Classification of Blogging and their Communities

Blogs come in a range of different formats therefore, the topic and context and the information written changes with each. Saying that, each blog revolves around a certain topic, in which the author can express their thoughts, opinions and ideas in the topic of interest. When searching ‘Blog’ into Google there are a range of different search options, most being Journals which are Dear Diary blogs and others range from sport to political.

Blog is defined as a ‘type of website which is maintained by an author or just a regular writer’ explained Hidalgo (2007). Entries are updated regularly on any issues to the author’s interest. Some of the most common blogs are informational, personal, corporate, media, music, medical, genre and celebrity.

Blogging communities are formed when people with ‘similar interests or organizations are then able to instantly, easily and effectively create a single point of access and content aggregation. This then leads to the advantages of having a blog community. The advantage of establishing a blog community, either amongst friends, colleagues, or communities of interest, lies in the group effect. Users can benefit by networking, finding new friends, or simply have a stronger communication tool within the blogosphere’ explained Kinkeldei (2007).

Blogs have a tendency to attract a certain age group. The first type of blog that is going to be discussed is the Personal blog, to which most people would know as the ‘Dear Diary’ type. The most common type of personal blog is LiveJournal. LiveJournal mainly attracts the younger audiences and through word of mouth has increased in popularity. When entering the LiveJournal site there are many different subcategories, in which people can relate to. Different topics of discussion, such as music, news, life and technology. Although LiveJournal has a large following, Facebook, which is the latest craze at the moment, has stopped the amount of personal blogs. LiveJournal has now become the main place for people to sell wedding planners, bands and even different celebrity news.





The second type of blog that is going to be discussed is medical blogs, which answers any questions on most problems. The most common medical blog is MedWorm. MedWorm attracts all audiences and is increasing in popularity. MedWorm has many different areas of discussion, ranging from medical conditions to medical discussions.

There are endless amounts of blogs online, they each have a different common interest. These interests are in the readers advantage with the discussions and blogging reaching a wider audience without intention. This happens because people comment and ask questions, most people are a part of a Blogging community.


Image Source: MedWorm

Image Source: LiveJournal

Hidalgo, C 2007, Blogs/blogger/blogging/blog/weblog, viewed 26 October 2009, <http://webweevers.com/blog.htm>.

Kinkeldei, B. 2007 "Forging Connections and Promoting Growth Through Blog Communities", 21publish.com, viewed 26 October 2009, <http://www.21publish.com/pub/21publish/blogging-whitepaper.pdf>.

New Forms of Publishing, is it the way to go?

There has been a large amount of talk amongst newspapers and magazines to start making the switch from paper to online. The most common reason to why most newspapers and magazines are making the change is for the editing and printing costs. With the online news there is an immediate source to the headlines. As Adams (2008) explained that ‘newspapers are a dying art form. With rising costs and declining subscriptions, in a few years times, local newspapers will be actively exploring the option of going completely paperless’. Newspapers are now thinking of saving the environment and also saving the cost of printing.


Need to buy a car, bed frame, fridge or even a pet? The Trading Post is the local Australian paper that sells anything and everything and is now being turned to an online only newspaper. The Trading Post would average around ‘469 000 readers a week’ whereas the website would have around ‘1.8 million browsers in one month’. This show that people would rather save their money and look at a product online before looking at the product in real life.

This shows the difference in technologies and the way that people are getting information on products. To find a product that is needed, for example a fridge, is now all being done in people’s living rooms, on their computers. Using online newspapers will help people to find time to look for the products that are needed because people will have more time on their hands.

Image source: Trading Post Online

Jackson, S 2009, ‘Trading Post may axe print edition’, The Australian, 10 August 2009, <http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/business/story>.

Adams, K 2008, ‘Future of Local Newspapers’, Associated Content, viewed 20 October 2009,
<http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/801009/future_of_local_newspapers_making_the.html>.

