PARTICULAR INTEREST/HOBBY BLOGS

About Navigation Bars

All About Design

Content

Structure

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Linguistics

By: Kristen Long

EASE OF NAVIGATION IS KEY

The easier it is to navigate around a blog site, the better. Navigation bars make surfing the page possible and eliminates the hassle and confusion of readers. One can deviate from the homepage and view pictures, specific stories, etc. and quickly find their way back to the homepage. Navigation bars are typically easy to find, usually under the title of the blog and listed across the page horizontally. Examples of navigation bars can be found on these hobby blogs.

CONTENTMany blogs geared toward a particular hobby or interest

have a list somewhere on the homepage full of links directing readers to specific project information. For example, this Lego builders blog has a list of dates on the right side that link to what the author built at that time and the crafts blog has a list of individual crafts that a reader can click on and obtain more information about.

Content on these blogs are typically personal accounts of the authors’ activities and the time spent doing their hobby. The writing is most often informal, as it is usually personal, and geared toward an audience with the same interest seeking more information about it.

The authors do not usually cite specific sources in their text but they do, however, occasionally include links to location information if an event is taking place or links to contact information. If the blog allows public submission posts then a link to that individual’s page is usually attached to that post to give credit and allow readers to visit their pages.

Credit given to a post made by someone other than the blog authors

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NAVIGATION BAR EXAMPLES

Brian and Ashley’s Hiking Blog

Occasionally Crafty

Plastic Models

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DESIGNHobby blogs are full of visuals, details, and

creative headings and layouts. The visuals are most often pictures of whatever particular interest the blog is centered on. Hobby blogs encapsulate bold titles that incorporate the subject of the text. The blog about hiking has a title above a large mountain landscape and the Lego builders blog has a title with letters seemingly made out of the colorful plastic blocks we are all familiar with. The texts utilize color in a way that either grabs readers’ attention, matches the layout colors, or stands out from the posting background. Many of these blogs include specific instructions so that others can partake in the hobbies as well. Because of this, it is important to use a font and color that would not irritate or cause eye strain to a reader spending copious amounts of time following their instructions.

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LINGUISTIC FEATURES

Blogs about a hobby do not contain jargon or have an academic or formal sense to them.

Writers of these blogs typically use first person in an effort to journal about their specific experiences and share them with others.

The verbs are generally active as these blogs are always about doing something: model building, crafts, hiking, or fishing.

The writers’ language helps with the purpose because the purpose of these blogs is to inform and also attempt to teach or show others how to do something. Portraying passion for a hobby while keeping a friendly informative tone is important for the purpose of piquing the interest of readers.

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STRUCTURE

These blogs, in a way, have a clear introduction that can be found on an “About” page that tells readers about the author and what to expect on the blog. These pages can be found from the navigation bar.

There are not parts of the text that can be differentiated from other parts. Most of the posts contain long explanatory sentences that build into long paragraphs. Hobby blogs are not typically “quick reads” and readers are meant to spend time surfing, reading, learning, and enjoying the information about a topic of their interest.

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EXAMPLE “ABOUT” PAGES

About Brian and Ashley, the hikers

About Mariann Asanuma, the Lego artist

About Jeroen, the plastic modeler

About Valerie and Laura, the craft sisters

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SIMILARITIES

Hobby/particular interest blogs are quite similar in the way that the authors organize their content as well as present it to viewers. Hobby blogs are full of pictures, written with the intent to inform, and have relatively simple yet creative designs. These blogs contain quick and easy-to-use navigation bars, friendly but helpful language, and some sort of archive of previous posts in a list to help readers find a particular craft they want to duplicate or specifics about an event.

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PICTURE SOURCESMLA

"Linguistics." Clare College Cambridge. Clare College Cambridge, n.d. Web. 7 Feb 2014. <http://www.clare.cam.ac.uk/Linguistics/>.

"Structural Engineering & Construction Cost Analysis." Loss Solutions Group. Loss Solutions Group, LLC, n.d. Web. 7 Feb 2014.<http://www.losssolutionsgroup.com/?page_id=23>.

Asanuma, Mariann. "Model Building Secrets." Model Building Secrets From the Masters. Wordpress. Web. 8 Feb 2014. <http://modelbuildingsecrets.wordpress.com/>.

"Occasionally Crafty." Occasionally Craft: Life, Crafts, and More. Blogger, n.d. Web. 7 Feb 2014. <http://www.occasionallycrafty.com/>.

"Brian and Ashle'ys Hiking Blog." Brian and Ashle'ys Hiking Blog. Blogspot, n.d. Web. 8 Feb 2014. <http://abhiking.blogspot.com/>.