To blog ,or not to blog , that is the Question

Blogging has become a trend not only to the X and Y Generations but also to the baby boomers. This is the channel that they can voice out their opinion in the public. However, under the Malaysia Communications and Multimedia Act of 1998, the internet content must be regulated and controlled where provided a clear prohibited in the publication contents (Bernama 2008). Furthermore, OpenNet 2007 (cited in The Star 2006) reported that our Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi in August 2006 asserted that “bloggers who publish seditious, malicious or defamatory content will be reported to the police.

Two years ago, a student who is studying in Taiwan , name- Namewee who rapped the National Anthem “Negarakuku” and posted it to YouTube has made a big issue in the country. Yet he said that he wanted to contribute to 50th Merdeka Anniversary but he used the wrong way to express it. Although we have the freedom of speeches, there is always a limit for it. Furthermore, Namewee posted the video clip in YouTube where easily can be shared .This is because according to Birkerts (1994), web contents travel along from one network to another through hyperlink. Kress and van Leeuwen (2006) theories applies where text and images exhibit multimodality. This is also further elaborate in Schriver’s (1997, p.166) theories where use both visual and verbal language can easily connect with the ‘readers knowledge, experience, beliefs and values’. If just the visual of his clips, it would not show a meaning for it but when with his lyrics, it is defaming the country.

However, there are still lots more of issues such as the recent one Raja Petra issues. Therefore, in order to avoid this kind of situations, UiTM may introduce courses for blogging to train bloggers in a more professional and ethical way (The Star 2008).OpenNet 2007 (cited in The Star 2006) reported that the Prime Minister said that the 'government will not censor the internet bloggers but it is their responsibilities'. However, according to the Deputy Energy , Water and Communications Minister Datuk Josehp Salang Gandum affirmed that government has not set up a specialize body to monitor irresponsible bloggers (Bernama 2008). Nielsen (2006) affirms that it is the bloggers responsible to blog because bloggers might write for the future boss. Therefore, for bloggers out there, your destiny is in your hand aware of what sorts of topics you are going to blog.

Reference Lists:


Bernama 2008, ‘No Plans to Set Up Special Body to Monitor Blogs’, May 26 2008, viewed 1st June 2008, < http://www.bernama.com.my/bernama/v3/news.php?id=335412>

Birkerts, S 1994, The Gutenberg Elegies: The Fate of Reading in an Electronic Age, viewed 3rd June 2008 , < http://archives.obs-us.com/obs/english/books/nn/bdbirk.htm>

Kress, G & van Leeuwen,T 2006, Reading Images: The Grammar of Visual Design, 2nd edn, Routledge, New York.

Nielsen, J 2005, ‘Weblog Usability: The Top Ten Design Mistakes’, Jakob Nielsen's Alertbox, October 17, viewed 1st June 2008, <http://www.useit.com/alertbox/weblogs.html>

OpenNet Initiative 2007, ‘Malaysia’ ,May 10 2007, viewed 1st June 2008, <http://opennet.net/research/profiles/malaysia >

Schriver, KA 1997, ‘The interplay of words and pictures’, Dynamics in document design: creating texts for readers, Wiley Computer Pub., New York, Chapter 6, pp. 361-441.

The Star 2008, ‘UiTM may introduce courses related to blogging’, viewed 3rd June 2008, < http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2008/5/14/nation/21236817&sec=nation >

New Form of Media Publishing

Thank's to the Technology that has given to us. Without Technology all these sorts of blog, vlog, internet and others would not be here. The new form of media publishing is more likely not only for the professional journalists or reporters but also citizens who are concern over the matters.The Age (2005) reported that the latest news not reported by the reporters but was reported by the local citizens where in an hour time all the news and photos, vlog were circulate around.

It is inevitable that YouTube has becoming popular machine where users can just by one click , the video or short clips will be shown.People using camcorders, camera, mobile phones for clips editing and posted it to the websites so easily.

Moreover, Facebook not only become the new media tools that connected with social networks but also successfully to help the police to catch the suspect that attack the student in Georgetown University ( Digital Journal 2007).



Reference Lists:

Digital Journal 2007, Victim uses Facebook to finger suspect, 29 September 2007,Digital Journal.com, viewed 7 May 2008,
<http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/234716/Victim_uses_Facebook_to_finger_suspect>

The Age 2008, How citizen reporters get the news out first , 12 January 2005 , The Age, viewed 7 May 2008, <http://www.theage.com.au/news/Opinion/How-citizen-reporters-get-the-news
-out-first/2005/01/11/1105423482230.html >

Designing for online vs print

So, what is so different between designing online and print? Well, according to Reep (2006) asserts that 79 to 81 percent of users scan web material and the purpose of the users to visit the website is to get information. It would be an advantage for the websites with background music and also interactive java script. Furthermore, Parker(2003) also agreed with Reep’s idea that it is harder to read on screen as compared to print. This is because of the lighting problem on the screen. Therefore, the online publications must be in bullet points so that the readers can read easily.

