My Student Tumblr

I made this Tumblr for the sake of my English class, though perhaps after I've passed I'll use this for much more!

[little-b1rdy]

what did you learn about drafting across multiple weeks that will inform your writing process after college

I think what I did was extremely successful for myself. Since this project was completed across 4 weeks, I decided to break down my process more than I typically would.

The first week was combining bullet points with previous content that aligned with my analysis.

Second week, I started putting some of these bullet points into actual paragraphs

Third week, I had a complete rough draft with no bullet points.

Fourth week, I only have to edit certain points and try to incorporate any feedback given to me.

This process helped me a lot, and has taught me that breaking things up into smaller steps makes things more manageable. If I had tried to write this paper within one week, it would not be as effective. Being able to break down larger projects into a more manageable schedule is an important thing to learn, and this project reinforces that.

[ryguy1337]

Not a bad process! I am curious, did you feel that you would have benefitted by going deeper into your draft from week 1? Would it have been helpful to have full paragraphs before you hit week 2?

I agree that breaking your project into smaller pieces is an essential tool for more complex projects. It's good that you can embrace these changes going forward!

One final question - when you were tackling this project, what aspects did you struggle with the most? Do you think you can implement changes that tackle those issues?

[paytonkillianmu]

Original Post 3

I’m looking for focused feedback on this visualization from my Content Analysis. Specifically:

Is the comparison between categories clear at first glance?

Does the design make the takeaway obvious, or is it too cluttered?

Would labeling or color changes improve readability?

[ryguy1337]

I can immediately see that your bar graph represents engagement generated by different types of media - images versus videos. I will say that I'm confused as to what you simplified as engagement. Likes? Comments? Reposts? A mix of all three?

This is most definitely not too cluttered. It's simple and easy to understand.

I think I already expressed this enough, but maybe specify the type of engagement you are measuring.

Keep it up! I hope your final project goes well!

[leaguehjr]

Original Content Writing - What does your final revision process look like?

I start with finishing any changes from existing critiques of any specific section of my essay. After that, I start to reread my entire essay in making sure that everything I have wanted to write is in the essay. I hope to use the reread as an opportunity to see if there are any last-minute grammar fixes or any possible rewrites I'll have to do for a section of my essay. While I'm rereading my essay, I also make sure that any images I have added to my essay is correctly aligned and fit with which section of the essay I'm currently discussing.

[ryguy1337]

This is a good writing process! Too often we revisit a project in pieces - only addressing specific areas. Checking for a flowing continuity between all sections is a great way to catch any lingering issues.

Keeping images correct to the layout of the paper is also important. Visual aspects are important in a project, and making look like they should exist where they are is a great way to ensure your target audience is not feeling underwhelmed by the style of your paper!

[ryguy1337]

post an image of an element of your Content Analysis that needs input from your peers. Post an image AND request the feedback you want.

So I'm trying to find a visual that compliments my first three graphs. In my project, I'm focusing on the conversational tone in each post - if the content creator is talking directly to the audience, requesting they take action with the topic in question, or if the content creator makes no attempt to directly interact with the audience. I've diluted the information into the three designations and used averages to show a constant data trend.

My question is, would it be preferable if I made separate graphs to represent each content creator, before I made the averages? Should I eschew the individual accounts and just make a statement that the trend was common throughout?

[ryguy1337]

what did you learn about your writing process that will help you after college?

My writing process is sufficient for some work, but I like to work in blocks. Sometimes, I will write one section in one day, and another section the next day. They say that Edgar Allan Poe would agonize over every word in every sentence - some days he only wrote a single sentence in the course of 24 hours.

I would say I do the same. If I focus on ALL of the sections at once, my attention becomes too fragmented, and my work suffers. By tackling the assignment one section at a time, I just do better. HOWEVER, there is one major obstacle I'd like to highlight - when you work on these sections one at a time, you need to make extra sure that the flow of the project is uniform throughout. If each section is discordant, you might end with a bad mix of returning to the same topic over and over again.

[ryguy1337]

what did you learn about drafting across multiple weeks that will inform your writing process after college

In my drafting and revising, I realized that every week was a different section that I focused on - week 1 was the main structure and rough draft. Week 2 I revisited the graphs and other visuals. Week 3 of the project, I focused on my arguments. In essence, while I know we are revising the complete paper every time, it might be good to go into these creative processes with a specific goal for each revision!

[ryguy1337]

how will having a good revision process help you moving forward beyond this class?

You will always be revising in your work. Whether you're creating inter-company emails, viral social media posts, data-heavy research essays, or even texting your family and friends, you will always be revising. It only helps you to refine your revision process (yes, even revise your process!) and use the resulting methods to make your content as persuasive as possible!

[ryguy1337]

how are you developing style to build your argument in the content analysis?

That's right, I am not above using memes that existed before the term meme was widely used!

But seriously, for my argument, I try to build credibility with the data. If my quantitative research is refined into useable data, it should be helpful to build a solid foundation for the argument, as well as setting the stage for my qualitative data. While less defined, qualitative data should be a refining finisher to your argument. If you're using it as your main or only part of your argument, it may seem weak if others don't agree with your assessment.

[ryguy1337]

what does your final revision process look like?

Walk away. Luckily, I'm already absorbed in a cross-country move! My wife and I are moving to Portugal. So while I might not have much leisure time, I do have plenty of time lifting things and putting them down. This might, to an average observer, seem like I'm not working on my project. BUT NAY! I find that by walking away from your work for a healthy time - not too long, not too short - you can return with a fresh set of eyes. I know that after lifting a couple hundred pounds of unused sofa and loading it both onto and off of a moving van into storage, I am begging to go back to my project.

