Time for Reflection

I can't believe a whole semester has passed. I always feel a little bit sentimental when a semester ends because I become so attached to my schedule. However, one cannot change the inevitable and the end is inevitable. I bet this has already been said a HUNDRED times but I'm going to say it again "ALES 204 has taught be a lot this semester." Coming into this course I didn't know what to expect. I didn't even read anything on the course details or what this course was about. All I knew was I needed this course for my program which I recently transferred into and that was it. The biggest shocker in this class I remember was hearing that there was not midterms or final exams. "How could a University course not have any exams," I remember thinking. After understanding the projects and assignments required for this course it made more sense. If it weren't for ALES 204 I never would have gotten Twitter. After learning about Twitter I have realized that it is more than just a place where people post useless information about themselves. Twitter is a powerful international communication tool.

ALES 204 is a class where you can sit out with zero notes on you desk with a phone in plain site and not get in trouble for it. One of the largest take home messages that I personally will take from this course is the power of social networking and the evolving nature of communication. We learnt about Google Docs, LinkedIn, Audioboo, Podcasts, uses for Facebook. how to write a professional email, how not to write a professional email, peer review and the list goes on. Technology has made communication and knowledge sharing so much easier and I think it is something that should be taken advantage of. If you ever want to learn about modern day communication, skills and tools that will help you to survive the real world I would suggest taking ALES 204. Thank you Dr. Laccetti!

...so long



Here are the links to my 5 comments:

Kelsey Rolof
Long Tran
Ben Lee
Linda Phan
Tanya Boyko

Vlogging on YouTube

A new and common phenomenon that I am starting to see a lot of is something called vlogging, especially on YouTube. Today there are individuals on YouTube with a YouTube partnership which allows them to make enough money to sustain themselves just by making videos. With all the adds on YouTube these days, this allows profit for YouTube and the YouTubers who make the videos. Obviously if you can achieve more views you can make more money. Vlogging is the act of making a vlog which is a video log. Vlogs are very similar to blogs. They can be used to talk about anything, but of course a blog is in the form of words and a vlog is a video. Most of the vlogs that I see are on Youtube.

Many big name YouTubers (ones with many subscribers) vlog on YouTube. From the vlogs that I have seen, the YouTuber vlogs about their daily lives and add commentary, and it can be considerably entertaining to watch. Vlogging doesn't have to be someone sitting at a desk in front of a camera. Vlogging can be anyone talking to a camera anywhere. I think vlogging gives viewers a little bit of insight into what a person does on a regular basis. Vlogging is definitely a form of social media where a vlogger can make announcements, talk about feelings and entertain viewers with their daily lives. One of my favorite YouTubers is TimothyDeLaGhetto and I always enjoy watching his vlogs. Of course on Youtube, viewers are allowed to make comments which the Youtuber may read and respond to just like Twitter, Blogger, Facebook etc.

For someone who makes a living by making videos on YouTube, vlogging would be a great way to attract more fans. Watching a person vlog can give you a better sense of who this person is, their personality traits and this allows for a better connection from a fans standpoint. I think vlogging is a great way to build a fan base. For example on YouTube I stumbled across Jeremy Lin's YouTube channel. Jeremy Lin is an NBA guard for the Golden State Warriors. Jeremy had a few videos on his channel where he vlogged about a day in his life. After watching his video I realized that he was a hard working and humble individual which made me respect him and made me a fan of him. Long Tran from my ALES 204 class also talks about how vlogging is very important in the shoe collecting domain. I think vlogging can be a more interactive way of expressing yourself, sometimes more than words can describe.

Vlogging is something anybody can do. You take a camera and just talk into the camera as if you were talking to a crowd of people. Even I have tried vlogging. When I went to California this summer I pulled out my digital camera and I would just talk into the camera saying where I was, how I was feeling and what I was doing. Of course I did not post these vlogs on YouTube and I wasn't expecting a lot of people to be watching my vlogs. However, vlogging was fun to do and watching them again is amusing and it brings back the feelings I had at that moment I was vlogging. Not only do I think vlogging is a form of social media but it can also be on a more personal level where you don't have to post it on the internet for everyone to see. Vlogging has many benefits from a social media perspective and entertainment to a more personal expression perspective. With growing technology and the increase of portable cameras with better quality I think vlogging will become a lot more popular in the years to come.