Rationale

Surprisingly I have really enjoyed writing this blog, although sometimes I know there could have been other things I added which I just didn't have time to do; it's a really good way to almost log your knowledge and keep a record of it. It has also allowed me to get different points of view and added another side to my knowledge of certain things. I think this would be such an effective way of gathering information (although not always factual) for my dissertation.

I have to say although the blog started off with a few things I didn't really care about although some were just important issues, my blog then evolved into a personality of its own decided by the posts I wrote. Writing this blog has made me more focused on what I actually write, it made me rethink my dissertation subject, as I know doubt I would be able to write in depth about that subject.

Throughout this project I have been reading other blogs and have found them very interesting, it is great to see what other people are passionate about and what drives them. Although I think it could have been more effective if when reading someone else’s post we had put links to similar posts so we could discuss conflicting or similar views or opinions.

Unsurprisingly the post with the most comments was my post on advertising: is to blame for binge drinking? Although we can all see both sides of this argument, many came to the same conclusion that blaming binge drinking on advertising is farcical. Obviously to me and I believe many other people the issues like this and product placement posts are great for dissertations and the comments other people have left are also a great way of getting another point of view. Current views of important issues became apparent when you could see trends emerging between various blogs for example the number of posts on Michael Jackson’s death, Product Placement and Advertising Alcohol.

One of the most intriguing things that has happened to me whilst completing this blog, I have started to read again! I have been buying The Times most weeks and getting whichever recommended read of the week book that is £2.99 with it, I forgot how much I loved reading and it was interesting to write up a review of them, in some way this might help me with my dissertation review. I hope after this blog to continue my renewed love for reading.

From this blog I have taken time out to visit different places, to see a little bit more. When I was in Turkey I went to see Ephesus; one of seven wonders of the ancient world. I wouldn’t have normally gone to see this, but I’m really glad I went to see it as it was fascinating, it was almost overwhelming the size and the excavation they have done on it.

I had no specific format to my blog, each was slightly different, this depended on the time and day I was writing them up. My titles were occasionally well thought out, but sometimes just straight to the point, that meant people could choose to read if they deemed the title interesting enough. I chose my title Differences Challenge Assumptions from the beginning; it was a anonymous quote I found which I thought was quite interesting, as I set out to do different things and to challenge what I normally thought or was interested in. I took a bizarre photograph of a slug on the end of a stick and decided that this might be quite interesting. Bizarre and different was the image I wanted to convey.

Overall, despite this project being slightly time consuming (at times) I have thoroughly enjoyed it and reading other peoples. I hope to continue this blog over the coming year, to read other people’s and to collect my thoughts in an organised way, that I have stored until a later date in case I need them. I hope it will be able to help me collect my thoughts for my dissertation and my independent project. If I could redo this part of my blog I would definately visit more galleries and dedicate more time to writing up about the different artists I had seen and also go and see more films and review them. Hopefully I will be able to fulfill this is the coming year.