Classification of Blogs

Blogs are divide into different section fileds. Many bloggers blogs about various kinds of topics. Like books and magazines, blogs are classified into different categories: for kids (cartoons, comics), teenagers (fashion, romance, comedy, gadgets) and adults (cars, politics, economy, house).

Here are the few type of blogs can be found over the Internet:

• Fashion and Style
• Food and Beverages
• Photography
• Sports
• Travel and Holidays
• Music
• Humour
• Politics
• Technology and Gadgets
• Cars
• Lifestyle
• Home Decorations
• DIY
• and many more

The type of blogs that are classified in groups to the contents and blogging methods:

1. Blogs - Majority of the bloggers are found in the blogsphere uses this content as one of their methods in sharing ideas and experiences. Blogspot, Xanga, Wordpress are the few websites that are easy to create and share with friends, family and the publics on their daily experiences. It is used as an online diary. 
2. Vlogs - Video blogs usually are found in YouTube. Bloggers post their live experiences, recorded it and uploaded it on YouTube so the video blog could be viewed from all around the world.
3. Photolog - Flickr, Deviantart, Fotolog are also known as moblog. Moblog is a blog that allow bloggers to post pictures, mostly photographers. It is the easiest way to share photographs with simple and short descriptions. 
4. Tumblelog or Microblog - Tumblr is one example of tumblelog. Tumblr is also one of the most popular methods of blogging. It is fastform and it supports widgets. Twitter is another example of microblog. Twitter has become one of the popular way of updating community, mainly friends and family, about their lives. It is short and simple way to post messages on the web. Both Tumblr and Twitter application could easily be downloaded to your mobile phone as well. 
5. Linklog - Blogs with categorised hyperlinks that made easier for the community.
6. Liveblog - Liveblog are usually soccer webpages that updates live on scores. One example are EPL Matches.

Blogger.com

YouTube.com

Fotolog.com

Tumblr.com

The audiences for blogs are known as blog readers. Blog is a phenomenal medium in delivering information, the only way to categorised the are by the specific topic bloggers blog about that is easily acquired. 

New Forms of Media Publishing

Mass media together and technology are both constantly evolving each day. Communicating with each other in society has change remarkably with new media such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, blogs, online new sources and many others. Naughton (2006) stated that audiences were passive and uncreative in the past caused by the lack of interactive tools and publication limitations. Users are now able to actively search for information and interact online with news website in terms of interactivity (Salcito, 2009). Blogging allows every user to be a journalist online and because of this, publication opportunities have increased.

The Malaysian Insider, one of the example of new forms of media that contribute to new alternative news sources, provides different points of view compared to the mainstream press. Blogs such as limkitsiang.com also suggest opinions on current affairs with less censorship and more freedom of expression. Naugthon (2006) concludes that the relationship between blogging and conventional print journalism is symbiotic. Lickerman (2010) argues that although the new social media sites like Facebook and Twitter connects people more, there is a huge difference as compared to interacting with people physically. Furthermore, messages sent electronically deliver emotions poorly. Hence, virtual communication cannot replace the role of face-to-face communication.

I would like to stress that we must always think twice before publishing something over the Internet. We must also learn to use freedom of speech online with responsibility. One bad example would be the case of Wee Meng Chee or also know as Namewee in YouTube that made headlines in 2007 in Malaysia for posting up a controversial music video of "Negarakuku", ridiculing the national anthem. In 2010, he made a comeback video titled "F*** Racism Malaysia Nah" that was deemed seditious and was taken down due to public disapproval. He then faced risks of being arrested under the Internal Security Act (ISA) and his citizenship got revoked. Therefore, the use of freedom of speech should always come with responsibility.

Reference

1. Lickerman, A 2010, Costs of communication on email, Facebook and Twitter, Kevinmd, viewed 17 May 2012, <http://www.kevinmd.com/blog/2010/07/costs-communication-email-facebook-twitter.html>
2. Naughton, J 2006, Blogging and the emerging media ecosystem, viewed 16 May 2012, <http://reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac.uk/fileadmin/documents/discussion/blogging.pdf>
3. Salcito, K 2009, New media trends, Center for journalism ethics, viewed 16 May 2012, <http://www.journalismethics.ca/online_journalism_ethics/new_media_trends.htm>

Betrayal in Internet

Our habit of depending on Internet places us in a very awkward dilemma. We often reluctant to whether trust or not to trust certain website but the temptation they offer are so great that we sometimes have to give up our attentiveness.

ABC's Media Report (2008) has also raised concerns about the credibility of certain websites that give us access to information we need, but in the process, we collect our data for usages not readily known to us.

Example of Google Search

We do not need to attempt far to see how the data is being used against us. All you need to do is by doing a quick search with the famous search engine, Google. You will see a list of relevant websites that appear below the results of your search.


