Seminar Reflection Blog post deep analysis LOL

Seminar Reflection:

This time the seminar was about what makes an engaging blog post and it was very very fun.

Starting with the leaders they did a relatively good job of managing students’ speaking chances, what they did the best was their preparation for this seminar not only did they make a PPT they also explored different examples of Blog posts for us to discussed, the entire seminar had a clear time line and organization.

Now moving onto our discussion I want to focus on 1 main point that was most memorable for me which was: Should the blog writer write what the audience want to see or their own thoughts. The majority of the class was in favor of “expressing your own thought” so I thought it would be fun to go the opposite direction and I was right, here are some interesting things we talked about!

1. 1. The Mr beast: It began with Terry and I was arguing over which side is more important and he brought up an example of Mr Beast, he suggests that Mr Beast’s unique style of content (destroying cars and giving away a ton of money) is what made him so popular therefore supporting the idea of ‘expressing yourself’ is the better way, after hearing that I responded that Mr Beast’s earliest style of content wasn’t like this at all, he started as making Minecraft compilations and then committed to his philanthropic entertainment style, after learning the majority of audience likes these kinds of videos he continued to invest more money into these videos, those videos got more attention and he made more money so he made crazier videos so on and so on until it became a loop of making more and more money. The main point is that the videos Mr Beast or most other content creators make is to fit what the majority wants to see cause at the end of the day even if they do try to make something really personal to them, it won’t nearly as well as making what interested the vast majority of people.
3. 2. Artwork: We also talked about paintings and artists, another point Terry talked about regarding the same topic mentioned above is the example of the Mona Lisa, he says a very compelling point that there could be hundreds of thousands of copies of the famous painting but they won’t sell nearly as well because there’s only very few original copies of it left, the value of these works that involves writings as well comes from its originality.
4. My response:
5. These works’ value comes down to what the people think of it, people not only discussed Da vinci’s use of technique like sfumato but also that mysterious smile that the woman had, after it was stolen from the Louvre museum the painting’s popularity grew even more until “professional art critiques”  determines it’s worth based off of supply and demand. The painting lost it’s original purpose and instead became a symbol for wealth and class if you got your hands on it, the painting’s original purpose didn’t matter as it became more and more popular everyone knew who painted it but yet no one really questioned how was it actually different from a regular painting by a high schooler, one could argue both art works are unique and expressive in their own way yet why is one much higher in value than the other? If you put The Mona Lisa and a cute puppy painting in front of a toddler, the toddler is probably more likely to choose the puppy painting over the Mona Lisa (another point we discussed)
6. At the end of the day, these works’ value derives from the general public’s opinions and shared views on the painting, worth is no longer solely about which looks better, but rather which side is more socially agreed upon by the general public that one is better than the other.
7. Of course it’s true that the artist’s refined and incredible abilities, also the artist’s expression of emotion may cause the work to seem more valuable, but at the end of the day no matter how deep of a feeling you may experience while you are painting, writing, sculpting your work, if the public doesn’t like it, it doesn’t help you in almost any way, the main reason behind why I say this is because although these artists (writers I guess could also be called an Artist) say stuff like: “Oh it is to express my inner self and past traumas” or “these red dotes on a giant white canvas symbolizes my loneliness….. blah blah blah” all that kind of explanation as to why they made this work, but we all know that they want to get attention from people, they want to be seen, they want their ‘Big Breakthrough’ in this twisted world of Art, that is the only way they can make a living ever since they chose the path of being an artist, by getting that recognition and approval of the public and art experts, your works will automatically seem incredibly deep and valuable even if you just take a dump on a white canvas (a little exaggerated….LOL).

This is the true meaning behind why it’s more important to catch the attention of the vast majority over self expression, it’s no longer about sentimental values the painting may have but about the life or death of an artist, to all aspiring artists ask yourself this: Would strangers, teachers, even your friends really give a ‘dime’ when you write about: My feelings about the latest news; or would they be more inclined to watch something like:  We’re about to get bombed!!! (These titles also connect to the clickbait point I talked about in what makes an engaging blog post)

In conclusion, what makes an engaging blog post is a piece of writing that captures what the audience wants to see and present it in a way that interests the mast majority.

(I now realized that my points could be more well organized but I don’t really have much time so Sorry for this mess of a reflection)

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