aaronwilhelmm

[aaronwilhelmm]

I think bringing in our assignments to show how you've grown not only in this class but in your own style really does tie in with the key concepts of this class, which is very similar to what I have so far in my essay! Something else I am doing is tying in the key concepts to the possibilities of my future academic and professional career.

What I like most about my essay

What I like most about my essay is that I was able to use my tumblr experience and the projects that we did for this class as examples to help support my points stronger. I felt like I was able to tie in our course key concepts and connect them to how I developed stronger C skills from all the practice that we’ve done in this class. I enjoyed the layout of my essay and structured everything in a way that made the most sense and flowed easily. All in all, I am happy with the progress I am making for this essay and proud of the work that I accomplished.

[aaronwilhelmm]

I also added that I really enjoyed the fact we were able to practice what we are learning from this class in how it operates in the real world. It really has opened my eyes to see how accessible content creation really is which brings hope to my future career possibilities.

Best Part of Learning

Over the course of the semester, one of my favorite parts of writing for this class specifically has been the real-world applicability I've felt in the course. I found myself studying the material, writing about it, and actively seeing it on a daily basis through the media I consume regularly, which shifted my somewhat placid understanding of content creation and what it means to create a post I can easily scroll by in a matter of seconds. Beyond that, the course has made me realize that content creation isn't some faraway, unachievable state of expertise I can never hope to explore, as I was able to make a LOT of content on a weekly basis through writing on this very blog! I hope to keep this content creation up after the course ends and maybe even make a hobby of it, which is something I've always wanted to do.

[aaronwilhelmm]

What do I like most about my learning?

I love being able to put what I'm taught into practice, which is why being a Media Arts Production major works so well for me. The way I learn isn't with tests and studying, but doing what I am learning to get a more comprehensive grasp on it. This class really does that well in my opinion, where most of what we learn and are expected to know can be practiced within this group. The projects and writing assignments also help because they aren't just essays, but comprehensive projects that highlight what we do well and areas to focus on.

[aaronwilhelmm]

What am I most proud of with my writing process?

Something I have noticed and tried to continue working on is my revision and drafting process, but mainly revision. At the beginning of the class, it was difficult for me to make continuous and large revisions, as I thought the format of my draft was good enough, and the points flowed well. Now I can pretty easily pick apart my drafts and rework them with more relevant points, or grouping together things that are relevant to eachother. After being in this class and constantly working on improving my revision, I can say that I am most proud of my growth in that aspect.

[aaronwilhelmm]

I like the end where you include creativity itself can’t be chalked down to an equation. Creativity is a mindset which is why it shows up differently in everyone

How Do You Understand Creativity?

From my understanding, creativity means to approach something with an original and unique idea. It often involves thinking outside the box and using your imagination to help solve problems. Also, the arts are considered creative endeavors, perhaps because there is a sort of intuitiveness in them that can't be boiled down to an equation like you might find in math or science.

[aaronwilhelmm]

I like that you dug deeper than “communication is talking and/or spreading information” and you got into the why and how communication works with humans and the way it works into our everyday lives.

How I Understand Communication

I value and understand communication as a skill that allows for unity and societal evolution. Being one of two features that place humans above other species, communication allows people to exchange information in a meaningful and fluent way. For communication to work, words must hold meaning and have definitions to be understood universally or in a territorial region. Communication can include expressing information from speaking and writing to gesturing symbols through body language. Something as simple as a smile can be a form of communication that derives a message like “being happy”.

[aaronwilhelmm]

How do I understand collaboration?

The way I see collaboration, through writing and also content is two creators coming together to combine and share their niche tactics/ style to make something that supports both of their communities, whether similar or different. Collaboration is a good idea to not only branch out to find new audiences who like your style or topics, without having to do it alone, as well as giving your audience a chance to find someone they might like as well. It’s a symbiotic relationship when done correctly.

[aaronwilhelmm]

What is my writing process?

My writing process is something like a continuous circle where the first step will always be as valid throughout the process, same as the last step. I “research” or gain as much information as possible on the given subject I want to write about, and then put all that information onto a document. Doing this helps me create sentences that flow well throughout points and help me find connections to information I might be able to group up. Once I have the draft down I continue to look for information to support my base. Revising becomes a lot easier when the points you have laid out in your writing are easily listed out.

[aaronwilhelmm]

What is learning?

Learning is the act of absorbing information, and then applying it to show comprehension of that information. I choose this definition because if you absorb something and never end up using it, it can be quickly forgotten, so in the end you didn’t really learn anything. That’s why for comprehension tests, it is testing you on what was taught to see if you can apply it in life - thus having learned the skill/ information needed.

