The blog I chose to review was fakesteve.net. It is a fake diary blog for Steve Jobs, the CEO of Apple. It is written by Daniel Lyons. He is the sole contributor for the fictional journal entries that are the bulk of the site.
The posts go back to 2006, when the writer began blogging under the pseudonym of Apple's CEO. He now works for Newsweek as a contributing writer
The most recent post is from Thursday, August 12, 2010. Some of the posts are very frequent, with several a day, and then a hold of a few weeks in some cases. The comments on the posts average about 12, some are strictly journal entries, some videos or pictures. It mainly consists of “Steve Jobs” complaining about things ranging from co-workers at Apple to putting down the Android operating system outselling the iPhone. The style of the blog is informal, as it is mostly “Steve Jobs” complaining to no one in particular.
Most of the comments on the posts of the blog are congratulatory from fans reading the blog and their particular favorite parts. He writes in a grammatically correct style, and in the style and tone you would expect from a humorous interpretation of Steve Jobs' woes.
fakesteve.com is truly a brilliant parodic work. taking one of the most narcissistic figures in the history of business and anthropomorphizing his sardonic narcissism to the point of creating a separate persona capable of enticing 1185 people to say "i actually want to hear what this person has to say" is a work of art. daniel lyons has been blogging as fake steve jobs since 2006, originally remaining anonymous. a brief hiatus was taken in response to steve jobs' health, but once he announced his recovery, the blog continued. posts range from hours apart to almost a month apart (save the hiatus), and they are vastly a humorous "attack" on apple's holier than thou nature in their products. the tagline "dude, i invented the friggin iphone. have you heard of it?" rests atop the page as a constant reminder that apple is truly in love with their products. the blogs also focus on attacking its numerous competitors in the various fields of business (apple vs. pc; iphone vs. android vs. windows mobile; etc.) in a humorous manor, often using the "it doesn't matter, we're still better" logic in the face of defeat. all in all, while this blog is a parodic work, i found it to be so much more. to quote al gore, this blog truly is the inconvenient truth. kudos.
The blog that I chose to review is jasondunn.com. It is kept and maintained by one person named Jason Dunn. His blogroll consists of 10 other blogs. He frequently posts and has been doing so since November of 2006. Sometimes it is updated everyday, but sometimes he skips a few days or even weeks. Even though he updates regularly and usually has interesting things to say, he only gets a couple of comments (if any) on his posts. When comments are left, they are always positive and are left by people who are interested in the kind of things he has to talk about. The topics that he blogs about usually have something to do with his life, tech (geek) stuff, funny things that happen to him, his son, photography, and current news stories. When he writes, he uses a slightly humorous approach and very down to earth approach to getting his ideas across.
He writes in a grammatically correct fashion using dry humor to make his points. Also, uses personal opinions to discuss the topics, which would make sense because it’s a personal blog. Even though he doesn’t have many comments left on his posts, I personally think that it’s a pretty cool blog. He covers topics that I find interesting like: The ground zero mosque and the Charity water organization. Also, I appreciate how he uses humor in a way that is not over the top.
According to this, jasondunn.com gets a decent amount of visitors, but very few of them come back again.
fakesteve.net has a following of 1185 fans, the blogs been up for about 4 years and has a popular following. Bloggers comment on a range of issues, the traffic is decent receiving between 3-30 comments per post. The author is consistently updating monthly with sprinkles here and there through out.
A friend of the author adds his 2 cents on manners, I noticed that more in the beginning. Fakesteve is a personal blog, the language is mild, some post breaths with sarcasm. I understand why people would go their for informational jokes. Writers commented on post with sarcasm to make points, others post video links.
The writing style is relaxed, funny with some truth,taking things as they come and using it for content. Over all, this blog was intended to be laid back, giving you the real authors views. He was ingenuous in using reverse psychology in the domain name, the fakesteve.net , only to give you the real him.
He expresses truths about himself in a comedian type of way, and at the same time able to release tension built up from running a successful company.
Cartoon brew (http://www.cartoonbrew.com/) was a very interesting blog site that i looked into, i myself am not a fan or follower of many blogs but this one is very well organized, clean and laid out in a appealing way. As the URL suggests it revolves around cartoons and animation but also goes much deeper then that, Artists and what they have done or are working on is also a big part of this site, add the pages of videos created by amateurs and students as well as spotlight videos that are posted on the page titled CBTV, this is a prefect blog for animation lovers to follow. The site was founded by Jerry Beck and Amid Amidi back in march 2004 which is as far back as the archives go. The site is maintained and content controlled by these same two and they generate an average of 70 posts a month or more as well as strong positive comment feedback on every post. It seems like a very good blog to follow for anyone who likes animation, and the site being controlled by two lovers and artists them self means a lot of heart is put behind the content which in blogging i think is important.
The Blog that I chose for this assignment was http://blogs.creativecow.net/. This site really has come a long way, and has become the "be-all end-all" for great information on subjects pertaining to creative software applications, or certain techniques in the creative industry.
