WritDM Spring 2013 Proposal

Introduction

Title: WordPress.Com Terminology

Upon starting their focused blogs for NMAC 3108(Online Writing for Digital Media), students might be overwhelmed by the vast number of terms associated with WordPress.com. Students are introduced to a number of different terms, concepts, and options that help them to build a blog from scratch.

In order to succeed in the digital age while maintaining a professional online persona, it is crucial that students understand the definitions of the variety of terms that are used in the process of building a blog on WordPress.com.

Audience

We will target our material to be most pertinent to undergraduate upperclassmen seeking to enter the professional landscape of digital media. Our terminology and articles will have the student in mind that has writing experience, yet needs to tailor their writing style to the conventions of writing for the web. Students nearing graduation and recent graduates seeking to build a professional presence and persona online are among our target audience. There may be a learning curve among our audience in maneuvering social media and blog hosting sites, the focus will aim to the center—students and recent graduates that may use social media and blog hosting sites personally, but not professionally.

Purpose

The purpose of this project is to better equip upper level college students preparing to enter a technology-rich environment. In the digital age, media literacy is no longer optional. The ability to express oneself in a digital format is an invaluable skill that we intend to share with other college students. On this wiki, we hope to present terminology associated with both writing and formatting for the web. The terms presented here will guide students who wish to create a name for themselves in the professional world.

Project Details

The project will be put together by three groups that focus on the terms used in social media, digital writing, and the technical aspects of digital media. Each subpage of the three groups will define and provide examples of terms related to their respective concept.

1. Social Media (Group Leader: Nadine Epperson)
   1. Social Media Don’ts (Nadine Epperson): Prohibited terms in social media.
   2. File Sharing Terms (Kasey Miller): Dropbox, Droplr, Cloud App
   3. Online Presence Terminology (Haley Clarke): Gravitar, widget, Disqus, interactive, credibility
   4. Twitter Vocabulary (Chrissonia McCall): hashtag, follow, favorite, direct message (DM)
2. Writing (Group Leader: Kristin Hanlin)
   1. Digital Writing Don’ts (Kristin Hanlin): Terms describing what not to do in digital writing.
   2. Credibility (Candice Barca): transparency, plagiarism, evidence
   3. Style (Tiory Clark): brevity, audience, medium
   4. Technique (Marian Brewer): Inverted Pyramid, precision, revision, cliché
3. Technical Aspects (Group Leader: Shanna Dixon)
   1. Technical Don’ts (Shanna Dixon): Terminology to avoid.
   2. Formatting (Amy Rehner): HTML, XHTML, Flash, streaming
   3. Graphics (Andrew Clouse): DPI, pixilation, resolution
   4. Structure (Siobahn Fisher): headlines, blurbs, lists
   5. Interactivity (Melissa Grantham): readability, scanability, linking

Timeline

Individual Submission due 3/29/13 by 12 noon

Individual Submission Workshop and Revision 4/1/13

Final Individual Submission due 4/03/13 by 12 noon

Group Submission due 4/05/13 by 12 noon

Group Submission Workshop and Revision 4/12/13

Final Group Discussion and Revision 4/19/13 and 4/25/13

Final Wiki Project due 4/26/13 by 12 noon

Potential References

1. Carrol, Brian. (2010). "Writing for Digital Media". New York: Routledge. Retrieved 14 March 2013.
2. Lucas, Gerald R. (2012). “Writing for Digital Media, Fall 2012”. LitMUSE. Retrieved 14 March 2012.
3. Lynch, Patrick J., Horton, Sarah. (2009). “Web Style Guide Online, 3rd Edition”. Web Style Guide. Retrieved 14 March 2013.