Connecting through Comments - Practicum 5 - Cara

I think that a good way to use Yo Yenta - the blog I have decided to follow - for my practicum is to focus on the comment section of the blog. Yo Yenta writes about a range of topics with a Jewish flair and while its interesting to see what topics she chooses I think that what people comment and how she responds to those comments shows more patterns within how Jewish people interact on the web. My issue is that I have no way of knowing whether those that comment are Jewish but because they are interacting on a Jewish based website I am going to use their interactions for the purpose of this assignment.

Something I have noticed that I think is important to point out is that Yo Yenta responds to comments on her blog posts. I think that this is a great way for her to develop loyal followers because these people feel connected when she responds to their questions and concerns. These people are likely to continue reading and commenting because they know that she cares enough to respond. I have noticed that she does have loyal followers because people that comments names show up and I have begun to recognize people that comment often. Some of these people I have gathered are her family members and friends that seem to know her well so I am not sure how far her followers span - if her followers go beyond her group of friends.

One thing that was asked of me before my in class presentation was - What 
kind
 of 
social 
codes 
and
 norms 
did 
you 
observe 
and 
what
techniques 
did 
you
 use
 in 
order
 to 
figure 
out
 this 
group's 
values,
 concerns,
 habits, 
or
 slang?
 I was unable to answer this question as I had not been active in my online sites for a long enough time to correctly answer this but I have noticed that on the Yo Yenta blog she uses what may be considered Jewish slang often. Head Yenta uses Yiddish words which are commonly used in the Jewish culture, I myself know many of these terms and I have found them cropping up often in posts and comments by other users. This makes me aware that if you were not familiar with these Yiddish terms you could not as actively participate in the blog because you would be missing some points.

For example a comment on the blog reads "I’m kveling for you. Oh, and you did mean NY Giants…. Of course you did." Kveling is a Yiddish term, and this user is obviously of Jewish descent and knows that Head Yenta will be aware of what that means. A member outside of the Jewish faith would be confused by this comment and be less likely to participate.

Another example - this is a line from one of the blog posts: "I’ve seen all my Jewish bubbies because of the fall’s chag-a-week cockamaminess, and let’s face it, none of us are getting any younger. " The word bubbie is also a Yiddish term. It is because of these two examples that I believe Yo Yenta's target audience is Jewish. I believe that she is somewhat limiting herself from gaining other followers because these people would not be familiar with this language.