New Forms of Media Publishing

             

With technology adequately improving by the minute, media has improved dramatically from mere forms of old media; newspapers, flyers, television, to new media; vlogging, blogging, social networking sites. These social networking sites, likewise Youtube, Facebook, and Twitter has broken barriers for users all over the world to further communicate and share information with each other. Before the internet came along, an individual would have probably known about news from another country through either television or print media, but he/she could not actually get involved personally with the particular issue. But with new media and internet, he/she can actually play an active role in exchanging views or opinions to others millions of miles away across the globe. This is what new media has given us; a push in social development or as Naughton (2006) explains; new media has sped up development and is shifting radically in the environment. 

So why has new media pushed itself into our society, replacing old media? Dash (2010) explains firstly with demand; a significant number of people retrieve news from the Internet. The efficiency of using Facebook or Twitter to spread and aggregate news wins by miles compared to of print media (Dash 2010). With a single click of a button, you can share links and information to millions of others around the world. The use of tags and simple key words in Twitter, a site that allows you to post a 140-character status update has made it easier for people to locate and distinguish what topic matters they are interested in looking for. Naughton (2006) describes the Internet as a ‘pull’ medium, where the user is in control and chooses what to be read and digested. In addition, there is a reciprocal relationship between users with Twitter and new media, since opinions are shared (Naughton 2006). In contrast, old media uses a ‘push’ medium where the sole creators of TV shows or radio channels chooses what topic matters to present and advocate to its viewers (Naughton 2006).

Source : Twitter.com With a simple click on a tag, you're able to read and discuss on the particular subject

Blogging has served its purpose in the news world as well. Many journalists have ventured into this digital world to publish works instead of using print media. Sites like www.malaysiakini.com present news to the public but with extra advantages where society is allowed to comment and discuss about the particular subject matter. Naughton (2006) states that there is a relationship between journalism and blogging that is rather symbiotic. Both parties are accommodating to each other to surface as news mediums in the current era. It's called the New Journalism movement, according to Raynsford (2003). This movement transformed the conventional news writing with integrating it with personal experience, views and loosened the detachment between the reader and the writer. 

Source : Malaysiakini.com

400 words

References

Dash, R 2010, '5 reasons old media should buy facebook', AllFacebook.com viewed 30 September 2010 <http://www.allfacebook.com/5-reasons-old-media-should-buy-facebook-2010-03>  

 Naughton, J 2006, ‘Blogging and the emerging media ecosystem’, viewed 30 September 2010, <http://reuteursinstitute.politics.ox.ac.uk/about/discussion/blogging.html>

Raynsford, J 2003, 'Blogging : the new journalism?', Online Journalism News, viewed 30 September 2010 <http://www.journalism.co.uk/5/articles/5604.php>

Blogging Communities

Bartle (2007) states that a community is defined by a group of people with a similar interest. Put blogging into that context, you get a blogging community, which means a group of people who share a common interest on subject matters through blogging. White (2006) explains with example of groups of people who start to blog in niches, exchanging comments and views on each other’s posts.

So how do we start a blogging community? Well the first step would be to read, read, read.  White (2006) adds that there are 3 types of communities in the blogging world: one blog centric community; where the community derives from many readers circulating around a single blog, topic centric community; where different blogs with the same subject matter that inter-communicate with each other, and a boundaried community; where blogs of the same genre are gathered together in a single website.

Mueller (2009) states that to start a blogging community, one has to get ‘personal’ with other bloggers. The easiest way to do so would be to comment or reply comments. To get in touch with readers and posters starts a networking community that constantly exchanges information and opinions with each other. Discussion amongst readers and bloggers builds a community (Mueller 2009). Networking and knowing your community would be essential, followed by retaining visitors with good content and using links and titles to pull visitors to your blog (LeMerle 2007).

Taking the single blog centric community as an example, the structure of the community arises from a single blog. The author of a blog starts a blog, attracting various readers. These readers then start commenting, playing an active role in building up the blog’s community. The blogger would be considered as the ‘king’ of the community, where as the commentors and readers – the peasants. A very good example of a blog that falls into this category would be www.xiaxue.blogspot.com. This Singaporean blogger has exposed her private life into written form online and her community (readers and commentors) rage over the thousands. She blogs about a particular topic and her community grow around it. She receives to over more than 300 comments each post she posts up.

