I usually tend to most of my reviews with a quote. Maybe a hangover from the times of school English essays. The below lines form Alice in Wonderland came to my mind when I started out on the review of this particular blog.
"Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?" "That depends a good deal on where you want to get to," said the Cat.
"I don’t much care where--" said Alice.
"Then it doesn’t matter which way you go," said the Cat.
"--so long as I get SOMEWHERE," Alice added as an explanation.
"Oh, you’re sure to do that," said the Cat, "if you only walk long enough."
Interestingly the blogger in question is also a cute little girl like Alice, who has appropriately named her blog ‘Sweet Somethingz’ Most of the blogs I have reviewed so far had a clear niche, a purpose. So from that perspective I try to see what the blogger could do better to achieve the stated purpose. But when a blog is a personal blog with the purpose being for the blogger to express oneself, then in some ways the blog becomes an extension of the person. So asking for a review is like asking for a review of the person. How would it feel if somebody came up to you and asked to review him/her as a person? That is the situation I find myself in reviewing this blog.
Since the blogger is a sweet little girl and has specially requested for this review as a gift on her birthday, I will do the best I can, given the constraints I have mentioned in reviewing a personal blog. Going back to the analogy of reviewing a person, if I had to do that, I can only talk about things skin deep and say if the person is reasonably good looking, well dressed, appears educated and has good manners or not. My review can at best stay at that level of depth only.
If you consider the blog as an extension of the persona of teenage girl, I must say it is just perfect. The name has been well chosen. It is short, catchy, and memorable and conveys exactly what the blog is about. Additionally it has a kind of feel good about it. With such an excellent title, a catch line possibly is not even necessary. Coming to the blog background, it is one of the most beautifully done ones I have encountered in blog-o-sphere. The color combination, the teddy bear, the roses and other things in the background are kind of things you would relate with a teenage girl. So the background theme is very much in sync with the contents of the blog. Moving on to the content, every post is right out of her heart and it feels as if she is talking straight to the reader. Her writings are mostly personal ramblings, but there are also a few stories, poems and reviews. All of her writings except probably the reviews have a childlike innocence to them and can bring a smile on the face of the reader. Interesting she does use a lot of smileys.
Usually I cover a lot about navigation. Here the labels and archives are the only navigation constructs. However I would say that is sufficient given the nature of the content. One would either like to read her latest post or randomly pick up a poem or a rambling. It is highly unlikely there would be a reader looking for something specific on this blog. So the current navigation is more than enough in my opinion. Coming to the final aspect of interaction, it is quite good. She replies to every comment and tries to connect with her readers.
All in all I would give Princess Pooja 100% marks for her blog with a disclaimer that paper was easy. The only challenge she would possibly face is that the genre itself places a limit on its growth in terms of traffic and readership. Otherwise it is just perfect and I would recommend any reader who wants to feel refreshed by reading the innocent thoughts of a sweet little girl should definitely visit this blog. I present below a small bouquet of five flowers from her garden.
"Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?" "That depends a good deal on where you want to get to," said the Cat.
"I don’t much care where--" said Alice.
"Then it doesn’t matter which way you go," said the Cat.
"--so long as I get SOMEWHERE," Alice added as an explanation.
"Oh, you’re sure to do that," said the Cat, "if you only walk long enough."
Interestingly the blogger in question is also a cute little girl like Alice, who has appropriately named her blog ‘Sweet Somethingz’ Most of the blogs I have reviewed so far had a clear niche, a purpose. So from that perspective I try to see what the blogger could do better to achieve the stated purpose. But when a blog is a personal blog with the purpose being for the blogger to express oneself, then in some ways the blog becomes an extension of the person. So asking for a review is like asking for a review of the person. How would it feel if somebody came up to you and asked to review him/her as a person? That is the situation I find myself in reviewing this blog.
Since the blogger is a sweet little girl and has specially requested for this review as a gift on her birthday, I will do the best I can, given the constraints I have mentioned in reviewing a personal blog. Going back to the analogy of reviewing a person, if I had to do that, I can only talk about things skin deep and say if the person is reasonably good looking, well dressed, appears educated and has good manners or not. My review can at best stay at that level of depth only.
If you consider the blog as an extension of the persona of teenage girl, I must say it is just perfect. The name has been well chosen. It is short, catchy, and memorable and conveys exactly what the blog is about. Additionally it has a kind of feel good about it. With such an excellent title, a catch line possibly is not even necessary. Coming to the blog background, it is one of the most beautifully done ones I have encountered in blog-o-sphere. The color combination, the teddy bear, the roses and other things in the background are kind of things you would relate with a teenage girl. So the background theme is very much in sync with the contents of the blog. Moving on to the content, every post is right out of her heart and it feels as if she is talking straight to the reader. Her writings are mostly personal ramblings, but there are also a few stories, poems and reviews. All of her writings except probably the reviews have a childlike innocence to them and can bring a smile on the face of the reader. Interesting she does use a lot of smileys.
Usually I cover a lot about navigation. Here the labels and archives are the only navigation constructs. However I would say that is sufficient given the nature of the content. One would either like to read her latest post or randomly pick up a poem or a rambling. It is highly unlikely there would be a reader looking for something specific on this blog. So the current navigation is more than enough in my opinion. Coming to the final aspect of interaction, it is quite good. She replies to every comment and tries to connect with her readers.
All in all I would give Princess Pooja 100% marks for her blog with a disclaimer that paper was easy. The only challenge she would possibly face is that the genre itself places a limit on its growth in terms of traffic and readership. Otherwise it is just perfect and I would recommend any reader who wants to feel refreshed by reading the innocent thoughts of a sweet little girl should definitely visit this blog. I present below a small bouquet of five flowers from her garden.
8 comments:
Excellent review of Princessess blog!! It does bring a smile on the face whenever I visit it!
Thank you so much for the review TF JHI :). I loved it :D.
It certainly was one of the best birthday gifts :).
Thank you so much for your honest review :D.
Thanks for sending me to a nice poem.
And that is a fitting review, the spirit of which was captured by the quote at the beginning. (I am also fond of starting with a quote!) Princess Poo is interesting indeed. I remember how she had left more smilies in a single comment than many of my regular visitors are still to insert! But then that is a part of her persona.
Glad you liked it, princess. I am almost at verge of giving up blogging. But I just did this to keep my promise to you.
Glad you got to read a good poem and she got another reader.
Thanks umashankar. She is indeed.
Thanks for introducing , I will definitely go and have a look ...
Bikram's
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