Jennifer’s Art Gallery

I always thought that one’s blog was a very personal thing, a place for the author to share their life with their friends (and, really, the whole world). I never thought that it could be an interactive community site. But my best friend in Taiwan, Jennifer (高淑鑾), has turned hers into exactly that, which I found highly amusing.

When I showed her how to use WordPress.com this February, she liked it but wasn’t quite sure what to do with it. She was intimidated about publishing her artwork and didn’t think that her life was all that interesting to share with the world. When she finally had the guts to announce her blog to her friends, she was surprised to find that the feedback was overwhelmingly positive. Her friends were amazed with her blog and would like to do the same, but they did not know how.

“Just send me photos and I’ll take care of the rest,” she told her friends.

Ever since she volunteered to publish their artwork/photos/puzzles/fun videos/etc on her blog, she had no shortage of interesting material. On top of that, she has been slowly building a local community, a place that her friends like to visit and share their thoughts with one another (mostly in the real world instead of the cyber world though).

From a technical point of view, a blog is not the best place to build an interactive community. However, due to the relatively small circles and some intimidation of technologies, somehow it seems to work. Her online art gallery provides a great service for the otherwise stressful life in Taiwan.

The best thing is: I believe that through this cute project, she was finally able to get un-stuck, stop her 2+ year suffering, and see the world from a different point of view. She set out to help others, but it turned out that she was the biggest beneficiary at the end.

Good job, Jennifer!