Steve's real actual last name is Molkington, but he thought Molks would be easier to remember. He started out as an IT professional and ended up becoming an entertainment blogger because he loved TV and wanted to do something different. Blogging isn't his sole job though because he hasn't got to the stage where he can earn a living simply from that.
It was interesting hearing what Steve had to say about branding. He said that you can control your brand and make it work for you. We can start doing that now through our blogs and twitter accounts. If we present ourselves well it will help us get a job in the future. We have the opportunity to write what we want and using our brand can make us more employable. We can also make contacts now who will be helpful for our careers.
Blogging is becoming more important too, though it is still young. It allows you to connect with certain online subcultures in an international market. Your area of interest could be fashion or tennis or pop music and if you can make it so people will come to your blog to know more about that area of interest, it is a very good thing. If you work on you writing for your area of interest then you will develop your skills and improve as a writer. Getting lots of views on your blog is not an overnight thing either, it takes time to build publicity.
He spoke about Mia Freedman as an example of a successful blogger. She had worked in magazines and on television before she started http://www.mamamia.com.au/ in 2007. She now employs twenty people and receives 900,000 unique views a month. Mamamia covers everything "from pop culture, politics, body image, food, motherhood, feminism to fashion and celebrity."
Twitter is also something that can help you. For example, you can directly connect with and question a public figure or celebrity. They may not reply, but they could choose to, and this is a new possibility because ordinary people didn't used to have that kind of access. It's especially useful for someone like Steve, as an entertainment blogger.
This was a conversational and informative lecture which had the added interest of being delivered by someone who is a blogger themselves. It was great to hear his opinions, perspectives and advice on forms of new media, such as blogging and twitter. I'll have to keep what he said about branding and creating the right content in mind because it will definitely be useful in future as a way of showing capability to possible employers.
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As this was the last lecture, I will also reflect on this course. I took this course because I thought it would be interesting, but it wasn't my main area of study. However, it turned out to be my favourite course this semester and I have decided to have one of my majors in this area. It has been an interesting, informative and useful course, which I'm certainly glad I took.
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