Nielsen (2005) also affirms that the text in the web should be concise and scannable as users will read 25 percent slower than on the paper. He also further his research on Weblog Usability:The Top 10 Design Mistake where it gives a real guide for the newbie to start writing a good website or web log.

Below shows the example of Online and Print Document

Online Document

Print Document

Print material is static when once it's printed out the author cannot change the informations. Whereas for Online, the author still can change the content of the information after posting up to the web. Furthermore, Nielsen (2006) also further his researches that viewers read the web content in a F-shaped pattern. which is read the heading and scan through all the informations.On the other hand, Gutenberg Diagram shows that the pattern of reading a print document is unlike Z-shape. Therefore, the different of print and online documents has it's own unique different.

Reference Lists:

Nielsen , J 2005, Weblog Usability: The Top Ten Design Mistakes , Jakob Nielsen Alertbox, viewed 5 May 2008, <http://www.useit.com/alertbox/weblogs.html>

Nielsen, J 2006, F-shaped pattern for reading web content, Jakob Nielsen’s Alertbox, viewed 3 May2008,

<http://www.useit.com/alertbox/reading_pattern.html>.

Parker, RC 2003, ' CHapter 14" in Looking Good in Print, 5th Edition, Scootsdale, Arizons.

Reep, D 2006, ' Chapter 3 & 7' in Technical Writing, 6th Edition, Pearson Education, Inc

Blogging Communities

Bloggers with the same interest tend to sticks together as communities . The stronger groups will turn that interest into a passion. Bloggers can join or create a bloggers community in the web. Wherever a person has joined the community, he can link himself to the community and also the link of the community will appear in the blog. Through these blogging communities, the bloggers can exchange their thoughts of the days with others who have the same passion. Furthermore, a chat box also can be placed in the blog where this is to create a more interactive ways to communicate with the readers and the author rather than just leaving the comments on the posting.

Below are some of the lists of the blogging communities:

Graphic=Love

Jesus is not religion

Besides joining the blogging groups, bloggers also may leave a comment after reading the posts where later it can be connected to each others.a more modern and latest communities would be Friendster and Facebook that links to each other and also it looks like a real communities as with a lot of features of applications.

Classifications of Blogs

There are several types of blogs that exists. The lists of classifications of blogs are listed below.

Subject matter:

Politics blog - www.HannahYeoh.blogspot.com
Fashion blog: www.danslamourboutique.blogspot.com
Automatives Blog: www.paultan.org
Personal blog : www.pastorkevin.multiply.com
Travelling blog: www.wayn.com
Christianity blog: www.sharegodlove.com

Device:

Moblog also known as Mobile Blogging which directly send the blog from mobile phone to the web.

Media type:

vlog also known as video blog,
linklog (log link to other addresses),
sketchlog
tumblelogs also known as the log that have more media post, and photos
spolgs also known as spam blog.

Status of publishers:

Business blog – www.stumblingandmumbling.typepad.com
corporate blogs- www.boeingblogs.com/randy/

From time to time, bloggers interest are no longer stick to one genre. They tend to have more combinations and styles of blogging to express their own way. this has become harder for readers to read the blog. Therefore, tag plays an important role in the weblog.

Why Blogging?

Blogging has become an activity that everyone does. Every seconds there’s 17 posts posted online (Technorati 2007) where some of the blog authors thought that it would be great that to share their experiences or knowledge to others. There are three main groups of people who blog can be categorize as the professional or business people, having passion in different interest of group and the major one would be communicating with family and friends.


Blogging waste of time?

Well, personally speaking, blogging is not a waste of time either. It’s just like a writing journal or diaries but it is a type based as compared to the old hand written diaries. It is kind of interesting where we actually jot down all the moments that I have been through. Moreover, from time to time it will help me to reflect on myself and also will improve my own attitudes where which wrong doing shall not be repeated again. Therefore, blogging is not a waste of time



Reference Lists:
Technorati 2008, Technorati Blog: Blogoshpere, media release, April 2007, viewed 8 May 2008, <http://technorati.com/weblog/blogosphere/>

The Blogging Trend

Within the Asia Region, blogging has increasingly become more popular. Window Live Reported that nearly half of the users who online in Asia have a blog. Furthermore, Microsoft (2006) further explained that the purposes of the bloggers are more to self expression and also a connection of up-to-date to their daily lives.

Malaysia

However, in Malaysia, there are a lot of success political blog such as Lim Kit Siang . A very local example Hannah Yeoh -she just won a seat in the parliament during the recent elections and she blogs all the latest updated issues that she has solved for Subang Jaya citizens. Blogging has become part of their daily life especially for Women and youngsters (Microsoft, 2006).