Single Blog Centric Community Source : Nancy White 2006

Single Blog Centric Blogger Xiaxue, Source : www.xiaxue.blogspot.com

White (2006) instills that the blogger has the ultimate control over the community. If she/he were to shut down the blog, the community will likely shatter and disintegrate (White 2009). 

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References


Bartle, P n.d., 'What is community? A sociological perspective', Community Empowerment, viewed 26 September 2010 <http://www.scn.org/cmp/whatcom.htm>


LeMerle, R 2007, '10 Step Guide to Building Your Blog Community', Neodigitalist.com viewed 26 September 2010 <http://www.neodigitalist.com/2007/02/10-step-guide-to-building-your-blog-community/>

Mueller, E 2009, 'How to create community for your blog?', Blissfully Domestic, viewed 26 September 2010 <http://blissfullydomestic.com/2009/how-to-create-community-on-your-blog-for-wordpress-users>

White, N 2006, 'Blogs and community-launching a new paradigm for online community?', Going Communial Edition 11, viewed 26 September 2010, <kt.flexiblelearning.net.au/tkt2006/edition-11-editorial/blogs-and-community-%E2%80%93-launching-a-new-paradigm-for-online-community>

Classification of blogs & opinion about the most appropriate approach

Various blogs are classified different into different categories determined by the writing style, content, and subject matter. There are tutorial blogs, travel and cultural blogs, personal blogs, and fashion/lifestyle blogs (Belardo n.d.). These blogs are classified according to content, on what the author writes and publishes. For example, a tutorial blog displays instructions on performing a task, and a fashion blog talks about style (Belardo n.d.). Another way of classifying blogs would be by media type. For example, there are photo blogs and vlogs. A good example for a photo blog would be www.tumblr.com where bloggers are able to share and express through photos rather than writing. Video blogging is where a blog is made entirely out of videos (Gunelius, n.d.), where bloggers post videos instead of written material. 

Example of a tutorial blog in vlog style. Source : Youtube.com

Qu, Pietra and Poon (n.d.) state that blogs are hard to classify due to its spontaneous nature. Though so, most blogs are classified by writing styles and content. Simons (2008) has created 9 different types of blogs that are classified based on the mentioned criteria. The types include exhibition blog; where bloggers exhibit their own works to the public, news blogs; where bloggers excel into the mass media field, presenting news to the public through their blogs. In my opinion, it is difficult to classify blogs generally because people write whatever they feel like and most blogs do not stick to only one genre. However, professional blogs are dedicated to only a specific topic or subject matter, which differs from most hobbyist blogs. I think blogs can be distinguished plainly just by the topics or subject matters that are posted up.

270 words

References

Belardo, M n.d., 'The 5 Types of Blogs - Which One Suits You Best?', InkRebels.com viewed 26 September 2010 <http://www.inkrebels.com/insp/the-5-types-of-blogs-which-one-suits-you-best/>

Gunelius, S n.d., 'Vlog - What is a vlog?' About.com viewed 26 September 2010 <http://weblogs.about.com/od/bloggingfaqs/f/WhatIsaVlog.htm>

Qu, H, Pietra, A L, Poon, S n.d., 'Automated Blog Classification : Challenges and Pitfalls ' University of California Berkeley viewed 26 September <http://www.aaai.org/Papers/Symposia/Spring/2006/SS-06-03/SS06-03-037.pdf>

Simons, M 2008, 'A taxonomy of blogs', The Media Report viewed 26 September 2010 <http://www.abc.net.au/rn/mediareport/stories/2008/2372882.htm>

