Critical Evaluation

The whole idea behind our group blog was to review podcasts that most people wouldn't have heard of. We intended to find alternative podcasts and give them so exposure, and point people into their direction. The audience we had in mind was students around our age, as they would be most internet knowledgeable and most likely to listen to podcasts.

The actual process of posting a blog was very time-consuming. First I would have to find a podcast worthy of reviewing, then I would have to listen to through, then write the review, normally having to listen back in order to avoid inaccuracy. One of the podcasts I listened to was two hours long, I did listen to all of it as I felt it would mean a fair review. Looking back at my posts I would like to have included a few more links, perhaps to other podcasts of a similar genre to the one I was reviewing. Also maybe an extra picture or two, as it did look quite text heavy at points. However it is difficult to find pictures for podcasts, as there is no real need for them.

The blog site itself looked good, the banner and design was pleasing on the eye and wasn't too heavy. With the amount of posts we ended up with, it would definitely be worthwhile adding sections at the top of the page, to find the podcast you're looking for. Also it would have been better to have just a sample of the review on the main page and a link to the rest of it, as there was a content on the site toward the end. Overall I think the experience was good and has definitely left me confident in my own blogging abilities. The group blog worked well, and with a few improvements would have been even better.

Group Blog Promotion

I was part of the infamous Bedroom Bandits, reviewing the good, the bad and the ugly of the podcast world. In order to promote our blog, it is key to target our audience, mainly students who enjoy listening to podcasts. Social Networking sites are very important, as most students have a myspace/facebook/whatever else there is. So perhaps creating our own page, and linking to whatever ones we feel are worthy of our audience's attention. If they have own myspace pages, they could be included in our top friends. Another way of promoting our blog would be to find forums or message boards dedicated to the podcast world. By offering our constructive opinion on relevant topics, we could again link back to our blog through a signature, so not to be too obvious. Dedicated, independent podcast sites could also be worth a visit, again try and set up some affiliation and link to each other's web pages.

Lest we forget, there is a world outside of the internet. Promotion in the real world could be useful as well. Even by just adding the URL of the blog on letterheads, or anywhere else that would be applicable, will generate some interest. Word of mouth is a forgotten tool, telling friends to check out your blog can lead them to telling their friends, who tell their friends, until the whole world is reading your blog.