Web Design Journal

In efforts to construct my professional portfolio for the semester, I would like to create some sort of blog/website. In the site, I would like to include a small biography about my interests and myself. In addition to the biography, I would maybe include a small headshot of myself so that whoever stumbles upon my site can put a face to the name. In reference to how I will organize my content, I think it would be best to create several tabs to house each project and to showcase the artifacts from each project. Essentially, in each tab there would be a short blog post or blurb explaining the goals/purpose of the project that is being featured in the tab. In addition to the short blurb, I would like to include a photo gallery to display the artifacts that are part of the project that is housed in a particular tab. Because visual elements are just as noteworthy as good writing, I believe that a blog/website would be an ideal platform because of the affordances the platform encompasses. Having the ability to incorporate both visual and written elements not only makes the portfolio more dynamic, but it also showcases the potentially inextricable relationship these elements could have with one another, especially in the contexts my projects present. Regarding the other design elements such as font, color scheme, and page organization, these elements will be considered as I begin a draft of the portfolio. Though, I hope to incorporate blue (which is my favorite color) in efforts to personalize my portfolio as much as possible. Though color choice is one example of how I can personalize my site, I hope to come up with other ways to personalize my site. I not only want to showcase my work, but I also want to give the viewer some information about me and my insights—which will hopefully showcase how my ideas came to be.

Timmons, Erica Journal 4

I think whether we like it or not we all succumb to the pressures that come along with having social media. For my generation [and some others], everyone enjoys getting a lot of likes on a Facebook status or an Instagram post. Everyone is looking to have the most followers on Instagram or Twitter because we all want our writing to be significant. I believe everyone has a desire to be heard and understood as well as to have people interact with them. I definitely think about the potential for spreadability when posting something to social media because you never know who is going to see it or share it. If I am posting something to social media I am typically doing it for people interact with me in return. With that being said, I don't typically post long elaborate Facebook status up for people to share and what not but when I do have something to say I will say it. I am even more conscious of the possibility for spreadability on websites like Twitter where sharing a tweet is quite common. If you ask me, sharing tweets is the purpose of Twitter! It is the easiest way for news, pictures, memes, etc. to get around. However; the thought process behind a tweet is pretty simple being that it only consists of 150 words. I kind of think of Twitter as my diary/ train of thought feed but with a filter of course. I definitely don’t impart my deepest and realest thoughts with anyone and everyone on social media. As a matter a fact, I don’t ever convey these ideas into my writing. I suppose because we live in world where everything is immediate, I really enjoy sharing those thoughts and ideas in person. I find that to be the easiest way to spread an idea or a story as well as gather different perspectives from other people. I should find a better way to take those conversations and put them to words that would make for a good spreadable text. 

Journal Response #5

I’m sort of a misanthrope, so I don’t typically think about spreadability in my everyday composing. I think more about what I’m trying to write about and how to arrange my thoughts on the page. Sometimes spreadability does come into play, because I want to consider my audience when writing a Facebook post or something.  I want to reach people in a way that will be effective. But most of the time, I’m writing for myself, so I don’t really care. That being said, sometimes I do feel the need to jump into an internet argument. It’s stupid, and I find it doesn’t go anywhere, but I just feel the urge to participate in certain discussions. I guess in a way that relates to spreadability because I want to create and argue for spreadable ideas.

Journal Reflection 5 - Shannon Herlihy

Generally speaking, I normally never really consider the spreadability of my everyday compositions. Most of the time, my everyday writing consists of taking notes in classes, writing in a planner, constructing academic essays or assignments, and very infrequently posting on social media website. Of the aforementioned instances of writing, the only style that truly has any real possibility of spreading to a variety of eyes are the social media posts. However, in my case, almost all of my social media accounts are private, and, therefore, the eyes that see my posts are strictly monitored by my own decision-making. If I do feel the need to post a Facebook status or share an image on Instagram, then I technically do hope it spreads to those I have selected to view my thoughts and ideas. However, as these choices are relatively limited, I’m not sure whether that would truly qualify as the spreadability of my work.

