It's been a busy few weeks and therefore my blogging had taken a bit of a back seat on my list of things to do but I'm back and I have so much to write about I'm not quite sure where to start.
A couple of weeks ago I did a weeks work experience with Perfect Wedding Magazine. I can tell you now, it certainly was an experience. I spent the week staying in a complete strangers house in the middle of Bristol completely by myself, in - I must add - a seriously dodgy area! I didn't think she double locked the flat for nothing! When I first mentioned I was doing working experience in Bristol my flat mate instantly piped up: "Oh you can stay with my friend." With out another thought the plans was made.
A couple of months later and there I was arriving in rainy Bristol by train, with a huge pink suitcase that I couldn't hardly manage to stay as I said, in a strangers house. Thankfully I was made extremely welcome and the flat was very cute and cosy but sadly I'd be spending the week there on my own while she was needed away else where. I figured it wouldn't be a huge issue but as I was left on my own that, I realised it was going to be a long and lonely week.
All of that being said, the reason I was there in the first place was for my work experience placement at Perfect Wedding Magazine. I was so incredibly nervous as I caught the lift to the 9th floor reception and waited to be met by the editorial assistant. I didn't really have any idea what to expect. Would I be making tea all day? Would they be nice? Will they thing I'm useless? Will they talk to me? It turned out I hadn't needed to have worried about it.
The office was smaller that I thought and there were less people working on the magazine that I'd expected but that made friendlier and relaxed. Everyone was lovely and made me feel very welcome which was of course very settling. On the first day I was given small photo sourcing jobs to do for their new website which will be launching soon. Basically I spent the first day looking at stunning wedding dresses and breathtaking honeymoon destinations. Easy yes, but also pretty tedious.
By the end of the week I'd had the chance to work on things which would be appearing in the magazine, admittedly not huge features and not masses of writing but it's all experience right? I wrote out captions to images, found out the prices of products and found appropriate pictures for some articles. I also sourced images for two regular pages: "Get the celebrity bridal look," and "Get the celebrity bridesmaid look." So when the issue goes on sale in August I can say, I created those pages. That pleases me quite a lot. The other page I can take credit for is the very back page. You know how Glamour does something like "10 Reasons to emigrate." (Or something similar, that's only my mind because it is raining." Well I wrote Perfect Weddings, "13 reasons we love a budget wedding!"
So there we have it, by the end of the week it felt like I'd learned a lot about how a magazine gets put together, from initial planning to going to print. It was my first my placement and I am excited to see where else I can get some work experience because I loved it, despite my initial worrying. When the week was over I went to London to stay with my boyfriend in Kingston and now I am home again preparing for the move to the house in Southampton, it's all happening very fast. I swear I only started University a couple of months ago.
Monday 27 June 2011
Tuesday 7 June 2011
So, I've joined the world of Twitter
It's happened, I have succumbed and entered the word of twitter.
I never really understood the concept of it, and facebook had been satisfying my social networking needs since I left school, therefore I had no desire for Twitter. I have come to realised that in this day and age, Twitter is a journalists best friend and I am an aspiring journalist. It's something I have known for a while but it has taken until now to allow myself to give in to Twitter. Besides, it is pretty cool that you can keep track of what celebrities are up to. Within half an hour of signing up, I was already following over 60 people, I was hooked pretty quite to tell you the truth.
I do wonder however, where did Twitter come from? One minute everyone is all over facebook and the next it's all about tweeting. Social networking is a fast paced and quick to change little world though isn't it. We have seen this before, when everyone went from MySpace to Bebo and then on to facebook. Personally MySpace never appealed but through secondary school I was one of millions obsessed with Bebo and it's comments, photo sharing and the little cyber world that it creates away from the real world. I do think social networking is excellent but doesn't it distract young people away from the real world a little bit?
This is where I become incredibly hypocritical but if you could just forget that I have a obsession with facebook and a developing obsession with twitter, I would be most grateful. Social networking distracts people from the real world, instead of phoning someone or meeting someone to catch ip we think that a brief chat on facebook or a couple of comments here and there will do the job. Maybe it does in this day and age but when our parents were younger social networking was done in person not through a computer screen. Having an online profile in theory can allow you to make yourself who ever you want to be, it's almost like recreating yourself, through just a few lines of text you can tell the world what you want them to think of you. Doesn't sound like a negative point but surely you want someone to get to know you as a person, not your facebook profile?
All this being said, in the 21st century social networking sites have in actual fact become a link to the rest of the world. Facebook and twitter don't just reach out to young people wanting to keep in touch with friends but to businesses, shops, newspapers and magazine and celebrities. They entertain and inform you. Twitter in particular has updates from magazines and newspapers continuously, bringing you the latest headlines, breaking news, competitions and gossip. It's all there with just a click of a button, and when you've read your magazine from cover to cover but you want more Twitters there waiting for you.
Yes, I think social networking sites have their negatives but the world is changing and young people adapt easily to these changes and for the media and journalism they can only be benefits.
I never really understood the concept of it, and facebook had been satisfying my social networking needs since I left school, therefore I had no desire for Twitter. I have come to realised that in this day and age, Twitter is a journalists best friend and I am an aspiring journalist. It's something I have known for a while but it has taken until now to allow myself to give in to Twitter. Besides, it is pretty cool that you can keep track of what celebrities are up to. Within half an hour of signing up, I was already following over 60 people, I was hooked pretty quite to tell you the truth.
I do wonder however, where did Twitter come from? One minute everyone is all over facebook and the next it's all about tweeting. Social networking is a fast paced and quick to change little world though isn't it. We have seen this before, when everyone went from MySpace to Bebo and then on to facebook. Personally MySpace never appealed but through secondary school I was one of millions obsessed with Bebo and it's comments, photo sharing and the little cyber world that it creates away from the real world. I do think social networking is excellent but doesn't it distract young people away from the real world a little bit?
This is where I become incredibly hypocritical but if you could just forget that I have a obsession with facebook and a developing obsession with twitter, I would be most grateful. Social networking distracts people from the real world, instead of phoning someone or meeting someone to catch ip we think that a brief chat on facebook or a couple of comments here and there will do the job. Maybe it does in this day and age but when our parents were younger social networking was done in person not through a computer screen. Having an online profile in theory can allow you to make yourself who ever you want to be, it's almost like recreating yourself, through just a few lines of text you can tell the world what you want them to think of you. Doesn't sound like a negative point but surely you want someone to get to know you as a person, not your facebook profile?
All this being said, in the 21st century social networking sites have in actual fact become a link to the rest of the world. Facebook and twitter don't just reach out to young people wanting to keep in touch with friends but to businesses, shops, newspapers and magazine and celebrities. They entertain and inform you. Twitter in particular has updates from magazines and newspapers continuously, bringing you the latest headlines, breaking news, competitions and gossip. It's all there with just a click of a button, and when you've read your magazine from cover to cover but you want more Twitters there waiting for you.
Yes, I think social networking sites have their negatives but the world is changing and young people adapt easily to these changes and for the media and journalism they can only be benefits.
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