Personalizing Your Own Website

The main topic covered in class two weeks ago was regarding the Hololens and Mixed Reality. Hololens is a virtual reality headset with transparent lenses for an augmented reality experience. According to Microsoft, HoloLens is a “fully untethered, see-through holographic computer.” Mixed reality, sometimes referred to as hybrid reality, is the merging of real and virtual worlds to produce new environments and visualizations where physical and digital objects co-exist and interact in real time. Both the HoloLens and Mixed Reality headsets are part of the same "Mixed Reality" platform, but there are plenty of differences as well as similarities to be aware of. HoloLens is an AR headset, whereas all the new Mixed Reality headsets are VR.

The past week in class I presented my app smackdown. The app I chose to present for my app smackdown was Speech Sounds. Speech Sounds is a 10 dollar app used to help speech student identify different sounds. This is important in the field of speech in order to distinguish one speech disorder from another. After completing this presentation, professor Calderwood addressed different softwares that could be used to create a website for our final project. The platforms he demonstrated were, Weebly and Wix. Both Weebly and Wix are easy ways to create a website. They offer tools to add pages, embed links/ videos, and create the ideal website for you. To conclude class this week, my peers and I were given example websites to analyze. We had to come up with 4 pros and 4 cons of the website and then explain what the creator of the site did well and what needed to be worked on. The website I was given was owned by Sarah Chang. Chang’s site was organized and easy to navigate, however, the fonts were either way to small or too large and she added an unnecessary amount of words to many of her descriptions. Overall, her website was appealing to the eye and designed fairly well.

After reviewing the criteria expected for my final project, I chose to read the article, Where to Begin With Building a Website by Brady Krien. This article goes in depth about the steps necessary to create your own website. At the beginning of the article, Krien points out that a website is a great way to brand yourself and networking. Kriens first step to create a website is to choose a hosting service and create a domain name. Some hosting services Krien recommends are, Wordpress, Squarespace, Weebly, and Wix. My hosting service would be Weebly because I find it easy to navigate. Krien states that your domain name is usually some form of your name followed by “.net.” My chosen domain name will be samanthaflaherty.weebly.com. Krien adds that once you have completed these next two steps you must start adding pages and content. As stated, “ you need to familiarize yourself with creative commons license before you start posting images straight from a Google Image search.” Lastly Krien states that once you create your website you must consistently update it as necessary. Krien adds that the hardest part of creating a website is not when you are actually creating it, but to continuously update it and stay active.

When creating a website you should be familiar with the website builder you decide to use. The article, Knowing the tools you are using: Which website builder is best for your needs, thoroughly explains several website builders and their perks. One of the website builders that has attracted the most attention in recent years is, Squarespace. The platform offers building tools for both personal and business websites. Squarespace is most regarded for its ease-of-use, as users require no coding skills to build sites with it.  One of the most popular website builders at the moment, Wix offers users the ability to create a basic site for free or to upgrade to paid versions for additional features. Wix also offers online stores among its premium features, making it a great platform for both personal and business site building Another website addressed was, Weebly. Like Wix, Weebly offers both free and paid versions, with features such as online selling and membership registration included in higher-end pricing packages. Weebly offers fewer customization options than some other website builders, which is why it is most popular for creating personal websites. The upside, however, is that Weebly is among the easiest web builders to use. If your site is more focused on content, Weebly and Wix may be better for you.

After researching in depth, I have found that Weebly is the best website builder for me personally. As explained in the video, How to Create a Website with Weebly, Weebly is easy to navigate and design. The basics of Weebly entail, deciding on a focus, choosing a theme for your site, and a subdomain. After that you can design it however you please. The perk of Weebly is that you can easily embed links and drag anything from the side bar onto your website. You must keep in mind that anything with a lightning bolt next to it must be purchased. Personally, I will stick to the basic components of Weebly to complete my final project for my digital portfolio course!

As a college student it is essential to keep a clean record on social media. As explained in chapter 5 of, Light Bright & Polite For Parents & Teens, there are numerous networking sites that can help you shine online. Some of these networks include, LinkedIn, Google Plus, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Youtube. LinkedIn is a social networking site designed specifically for the business community. The goal of the site is to allow members to establish and document networks of people they know and trust professionally. LinkedIn can help find job opportunities and make connections with people in your field. Google Plus is owned by google, so everything posted on Google Plus has first priority to be seen on google or google images. By creating a Google Plus account you increase the chances of getting discovered. Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram can also help create a good name for yourself and make you stand out. It is crucial to post responsibly and professionally, as well as write a brief biography about yourself. Along with Google Plus, Youtube is also owned by Google. This is why youtube videos are always the first videos to pop up on google. This is a great tip to take advantage of to help you shine on social media as well!

Chapter 10 of, lol...OMG talks about your digital citizenship. It explains how important it is to make a good name for yourself. This chapter also explains how the internet is only as bad or good as you make you. You are in control of every decision you make online and you are the judge of how you want to portray yourself. Matt Ivester, the author of this book displays ten tests to help you judge your actions and make better decisions on your own. The tests were, The Golden Rule, The Golden Rule 2.0, The Laws and Policies Test, The Everybody Test, The Offline Test, The Real Name Test, The Emotional Test, The Whole World test, and the, "Get It?" Test. The final test is called Your Test. This test is my favorite of them all because it makes you think of you and your actions the most. As stated, "no one can tell you how to be a good digital citizen, but they're are several tests that might help you decide whether the behavior that you engage in online is consistent with your own values."

The final chapter of lol...OMG, chapter 11, talks about the future of reputations. It states that, " the aim of this book has been to turn you into a conscious creator of content." Ivester implies that you must always keep your guard up and be smart online. He gave an example of a person who used the website, Airbnb. Airbnb is a site where people rent out their houses as if they were a hotel. The person who owned the house claimed that, the visitors smashed a hole through a locked closet door, and stole a passport, cash, credit card, and golden jewelry. You never truly know who you are interacting with. Moral of the story is that you must always be cautious of the decisions you are making, wether its online or not.