To get the attention of readers is often a challenge that most online journalists must face in order to get a frequent following. To get them to read the whole article is even more complex.

If you made it this far, then I’m in good shape according to Michael Agger in his Slate post that has tips for online writers. Briefly, what I gathered is that you should use bulleted lists, explanatory subheads and not to make the user scroll too much.

It is proven that readers skim anything that is online and overlook anything that looks like a banner or an ad. It is also confirmed through studies that a reader will comprehend the page in an “F” pattern, where their attention gets smaller as they get to the bottom of the page (if they even reach the bottom).

In last year’s post by Bryan Eisenberg on Grokdotcom.com, he argues that people actually read more thoroughly online than they do in print. Eisenberg claims that people read an average of 77 percent of a story online, 62 percent in broadsheets and 57 percent in tabloids.

He said that about half of readers online are methodical, while the other half scan.

I would have to agree with the latter, but I believe that people read more of a story if it is a tangible copy.

I am one of those readers that read methodically depending on what it is. If it is a news article I will more than likely read it word-for-word to determine if I should continue to the conclusion. In a story that is from ESPN.com or Digg.com, I would more than likely look at the subhead or scan.

So in conclusion, I would like to say that you are a very methodic reader.

While attempting to create my new Web site, I came across some pretty tricky development issues.

I am currently using Kompozer to design my site and hit some bumps in the road. I thought that the program might just be limited to what my idea was so I tried Dreamweaver instead and found that the programs weren’t the problem at all. The things I wanted to do were just too complex.

One of the things I wanted to accomplish was shadowing and layovers with pictures (one picture overlapping another). I found out that in order to do this, I had to go into Photoshop and create a piece of art and then insert it as an image. Hard enough learning how to figure out how to publish a file to the internet, right?

Here are some tips and some feedback from some people as well. Did I mention the author used tag cloud? Smartwebby.com is another site that could have potentially assisted me in my design needs if in fact I knew what I was doing with flash. The site has shadowing tips as well as different shapes that you can insert images into. But, I’m still working my way up from the bottom.

What I’ve learned from writing this blog is that, this stuff is way harder than I thought.

When learning new Web tools as far as design goes, I was skeptical at first. This was about a year ago, but I was still a pupil of Susan’s and this was in journalism 321 a.k.a. Public Affairs Reporting.

I was probably the most perplexed student in the lab. The unsettling feeling set in when deciding where to put images, what colors to use and what text should be implemented.

However, I was really intrigued because Dreamweaver allowed you to do so many things with your page. Web design permits you to be creative and is out there for millions to see on the triple W.

I also like the different tools you can use to add flash images or video to get the viewer of the site more involved. Like the Web pages seen in class, coolhomepages.com has some great examples of sites that use flash, color schemes, educational layouts and it also has a “sites of the week” section.

Widgets are also appealing when creating a Web page that can let your visitors, for example, see what the weather is like, what time it is or how many people have visited the site. Widgetbox.com has tens of thousands of widgets that let people get games, countdowns and a lot more.

Web design shouldn’t create anxiety, but rather creativity.

There is a lot that professional journalists can learn from citizen journalists, or rather bloggers.

Most journalists tend to lack personality in news and sports stories because the traditional way to cover a story is to report the facts. It is apparent however, that the new way of reporting is through “personality journalism,” which is how most blogs are written. As many blogs are highly personable, it allows the reader to connect with the writer by revealing details like their political outlooks and maybe even a little about their personal life.

Former Washington Post columnist Bob Levey urges that our nation demand the traditional method rather than what he calls “American Idol reporting.” Levey uses examples from the presidential campaign coverage and how the media delivered coverage through “gossip and personality.” As this technique could be a risk, this might be a practice that traditional media could incorporate into its articles for the sake of progression and change.

Bloggers are writing stories that are continuously engaging its readers by allowing them to ask questions or add some perspective to them. Journalists do have online sites, but it is the blogs that seem to be getting the most comments and perceptions. By changing the overall tone of journalism, even traditional journalism, it just might allow for a better read and an enhanced relationship with the readers.

Another point that blogger Shel Israel makes in his blog is that his fact checkers are his readers and are the ones that change his story. Israel makes the point that in an earlier period his editor would claim this role, but he gives the impression that he’d rather have his readers give the feedback.