However, when considering the articles I edit for my internship with an online publication and/or the pieces I create for blogs or magazines, I do hope for a high level of spreadability. Professional work in writing and editing can easily be considered to have a higher potential of spreadability than social media posts—unless you are a relatively famous media personality. In the cases of said professional work, I typically hope for high spreadability in order to get my published work to different eyes and across various platforms. More eyes on examples of published work generally leads to a higher demand and popularity for produced pieces.

All in all, I suppose I do consider spreadability when writing, though not necessarily with my typical everyday compositions. My social media posts are monitored, and my only other everyday examples include academic work that is not meant to be public or spread to eyes other than myself, the grader, and possibly to an employer as an essential writing sample in the distant future. However, in regards to professional “everyday” writings, spreadability can arguably be considered an essential component of a produced work. Without spreadability, what’s the point of published work? 

Journal 5 - Lizzy Sellers

“Do you think about the potential for spreadability in your everyday composing, and if so, how?”

I guess it depends on the outlet that I'm using for my compositions. Let's take Twitter and Instagram versus a personal journal. I don't actively think to myself, "Hey, I have to make this relatable and interesting so people will retweet or favorite my tweets," but I suppose subconsciously, I want my Twitter to be shared to other people and seen by lots of people, but also, I liked to think of my aesthetic appearance on my Instagram or Twitter and how others would see my page if they were to find it, and then they would possibly want to share it or even try to replicate it. I am very aware of my audience, as my pages are both on public outlets on the internet, so not only can lots of people view my posts and pictures, there's the large possibility that those posts and pictures will exist on the internet forever. On Facebook, it's impossible to scroll through my feed without running into dozens of clickbait articles, quizzes, and links. The authors of these clickbait articles have the spreadability factor down like a professional. They make the title catchy and noticeable, usually using current events or interesting topics.
When I'm journaling or writing in a personal diary, I know that (hopefully) no one else is seeing my writings, that my audience is only me, and I don't have that subconscious need to be relatable or spreadable. It's my thoughts, unfiltered and unedited since I don't assume that anyone else will be viewing it. My journaling is usually just a creative outlet that I write out ideas or thoughts without form or, often, eloquence.  When I'm writing to, say, a professor in a project proposal, I suppose in a way I'm trying to sell myself and my ideas to the professor and therefore want it to seem like a good idea, but I also know that only my professor is going to be the audience, and I don't have to make it a topic that can be engaging for the whole population of the class. 

Journal #5 - Megan Quinn

I do not actively write every day, except possibly assignments for classes, in which case there is usually an audience of one. Rarely am I keen to participate in social media sites, usually for fear of expressing an “incorrect” opinion or of joining a never-ending debate about one issue or another. Spreadability for me occurs on a small scale. If I find an article or meme I like, I will share it privately with friends through messenger. I know my friends’ preferences and what they will find funny, so I know what kind of reaction I will garner. Barring my participation in social media posting, I would say I am a consumer of spreadability. I frequently check Facebook or my favorite accounts on Twitter for the shows I watch to get as much information as I possibly can.

Even when I do write, I cannot say I actively worry about audience or how my writing will be spread. Certainly it is a concern, because most if not at all writers want their work read as widely as possible. I am more involved with the content of my writing and the ideas I have. I do not want to write exclusively about what the current “in” genre is, but I know I cannot isolate myself by ignoring what people want to read. A portion of writing is dedicated to catering to audience demands. In fiction, the recent trend was dystopias. People consumed them in a vengeance, and as a result authors happily wrote them more. As all popular genres do, the dystopia and other end-of-the-world books are now being categorized as cliché.

