One of USAToday.com's many niche blogs is Whitney Matheson's "Pop Candy, Unwrapping pop culture's hip and hidden treasures." The blog features many aspects of popular culture, covering topics from wedding invitations to pumpkin carving, which is exactly what caught my eye.

Matheson decided to have readers send in their photos of their best carved pumpkins with a pop-culture theme, a perfect example of how the internet promotes citizen involvement with the news and small communities within a massive global environment. Righ now she is accepting photos of original costumes, which will showcase on Friday.

The idea is interesting and although I know it is a blog and follows a different format, I think that USAToday.com could have used the photos in a photo gallery on their beuatiful photo gallery page because some of these pumpkins are really amazing and creative. As well as creating an attractive way of viewing the photos, it would also create publicity for Matheson's blog, while the blog would promote the photo gallery page.