Exegesis

The theme that I chose for this blog is music. The topic(s) of discussion range from popular to underrated music, as well as the history and diversity of musical genres. One particular reason as to why I chose this theme is because music is an art form that almost everyone can relate to. Moreover, music is something that never eradicates in me, so music relates to my identity and spiritual longevity.

The medium that I used for my web presence creation is Blogger. It is a user friendly web 2.0 platform which makes it easier for bloggers to add and edit features. Blogger has prepared many "widgets" and "gadget box" utilities that help bloggers to change and set preferences to their blog appearance more easily. Moreover, Blogger hosting is free in comparison to other blog sites such as a self-hosted Wordpress blog. It is free as it is under alliance with Google. Being a user friendly utility, Blogger guides new users who may not be familliar with ready to use themes and templates for an early design for their blog. As they slowly progress and get used to Blogger, these bloggers will know the tips and tricks of changing HTML/Javascript, and furthermore, change the layout of their blog and personalize it to make their blog seem presentable.

Besides that, Blogger is hosted and owned by Google. Thus, posts by users are indexed quickly and there are only limited down times and avoids long drawn out server issues. Another advantage of using Blogger is that the domain name is free, unlike certain websites. Blogger will only check if someone else has used the domain name, otherwise, the domain name is available for the user. Technically, Blogger is one of the cost efficient and easiest way to promote oneself in the virtual world, with little to no minor setbacks.

I chose the template that has a background somewhat pertaining to music for the obvious reason that my blog relates to music.  The template has many toolbars so as to facilitate me in this blog creation.

For this web presence creation, I have chosen three contributing nodes. They are usually frequented web sites and which can be interlinked, to help spread the existence of my blog in a way where other internet users can participate by giving feed backs to my blog, and therefore, keeping my blog site active. They are Youtube, Facebook and Google mail.
These web 2.0 tools also happen to be one of the more popular and happening web sites that will attract the attention of various internet users.

My first contributing node is Facebook. It is the most thriving social networking website where users can easily keep updated with current trends and news information online. Therefore, I have the privilege to promote my blog on this particular website, where facebook users can easily access and get linked to my blog. They are encouraged to follow and give regular feed backs about what I post which will help me span my interest in making this blog more appealing. "The personal nature of the blog is what they find appealing" (Ethan G. Salwen, 2011).

My second contributing node is Youtube. This is where I have access to music videos that I can share with on my blog site with a single click of the "share this" button. Moreover, it is another happening web site that contains a lot of videos, which I will find beneficial since my blog mainly relates to musical elements and therefore any videos pertaining music can easily be intertwined with Blogger. It is also the fastest content sharing website that can transfer one video to another web site, which saves time when doing my assignment.

My third contributing node is Gmail, although I rarely use it. This is to get the attention of my family or certain relatives in support of my blog as most of them do not have my facebook account, and so Gmail can be another medium for me to promote my blog to those who cannot access my Facebook or Youtube account.

Frequent updates regarding my blog will come in handy when I post relevant links on my Facebook page or through the Web Communication 101 page. My "about me" post helps in my learning outcome  in this unit in terms of promoting who I am in the virtual world. It helps visitors of my blog to understand the nature of music as well to gain information about the variety of music genres and to instill a passion for them to give a listen to the wide array of musical choices.

In conclusion, Blogger is an excellent and ready to use Web 2.0 platform for new bloggers as well to existing blogger who prefer to switch to an easier and more appealing way of blogging. Blogger is a web 2.0 platform that allows for content sharing and it is also an essential tool in helping people to retrieve information from by just reading and frequenting the blog site.

References

Khatri, Kuldeep (2012, March 13) 5 Benefits of Using The Free Blogger Platform [Web log Post]. Retrieved from http://hotblogtips.com/5-benefits-of-using-the-free-blogger-platform
Rajasingam, Roslyn (2011, April 27) Blogger : Advantages and Disadvantages [Web log Post]. Retrieved from http://www.roslynrajasingam.com/blogger-advantages-and-disadvantages/
Census data Revisited (n.d.) Retrieved May 17 2012, from Trexter Library, Muhlenberg College Website, http://www.muhlenberg.edu/library/reshelp/apa_example.pdf

Census data Revisited (n.d.) Retrieved May 15, 2012, from Finest Quotes Website, http://www.finestquotes.com/author_quotes-author-Ethan%20G.%20Salwen-page-0.htm

Parkinson,David (2008, May 14) Advantages and Disadvantages of blogs [Web log Post] Retrieved from http://daparky.com/advantages-and-disadvantages-of-blogging/