While many may run a blog just for fun, for those trying to communicate a purpose, it can be serious business. “The Digital Approach” was about me trying to show how fashion can be embodied not only in print, but in the digital media, especially in the genre of the blog. Every blog has strengths and weaknesses, and mine is no exception.
Tumblr was my chosen platform for this particular blog: it allowed for the easy postings of images, text, and videos, and for a professional, yet personal look. One of the strengths of the blog include the easy navigation. The layout includes an actual space for the posts and a separate “sidebar”. This sidebar includes a disclaimer and a quote dealing with fashion (by Yves Saint Laurent). It also includes a hyperlink to the “about” section, as well as hyperlinks for posts and responses. Along with the tags (which can be seen by “hovering” over a post), these allow for an easier navigation of the blog that could save a reader time in scrolling thought all the posts. Other links can be seen in the upper section of the blog. These include a “home” link that takes the reader to the main page (in case they are on a particular post); an “ask” link that leads a reader to an ask box where they can leave any questions or short comments; an “archive” link that takes the person to the archive page, which displays small visuals of each post; a “submit” link where readers can submit photos, longer responses, videos, quotes, or links that I can choose to publish or not to publish to the blog, creating interaction; and a “theme” link that serves as credit to the maker of the layout (it is frowned upon to remove them). Another strength is the use of a color scheme for the theme. Red, white, and black/grays serve as the primary colors in the blog and I tried to show them not only in the layout and the sidebar image, but also in the posts themselves. I feel that this adds cohesion and is very visually appealing. I also find the different uses of media to be a strength of the blog. I incorporated “spotlights”, images, text, and video in order to add variety and keep the blog more interesting. The “spotlights” are my reviews on particular fashion blogs that show how one can be successful in blogging (for example, thesartorialist.com). I also used outside sources by quoting articles written by other people interested in fashion and presenting my views on these opinions. A weakness could be seen in the fact that, by using tumblr (and with tumblr’s new response length restrictions), I had to “reblog” responses to my peers, which appear on my blog and can be distracting from the purpose of my writing. I tried solving this problem by the creation of links to “responses” and “posts.”
I love my blog. While it only has 8 followers, my posts have gotten “likes” and few “reblogs” (where people make my post appear on their page). I feel that my blog presents a different view on fashion blogging, actually considering what it is that sets it apart from printed journalism. I talk about how blogging allows for a faster transmission of news to a fashion-savvy audience. I learned how to communicate with this particular audience better by creating this blog. I had to think about what I wrote and how my readers would perceive this information. My thoughts had to be articulated so that they could be easily understood by people outside of the English major. I had to include visuals, which is different from what I learned in high school through writing essays. Creating this blog in a digital media permitted me to use videos and links to communicate the idea that fashion blogging is a great innovation and opens doors for many writers.
I think this blog warrants a B+ or A-. I didn’t include as many sources as I could for writing about fashion in the online world, but I feel that my blog presents a clear point in showing how beneficial the blogosphere has been for a quick and clear communication of the importance and beauty of fashion. It takes a positive view on technology and how easily-accessible resources are due to this progression. After all, if fashion wasn’t online as well as in magazines, this blog wouldn’t truly have any purpose.
P.S.: To anyone who has taken anything new and intriguing from this blog, I thank you for your time and hope I could help open your eyes to the wonderful world of fashion blogging.
