The Blogging Phenomena

The Blogging Phenomena

As of 2008, Technorati has indexed a record of 133 million blogs since 2002. Data further records that there are over 175,000 new blogs every day, on which updates of over 1.6 million posts are made per day or over 18 updates a second.

Source: concurringopinions.com

Blogs also have many trends that might differ in different countries. The blogging trend is very much embedded in the American culture, but Europe and other parts of the world are soon catching up. According to Mackenzie (2006), in Europe personal diary-style blogs are very popular.

Blogging in Asia is also becoming increasingly popular through findings stating that half of those online own a blog (Moyes & Collette, n.d.). According to research, Asians primarily blog to maintain and build their social connections, and as means of expressing themselves. 53% stated that they decided to start a blog to share a diary or photo album with loved ones (Moyes & Collette, n.d.).

In Malaysia, political blogs seem to be the strongest in the country with blogs like http://www.jeffooi.com/, http://blog.limkitsiang.com/ and http://rockybru.blogspot.com/ in the lead (Alang, 2007). However, political blogs make up a small part of the blogging landscape in Malaysia. According to Ooi (2007), a large number of blogs are about food, the social scene, family life, books and hobbies (pp.38).

Blogging does benefit the community in many aspects. In Malaysia,
strong blogs especially political ones give the society a wider cope
on the political situation of the country. They expose citizens to both
sides of the field; the government and the opposition parties. Most
commonly, blogs provide a platform for family and friends to keep
connected and to share memories with each other. 

Businesses in Malaysia have also turned to blogs to grow their businesses and build business relationships. Blogs selling products and blog-cum-boutique are increasingly popular in the country. Lately, some businesses are interested in advertising on famous blogs such as kennysia.com or blogs that are relevant to that of their business. Hence, blogs have different benefits in different situations and to each individual.

References:

Alang 2007. 'Strongest blogs in Malaysia'. Samsulzamzuri, viewed 5 November 2008, <http://www.samsulzamzuri.com/2007/04/08/strongest-blogs-in-malaysia/>

Moyes, N. & Collette, M.,n.d. 'Blogging Phenomenon Sweeps Asia'. Xinhua-PRNewswire, viewed 5 November 2008, <http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/11-28-2006/0004480819&EDATE>

Mackenzie, K., 2006. 'European bloggers find their voice'. Financial Times, viewed 4 November 2008,http://search.ft.com/ftArticle?queryText=European+bloggers+find+their+voice&y=1&aje=true&nclick_check=1&ct=0&id=061010001665&x=9

About Us 2008, Technorati.com, viewed 27 April 2008, <http://technorati.com/about/>

Ooi, Y. 2007. Blogging thrives in Malaysia. Communication World.

Blogging Genres and Communities

The growing numbers of blogs not only make up for an explosion of posts and updates but also diverse genres of blogs. What makes it more interesting is that each individual may have their own set of blog types; some self-created while others adopted.

Basic taxonomy of blogs can be seen in Technorati’s website. They have classified blogs into six different topics:

1. entertainment,
2. lifestyle,
3. sports,
4. business,
5. politics and
6. technology.

Whereas, personal blogs such as Creative Think have created their own set of blog types; which are

1. "Distraction" blogs,
2. "Archive" blogs,
3. "Conversation" blogs, and
4. "Democratic" blogs.

Hence, there is no strict standard to follow when it comes to blog classification, instead individuals decide which set they may follow.

According to White (2006), the online community has been an important component of the internet, though it mainly formed around email lists, bulletin board and forums. Lately, the growth of blogs has paved the way for communities to interact on a new platform. Blogging communities usually form around a shared interest or a driven passion (Vinson, 2006). One Tree Hill Blog, a site for fans of the television series ‘One Tree Hill’, existed due to the huge number of online fans. Created by two avid fans, the site has everything from news, episode ratings, and pictures to episode spoilers.

Source: One Tree Hill Blog

Such blogs create a blogging community platform for readers by allowing them to leave comments on individual postings. This gives them the opportunity to communicate with the blogger and also the community. Another tool that makes a blogging community is the outbound links. Outbound links allow visitors to view the resources the blogger might read. As a result, readers get to have a look into the world in which the blogger operates (Vinson, 2006).

Outbound links
Source: Smoblog.com

So, blogging communities are very much similar to everyday communities, apart from the online tools they may have. Vinson (2006) states that blogging communities are joined by their common interests and by that interest are held together.