Reference

1. ABC's Media Report, 'Ethical labelling and the web', viewed 13 May 2012, from <http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/mediareport/ethical-labelling-and-the-web/3177290> 

Twitter Imposters

Micro-blogging has becoming more popular and the growth has been tremendous with services such as Twitter. Even celebrities such as Ashton Kutcher and Demi Moore have created accounts to tweet about their everyday lives. According to Coyle (2009), although Twitter is limited to 140 characters, this has not prevented them from revealing a new digital dimension of themselves. Schiretta (2009) suggested that the recent rise of celebrities joining this micro-blogging website has also contributed the growth of celebrity imposters.

Therefore, followers in Twitter may have a hard time figuring out whether their accounts are real or fake with celebrity imposters and hackers on the rise. When rumours spread around that Dalai Lama was opening a Twitter account, many believed this. In the end, it was a fake account and even before Twitter could do something about it, the account had already gathered 20,000 followers (Owens, 2009). Credibility and authenticity came into the question. Co-founder of Twitter, Biz Stone suggested that providing account verification would be a good way to enhance Twitter since fake accounts are problematic (Coyle, 2009).

Ashton Kutcher's verified Twitter Account

Even with the system to verify official accounts of celebrities, hackers could still manage to hack into celebrity profiles and tweet using their accounts. Schiretta (2009) stated that this is proven to be dangerous as newspapers and blogs have begun quoting people on Twitter and if nothing is done, it could get ugly. As an example, Disney star, Miley Cyrus's Twitter account was hacked three years ago with tweets which read "I'm not a f****** role model. I hate little kids. I only do Hannah Mntana for da $$$$$$" (Constatin, 2009). Some even attacking other stars such as Selena Gomez and Demi Lovato (Constantin, 2009). Due to the incident, her Twitter account was then suspended temporarily by Twitter staff.

Miley Cyrus Twitter Account

Therefore, the credibility of Twitter account cannot be guaranteed as imposters and hackers could still manage to find their way to hack user accounts. Hence, this problem should be further addressed before it causes more harm to society.

Reference

1. Constantin, L 2009, 'Miley Cyrus' twitter account hacked', Softpedia, 18 February, viewed 14 May 2012, <http://news.softpedia.com/news/Miley-Cyrus-039-Twitter-Account-Hacked-104817.shtml>
2. Coyle, J 2009, 'Stars (and some impostors) flood twitter', Huffington Post, 3 March, viewed 14 May 2012, <http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/03/03/stars-and-some-imposters-_n_171557.html>
3. Owens, S 2009, 'How celebrity imposters hurt twitter's credibility', Media Shift, 20 February, viewed 14 May 2012, <http://www.pbs.org/mediashift/2009/02/how-celebrity-imposters-hurt-twitters-credibility051.html>
4. Schiretta, P 2009, 'The growing problem of celebrity imposters on twitter', Slash Film, 26 March, viewed 14 May 2012, <http://www.slashfilm.com/the-growing-problem-of-celebrity-imposters-on-twitter/>

Limitation' of the Christianities

The Indonesian weekly apologized to the media about the "limitation" of Leonardo Da Vinci's last supper. They claimed that it was not to disrespect the Christianities and to compensate, in the weekly Tempo magazine, the Indonesian weekly would further extend their apologies to avoid protest against this act.

The image on the cover of the book is deniable that it is a portrayal of Leonardo Da Vinci's last supper. There are not much explanation could be done because it is clearly looks like it was either by mistake or purpose. Research should be nicely run to avoid controversies like this in media. Shriver (1997) mentioned that signs from different countries do not share the same meaning. The cause is mainly because of cultural differences. Taking in account to other countries, cultural differences apart from yours is essential.

Suharto's: Tempo Setelah Dia Pergi

Leonardo Da Vinci's Last Supper

The media should pay more attention like this because it is obviously a very sensitive issue especially it involves religions.

Reference

1. Schriver, KA 1997, 'The interplay of words and pictures', Dynamics in document design: creating texts for readers, pp. 361-441, Wiley Computer Pub, New York. 

Designing for Online Media vs. Print Media

The methods of designing online media versus print media is very different. Both online and print media have different expectations in terms of design due to the habits of consumption in audiences. I will be focusing on two principles of designs.

According to Parker (2003), online reading usually takes more focus and causing exhaustion due to the high foreground or background contrast caused by the projected light on the computer screen. Designers should always treat texts in a screen-based environment like visuals, making them look appealing and comforting for their audiences (Bernhardt, 1986). Hence, by grouping related text and carefully placing texts can generate a sense of balance (Parker, 2003).

