Final Blog Post

This semester upon entering the commenting culture of journalism has led to many ups and downs. I had trouble getting through to radio stations and posting things onto the internet, but eventually after tweaking some settings most would eventually work. I enjoyed doing the little assignments such as adding to the Wikipedia page (even though my post got removed after a couple hours) and contributing to Yelp.com. Those were the posts that I felt like I was really diving into the commenting culture and adding my voice. I like knowing that I gave positive feedback to where it is deserved and to a business that does a good job with customer service and helping them attract more customers.

The big projects weren't always a success, yet they did give me a firsthand glimpse into the world of commenting and viewer feedback. The first project, "Letters to the Editor," was my favorite. Although none of my letters were printed, at least to my knowledge, I enjoyed voicing my opinions and sending them in with the tantalizing expectation that they may be printed and that other readers could read what I have to say and that they might agree with me. For this project I tried to change my voice, depending on what publication I was sending it in to, and what topic I was writing about. This project was a high moment for me during this semester.

The second project, "Calling In," was perhaps my most frustrating moment during this semester. I would try to get on and then wait, and being an impatient person, that did not go over well with me. Finally, when I did get on with "Matty in the Morning," I either got hung up on or disconnected and after that I admit I did lose my enthusiasm for getting on to talk radio. However, I can say that as a listener I do enjoy when other people are able to get on and offer their opinion or request.

The third project I thought was fun, and a bit frustrating. I can say that Pictory.com is a frustrating website and I will probably never use it again. I ended up using youtube.com and this finally worked once I had a camera that I could upload a video with, since youtube.com wouldn’t accept any videos that I already had on my phone. Unfortunately, I did not receive very many comments on this video as I would have liked, and I think that unless you have a very popular video with a specific title it can be hard to draw in commenter’s.

Overall, I enjoyed the commenting experience and I will continue to be a commenter because I feel that it is important for people to comment on stories and videos that they find intriguing or worthwhile. People can comment and add to the interest of any story.