While this is a step to my process, I also like to bounce my ideas off others. My wife is a great way to critically think about my work. If I'm at a loss for new ideas or content for my work, I plug my project into an AI with the prompt of "I'm working on this project for my Web Writing class. Analyze and give me suggestions for improvement." I'll even copy/paste the feedback my peers and instructors have given me to help highlight my problem areas. I should note, at no point do I generate content from the AI, and neither should you. AI is a decent assistant, but never have it do the work for you. It is notorious for making mistakes that someone with in-depth understanding of a subject would not overlook, and it can very easily tank your education!

[brandonk-mville]

Ideas and suggestions

I have come up with several ideas for organizing and formatting my data to fit the multiple goals of my research. By focusing on big overlapping goals that connect all three accounts, I can more easily understand the pros and cons of different approach's. However, I am also observing through my data and graphs, individual specialties within each account. By comparing graphs and data I can visibly show the results to the viewer. I am looking forward to observing other detailed plans of my peers as well as how they are organizing their graphs and which types of graphs they are using.

[ryguy1337]

It's important to highlight the parallels, but also important to note the differences. What makes one account more successful than the other? How do we quantify post success?

How are you highlighting the differences? You mention your graphs, but I am curious how a graph highlights a difference!

As for myself, I focused on comments and reposts. I used bar graphs to show average comments per post type (I'm focusing on conversational posts that request audience discourse vs. non-conversational posts that simply make a statement and share a link). I'm also using a pie chart to show the distribution of post types amongst my three content creators.

[kaitlynfoy]

Original Content Post #3

what elements of data matter in your space? why?

The elements of data that matter in my space the most are the likes, comments, and shares. The number of followers doesn't pertain to my project because I'm not trying to see who gets the biggest audience. But the likes, comments, and shares will help the reader understand my question better. I'm trying to see which specific type of content within three different food TikTok accounts gets the most attention. The two types of content I determined to compare were food tutorials and non-food tutorials. That being said, however much engagement the posts receive, it would be the most beneficial to my project, compared to the length of the video, the people in it, how many followers one has, etc.

[ryguy1337]

Food blogs? Makes me hungry!

But seriously though, I appreciate that you're prioritizing specific data for your analysis! It's amazing to me how a single image and a few well thought out words can trump a longform video. But in this day and age, I suppose we tend to prioritize quick and concise content.

I would say make sure to check your comments! My twitter pages turned out to have a fair number of bots boosting the stats by making one word comments.

[alecwebwriter]

Original Content Post (2)

What is data within your space? How does this impact your analysis?

The data within these spaces is mainly divided into Primary vs. Secondary, Viewership, Likes, and Comments on a video. I also want to touch on the comment section and how a creator interacts with their audience more meaningfully. While viewership and like count extend a creator's reach, the comment section tends to be where a community between viewer and creator is built, so I want to take into account that interaction as well when analyzing content.

[ryguy1337]

This sounds amazingly diverse! I hope you don't burn yourself out on the amount of detail you're approaching! Remember that you're not re-inventing the wheel - you're offering a small observation to help a specific audience. If you crowd the project too much, that message might be lost!

That said, I agree that comments are much more profound than other interactions. By analyzing these interactions we may be able to provide more concise feedback!

[ryguy1337]

how do these data elements answer your research question?

My research question is what kind of content generates the most discourse? My data elements include the content, what kind of interaction the content is aiming for, and the resulting discourse. With these data elements I hope to find what posts generate the most discourse. Tracking comments, I might have to go more in depth with the nature of the discourse as well, but I'm trying to limit my scope to save myself a headache later!

[ryguy1337]

what elements of data matter in your space? why?

For my project, I'm focusing on the message of these posts in relation to audience discourse - essentially, what is in the content vs how it generates discourse. While likes can be helpful for this, the type of message and tone are both relevant and qualitative. Additionally, comments and reposts are relevant. In contrast, overall views and subscriber count might be less helpful for my analysis.

[ryguy1337]

What are your ideas/suggestions for graphing your data so it's reported in multiple, meaningful ways?

Use multiple forms of data chart as able. Line charts to show trends, graphs for quantitative visuals. However, that's only for data. Use other visuals to keep your presentation interesting. If you've got a wall of text, break it up with some images that connect to your message. We're not just presenting information - we're presenting to an audience!

[ryguy1337]

what conclusions do you think you can draw and why? how does the data you're collecting connect to those conclusions?

I think I've been focused too hard on the audience when the true question becomes more focused on the motivation of the poster. I'm seeing worrying data that suggests that many of my posts are paid advertisements, despite no outward statement from the content pages. The conclusions I can draw? For whatever reason, media made suggesting the use of specific AI programs got a tremendous upsurge of activity. Additionally, the posts that have additional comments and reposts often get a single word comment - like "great!" and "Awesome!"

This suggests a lengthy conclusion page is necessary, because while I can still measure likes, comments, and reposts, each post is potentially tainted by other sources. Perplexing!

[ryguy1337]

REMEMBER: subheadings help the academic reader navigate your Analysis project - what subheading will you use that helps design this information architecture most efficiently, why?

I will be using subheadings devoted to analyzing the content, the audience, and then more importantly justifying my position! All the qualitative data in the world is meaningless if you don't have a succent explanation for it! I hope to use my subheadings to help navigate my own target audience through the complexities of the data, the trends, and what it says for the content as a whole!