Headings

Headings are the pain part of a context that captures readers' attention. It had to be big enough, coloured and catchy. Reeps (2006) stated that, "Headings are organisational cues that alert readers to the sequence of information in a document". On print media, headings are rather big with vibrant colours to capture the readers' attention. On the other hand, online media headings are usually blend in with the context and it does not stand out from the context to capture attention. Navigating online media is much easier as compared to print media. This is because in online media, an empty tab will be placed on the top right hand corner of the screen that helps us to find information easily. In print media, they are group into respective subjects that could only be found through the header and footer.

Layout

In print media, the layout of the contents are nicely fit into an A3 size paper. Images in print media are vaguely seen as compared to online media. Images are clearer with better pixels in online media. The layout for online media depends on the theme itself. News and advertisements are nicely fit onto the webpage. In terms of colours, the colours used in print media are rather seen dull compared to an online media. The colours are more vibrant and it easily captures  the readers' attention in an online media.

Example of Print Media (The Star)

Example of Online Media (The Star)

Its hard to determine which media is most popular but many people still prefers the old school way of print media simply because it is more reliable compared to an online media. This is because online media it could be fake or corrupted. The other difference of online media and print media would be that online media provides the scrolling experience than flipping pages in print media (Nielson, 1999).


Reference

1. Bernhardt, SA 1986, 'Seeing the text', College composition and communication, vol. 37, no. 1, pp. 66-78
2. Nielsen, J 1999, Differences between print design and web design, online, retrieved 5 May 2012, from <http://www.useit.com/alertbox/990124.html> 
3. Parker, RC 2003, 'Designing document for web distribution'. Looking good in print, Paraglygh Press, Scttsdale
4. Reep, DC 2006, 'Chp 4: Principles of Document Design', in Technical Writing, 6th ed., Pearson Edu, Inc., New York, pp. 173-190

Blogging Community

Blogging community is a community that is created to bring people around the world that share the same common ground. White (2003) mentioned that, "the term 'online community' implied a community who interacted online within some bounded set of technologies". Denise (2009) also stated that the existence of blogosphere is already a community itself.

Creating a blogging community is easy and these communities are already exist, all you have to do is create a blog via Blogspot, Xanga or Wordpress that you could relate the type of blog that you want. As an example, if your main idea of a blog is to post up vlogs (video blogs) via YouTube from your bedroom, the community of vlogs have already exist.

Links, comments, tags and postings could all be easily generated when creating a blog. Where else, blogging about sensitive issues such as politics would not only go against the government but also drive your readers away.

As you can see from the image above, there are three types of blogging community. 

• One blog centric community - It communicate and create a relationship between the writer and their audiences
• Topic centric community - Shares the same interests that are grouped together
• Boundaried community - A social networking tool of a collection of blog hosts

What topics you blog about shows which types of blogging community you fall under. For example, politics (http://chedet.co.cc/chedetblog/), music, photography (http://www.sixthseal.com), fashion (http://www.cheeserland.com) and many more.

Reference

1. Denise, 2009, How do you build community?, viewed on 10 May 2012, <http://www.blogher.com/how-do-you-build-community>


2. White. N, 2006, Blogs and Community - launching a new paradigm for online community? 11th edition, viewed on 10 May 2012, <http://kt.flexiblelearning.net.au/tkt2006/edition-11-editorial/blogs-and-community-–-launching-a-new-paradigm-for-online-community>

Changes in Facebook Layout

Australian IT (2008) reports that Facebook users are furious about the changes in layout in terms of new application. The founder of Facebook, Marc Zuckerberg has been changing the layout, adding new applications, chat spaces, notification and advertisements without announcing it beforehand. The layout of Facebook were changed over the night year by year without notifying users of the maintenance. Due to this, it left many Facebook users furious after having to encounter the new changes; some even find it hard to navigate through but some also thought it was a good change.

In my point of view, it got me very frustrated at the beginning when Facebook had a major facelift on how to navigate things around and where were the placement of some tabs. But after getting use to the new layout, it became must easier for me. Although the old layout was rather simple and plan. New application like games, chats, notifications, photo sharing, timeline, cover photo and what not are entertaining and it helps me feel updated on my family and friends with just one click away. Others are still not happy about the new "News Feed", "Live Feed", "Timeline" and "Cover Photo".

Facebook (Old Layout)

Facebook (New Layout)

It would be better if the editor of Facebook could notify us as Facebook users a day or two before a new facelift again. New changes should be done in the "Notification" tab too that enable us to block unnecessary notifications from our friend's list.

Reference

1. Australian IT 2008, 'Facebook makeover leaves some devotee fuming', Australian IT, viewed 10 May 2012, <http://www.theaustralian.com.au/australian-it-old/facebook-makeover-leaves-some-devotees-fuming/story-e6frgamx-1111117453632>

Hello

I am Pik Yie, also known as Peggy from Malaysia, a university student studying in University of South Australia majoring in Media and Culture. This blog is for one of my elective course, Issues in Publication Design where I will talk about media issues and generally issues in publication design.