Here's a final note about Assignment #2. When I posted
the original instructions, I linked to a site that provides
blog writing tips. One of those tips was the following:
Use descriptive headlines that reveal the point of the article without further reading; the key here is to create microcontent that can fare well on its own.
The headline for a blog post is probably something you have not thought about, but it is another possible element to analyze for your assignment.
For example,
The Huffington Post uses several kinds of headlines. Sometimes the headline on the front page is intentionally minimal, such as this one:
When you click through to the story, you are treated to a more descriptive headline:
The purpose of the headline is to get you to click through. So you might consider in your analyses what kinds of stories receive minimal headlines (such as above), more descriptive headlines, and fairly misleading or sensational headlines, and why.
Sometimes the headlines are obvious teasers that pose a question or an incomplete sentence, to get you to click on the story, such as this one:
When the story itself is sensational-sounding, the headline can contain all of the relevant details without sacrificing a click-through:
When you write about blog post headlines, try to theorize them in ways that reach beyond whether you think the headline is "good" or "bad"; instead, really think about the language choices being made in the headline. Also, consider whether a "portal" site such as Huffington Post has a different objective with its headlines than a less trafficked site with original content.
