Hoosier’s Journal is the first Bravenet blog I have reviewed, and I have to say, I think they have some rather nice features available for their members.
The page has a pleasant abstract background that coordinates with an original piece of art by our author. The entry background is black and the lettering red, which sounds hard to read, but surprisingly wasn’t too bad. Though a larger font would be appreciated.
I checked the Profile link and found our blogger lives in the midwest and likes her job, is married with no children (yet) and is politically liberal.
I began reading entries and found mild rants about current events in her personal life or in the news, but most were written in a lighthearted style that wasn’t in your face. Occasional entries about movies or television were common. There were a fair number of spelling and grammar errors that of course are annoying to us all. I am not immune myself. But that’s why I run things through the spell checker!
As to content, there is nothing earth shattering here, though there are a few little gems. I enjoyed reading her account of trying to convince her husband they should buy a pair of Vespas and start their own biker gang.
The archives are accessed through a calendar style system, which I prefer. The only thing that would make it even easier to use would be a “next” and “previous” function. But I don’t think our author has control over that detail.
I especially liked the “tag board” on the right hand side of the page, where you could leave a quick note, very much like a chat board. I kind of liked the “mood box” also, that listed what mood the author was in, what music she was listening to, what book reading, she added a rather quirky choice to the list… what the current price of gasoline was in her area. These are fun additions to a blog.
But overall, I thought the content was rather weak, and the writing pretty ordinary. The author did not reveal much of herself in the posts, therefore reading all the trivia kind of got old. So I am giving points mostly for a nice looking blog with some entertaining features. My suggestion for improvement would be to open up a bit. Tell us who you are. It would make for more interesting reading.