I feel that the target audience for this blog is definitely people that are learning production techniques, software packages, or even professionals in the field that want to further their knowledge. If you search to find an answer for a problem you are having with a program like After Effects or Final Cut Pro, there is a pretty good chance that you will end up on the creative cow blog with an answer. The posts on this blog seem to be daily, and the responses depend on what the subject is on. There are numerous people posting on this blog, so they get varied responses. One thing I appreciate about this blog is the amount of knowledge it holds, and the professionalism and dedication of the contributing parties. If you are a visual arist working with new media, I would suggest a trip to Creative Cow.
My blog is about http://www.2012theblog.com. It interested me because for some reason prediction that the human race as we know it will cease to exist in 2012. This could mean that somehow the human race completely dies or, or that somehow the human race will transcend to another plain of existence. Either way I would pick the latter of the two. It appears to have been around since early 2008. The guy posting on it really seems to believe the end is coming. So what he does is try to present multiple possibilities of how the end will come. His recent blogs are very long reads but the ideas are far enough out there to keep people sucked in. The amount of material and the once a month postings leads me to believe that there is only one blogger. The blogger seems to do a bunch of research for these blogs and presents the information he has gathered as evidence to back up his claims. So the topics seem to be blogged about it a almost scientific way; supporting claims with evidence. . This is most likely because the blogger's intended audience are people who do not believe in the "end." He may also be intending on sharing information he has gathered to extend it to others who do believe. It's somewhat hard to figure that out. An interesting note about the topics; just about every post is about a different subject relating to the main topic of the blog. The blogger has a small blog roll related to his topic I assume that due to the infrequency of this sites updates that it has a hard time getting readers to comment about the postings. Alot of the comments are coming from christians telling people that they need to save their souls through god and other crazy things. A number of posts dispute the others claims in a mocking way as well as almost making fun of the blogger for being "scared." So with that all being said i thought it was an interesting blog. A bit freaky to think about but that's what all of this sci-fi can warp peoples minds in to taking a simple idea and warping it in a way to make it sound true.
Thebestbeerblog.com is an enjoyable and laid-back beer review blog. Bloggers Mike, Paul, and Joe use their blog-site as a way to review numerous beers they encounter, and I suspect, to have an excuse for their alcoholism. I feel this site has a “Family Guy” effect; statements are random, inappropriate, and sometimes repulsive. It’s the blog that people either love or hate. It is because of this that I completely enjoyed the experience (and Family Guy as well). With references to driving under the influence and masturbation, this site is obviously not for people who believe conversation should be appropriate and child-friendly. With so many comedic turns within their reviews, Mike, Paul and Joe manage to turn rating something into wonderful entertainment.
The blog-site began in January of this year (2010), so it hasn’t had enough time to blossom into its full potential. The blogger’s reviews usually consist of a formula that works pretty well for the content. They start with an explanation of how they came upon the beer; sometimes it was a beer to cure a hangover, other times they had been left samples to try. Then they explain the color and odor, giving what could be considered “professional” beer analysis. Next, the taste is explained in pristine detail that only an experienced beer drinker could express. Finally, the beer is rated on a scale of 1-10, 1 being the lowest. If you really enjoy this site and want to read into its rich history, every rating since The Best Beer Blog’s beginning is archived.
Comments are infrequent; some appear immediately after a review is posted while some appear months after. This could be due to the infrequency of the bloggers. Sometimes a beer is reviewed three days after the previous, while others are posted three weeks apart. If Mike, Paul, and Joe would like to boost their audience, they would have a schedule of review releases, such as every Monday. The comments usually read “nice blog” or “I can’t find that beer anywhere”. The blogroll consists of 13 links, mostly related to alcohol, some related to food or liquor stores. This is a great site for beer connoisseurs and alcoholics alike. I also highly recommend it if you’re looking for a good laugh, or need a comedy boost.
I chose to review the Starbucks "Ideas in Action" blog to view what it had to offer. There are various bloggers that post one or more topics, say more than a hundred. This blog has been up and running since early 2008. The posts are added a few times monthly and consist of five or more days with different topics. In searching through the posts I noticed that comments were more directed toward more customer concern topics. Comments are roughly spread out and differentiate in amount with dates added. Each blog post is generally two to three paragraphs, some consist of more text.
The subject matter of each post is directed towards a specific customer topic. The approach is in praise of customers and request customer opinions through visiting the blog. Usually the blogger is either a Starbucks employee or a related food industry employee. The subject of comments are usually directed exclusively at the topic or give an opinion towards an idea or an idea itself. The style of the blog is basic opinion and comment or question and answer. The blog seems to get the job done as far as connecting with consumer base. The content is up to date and refers to quality topics. I feel the point gets across to customers and the blog is necessary in receiving opinions on new ideas.
