked myself, “Well, how do you know if it’s going to be hard?” Subconsciously, I knew blogging knowledge is important. However, the idea of converging social media and journalism never hit me completely for some reason. Basics questions such as: “Where do I start?” and “What are the best options for maintaining a blog? ” pounded on my head incessantly. The answers were on a Interactive Media Design which has broadened my perspective on media convergence.
The most obvious statement is learning on blogging in this course. The potential to reach an audience is unlimited. One needs to apply some creativity on how to attract people to read it. For example, I was interviewed on a local show in Spanish a few weeks ago to introduce the TV show I currently produce. Since then, phone calls have bombarded me in a good way. Parents who saw me in that show have asked me about educational resources for their kids and even for themselves. In most cases, they’ve told me their children have good GPAs and have good studying skills but cannot financially support their kids’ college education. As a result, my plan is to include an informative blog through podcast and YouTube videos in Spanish for parents and high school students as a supplemental tool for the TV show.
Furthermore, before taking this class, I knew it was important to stay updated on online social network media in the journalism field. However, I never took the time to learn more about it. With JOUR 333, I started planning how to build my professional blog, both in English and Spanish. In addition, I will start using social media to promote my blog site to attract more readers. The biggest challenge is to have people who are not computer savvy going to my blog. I admit it will not be easy but not impossible. That is why my target audience will be students and parents. And the latter will help me direct the young people to my blog.
In conclusion, I’m glad I took this course because it expanded and gave me ideas for future projects. Just because a course is over, it doesn’t mean one cannot keep applying all those concepts in one’s professional projects. I learned a lot in short period of time. So what next? Keep working on my blog!
Image: Salvatore Vuono / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