Spreadability reminds me of our most recent project in WEPO. It was not possible to examine a single term without recognizing its connections to other concepts. For example, my project focused on circulation but due consideration had to be given to audience and technology. Spreadability works the same way. Writers have to consider their audience and content to spread their writing to more people. I think this could be an unconscientious decision. My writer friends do not talk to me about spreadability in that term. Instead they will discuss what has the greatest appeal.

Journal #5

I often think about the concept of spreadability during my compositions.  This year, I am serving as president for the team of Florida State Quidditch and in order to ensure proper information is passed throughout my wonderful teammates who often need it repeated multiple times to remember, it has to be, for lack of a better word, “spreadable.”  This means when I post a message on one platform, say our private team page, it needs to be short enough to be screencapped and shared by other officers.  They then take this message and will individually send it to any members it concerns, and from there it may also be sent in our group chat, reposted in the Facebook group, and so on.

Take, for example, jersey orders.  Our PR contacts the company, who sends us a clear graphic of our design and a chart of sizes.  This is texted to me (because the file is made small enough to do so), where I then post an update (pinned the top of our Facebook page) including price, a list of numbers/names that have already been claimed by veterans, options of payment and number/name claiming, and the files.  This message is made with spreadability because of a variety of reasons.  The secretary takes the number/name/size list and shares it with players who are picking those requirements.  The treasurer screencaps the info to remind everyone of payments and uses it as evidence to start a chart of who has/hasn’t paid.  Our team as a whole shares the graphic of the design to show how awesome the jersey looks and how excited they are.  Since the post can be pinned to the top of the page, it’s easily reviewed and consulted.  By compacting all these items into one post, but also making it as short and efficient as possible, the spreadability of the message increases.

Without keeping spreadability in mind, these compositions would be a mess.  If I made a separate post each for the jersey design, size chart, name/number list, price, and payment options then there would be five posts listed on the page.  They would be buried beneath other updates and all of the above qualities that make them “spreadable” would be lost.

Journal 5

“Do you think about the potential for spreadability in your everyday composing, and if so, how?”

Personally, spreadability is never something I have actively thought about. Maybe, somewhere deep in the subconscious levels of my mind, the thought has occurred to me. Everyone wants to make sure their work, thoughts, or whatever it was that they felt was worth sharing to begin with, gets seen by the largest amount of people possible. I am no different.

In this sense, I suppose the idea of spreadability is actually a lot more common during every day composition than I initially gave it credit for. The idea that immediately comes to mind—as seems to be the pattern in this course—is Twitter. For some, it may not be important, but as a user who frequently posts his own content I strive to reach the greatest number of people with my tweets. The same can be said for content I create that isn’t shared via social media and doesn’t have the potential for random, viral exposure. The short stories, poems, and songs I write all for example, which rarely if ever are taken off my laptop hard drive. I don’t actively take into account the elements that do this, however. The process is simply more organic than that.

And to be completely honest, I’m not sure if it would be for the best if I did take into consideration those elements at more than a purely instinctual level. The age old struggle of anyone who writes is that of “creativity”—think the decision as a writer makes to their text based purely on natural feeling and instinct—versus “analysis.” Analytical decisions in the creative process just function as road blocks and result in either a very slow and frustrating writing process or just total stagnation of the writing.

Spreadability is a useful concept to be aware of but, in my mind, is more of an analytical choice than a creative one. Ultimately, I believe that makes it a secondary concern to a text’s author and likely won’t be something I consider very much during the course of my compositions. It doesn’t mean that it’s something that should be completely ignored, but it means for me worrying about “how many people will read/watch/listen” to my content is a waste of time if the content itself suffers. Ultimately, I believe the way I approach it is the best for creative writers or content creators, which is to allow all the elements to just occur naturally. 

Journal 5-Andrea

Do you think about the potential for spreadability in your everyday composing, and if so, how? 