This is a review of thebestbeerblog.com! This blog was created and contributed to by three guys named Mike, Paul and Joe. The archives on the site go back to January 2010, so it’s a fairly new blog. The writers post a couple times a month on different brands and flavors of beers they’ve encountered. The most recent post is more of a seasonal post about “lawnmower beers” that are good in the summer after mowing the lawn. Because it’s a newer blog, there aren’t that many comments on each post. Of the comments that are there, most seem to be about agreeing or disagreeing with the review of each beer. So it seems that beer lovers are the people reading this blog. Imagine that! Other then pointing you toward their Facebook and Twitter pages, there isn’t a blogroll to speak of on this site.
The content of thebestbeerblog.com is mostly just reviews of different beers by Mike, Paul and Joe. One feature I really like on the site is what the call “Roundtables”. It’s basically video of the guys tasting, reviewing and basically just talking about beer. So they have their written posts and their video posts to mix it up. The writing style of the blogs is mostly serious/comical. The guys are writing reviews of beers in a serious way, which is comical in itself, but they throw some jokes in there as well. These guys definitely like drinking beer, talking about beer and getting others excited to try new and different kinds of beer. This is the whole point of this subject blog. Beer is their subject and they want the readers to know what they like.
I chose to review this blog because I’m a big fan of beer. I like to experiment with new beers, talk about beer with friends and just drink beer when I’m out. A lot of what these guys talk about reminds me of what my friends and I talk about. I also like this blog because it’s very well written and thought out. This could have easily been three drunken guys blabbering away about which Miller product they like best or have puked the most off of, but that’s not what thebestbeerblog.com is about. This blog is about three educated guys that really like beer and really know how to talk about it.
The blog “Ice Cream Headache” on Word Press is a woman named Libby’s approach to mass communication. Libby has a lot of improvements in mind to make the world a better place, and she feels like Word Press is a way to tell people who have similar interests. Writing about social networking and other topics she finds interesting, the blog is updated every couple days or so, giving Libby enough time to gather her thoughts and come up with a fun way to share them with her audience. A good number of bloggers must be interested in the articles produced on this page. Normally a couple of people respond to the posts, but a more controversial topic there are almost 50 responses. The people making the comments are normally women who agree and relate to the author, and the author is pretty good at responding to the comments. Libby describes herself as a “digital chick” in one of her posts and is active in blogs and social media. She has about 15 recommended blogs and a small handful of favorites on her site. I really enjoy the blogs she writes because she has a specific style of writing that is both good quality and entertaining.
The Movieblog.com is a site that gives upcoming movie information and openly shares the thoughts and feelings of movies from other bloggers. It was started as an online journal in 2001 by John Campea and eventually he decided to pursue other interests. The site was then handed to and is still ran by Senior Editor, Rodney Brazeau. The Movie blog has archives dating back to July of 2003 all the way to the present time. The comments that each post receives averages between two and twenty comments with an occasional 50+ commented post, such as the movie review of, “Kickass”. Posts are made daily with around five plus posts made a day. They all vary from movie reviews, to new movies in the works, to movie industry news, etc. It is definitely a subject and community blog. Movies is the consistent theme and people who love movies are the bloggers.
When posting the blogs, Rodney puts his personal opinions including cited news clippings describing the blog. People leave comments with their own personal feelings and thoughts about the blog and Rodney responds to some, including himself in the conversation. This is good because it creates a close relationship between the blogger and Rodney, the Editor. The styles of writing are very informative, yet personable and casual. There is a lot of information to be gained from the blog but also other peoples perspectives that may not have been seen otherwise.
I personally liked the blog. I thought it was a good way to receive movie information, thoughts, and opinions from others. Rodney gives good input to other bloggers and does so in a constructive matter. Everyone on their seems to respect each other and treat each other like adults. It’s a good blog for anyone who wants to get movie news not quite in the regular news and a good way to read other opinions.
Mix Online has many different categories for blogs, but this one called TechTicker is one of the newest. It began on March 10th, 2009 and is written by the tech editor (since 2003) of Mix, Kevin Becka. Kevin is a seasoned engineer/producer and educator. When reading his blogs you can tell he has loads of experience and his reviews are insightful. His blogs tend to post every 6 days or so; posting about 6 to 7 times a month. Some months may be packed with blogs on new tech because of different events going on. Also, not one of his posts has a comment after it, which leads me to believe that people trust what he is saying about the new products and don't feel a need to criticize his opinion. Even when he gave his top 5 worst audio trends since 2000 there were no comments.
I found these blogs very interesting and helpful. Some weren't even about new technology, they just simply helped you navigate and operate existing technology to speed up your work flow. Some included DIY ideas for developing and capturing new sounds. Each entry was just as interesting as the next and Becka stays very consistent with his approach to reviewing new products. He gives his opinion on the new products but then also provide links to other reviews from different websites. This concept of providing links to other reviews probably is the reason for no comments on his blogs.
Overall, the TechTicker blog has sucked me in and I will regularly be checking back to this blog. Mix Online has many other categories of blogs in its archive dating back to January, 2007, all of which are interesting. I highly recommend this blog, along with the others on Mix Online, to anyone in the audio industry if you want to stay on the top of your game.
