Networked Media Production for Visual Design- myassignmenthelp

Question: Discuss about theNetworked Media Production for Visual Design. Answer: Introduction Visual design deals with the look feel and generally the aesthetics of a site. A good visual design implements different elements, such as images, videos, fonts, and colors to enhance the sites interface( Tselentis, 2012). Visual design is as important as the content itself. For example, in this case, a microblogging site such as Tumblr must take crucial attention to the visual design of the site as it complements the content provided. Before designing the interface of the site, there are several factors to be considered. Firstly, and the most important, is the nature of the content to be displayed. For example, for a site such as Tumblr, the background color and theme should be of a fairly low contrast so that it can bring out an optimal focus of images and videos when they are played. A dull blue color with a contrast of about 40% should be good for the site. The font should be of a higher contrast but not with a large margin difference. Optimally, the foreground should have a con trast of about 65%. This ensures that the content is not swallowed by the background( Tselentis, 2012). Secondly, the target audience plays a very big role in determining the choice and style of the visual design(Krause, 2014). For a micro-blogging site, the target audience focusses on the age bracket 16-45. This age bracket consists of young people to a slightly older generation. Within this generation, sharing of information is of high importance to them. Their joy is to be able to share ideas and thoughts in a comfortable environment that they can easily be attracted to. Designing an interface with no target audience in mind means that the design is done under broad guidelines that might not be cohesive with the clients language. This may result in mismatched priorities and confusion that may end up leading the target audience elsewhere(Vecchio, 2016). Lastly, the visual design is highly dependent on navigation of the site. An easy to use interface is likely to attract customers and make them stay for a long time. For a micro-blogging site, clear buttons, pop ups and color change for clicked links should enhance the interface operation of the site. Creative menu navigation labelling and language with a special focus on clarity is an added advantage. Links and labels should be easy to understand and discover. This will ensure that the user experience is not compromised. Additionally, it is a good practice to use standard language according to the web conventions. For example, clicking the logo of the page should navigate back to the homepage(Levene, 2011). SEO and Promotion To generate income, every site requires persistent traffic flow. However, persistent traffic flow does not come easy, it requires advertisements and promotions in order to inform and to remind customers of the website. Search Engine Optimization allows a website to be strategically positioned in the search engine (Google, Bing) such that when a customer searches for a product or service that is offered by your site, then your site appears on the top list of the search engine( Skinner, 2014). The first step of SEO promotion is to identify the target keywords(ZOLOTARYOVA, 2017). Target keywords are those words or/ and phrases that identifies a particular topic from a web page. Search engines creates most traffic and hence it is imperative to use the right keywords to ensure the website appears in the top pages of the search engine results. In general, keywords help improve the rank of a website in the search engines. For instance, for a micro-blogging site, the keywords may include sharing images and videos, share your story, connect with friends and read about. However, these words and phrases are very common with the numerous social networking sites and blogs in the search engines. Therefore, narrowing down the keyword to be more specific and relatable to the topic is important. For example, using phrases like, find friends around you will allow the sites to be categorized according to location(Varndell, 2015). Moreover, besides SEO promotion, there are other ways of site advertisement that can be used to generate traffic. For instance, according to (Shivar, 2017) you can accomplish this by using social media platforms that provide links to your website, using advertisement platforms like YouTube where Google allows placement of ads in various videos, and the use of banner ads where you advertise your website on other websites. Content Development The content development defines the purpose of the website. This is inception stage in which the idea was born. For a micro-blogging site, the content will include but not limited to elements such as texts, images and videos. The posts will be updated as regularly as the bloggers upload them to the website. This will ensure the top posts relate to the recent happenings and new information is given priority(Chad Barr and Alan Weiss, 2012). Additionally, the site would lose the customers if the customers view the same information every time they log in. The content will last in accordance to the users preferences. By creating a queue, the user is able to stretch their content to hours or even days. Moreover, users can assist the audience in finding their content by tagging them. The audience can also choose the content that will appear on their timeline by choosing from a category of items. That way, the content is not only displayed on the site but more specifically the target audience are notified of a new post. Most of the content produces will contain pictures and a text caption(Roy Strauss, Patrick Hogan, 2013). However, this does not create a provision for limitations. The language used will be left to the discretion of the user. The users will choose their style and language according to their content and specific target audience. As the micro-blogging site aims at connecting bloggers with audiences, each