The Great Debate – Print verses Online

Just like any other debate, printed designs verses online designs, each have the advantages and disadvantages that have to be taken into consideration. The main points that have to be taken into consideration are readability, cost, editing and most importantly the audience. The pros and cons to all the considerations will be outlined below.

Readability
As known reading documents on paper is a lot easier that reading from a computer screen. The computer screen is harder to read off because the monitor projects light and also sometimes a glare from sunlight, making it difficult to read the information. This is when line spacing and bigger gaps between paragraphs make it easier for the reader and create larger white spaces. Whereas, print creates a clearer document and do not have to worry about glare affecting the reader. To sum it up Reep ( 2006, p. 157) explained that ‘white space helps readers process the text efficiently’, which helps people to want to read the document.

Cost
The cost for online documents is rather low compared to print. Printing costs are getting more and more expensive every year because of the large amount of paper that goes into each document. Not to mention that some people might see the large amount of paper as waste in today’s society. That is assuming that everyone has access to a computer and internet, otherwise, cost issues are reversed. The main issue to online document cost is the amount of access that is allowed, some sites might have a payment fee just to browse the site.

Editing
The obvious problem with editing printed work is that it has to be finalised before going to print. Basically the final product is unchangeable and the ‘deadlines’ have to be met with documents that have no spelling or grammar mistakes visible. Whereas online allows some flexibility when it comes to editing because if there are any spelling or grammar mistakes there is always the ability to change them in the matter of minutes. Therefore, it can be said that there is no ‘deadline’. Overall, in this case online is seen as the easier option because of the ability to change last minutes mistakes, with print what is done is done.

Audience
With the audience there are two considerations, one being reaching the audience and the other being the reader’s capabilities. Reaching the audience is easier with printed text because the information can be handed to them. More people are going to read the newspaper in print everyday that sit down at a computer and find the latest headlines. With printed documents, it is sort of a ‘one size fits all’ motto, there is no changing the size of writing to suit, it is up to the reader to be able to read it. Whereas, online can make the information larger with the zoom button. There is the chance that the information is read by a wider audience but that doesn’t guarantee that people are actually reading it. With the larger audience it is more difficult to judge who to aim the document at.





Image Source: Erin Ludwicks Portfolio

Image Source: Cosmopolitan Magazine

Image Source: Cosmopolitan Website

Reep, DC 2006, ‘Document Design’, Technical writing: principles, strategies and readings, 6th edn, Pearsons/Longman, New York, Chapter 6, pp. 133-172.

Salahub, J 2009, Print v Online Advantages and Disadvantages, viewed 19 October 2009, <http://writing.colostate.edu/index.cfm>.

Is blogging the only way to receive news as it happens?

Placing out a survey ten years ago asking what blogging is would have given a one way answer to ‘no idea’, now it is the latest craze with millions of people joining the ‘blogger’s world’. Blog is short for ‘web log’. As Ng (2009) explained ‘blogging used as a place where people who think they are a writer have a chance to have an opinion and freely write’. Which explains that a blog is a place where regular people like you and me communicate and express our opinion on media issues, or any issues for that matter. With a blog, there is no need to bore someone else with your opinions, there is now a place where there may be people with the same opinion as you and are happy to listen.

I am not the best at computers; seriously you’re lucky I know how to turn them on. I found making the blog difficult at the beginning but it really is not that hard. Just type into Google, blog, then there are many different formats. If you like the design of my blog, go to blogger.com. there are also many other blogs out in the internet world ranging from different information; for example; there are dear diary, medical blogs, science blogs and even the forum blog, where it enables people to have a discussion.

Blogs have changed the way of receiving daily news because the information is immediate and there is no waiting for the newspaper to be printed the next day. As Ng (2009) explained ‘anyone who makes a controversial statement had best be well prepared to back it up’ with information. As long as the information backs up the argument the news can be received immediately.

Image source: Bloggers http://www.blogger.com/start

Ng, D 2009, wiseGEEK, viewed 20 October 2009, < http://www.wisegeek.com/what-are-blogs.htm>.

Introduction

Welcome,

Hope you enjoy reading My Blog.

Mayley