Journal #4 (word count: 467)

When creating a text, genre is what helps us determine our format, design, wording, and overall, how we want it to be displayed. People generally stick to a genre norm when formatting however, it’s not unusual to break the norm when you want to display a different genre. An example of this would be the photos depicted in Genre-Colored Glasses. Normally when you take a picture outside, it shows an entire landscape; trees, the street, the people that are walking. In the photo of the cabana sidewalk, it’s just that: the sidewalk. It breaks a genre norm by depicting the beautiful mosaic alone. This brings on a different type of meaning from picture than would be seen by a usual sidewalk background.

Genre generally make us more aware of the meaning we want our works to portray while were composing them. It could be something as little as changing a word that has a different connotation to something as obvious as using a photo that only shows the sidewalk. In the case of Into the Blogosphere, the way that the authors write creates a panicky like feeling. You’re worried about who might be looking into the technology you use and how that could hurt you. The genre created hear stirs exigency for those who may have something to hide or something private that they’d rather others didn’t see.  

I would also say that the audience determines what type of genre you use. For example, you wouldn’t use a book about Mickey Mouse to appeal to 20 year olds. The type of genre you use is definitely dependent on the purpose you intend it for. It’s very well said in The Multiple Media of Texts when they say that efficiency, clarity, consumption, and standardization all represent particular values of a text which appeal to different audiences. They continue to say that “the seriousness of words and non-seriousness of images” count as a way to “contextualize the analysis and composition of texts that use different visual strategies.” This plays a key part in audience appeal and purpose.

To be honest, I’m not positive how genre effects circulation, however if I had to take a stab at it, I would say that the fact that genre choice effects audience plays a key role. The wider your audience or the more exigence your genre creates in your piece, the more it will be circulated. Take one of those puppy videos on Facebook for example: cuteness appeals to almost all audience, and therefore, the videos are circulated very often. The same could be said for the Tasty videos on Facebook. They appeal to people ages 20+ without much of a limit. 20 year olds because they don’t know HOW to cook, and the older division of people because they LIKE to cook.