Erika’s blog (happyvibes.space) is an extremely interesting corner of the internet that I would be interested in reading even if I didn’t do a peer review on it. In her blog, she talks about something that we interact with everyday, and many find it mundane: water.

I really like her topic; it’s unique and intriguing. My initial thought was “Water? How much can you talk about that?” but as I thought about it more and more, I realized how much potential the topic has. From ranking the taste of water from different companies or places, to discussing the growing issue of pollution and coral bleaching. This range of topics guarantees that there will be an article of interest for everybody who visits.

The website itself is highly organized and is easy to navigate. It’s clear that Erika is familiar with WordPress because of its neatness and cohesion. Her use of serif fonts for the titles and headers, and a non-serif font for the body text adds to the visual organization. The shade of blue is also pleasing to the eyes and ties in nicely, since there is an aquatic theme. I particularly like how each article has headers to guide readers through the topics and to add visual breaks in the wall of text.

Like Marshall McLuhan said: The medium is the message. Erika is clearly aware of this as the topics that she chooses to write about, as well as the way that she writes about them, shows her audience her interests and values. In her first blog post, she discusses the ever-changing trend of water bottles – it shows that she places an importance on sustainability and the health of the Earth. Her humour comes across in small bits in this post. Although the post talks about the issue with trendy water bottles, she is never accusatory and belittling. The choice of vocabulary emits a friendly tone, and makes you feel like you’re discussing something with a friend. Perhaps my favourite post so far, is her second where she ranks of bodies of water. Her voice and sense of humour comes across well in this post. Her criteria and methodology are very clear which helps the readers understand her rankings. She also supports her opinions with good research, which adds credibility and thoroughness to her online identity. In her third post, she discusses a well-known Pokémon: Palkia. Her interest in the franchise is clear here, because as a non-avid Pokémon fan, I didn’t even know that Palkia was a water-type. Again, all her points are well-researched, showing that she is credible. Furthermore, she ends with post without definite, objective truth. This displays how she is honest and won’t declare something true or factual without sufficient evidence.  

There was only one small issue that I found while navigating Erika’s blog. While looking at the blog feed on a tablet-sized screen, I noticed that the URL for the Pokédex didn’t wrap properly, leading it spilling over onto the excerpt of the other blog posts.

Overall, Erika’s blog is really entertaining and fascinating. I can’t wait to see what else she writes!