Entry #1: The Bloggerverse

Blog Evolution?

    Welcome back everyone! The concept of blogs has seemed to infest my mind recently. The more I've read and learned about blogs, the more I've realized that sites I would not previously categorize as blogs, actually are blogs. They're a convenient way of passing along information or opinions to a greater population of people. However, many seem to think blogging has gone extinct and is some old form of communication from the 2000s. I like to think it's evolved a bit. 

 

@theblondeabroad Instagram blog

    The increasing popularity of social media over the past two decades is proof that blogging hasn't gone out of style; it's been keeping up with the times. Of course no one is sitting down at the end of each week and writing about their woes and accomplishments. But, what more is an Instagram or TikTok page than microblogs? People take a few minutes out of every other day to post on their story and interact with others. 

 

    Essentially, blogging has migrated from the computer screen to people's hands. Everyone now carries their own personal (and sometimes professional) microblogs with them everywhere they go.The internet has changed so drastically that sometimes people don't even realize some elements of the internet they grew up with still remain in the internet they have today. They just might be different. They might be micro. I think it's cool.

 

 

Blog Review with Olivia

    Even though I would love to review my favorite social media microblogs, I'm going the more traditional blog route. I am absolutely not a food person. I don't like trying new foods; I dislike them 95% of the time, so my selection is very out of character. Coincidentally, I've chosen to review three blogs centered around food. The three contestants today are Little Fat Boy, Flourist, and hint of vanilla. All three are meant to share yummy recipes, right? Are they not all the same?

 

 

 "hint of vanilla"

    I'll start with the one I like the least: hint of vanilla. Already the title is throwing me off. Why is it all lowercase? Before clicking on it I thought, "Surely they've made it apart of some sort of minimalist aesthetic that I'll love." Wrong.

    I mean what is this? I could barely see the title when it loaded. The fonts are very small as well. Overall the layout of the site is very distracting to me. There are too many ads between posts (desktop and mobile) as well as at the bottom of the blog (mobile). It leaves a bad taste in my mouth... pun intended. Too many ads on any website just make it feel cheap and unsafe in my opinion.

Gif scrolling past blog posts and ads

    As for the actual posts themselves, they seem very "big." There's 10-12 enormous pictures of the food for each post coupled with text that is still entirely too small to read comfortably. I understand these pictures help to demonstrate how to prepare the food, but couldn't they be just a tad smaller? The actual food in the photos isn't necessarily bad, either; they just don't catch my eye. I'll admit, I do like the little stories the author gives before the recipe part of the posts, but everything else is either underwhelming, overwhelming, or bland. There is no sweet spot that this blog hits for me. On to the next, I suppose.

Flourist

    Starting off stronger than the last, Flourist is the middle child of the three. If I had to describe the blog in one word, I'd say: good. It's nice to look at, it's easy to navigate, and it's not harsh to read through, though the text is a bit small. It even has a shop to buy ingredients from which I thought was neat. This blog is a little less personal than the other two--the recipes are simple and straight to the point. I think it makes up for that in photos, though. Look at this beautiful zucchini galette! Very interesting to look at.

Flourist is an overall nice food recipe blog. Good visuals, good layout, good blog.

Little Fat Boy

    Oh how this blog amazes me. This was one of the first blogs I clicked on to look into reviewing and since I have laid eyes on it, I have been more than satisfied. Everything is right with this blog: the title is eye-catching--maybe a little shocking, the layout is beautiful, and the food... the food! 

    After giggling a bit at the title, the first thing I see when I scroll down excites me. Being someone who loves learning about other cultures, I knew I was going to love this blog. The author of this blog, Frankie, is Taiwanese-American and using his blog to share the meals of his childhood along with more well-known dishes. I can't express how much I love when people share their culture. It really gets me interested in them and their experiences.

 

 

 

    Every post comes with a cute playful description at the beginning and a photo of some of the most aesthetically pleasing foods I've ever seen. I noticed the recipe portion of the posts had more of a sense of organization and order. Rather than being a large paragraph about making the food, there are separate sections for the ingredients, the preparation, and "At A Glance." The "At A Glance" section comes before the other two and gives an estimated yield amount of food (ex: 4 quarts) and amount of time to make. I just thought this was a nice touch to make everything looks its best.

    In my opinion, Little Fat Boy the best of these blogs by far. I really don't think anything about it is bad or even subpar. I would crown this King of All Recipe Blogs in a heartbeat.

    Even though I'm not a food person, to be honest, reviewing these made me very hungry. And although I'm not going to eat anything nearly as beautiful as the foods pictured above, I'm ready to be done with this so I can quiet my stomach. Thanks for reading!