kmmill

[kmmill]

I don't normally set goals for myself in academics besides to obviously just avoid failing a class. I think something I should have done is consider what I wanted out of this class, and set goals accordingly. It's inspiring to see you put so much thought into the goals had for yourself and the growth you've experienced.

the best part about my essay

the part of my essay that I liked most was reflecting on how I achieved the goals that I set for myself at the beginning of the year and being able to see how much I have grown and improved during the semester

[kmmill]

I think a huge part of the reflection assignment is being able to reflect on the skills you learned in the class and how you can apply them in the future. Instead of just a paragraph I think you should dedicate a few paragraphs to this idea, and in each paragraph you can discuss a different skill.

where will you adjust your essay to strengthen your point?

in my paper im going to add another paragraph for the skills we learned throughout the course of the class.

[kmmill]

What do I like most about my essay?

I think my essay is really successful at understanding the skills I've built in this class and how I can carry them forward into my potential future career.

The reflection essay gave me a space to write down all the ways the skills I learned in this class could apply to the real world. Surprisingly there was a lot to discuss, so much so that I was pushing the maximum page count for the reflection.

The reflection also gave me valuable insight into how challenging the process of content creation really is.

[kmmill]

Where in my essay should I adjust to strengthen my point?

I think one of the main things to adjust with my essay is making it all flow together with transition sentences. I typically try to write everything out where I want it to be in a paper before I consider how it will all flow together. For the final draft I'm going to format my essay to feel more like a long form work with transitions that allow the paper to flow.

[kmmill]

I think being able to bounce ideas of people is a critical part of collaboration. Having multiple people contribute ideas is a good way to help shape and adapt ideas of individuals. Having different perspectives and being able to discuss them is integral to both collaboration and communication as a whole.

Brainstorming the Skills: Collaboration

I view and define collaboration as the process of working with and including others. Collaboration is not just listing other people that worked in a group project with you, it is listening to the ideas from multiple peoples and really considering what they have to say. Collaboration helps us to deepen our understanding of concepts and think about concepts in new ways.

[kmmill]

Its true the 2 most common ways of communication are speaking and writing. But its also interesting to think about the other ways we communicate. Thinking of things like emojis to show emotion or even intricate codes are interesting ways that we communicate.

Communication

Communication is how people send information to each other. There are multiple ways people can communicate with each other. The two most common ways people communicate is with speaking and writing.

[kmmill]

How does writing convey valuable skills?

I learned in art history that art isn't always an expression of the artist's feelings, thoughts, and ideals.

In the case of writing, I think this IS the case. Writing is an art form that allows the writer to channel their creativity and critical thinking.

Writing is something meant to convey information from the point of view of the writer or entity being written for. Writers need to find creative solutions to communicate to intended audiences. This allows for freedom of language when writing so that not everything sounds corporate or robotic. This is also affected by critical thinking as the writer needs to analyze and understand the audience and objective they're writing for.

Web writing is a place where spontaneous communication is common, really highlighting the need for critical thinking skills. Too many times have I sent a message too quick without thinking about it then realize that I was wrong but have no way to unsend it.

[kmmill]

What is Learning?

Learning is a really complicated subject to try and define. Learning is something we do all the time without even thinking about it.

Think about the phrase "you learn something new every day". This sounds like an exaggeration but its true. Every time you open social media you "learn" about the people you follow. You learn about the state of the world. So learning extends further than just academic things.

Speaking of literal academic learning I think this is best defined as someone's comprehension of a given subject being taught. Grades are supposed to be a metric of how well someone is learning but this is hardly the case. Exams are something people study for then forget a week later. That's not learning. Learning is really being able to comprehend and gain value from what it is you're being taught.

[kmmill]

Communication

Communication is another critically important skill to have in the future. Given that we're coming out of COVID where everyone was locked inside and devoid of communication, this should be even more relevant. Communication is how things get done. People NEED to communicate with each other. Not just in the work place but in casual interactions as well. Communication makes for cleaner relationships both in the work place, with your friends, and with people in general.

[kmmill]

Creativity

I think understanding that creativity is something extremely valuable to employers is critical. Without creativity, its impossible to find diverse solutions to issues. Think of a field like math, 2+2=4 and there's no way around it. But in graphic design, creativity is REQUIRED to succeed. Graphic design allows near infinite possible solutions to a given problem based on how the designer creatively thinks.

[kmmill]

I also think its important to prioritize the content creator in content strategy. I think too many content creators try to copy what works for other content creators and the overall sphere of content becomes bland.

Its also important to consider the real world factors content creators go through that might affect their strategies.

Highlighting Content Strategy

I learned that content strategy is a bit different, depending on what you are writing about. Every creator has their own strategy. Sometimes they're very similar and sometimes they're completely different. It just depends on the creator and what they think is best for themselves. I will highlight this in my How to Write Guide.

[kmmill]

While the HTWG is called "How to Write" I think it is also important to consider dates when you should post videos, since this relates to content strategy as a whole.

I think the information is super valuable to put in the guide and I have my own section in mine about upload dates/times as wel.

Content Strategy in the How to Write Guide

When working through the content analysis project, I learned about which days of the week posted typically get a higher number of likes which showed me which days a content creator should post on and adjust their content strategy to that. I wanted to highlight this in my how to write guide because it was my own work that led me to find this information out, but so far in my how to write guide, I haven’t added this in because it’s a “how to write guide” and this doesn’t exactly deal with writing.

I was wondering if I could still add this information into the guide or if my data is just a bit too different from writing?

[kmmill]

I do think its important to consider personas/characters in content creation. Many content creators use characters as a way to separate their content from their real lives.

Considering how someone should write for content based on characters/personas is incredibly important. The character/persona is also an excellent way to engage with an audience.

Tip 2 HTWG

In my how to write guide, this is my second tip. In this tip, I explain about having a persona or character on a podcast. The main thing that I wanted to stress was you don't need to have this in order to be successful, but it does create some lore with being funny or being able to have clips out of it. Do you think that this should have been a tip or trick or something that I should have just kept to myself? Could I phrase this in a different way or do you this is properly said? I think the concept is definitely there and it was in my head. I'm just not sure if this should have been the way I said it. I think it is useful for people that.do have this in their podcast. 

[kmmill]

For the title page I think it needs to convey who exactly its written for. Looking at this right now I can't tell what space (YouTube, Tumblr, Twitter, etc.) this is written for or what community within the space it is for.

Using the colors of the platform associated with your HTWG would help add some association for who the guide is for along with adding some extra visual elements to the title.

Feedback #2

This is my title page for the writing guide. Does anyone think it could use more color? I got the template from Canva and I like the black and white look but I figured I would ask for other input.

[kmmill]

Peer Input #3

For this slide I wanted to discuss different hashtags a creator might use to bring attention to a video.

Do the subheadings make sense and are they easy to follow?

Is it hard to differentiate the hashtags from the written content? I wasn't really sure how else to differentiate them.

[kmmill]

Peer Input #2

I was wondering for this slide if the formatting works well. In the slide before this one I explain the importance of having a well designed thumbnail with carefully chosen language. On this slide I show my created example along with an explanation of why it works.

Is this format easy for a content creator to read and understand what I'm conveying?

I'm afraid that if I add more explanation it might become too much text.

[kmmill]

Peer Input #1

Within my HTWG I include a slide dedicated to introducing content strategy and why it is important.

I was wondering if this is too much text for one slide. Dr. P noted that content creators don't want to read a lengthy 12 slide slideshow so this was me trying to bunch all the info about content strategy into one slide.