What I learned

I have learned that not all writing is the same. Writing for the web is completely different from other medians of publication. People pick up a book to read what it is about. People pick up a magazine to read articles. People go to websites for many different things. They might want find information, ask a questions, buy a product or post their own informnation. In designing and writing for the web, you have to keep all these things in mind. There is not just one primary audience. You will be writing for mulipy audiences who want to access the site for a variety of reasons.
This is what makes writing for the web so different. It is about organization. You have to organize the site and the writing on the site so the different audiences will find everything they are looking for in an easy and simple manner. The organization of the site matters as much as the content published on it.

I would much rather prefer to work on the living web. The pages that are described as being fixed, are usually informational pages. They are usually writing in a serious, boring format. There is no creativity or originality injected into those types of pages. The problem is that there is not much a person can do to change this. It is mainly due to the type of content that must be represented.
The 'living' web pages, like blogs allow the writer a considerable amount of creativity and originality. Blogs can be written about anything. That is why people enjoy writing them. There is no real format and can vary greatly in the writing styles that can be used. Blogs are usually written to convey the writer's feelings or opinions about am issue. It lets the author write about something that they are interested in. The content type allows a freer approach to the writing.

Web Design

I support these current trends. They offer simple, easy to use web sites. They allow you to easily find what you are looking for without having to search the entire site several times. I especially like the idea of lots of white space and very sparingly used graphics.
I would like to believe that the web has become more professional from when it was first introduced to the public. When people first started to use the internet, it was full of bright, annoying colors and grossly 'cute' graphics. With the growth of e-commerce, websites had to become more professional. If these sites wanted people to use them, the sites had to have easy navigation and be able to be read very clearly. These two factors have helped the web to become very professional and easy to use. It was a much needed change.
Our group will be trying to use man of these current design trends. We will be using a lot of white space. What is in color will be easy to read and they colors will not be bright enough to blind the user.

The web is full of amateurs. That is why people like it. Viewer like the feel of amateur videos. They are small clips that can entertain you for a few seconds to a few minutes. People do not expect them to be of high quality or to be complex, involving deep plots. People want to see short, mostly stupid little clips that are entertaining.
Many people like the idea of the amateurs web because allows the viewer to participate. They can go and make their own clips. It encourages people to be creative. At the same time, web users understand that they can not make videos of Hollywood quality. Typical web users do not have the time or money to make full length featured films accessibility to the web. When peole want to produce some of their own content or wheb they want to watch some small entertaining clip.
The creativity of web will not threaten more professional outlets. Much of the content on the web is only considered creative because of the media in which it is presented: the web. If those web outlets were to extend their material to fill up an entire movie, TV show or book, they would not be able to. Their creativity exists because of the restrictions that are placed on their media: time, money, the competition with the millions of other web material.

I do not read blogs. I do not search for them. I don't trust them. I never search for blogs. If I want to find out more information, I go to print sources are credible web sites. I do not trust them. I think that blogs are a new and dangerous outlet. People will start to read them and trust blogs as credible, objective, and unbiased source of news and information. And blogs are definitely not that. I think that information and news should be presented in a professional manner and that the presentation of the material adds to the credibility. Posting on the web automatically takes away some credibility. Blogs are usually written in a friendly, conversational tone. This takes away from the credibility. Blogs usually allow feedback or have discussion forums. When someone is looking for information and they see a blog with feedback from some one who posted 'This Blog Sucks; twenty times, it takes away from the credibility.
Blogs have started a dangerous, and in my opinion horrible, trend. I will refuse to read them until they have become too infused into our media to ignore. And by then, I fear that the news media, along with society, will have followed some sort of downward spiral of dumbness that will be almost impossible to pull out of.

Scouts Honor

The Web has made available almost any information that one could ask for. It has also made available a lot of information that is false, misleading and incorrect. The problem is figuring out how one is supposed to decide what is accurate information and what is not.
The easiest way to decide this is to only use credible sources. This would include already established print publications that have gone online or such web sites as Salon. All of these sources are heavily copy edited and try to use distinguished and professional writers. The problem with using this approach is that it greatly restricts the vast resources that the web makes available.
To use other sources and to discover if they are honest and accurate takes a little more time and energy. But it gives one a greater source of information and research. One way to discover if a source is accurate is to check for information about the source itself on the web. One can use user comments or find a web site that rates information sources. It is also a good idea to check established informational sources and see if they say anything about the new source of information.
Also, with the web, one can research the writer or publisher of the information to find out if it/him/her/they have a history of being accurate and honest. In the end, one must use their best judgment to figure out for themselves if the source is accurate or not.
As a web publisher, there are several steps that can be taken to have your work evaluated as honest and accurate by others. The best way is to present the material in a professional manner. These means having a web site that is easy to use and presents information in a clear and distinguishable manner. Also, all information should be presented in proper grammatical form. One should also cite where they got the information that they have published.
Another way to make one's work appear accurate and honest to others, is to provide a channel for feedback. This could include a discussion board or a place to post user comments. This would let anyone trying to decide if your information is accurate and honest to view the conclusions of others.

Credibility

It is very hard to establish credibility on the web. As rule for myself, I try to use as little web research as possible for school work. That does not mean I will not use the internet. I have no problem using established sites like The New York Times, Salon or other highly respected works. I will never use Wikipedia and I rarely use search engines. I still use these tools but I do not explicitly rely on them for information. If I find information on search engines, I will then use that information to narrow my search in print publications. If I can find it in print, I will gather my information from that source instead of online.
If I can not find print publications to back up online information then I am very cautious about using that specific data. If I can find several online sources that state the same thing, then I will judge their credibility to find out if I can trust the information. I base credibility on other users reviews, presentation of the material and my own personal judgment.
To make your information credible to others, it is important to present yourself in a professional manner. That means using proper grammar and correct language. It means properly and exhaustively citing your sources. Other than that you can not really do much. It is up to the reader to use their own discretion.