When I think about spreadability on an everyday level and how I contribute, I think about Youtube and Instagram. On both of these platforms you can find users who make money off posting videos or Instagrams by advertising products on their platform. The content creators are paid to advertise to their fans and because these creators are seen more relatable then a famous movie star or musical the product is more easily sellable. 

i do not think about it everyday but I do participate in it unknowingly. If I am refreshing Facebook and see a funny meme or cute dog video I share it . So my friends with dogs can see it. I go on Instagram and scroll through pictures and comment on my friends pictures. 


When ever their is a book, that for this example I will use  Twilight, that sells like crazy and becomes a movie and has builds a huge fandom that selling point attracts other writers to write similar content in hope their books sell the same way. After Twilight I would walk into Barnes and noble and walk through the young adult section and see shelves filled with vampire themed books. The same thing happened with the Hunger Games. It's not bad to be inspired but the timing takes away from the originality. 

Journal 5 Eric Calderon

Honestly, I feel that it depends on what I’m writing. If I’m writing in one of my writing elective class, I’m entirely conscious of anyone else besides my professor reading my short stories without my consent. And even with that, I wouldn’t ever really expect for anything that I’ve written to be published in a newspaper or magazine. However, in terms of what I’m putting on social media in forms of Facebook posts or Tweets, and how that can be spread throughout the world, absolutely. The best example that I can think of when this really bit me in the rear end was about two or three years ago. I responded to a Lakers fan site, and apparently I didn’t understand some kind of inside joke, so essentially I looked like an idiot. The only reason I knew I looked like an idiot, was because I got over a thousand responses from other Laker fans. It got to the point where I had to turn off the notifications on the app itself, because my phone was absolutely going off. In context, it was an honest mistake that got completely blown out of proportion, but that’s not what it was circulated as. Even looking back at what I said, I actually see everyone else’s point to where my tweet might not make me sound like the most “informed” Laker fan. Regardless, it's kind of scary how quickly had to how many people writing can spread to in a matter of seconds. I think that can be translated across multiple mediums. What I think of is John Lennon and his music. Even Lennon, himself has admitted during his lifetime, to the fact that the way his music had been severely misinterpreted and at some times completely taken out of context. But on the other hand, there are interviews with him saying that after he went back and listened to some of the songs that he had written, he had realized new meanings that he got from his songs. For example his song How Do You Sleep?, which was a clear message to Paul McCartney after the breakup of The Beatles, he said that he went back and realized that he was actually speaking about himself.

Mia Batansky D#5

     Usually, when I am writing I do not consider spreadability. Now that I did both of the readings though, I have realized that I actually do consider spreadability at times, but subconsciously. I think that spreadability can be a good thing but also a bad thing depending on the situation. For example, tweeting to the public versus writing in a diary. When writing a tweet out to the public, you reach for high spreadability because you want your tweet to be heard and “retweeted.” But when writing in your diary, you do not consider spreadability whatsoever because it is a personal thing that you do not want anyone to read. The reason why I said I sometimes subconsciously do it, is because sometimes, when creating a tweet, Facebook post, or Tumblr picture, I want it to spread even though I am not thinking about it in that moment. Also, another way I taken into consideration the spreadability of my work is when I am writing. For people who want their work published someday, they must consider it. I think that audience and spreadability kind of go hand in hand. The reasoning behind this is because I think it is important to consider your audience, in order to get a connection. If the connection between you and your reader are good, then they are more likely to spread your work around. For me personally, even though I love social media and love seeing what other people and places are posting, I am not huge on having my own thing spread. So one way that I take spreadability into consideration is remembering to put myself on private. Also, I feel like this generation focuses a lot on “likes” along with retweets and comments. I feel like many people focus in on having their work, whether it be writing or pictures, be “liked.” Plus, many people focus on what they can do to make their writing funnier or their pictures cooler. Spreadability is an important aspect in having your writing be looked at. Without it, many people’s writing and pictures would not be able to circulate as much as it can nowadays.