Action for Animals
Bloggers: All AFA members
Description:
This blog is dedicated to all things vegan, vegetarian and animal-friendly. The Whitman Action for Animals blog is a multi-contributor page, open to any club member who wants to post. The posts range from contributor opinions on a number of topics to vegan recipes, and the members work together to create an easy-to-read and interesting blog.
Why:
It was formed to promote AFA at Whitman College and to make the conversations that members have at club meetings available to the Whitman community and beyond.
Time Commitment:
The time commitment for a single poster is very minimal. Hanna Mosenthal, the President of AFA at Whitman, is a regular contributor.
“I try and post at least once a week, but I just post whenever I get the inspiration,” Mosenthal said. “When something in my life happens that makes me think about helping animals or being a vegan, I get inspired to share that with the AFA blog community,” she said.
whitmanafa.wordpress.com
Fernando’s Frolics
Blogger: Fernando Medina
Description:
Fernando’s Frolics is centered on the classes, activities and social interactions Medina experiences at Whitman. Though he started it on his own, Whitman hired him to write blogs specifically about his Whitman experience. It gives prospective students an idea of typical student life and also helps Medina communicate easily with family and friends.
“Blogging is a nice way to let my parents know what’s going on in my life and also a way to let other Whitman students in on my activities,” said Medina.
Process:
For Medina, every blog entry is well thought-out. An outline comes first, and then the actual writing and editing process happens. Since he created his own blog, he was able to control the style and layout of the actual page through a free account at wordpress.com.
Time Commitment:
Essentially, the time commitment is one hour per blog entry. Whitman pays him to produce one substantial entry per week.
fernandowhitman.wordpress.com
A little bear’s search for cheese: part deux
Blogger: Addison Magness
Description:
This blog is a fun and introspective look at food and cooking in the life of a college student. Magness chronicles dishes she makes and that inspire her. Her posts combine considerable writing talent with a sincerely interesting exploration of eating well while at college, a feat seemingly impossible for many living off-campus.
Why:
The blog was started in 2009, and was revamped when Magness studied abroad in Paris last semester. She, like many others, found blogging a great way to keep people at home updated when she went abroad. If nothing else, it gives her something to put on a resume.
“I’ve wanted to be a culinary journalist since I was ten,” said Magness. “My family is all about food and it’s just always been a presence in my life.”
http://addyswwsummer.blogspot.com/
The internet is dead. Long live the Internet!
Blogger: Ben Lerchin
Description:
Lerchin’s blog isn’t so much a web journal or exercise in writing as it is a repository for cool things he finds online. As of late, he has been quoting different scholarly and entertaining articles he finds interesting.
“I guess you could say it’s a mirror of my more oddball interests,” said Lerchin.
He uses Tumblr, a site he favors for the ability to follow and be followed by other bloggers.
Why:
Though interested in digital media since middle school, it wasn’t until his Intermediate New Genre Arts class last year at Whitman that Lerchin found his own niche for blogging, or “reblogging.” The model of reposting other people’s work doesn’t require much effort, but makes it easier to comment on and give context to the material he favors.
“I think Tumblr is a particularly interesting platform in that it encourages sharing and creation,” said Lerchin, “instead of just being a kind of public diary.”
Time Commitment:
For Lerchin, the time commitment is minimal. Since he doesn’t usually produce his own material, it doesn’t take a lot of time or energy to maintain his blog.
Gingerland
Blogger: Samuel Alden
Description:
Alden’s blog is a record of his drawings and comics, and chronicles a mix of professional work and more casual doodles.
Why:
For Alden, blogging started as a way to pass the time at a boring desk job. It quickly became a platform for better and more finished works. For Alden, blogging can take up a fair amount of time, so it is important that his posts have some sort of result, usually in the form of readership.
“If you have a real fetish about huge projects your blog validates your unrelated, irrelevant work,” said Alden.
His blog has also led him to actual employers who saw his art on the internet.
gingerlandcomics.tumblr.com