user will tailor their content to fit their target audience. The platform allows bloggers to share small snippets of information. Therefore, user will be advised to keep their content short and precise. Beside the content format and style, the site has a team of content moderators that review the uploaded content and flags any inappropriate information. Content moderation is the process of establishing a set of rules that determine what is acceptable and that which is not(O'Donovan, 2016). There are different ways to achieve content moderation. These are as follows. Firstly is the pro-active moderation. Pro-active moderation is used in cases of extreme user generated graphic content. The content is removed by an automatic moderator system before it hits online. Content such as terrorism and child sexual abuse falls under this category of extreme user generated content. However, there are setbacks to using this type of moderation. The users can become frustrated and confused waiting for their content to appear online. This causes the communication to be interrupted along the way and hence the site runs the risk of losing customers(Hopkins, 2017). Secondly, is the post-active moderation where inappropriate user generated content is allowed to be published on the site. A team of site moderators, later reviews the content and determines if the content has crossed the threshold established to what content breaks the rule. If the content is deemed inappropriate, it is removed or reported immediately. Post-active moderation allow moderation to be done in comparison with the activities happening in the world(O'Donovan, 2016). Lastly, there is reactive moderation. Reactive moderation lets users report content that they perceive to be inappropriate. After receiving the complaint, the team of moderators review the offensive content and take appropriate action. While this method is most effective one, it also gets the most false positive. Users may report a post that does not contain any extreme graphic content but because they disagree with the user who posted it. Additionally, this method may not be all effective in cases where immediate action is to be taken. For example, in cases where safety is critical, or a brands reputation is at stake. This is because this method maybe slow and great damage could be done between the time of reporting and the time of removing the content(O'Donovan, 2016). Reflection The micro-blogging idea is one of some revolutionary ideas. In this era where there is freedom of speech and the need to share your thoughts, it is recommendable to have a platform that will facilitate and host sharing of thoughts and ideas across the globe. With proper visual design and, the web page can be very attractive to keep customers glued to the site. The SEO promotion and the type of content published will go hand in hand to provide the best blogging experience for all users. However, there are improvements that require to be considered that would create a setback to the excellence of this website. These limitations are as follows. To start with, there are many blogging sites and social media networking platforms that offer similar services to this proposed web platform. Therefore, the SEO promotion may not be as effective, because the keywords chosen are also highly likely to be taken by other hundreds of sites that provide similar services. The remediation to this problem is to provide other means of advertisements that will cover the loss suffered by SEO promotion. Another setback is that of the visual design. While it is not possible for the design to consider all age brackets, all people from different types of life (those with different disabilities), the site is going to only be tailored to meet the needs of the highest percentage of target audience. While this might be the only way to handle it, it leaves an unexplored market niche. The remediation is to create more tools of viewing information, that will include as many people as possible. References Skinner, S. (2014, April 7). Use Paid Promotion to Refine Your SEO and Make Your Visitors More Valuable. Retrieved from https://moz.com: https://moz.com/blog/using-paid-promotion-to-enhance-seo Tselentis, J. (2012). The Graphic Designer's Electronic-Media Manual: How to Apply Visual Design Principles to Engage Users on Desktop, Tablet, and Mobile Websites. Essex: Rockport Publishers. Chad Barr and Alan Weiss. (2012, August 22). How to Create Great Content for Your Website . Retrieved from https://www.entrepreneur.com: https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/223752 Hopkins, N. (2017, May 21). Facebook moderators: a quick guide to their job and its challenges. Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com: https://www.theguardian.com/news/2017/may/21/facebook-moderators-quick-guide-job-challenges Krause, J. (2014). Visual Design: Ninety-five things you need to know. Told in Helvetica and Dingbats. New Riders. Levene, M. (2011). An Introduction to Search Engines and Web Navigation. New York: John Wiley Sons. O'Donovan, D. (2016, August 9). 4 types of content moderation every social media manager should know about. Retrieved from https://blog.crispthinking.com: https://blog.crispthinking.com/4-kinds-of-content-moderation-every-social-media-manager-should-know-in-2016 Roy Strauss, Patrick Hogan. (2013). Developing Effective Websites: A Project Manager's Guide. Oxford: Taylor Francis. Shivar, N. (2017, April 3). EZ Website Promotion. Retrieved from https://www.shivarweb.com: https://www.shivarweb.com/2644/how-to-advertise-your-website-online/ Varndell, D. (2015). Learn Search Engine Optimization: Beginners Guide to SEO. EZ Website Promotion. Vecchio, S. (2016, August 18). Designing for a Target Audience. Retrieved from https://blog.catmedia.com: https://blog.catmedia.com/designing-for-a-target-audience ZOLOTARYOVA, E. (2017, May 22). 11 Essential SEO Promotion Stages For Your Website. Retrieved from https://curatti.com: https://curatti.com/essential-seo-promotion-stages/