Web Presentation
I have always really loved reading anything written by Mia Freedman. I remember first reading her work when she was working for Cleo and Cosmopolitan magazines. It was that stage when according to my parents I was “too young” to read such magazines so I would save my lunch money and then by the magazines and leave them in my locker at school. My friends and I would then share them and rotate who bought each it each month. I was such a rebel.
Freedman’s work is about all the things that I have noticed my blog is also about- gossip, shopping, men, babies, relationships and clothes. Admittedly I find all these things completely trivial and when I write about them I fell shallow and hollow, but they are the events and issues of my daily life and I have found that writing about them has brought me much joy because I feel like I can give that satirical commentary that just wouldn’t be appropriate or possible while these events were taking place.
About Mia Freedman
According to her blog, Freedman began her career at 19 working for Cleo magazine and has subsequently worked and written for magazine such as Cosmopolitan (as editor-in-chief) and Marie Clair. As editor of Cosmo she launched several stand-alone titles including, Cosmopolitan Hair and Beauty, Cosmopolitan Pregnancy and Cosmopolitan Brides.
Freedman also appeared for several years on the Today Show, discussing news and lifestyle issues surrounding women, fashion and popular culture. She also worked for Channel 9 as Creative Director and released a book called “The New Black” and she is currently writing her second.
She also writes a weekly column for the Sun Herald and Sunday Age.
She began her blog in 2007, where she discusses issues such as parenting, sex, fashion, celebrities, motherhood and “news”. Freedman also blogs on a website called Essential Baby, about pregnancy and parenting.
Freedman is married and has two children and one on the way.
Why I lover her blog
I must admit until I started this course I had very little knowledge about blogging or a desire to discover more about it. But I must say that through my new sense of blogging appreciation I was very pleased to discover that Freedman has her own blog. Unfortunately we have security restrictions at my work so I have to wait until the weekend before I can get my fix of mamamia.
I love Freedman’s style of writing. She is witty, charismatic, tongue in cheek and has a great sense of humour. What I like most though is that she doesn’t hide the fact that she likes gossip and clothes and that she has made a career out of it. I know many women who often tell me that she writes about “crap” but I have often seen those women have a good chuckle while reading some of her columns and stories.
The Blog
Firstly I love the look of blog. I love the “ripped paper” look at the top of the page and the stars. I think this is really cute. I also love the fading purple colour tones. This is still “girly” but not as girly as pink. I think this was a conscious colour decision for the “girly but not too girly” look because I have the same colour scheme on my blog.
The categories are cleverly designed with each individual letter looking like it was cut out of a magazine and stuck onto the page. This is clever in that it reflects on her past career paths.
I really like the way her name is written. It gives the impression of her being a “star” as her name is in the stars and the also her “name in lights” which again give that “star quality” status.
I like the fact that there is a picture of her. It gives the reader an image of the woman behind all the categories and stories.
There is also a link to another blog she writes for “Baby Essentials”, this allows the reader to delve into greater detail in one aspect of her life which she clearly thinks other women need to know more about. As well as a clear employment opportunity I think that this shows that Freedman feels that pregnancy is a topic which needs to be discussed among women in a more open and public forum, such as the web and that the information regarding parentiong and preganncy should come from real working women who deal with the issues which arise through parenting and pegnancy and not just “specialist advice” which many women cannot relate to
Further the blog also has links to several other website which Freedman enjoy to read. For example, fashion magazines/websites, parenting and pregnancy websites and celebrity and gossip sites. Interestingly her blog also has numerous links to self-help websites. This give the reader an opportunity to further delve into the interests of Freedman and the types of writing and websites she enjoys to view.
Further, the self help links show that Freedman has concern over issues which people in society face and by endorsing a means of assistance Freedman is effectively acknowledging the need for greater access to and for people when facing difficult issues in their lives.
Her blog also has access to previous articles she has written and also provides a search category where you can search topics which Freedman writes about and have quick access to relating articles.
The website also has an “about” section and a “career” section. Interesting the about section is just numbered point facts about herself to date and her career section is a transcription of a interview she did for Career Chick magazine. I think this is an interesting way for her to show her career and employment achievements as opposed to simply giving a run down of where she as worked and how successfully or otherwise each of those ventures was.
You are able to contact Freedman through her website and also the publications for which she worked for. Interestingly, this shows that she still has a very close relationship and affiliation with her previous places of employment and clearly feels that her blog is a place to promote them a great publications and employment environments.
My favourite section of the blog is by far the question and answer category. Here Freedman’s tongue in cheek attitude is clear, especially with a question such as “Do you think magazines cause eating disorders” or “Q: Should I send you unsolicited advice or negative comments? A: No”. This section gives a clear example of Freedman’s writing style and also her personal nature.
Further, Freedman’s book is also displayed on the blog and also provides commentary about “what others have said about the book” and a link as to where the book can be bought online.
Notably her blog also has a comments section. Lets face it, a comments section on a site like this can be either a blessing in that the people, namely women who read the blog will write lovely things and support your views and comments and post comments or it could be a disaster with disgruntled women having a whinge about the “superficial” topics Freedman writes about. Happily I must say all the comments I have read to date have been positive.