References:

Blog directory. Technorati, viewed 7 November 2008, <http://technorati.com/blogs/directory/>

Vinson, J. 2006. ‘Blogging and communities’. Knowledge jolt with Jack, viewed 7 November 2008, <http://blog.jackvinson.com/archives/2006/06/26/blogging_and_communities.html>

Von Oech, R. 2007. ‘A taxonomy of blog ’. Creative think, viewed 7 November 2008,
<http://blog.creativethink.com/2007/03/a_taxonomy_of_b.html>

White, N. 2006. ‘Blogs and community – launching a new paradigm for online community? ’ The knowledge tree, viewed 7 November 2008,
<http://kt.flexiblelearning.net.au/tkt2006/edition-11-editorial/blogs-and-community-%C3%A2%E2%82%AC%E2%80%9C-launching-a-new-paradigm-for-online-community>

The Battle between Online and Print

Print has existed since the thirteenth century, making writing prominent and providing a medium for communication (Barnes & Palmquist, n.d.). However in the 90s, a new form of medium was created which we simply know as ‘The Internet’. Therefore, document designers now have to analyse the two different mediums to effectively design the piece.

In print documents, reading is usually from left to right and top to bottom. As suggested by Kress & Van Leeuwen (1998), in printed texts reading is linear and strictly coded (pp.205). However, for the web content is read in an F-pattern. Readers will first read in a horizontal movement across the upper part of the content, then move below and read the second horizontal movement before scanning the content’s left side in a vertical movement (Nielsen, 2006). Hence, document designers need to take these points into consideration when designing. Schriver (1997) suggests that, readers will rely on familiar cues provided by the document designer when reading text (pp.379).

The F-pattern of reading web content
Source: grumpycoder.co.uk

In contrast with print documents, content for online documents must be concise and straight to the point. This is because, users are most likely searching for specific information and do not intend to waste time reading clutter (Nielsen, 2008).

Print documents allow document designers to design their document strikingly and in doing so add impact to the piece. This is because print is ‘in-your-face’ within a second (Nielsen, 1999). Hence for the web, salience needs to be included in order that users are enticed to read on. For example, in blogs links, user-friendly navigation buttons, concise content and good graphic elements should be considered.

References:

Barnes, L. & Palmquist, M., n.d. ‘Online Vs. Print Publishing’. Colorado State University, viewed 9 November 2008,<http://writing.colostate.edu/guides/processes/onlinepub/index.cfm>

Kress, G. & van Leeuwen, T. 1998. Front pages : (the critical) analysis of newspaper layout. Blackwell, Oxford.

Nielsen, J., 2008. ‘Writing Style for Print vs. Web’. Jakob Nielsen Alertbox, viewed 9 November 2008, <http://www.useit.com/alertbox/print-vs-online-content.html>

Nielsen, J., 2006. ‘F-Shaped Pattern for Reading Web Content’. Jakob Nielsen Alertbox, viewed 9 November 2008, <http://www.useit.com/alertbox/reading_pattern.html>

Nielsen, J., 1999. ‘Differences Between Print Design and Web Design’. Jakob Nielsen Alertbox, viewed 9 November 2008, <http://www.useit.com/alertbox/990124.html>

Schriver, KA 1997. Dynamics in document design: creating texts for readers, Wiley Computer Publication, New York.

New Forms of Media Publishing

The digital age has brought with it the advances of technology and enabled easy and fast communication to those near or far, through forums, blogs, internet publications and so forth. Today, we find ourselves with endless options on which media to choose to publish our writings.

Here are some new forms of media publishing:

1. YouTube
2. Vlogs
3. Video Podcast
4. Photoblog
5. Lifecasting

These new trends are gaining popularity while some are already well known. Although some of us may be less inclined to use these forms of communication, we cannot deny the benefits it provides. For instance, Vlogs allow us to express authentic, unfiltered views through video (Garfield & Tarnes, 2006).

Stand out sites are like Rocketboom which is a daily 3-minute news video blog with its correspondents collaborating from around the world (Garfield & Tarnes, 2006). It has gained much popularity because it demonstrates the democratization of media every day because users act as their own producers.

Recently, YouTube and CNN jointly co-sponsored the Democratic and Republican presidential debates that intended to bring standard televised events to the digital age. Not only were viewers able to share and distribute the video, but the debate questions themselves were in forms of videos sent in by YouTube subscribers (McCarthy, 2008).

Being that YouTube is currently the king of video sharing (Smith, 2006); the creators took this opportunity to create more publicity for the company while giving their subscribers the chance to be part of the debate. Hence, new forms of media publishing does benefit users and with the advances of technology, it will continue to.

References:

Garfield, S. & Tarnes, D., 2006. ‘Media Revolution: Podcasting (Part 2)’. NewEnglandFilm.com, viewed 10 November 2008, <http://newenglandfilm.com/news/archives/2006/02/podcasting.htm>

McCarthy, C., 2007. ‘YouTube,CNN aim to 'revolutionize' presidential debate process’. Cnet news, viewed 10 November 2008, <http://news.cnet.com/8301-10784_3-9729506-7.html>

Smith, L., 2006. ‘YouTube and you – how video sharing will change the way you communicate’. Simply Communication, Gatehouse Consulting Ltd.