Web Presence Creation
Introduction

The purpose of this report is contributed to create an online or web presence utilizing the web 2.0 platform and to outline the choices made in this creation and its justification. The theme of my web presence is photography as my interest which is highlighted as The Artistic Lens in online platform. This has been a long term motive to establish a place where young budding non-professional photographers can visit and share their work.Web presence refers to establishing existence of an individual, professional or corporate on world wide web. This can be done through a website, blog, online advertisement, etc. Thus, to develop an online identity it is important to decide on the content and where to post and what social context can be linked to create a successful internet presence.

Exegesis

To develop my online presence, identify, and self-expression I have chosen WordPress blog as my central node as for my main website. The reason to choose WordPress is because it offers a free software that can be used by any internet user to create traditional website, blog and allow to update it(Yang et al., 2016). Also,I have a moderate experience in using the Word press to create basic websites and link with web pages during my course and have some experience of using Blogger. Thus, this blogging platform would give me a chance to sharpen my creativity skills. At the same time, I find it to be much easier to use in creating blogs and web page using some of its featured photos, free layouts, colors using light green, blue and light brown that provide materialistic look as well as reflects nature (land and water). Thus, my blog under the name of The Artistic Lens was made on the WordPress. This blog was set up to link other individual with interest in photography, link the artists’ work and galleries. The blog has posts related to type of photography interests such as nature, wildlife, places and thoughts behind this creative outlook. It also posts my work and my reasons to get inspired by the field of photography.Due to its customize feature, I have kept modified the header image and changed background but kept the overall layout simple so make the information easier for the user to navigate and allow me to engage the readers with my posts and visual content. I have also customized my theme for the template to implement widgets that make the content enjoyable for the site visitors. The contributing nodes are also linked on the blog page. In addition to this, word press does not require the user to have detailed knowledge about coding(Sabin-Wilson, 2011). As my context is text based and require linking with media content such as images the blog is a preferred choice.

The contributing nodes that I have chosen for are Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest and YouTube. Facebook is a popular social media site that facilitates interactions, exchange information, self –expression, generate content andenable individuals to join communities based on similar interests and hobbies through social networking (Lowenthal et al., 2016). The use of Facebook would help to develop a broader scope for discussion, help me connect with other individuals from different locations, identify communities with similar interests and enhance engagement of the social site members towards my blog. Also, I am an active social network user so I deliberately choose Facebook to broaden the scope of online communication with other Facebook users. It also resembles form of microblogging where I can describe my theme content through my current status to be visible publically. The posts can be an indication of my interests and awareness about my blog to draw them towards my central mode. Thus, this social media site can also be utilized to create a continuous presence to keep my blog fresh and updated with interesting content and posts. And it can also be helpful in finding and connecting with individual that has similar professional interest and experience to guide in this field to pursue my career.

I have also chosen Instagram as my supporting node to enhance the reader experience with visual feel. Instagram allow uploading and storing pictures. The recent pictures are featured in the feed to keep the blog content updated and gives a refreshing look. As the Instagram support mobile interface, the pictures captured via mobile phones can be easily uploaded and shared with viewers. Thus, it will allow me to insert and link my Instagram picture to be added to my blog post. This linking would support in establishing my online presence by attracting other users to my blog and social media account. It also provides one link to promote that can be attached with my blog to increase my web presence (Stuart et al., 2017).

The choice for Pinterest was to fulfill the purpose to develop connection of site or app users with for each post of photographs and pinned images that attract the individuals towards the photography posts. As Pinterest allow the site users to view, share, store and upload images and users can pin the images which is a form of bookmarks it is a preferred choice. Here, the content can be categories through use of key words for search. The visual bookmarks or pinned by other users in my photographs posts can also help me in connecting with the interested users. The posts can provide with better understanding the passion of photography and to describe the abstract locations, unique picture of natures or natural view and love for wildlife. Pinterest would be useful to showcase my motivation and passion for photography.

YouTube is also considered to a supporting node for the central node.It is a distribution channel and medium for file sharing (Shifman, 2012).This platform will be useful in distributing the awareness of my blog overview and showcase some of my photography works. It will also be helpful in describing the blog contents and my inspiration towards photography. It will facilitate discussion from the viewers of my videos and their comments will provide an insight about the videos or my blog for further improvements. As my blog would discuss about photography the visual representation and videos will contribute in enhancing the viewers experience and keep them engaged with my content. Also, the YouTube provide the option to the users to subscribe to my videos which is also useful in developing web presence using this platform.

Conclusion

Thus, to create web presence I have utilized WordPress as main node along with different platforms such as social media sites and YouTube medium to take advantages of the different features of each of these contributing modes which I was well aware and has some experience of using it. The customized WordPress designs and themes provide unique perspective to The Artistic Lens blog which can be optimized for better performance in building wed presence for my specific interest of photography. The chosen contributing modes mediums also supports a participatory culture from individual with similar interests which can be assist in learning new knowledge and discover new photography trends by collaboration with global professional and hobbyists. The social media platform provides more likes and attention from users and this larger audience for my blog content will be helpful to stimulate my web presence.

References

Lowenthal, P. R., Dunlap, J. C., &Stitson, P. (2016). Creating an intentional web presence: Strategies for every educational technology professional. TechTrends, 60(4), 320-329.

Sabin-Wilson, L. (2011). WordPress for dummies. US: John Wiley & Sons.

Shifman, L. (2012). An anatomy of a YouTube meme. New media & society, 14(2), 187-203.

Stuart, E., Stuart, D., &Thelwall, M. (2017). An investigation of the online presence of UK universities on Instagram. Online Information Review, 41(5), 582-597.

Yang, J. C., Quadir, B., Chen, N. S., & Miao, Q. (2016). Effects of online presence on learning performance in a blog-based online course. The Internet and Higher Education, 30, 11-20.