Japan

Technorati (2007) analyzed that Japanese Language ranked the highest in blogging which is from 33% has increased to 37%. More than half of the bloggers were more to social blog such as posting photos and video. One of the example that this young Japanese gal in youtube get a millions hits just starring at the screen for a minute. This is one of the example of vlog.

India

However, on the contrary, India’s blogosphere heavily dominated by men. This is because 75% of all bloggers in India are men (CNet 2006). Furthermore, the subjects do matters as business blogging is very popular in India. The Hindu (2006) found that men are more to read blogs to stay informed that what’s happening around the world and also keep up-to-date about the events.

Benefits of Blogging in Malaysia?

Well, are there any benefits that the Malaysian bloggers may get for continuously blogging? Yes of course there is. There is no free lunch in this world. The more you work for it, the more rewards you will get.

Social Bloggers

Adverlert.com is an advertising company that advertises in bloggers blog where both parties can get benefits. Such as blogger may get monetary in return while writing the blogs and let the advertiser to advertise. Furthermore, the bloggers may also get free access in upgrading their blog in futures (Adverlert 2008). Besides that, blogging is a way to express your own word in your own space. However, words that are sort of abusive will be taken in action such as the famous case that just happened recently where a young talented guy re-write the National Anthem of Malaysia was taken into charge.

Business

Through this business partners can exchange in formations on how improve the business through blogging. This is because everything is just under one hand and we can actually know what’s happening around the world. Therefore, it can be said that business bloggers can get advices from the professional or experts.

Reference Lists:

Adverlerts 2008 , Benefits,viewed 4 May 2008 ,< http://www.advertlets.com/benefits>

CNet 2006, Has blogging hit the tipping point in India? , CNet Asia, viewed 5 May 2008, < http://asia.cnet.com/blogs/technologywalla/post.htm?id=61971547>

Mircosoft 2006, Women Rule in Malaysia Blogosphere, Press News, Mircosoft, viewed 20 April 2008, <http://www.mircosoft.com/malaysia/press/archieve2006/linkpage4337.mspx>

Technorati 2008, Technorati Blog: Blogoshpere, media release, April 2007, viewed 8 May 2008, <http://technorati.com/weblog/blogosphere/>

The Hindu 2006 , Interesting blogging trends in India revealed in new Survey,The Hindu, viewed 30 April 2008,

What about Blogging Phenomenon?

The word “blogs” was evolve from the short form of “ web log” where it can be explained as the online journal or diaries where open to public that everyone can leave their comment as long as they have registered themselves to the blog sites (Pointblog 2005) .Nowadays, blogging has become one of the instruments that connect us with one another about what is happening around them and it has become a social activity in Asia besides hang out with friends .It has become a trend that 1.4 blogs created for every second of everyday (Technorati 2008). They currently track those 70 million blogs over the world. The numbers of blogs have been doubling every six months ( Technorati 2008). And did you know that 74% bloggers in Malaysia are the young people that are age below 25? and also 64%bloggers in Malaysia are women (Microsoft 2006). Therefore, it can be described that “Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus”.

Reference Lists:

Mircosoft 2006, Women Rule in Malaysia Blogosphere, Press News, Mircosoft, viewed 20 April 2008, <http://www.mircosoft.com/malaysia/press/archieve2006/linkpage4337.mspx>

Pointblog 2005, Handbook for Bloggers and Cyber-Dissident : What's a Blog?,Reporters Without Border, September 2005 , viewed 8 May 2008 ,< www.rsf.org >

Technorati 2008, Technorati Blog: Blogoshpere, media release, April 2007, viewed 8 May 2008, <http://technorati.com/weblog/blogosphere/>

Purpose of Blogging

It is inevitable that globalisation has created a huge on cultural and economic change (Webster 2000, p.180). Therefore, B.L.O.G.G.E.R.M.A.N.I.A is created to discuss some issues in "Issue in Publication and Document Design". According to Kress and Van Leeuwen (p.43, 2006) asserts that the arrangement of text and images are both equally important for semiotic landscape since internet era.

This blog is to draw the attention of degree students, professionalism in document design and publication field that are interested in knowing the communication subjects that I’ve learned throughout the semesters. This would give a guide to those who are still new in either blogging or designing webpage, magazine and etc. Furthermore, this weblog also welcome those who has same interest to know more about weblog are encourage posting some of their comments or opinions over here.

Reference Lists:

Kress, G. & van Leeuwen, T. 2006, Reading Images: The Grammar of Visual Design, 2nd Edition, Routledge Taylor & Francis Group, London and New York.

Technorati 2007 , Technorati Blog : Blogosphere , Media Release, April 2007, viewed 8 May 2008, <http://technorati.com/weblog/blogosphere/>

Webster, N, ‘Economics’, 2000,2nd Edition, Greg Eather and Association, Adelaide