For this class, we test what we’ve learned through these Tumblr posts and projects throughout this semester, and looking back on our initial posts to now there is a level of comprehension that someone just entering this community now would have a lot to catch up on to fit how we communicate.

[aaronwilhelmm]

How do I understand Critical Thinking?

The way I see Critical Thinking is that it’s the response to a well written/ made piece of content. If you can gather a meaning just by looking at something, that’s neat. However, if you can also dig deeper and find why it’s so easily recognizable, and how they created it in a way to represent it in that way. It’s also about reading between the lines, there must be a level of context known to really critically think in a certain space.

[aaronwilhelmm]

Does the Intro explain too much/ too little?

I had about three separate introductions that I've tried and this is the one I eventually landed on. I think it explains the HTWG pretty well and shows the function of why it's made, who it's made for, and the platform and community the content will be shared. Something I am a bit unsure of is if the intro explains TOO much for an existing content creator, that they may feel like they know more than the guide, or that the guide is for new creators. I feel like sometimes when I explain I go into so much detail that it turns into rambling, and I want to really avoid that, especially in the beginning.

[aaronwilhelmm]

Does this work/ make sense?

For the last step of my how-to-write guide, I added a "Bonus Step" to elaborate on the effects of sharing a post with other creators on Instagram. When I first put it on there it looked fine but after adding the visuals and content creation, it seems to be out of place and would maybe fit better in the tips and tricks section. Should I remove this bonus step and instead just explain more in my tips and tricks section. Or should I not explain too much because the existing content creators already know the premise of it?

[aaronwilhelmm]

I feel like if too many posts made you, a follower, want to unfollow then it may be good to mention for people wanting to gain and keep followers within that community!

I also think the language you use in this slide is representative of the audience of the HTWG which is people who have been creating content on whatever platform we choose rather than new content creators.

Advice#2: Common Sense or a Helpful Reminder?

In creating tips for the HTWG I constantly worry if my slides are excessive. If there are too many slides or if my information is too overwhelming to read. In mention of this, I wanted some input into my slide on scheduled posting. Do you think this is a good tip to mention or is this slide chalked full of common sense that it can be deleted? I find that some creators post multiple times a day which can be good for exposure but annoying for their followers. One creator I researched posted 5-7 times a day because of that frequency I largely considered unfollowing her as her content overwhelmed my ForYou page. Do you think creators should be reminded that sometimes the audience wants a break from them? Or is that advice too blunt to mention?

[aaronwilhelmm]

Consistency is a really good tip, and it’s incorporated into many of my tips as well! Being consistent is not only good for the content creator, as it speeds up the posting process but it is also a familiar route of connection to the account for the viewers!

A good tip

Consistency. I have spoken about this topic a ton but it needs more appreciation and focus than most ideas/ tips I have in my how to write guide. I feel this is a no brainer, but it's very tough to really get down perfectly. I have it named as a "goldilocks system" due to the fact you want your consistency not too much, to too little: you want it JUST RIGHT. The data I have to prove this system I created is in my content analysis data paper that I do use in my how to write guide as well! Honestly its easier said than done but it is the best tip I have within my guide.

[aaronwilhelmm]

Peer review questions!

I know I literally just posted this but seeing it made me think of something and I want to run it by y’all! I like how the content becomes more and more “complete” as the guide goes through the steps. What I’m wondering though, is if I should make another fake post with ALL of the tips and tricks at play to separate the “created content” from the content I made to help visualize the steps? Or would having two posts confuse the reader as to which picture the final step represents? I’m more worried about how the guide would flow naturally than having too many pictures

[aaronwilhelmm]

Example of content I’m happy with

For my How to Write guide I wanted to add my created content to work with the step by step checklist for my style of the guide. So for each step I added things to the post piece by piece once it was mentioned. I think this will help the reader visualize and see the difference in the post, also serving as a tool to compare and contrast the formats and tricks being used to see if they use any of them or perhaps should pick those tricks up. I think it works pretty well, and even though I’m happy with it, it’s still something I’m looking towards refining.

[aaronwilhelmm]

A tip/ trick I think could help everyone

For content creation it’s important to have consistent hashtags so your followers/ new viewers can easily find your post without searching your account. Some depth to that is while putting your consistent hashtags, add some that relate to the post itself. This can help find even more avenues of connection to your account, but instead of a general hashtag with millions of posts, a niche hashtag will always have less. For example if you’re posting a picture of an upside down cake, include something like #upsidedowncake along with #cooking #cake. That way you’ll be adding to the routes of connection to your account!