As I look at the Internet and see all of the privacy issues that it contains, I wonder what it will be like in say 10 years.

With all of the teenage (or even pre-teenage girls) posting false ages on Facebook and Myspace, I get apprehensive when I think about the Internet when I have kids. Even as funny as this SNL skit is, it is no laughing matter because that’s basically Facebook and Myspace in a nutshell.

I have used Myspace before and looking back about four years ago, I am shocked to see how naïve some of my friends and I were about posting things. We’d put up pictures of the crazy night before and weren’t really conscious about all of the people that could easily track us if they wanted to.

There are different methods of being safe about it though, and this site lists 12 various methods of doing so. Personally, my favorite is “do not reply to spammers.”

I get spam in my e-mail all the time and sometimes wonder what people are doing with their lives by sending spam. I have one in my inbox right now that reads: Hey Stan look at me!

All I know is that in 10 years the Internet is going to be 100 times as busy as it is right now, and I honestly don’t see how anybody can police it.

Sports is a big part of my life, and people all over the world are provided with more tools to take their sports fanatics to a whole new level.

People are creating forums or communities online in order to find out how their favorite team is doing or to simply interact with other sports fans. Coaches online now have the capability of managing his or her teams on sites such as sportspassion.com, which can make coaching much easier in terms of managing their players.

Sports forums are also a good way for people to simply share their opinions and have a voice on a topic that they might not get to in their tangible lives.

For example, I am an Orlando Magic fan so I hardly have the chance to watch live games or get to meet any of the players or coaches. On the team’s site there is a limited-time sub-forum that allows you to ask the head coach a question.

We discussed early in class that online communities are soliditary yet also intreractive. The interaction is essential if the community is going to be able to provide knowledge sharing and creation, according to Communibuild.com.

If people are at least interacting online in a fashion that produces creative thought process then I consider it to be useful to society. Our world is heading toward an online frenzy anyway.

Internet failure in the United States today would be disastrous, but maybe not so much for print as much. Journalists gather a lot of information from different sites on the internet when reporting. Just look at the Orion this week and see how many times a Web site was referred to.

We use the Internet a lot more than people think. When coming up with story ideas, looking for different trends (especially with statistics) and even basic journalistic tools like looking a word up on Dictionary.com.

All of the backpack journalists/mojos would be out of a job as well because they wouldn’t have the necessary tools to do their reporting on the road. They wouldn’t be able to research something quickly and have that luxury of accessibility. They actually would have no purpose at all because there would be no place to post their stories. So much for 3 stories by 2 p.m.

The Internet is a huge means for communication today. No more Internet no more e-mails, blogs, Myspace or constant narcissism that seems to be going on in the world of Twitter. People would have to remember how to handwrite letters and regain the familiarity with licking the flavorful envelope shut in order to communicate.

There would be more of a professional feeling that corresponded with journalism as there would be no more bloggers, thus making Keen a happy man. There would also be more privacy in this sense because people wouldn’t be posting their life stories online but rather actually having a face-to-face with a real human being.

I think I’m going to get off the Internet now.

The reporting of journalists has come a long way in the U.S. ever since the colonial
era. We don’t have the same kind of prior restraint laws, bond depositing
or family-owned newspapers.

Since then, we have furthered technology through phones, word processing and computers, thus furthering the advancement of journalism. The pay phone and typewriter are but a lost memory in the world of a journalist, but is the role of a journalist any different?

A BBC News reporter in 2000 didn’t seem to think it was changing at a rapid rate, but oh is it ever. It’s causing the newsroom to shrink as we consolidate newspapers through ownership alterations and it’s allowing owners to easily distribute the news through their different outlets.

Since this merge in the news, owners and journalists alike were, and still are worried that online readership is going to take away from print.

In 2004, about half of good lead stories popped up on the Web throughout the course of the day. Four years later, I would say it’s about the same, but now the familiarity with new technology is changing. As kids are starting to grow up with the Internet at hand, it’s sad to say, but who is going to pick up The Sac Bee?

My generation and the generation below are accustomed to going online for quick information and as this trend progresses I think there will be a mad dash to create the best news site there is.

Here’s my sample