Blogs as current phenomenon & benefits of blogging to the community

In this era where technology is abundant, blogging has become the new hobby for many who are tech-savvy. The current global blogosphere is made up of 147,199,651 blogs (BlogPulse.com 2010). At least 50 000 blogs are created each day (BlogPulse.com). We see many kinds of blogs out there; political blogs, food blogs, fashion blogs, news blogs, personal ones and even blogshops. In Malaysia, we see a lot of food blogs and political/news blogs. Food blogs like www.vkeong.com and www.kampungboycitygal.com both review desirable eateries around Malaysia for public convenience. News blogs like the www.nutgraph.com and www.malaysiakini.com become a portal for up to date news about the country for the citizens. We see a dominant population of blogs that provide for local news and political updates in Malaysia. Blogs like these benefit the community in a way that the community is able to voice out, or play a role in politics. People are able to suggest, or just express different opinions regarding of the subject matter. In addition, news blogs keeps the community updated with the latest news, rather than having to wait for print media. In other countries like Iran, people use blogs as a portal to publicize important reports amongst the society, likewise seen by a campaigner for women’s rights, who uses a blog to expose cases of stoning and execution (Corbin 2009). Blogging grew as a trend in Iran after the country’s strict rules on social networking sites such as Facebook as well as the banning of various newspapers (Sussman 2009). 

Source - Technorati.com 2009

Bar chart shows majority of the community has agreed that the blogging community has made great impact on political fields.

252 words.

References

Branckaute, F 2010, 'State of the blogosphere in 2010', theblogherald.com viewed 25 September 2010 <http://www.blogherald.com/2010/09/20/state-of-the-blogosphere-in-2010/>

Blogpulse Stats 2010, Blogpulse.com viewed 25 September 2010 <http://blogpulse.com/>

Corbin, J 2009, 'Iran: Rap, blogs and the political mix', BBCNews.com viewed 15 September 2010 <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/8088042.stm>

Olsen, D, Berlin, E, Olsen, E, Mclean, J & Sussman, M 2009, 'State of the Blogosphere 2009' Technorati.com viewed 25 September 2010 <http://technorati.com/blogging/feature/state-of-the-blogosphere-2009/>

Sussman, M 2009, 'Day 5: Twitter, Global Impact and the Future or Blogging - SOTP 2009' , Technorati.com viewed 25 September 2010 <http://technorati.com/blogging/article/day-5-twitter-global-impact-and/>

Document Design - What is a good powerpoint presentation?

    

So what is a good powerpoint presentation? To me, it would be one that is able to persuade the audience into receiving what is presented. 

A good powerpoint presentation is not boring. It will draw its audience's attention even without the presence of the speaker. Layout plays a big role in a good powerpoint presentation. Putnis & Petelins (1996) cites through Anderson (1987) states that the presentation is good when it helps the readers read efficiently. In layouts, design features are important because they direct the attention of the readers towards important messages. Reep (2006) states there are several format elements that must be considered when producing a good layout for the presentation. For example, these elements include written cues such as headings; help readers find specific information quickly. Other elements include white space. White space in a page helps the reader concentrate on the text efficiently (Reep 2006). Putnis & Petelins (1996) backs this up by stating there should be balance between white spaces and text. Using fancy fonts in slides are not appropriate because they are difficult to read and thus, harder for the reader to understand (Russell n.d.).

The content of a powerpoint presentation is just as important as the design layout.  Marquez (n.d.) states that it is important that slides do not have too many words or sentences in them. Clear-cut and straight to point is the key word here. The presenter should be able to present specified messages through sentences that should not be changed or lose any critical information (Rothman 2005). A good presentation should always have images. Marquez (n.d.) instills that images help draws attention from the audience.

Source : Presentation I did with coursemates.

An example of using headings in your slide to attract the attention of readers. Clear-cut short sentences in bold.

294 words

References


Marquez, Z L 2010, How to Make a Good Power Point Presentation, Ezinearticles.com, viewed 26th August 2010, <http://ezinearticles.com/?How-to-Make-a-Good-PowerPoint-Presentation&id=4313178>


Russel, W 2010, 10 Tips for Creating Successful Business Presentations, About.com: Presentation Software, viewed 26th August 2010, <http://presentationsoft.about.com/od/powerpointinbusiness/tp/bus_pres_tips.htm>


Rothman, S 2005, What Makes Good Scientific and Techinical Writing?, Assosiatedcontent.com, viewed 26th August 2010, <http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/9447/error?cat=4>


Reep, DC 2006, 'Document Design', Technical Writing, Ch. 6, pp. 133-172


Peter, P & Petelin, R 1996, 'Writing to communicate', Professional communication : principles and applications, Ch. 7, pp. 223-263