Screen vs. print document design

There are some difference of writing structure and design between online media and print media.

Firstly, the content of online media is short and brief. This is because people scan the page and do not read word by word (Nielsen, 1997). Besides that, he found that readers read half the information only on those pages with 111 words or less. On the other hand, print media provide the detail and explanation. In Nielsen research ( 1997), he stated that web users want to get the fact only but not the explanation.

Secondly, design of screen document is clear and the document does not have too much color. For example, during presentation , the slides should leave some white spaces as it helps people to get the information easily (Reep,2006). Additionally, background of the slides is simple and not colorful. Reep (2006) also indicated that providing picture will enhance the understanding of audience. As for print media, the layout is fixed, for instance, the lead news will be on top while soft news is at the bottom part. Besides that, the heading is required for print media as it can grab the attention of the readers.

Normally, screen design use more visual than print media. This is because screen media have unlimited spaces to share and easily capture the sight of audiences. In contrast, print media more focus on words and content, therefore there are not many pictures on 1 page.

In conclusion, both document designs require simple background, clear content and pictures to make the readers more understand.

Reference List :

1. Nielsen, J, 1997. How Users Read on the Web, viewed on 25th August 2011, http://www.useit.com/alertbox/9710a.html
   
   
2. Reep D 2006, ‘Principles of document design’, in Technical writing, 6th edn, Pearson Edu, Inc., New York,viewed on 25th August 2011.

New forms of media publishing

In 21st century, computer and internet access are playing crucial role in media publishing. Online news , social networking websites and blogs bring a lot of advantages to people. For example, Youtube which is the most popular medium for people to share videos has successfully connected the people form all over the world.

Online newspapers is one of the new forms of media publishing and it does enhance the interaction among the people. Online news provide a platform for public to share their opinions and got the rights to speak without any limitations. Rodman (2008) discusses that readers can communicate and leave response on blog and there is no limitation. Additionally, readers can receive the information in a faster and easier way. People can deliver their content without any cost of printing or broadcasting and some professionals can collect the feedback or access to information everywhere without the barriers of extensive (Dennis and Merrill, 2006).

Facebook is another good example of new forms of media because it alters the roles of advertising and marketing. Facebook is not only a social networking site, but also a medium for people to engage in business. For instance, people can promote their page by advertise on facebook and facebook will send email to every users.

Reference List:

1. Rodman, G 2008, Mass Media in a Changing World, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., New York, viewed on 24th August 2011.
   
   
2. Wadsworth,T 2006, ‘Media Bias and Political Leanings’, in Media Debates: Great Issues for the Digital Age,( eds) Dennis,EE & Merill,JC, Thomson Corporation, Belmont CA, USA, pp. 81-91, viewed on 24th August 2011.

Blogging Communities

Blogging community is a platform which has its own practices and behaviors for people with similar interest to interact with each other on a blog post (Wei,2004).

Blogosphere is a community and as a blogger, they are already in the community.

How do bloggers create a blogger community?

Bloggers have to get more involved within the blogosphere and create connection and relationships with the readers and other bloggers ( Denise,2009).

There are three types blogging communities (White,2006).

1. The Single Blog/Blogger Centric Community

2. The Central Connecting Topic Community

3. The Boundaried Community

The Single Blog/ Blogger Centric Community

( White,2006)

This community is run by an organisation or one owner but may have more than one blogger writing in a blog ( White,2006).

The Central Connecting Topic Community

( White,2006)

This community is a network formation that linked by common passion or topic.Topic centric communities have no single technological platform. What links them is hyperlinks, in the form of blogrolls, links to other blogs within blog posts, tagging, aggregated feeds (using RSS), trackbacks and comments ( White,2006) .

The Boundaried Community

( White,2006)

This community have a collection of blogs and the site or platform is hosted by the readers. The registered members can join the community and create the blog ( White,2006). Normally, these communities have other tools such as chat box, social networking features and so on.

Blogger.com is one of the examples of the boundaried communities. Users can be only create a complimentary blog after they register as a member. Besides that, Blogger.com provides different features for the users such as designing the layout, adding other gadgets, creating chat box and so on.

Reference List:

1. Denise 2009, How do you build community?, viewed on 24th August 2011, http://www.blogher.com/how-do-you-build-community
   
   
2. Wei, C 2004, Formation of Norms in a Blog Community,viewed on 24th August 2011, http://blog.lib.umn.edu/blogosphere/formation_of_norms.html
   
   
3. White, N 2006, Blogs and community-launching a new paradigm for online community, going communal, edition 11, viewed on 24th August 2011, http://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 classification approach.

As mentioned in the previous post, there are two kinds of blog - type based and other media. Personal blogs, collaborative blogs, corporate blogs, topical blogs and spam blogs are considered as type based while podcasts and videocasts and photologs are belongs to other media.

Blogs can be categorized by subject matter, device, media type and status of publisher. For example, people share their feelings or opinions by uploading videos to youtube and this is one of the media types in blogging.

There is a taxanomy of blogs by Margaret Simons (2008), she classified blogs into 9 categories:

Pamphleteering Blogs

The digest blog

The advocacy blog

The popular mechanics blog

The exhibition blog

The gatewatcher blog

The diary

The advertisement

The news blog

On the other hand , there is another classification system suggested by Misty Belardo (2010). Author classified blogs to collaborative blogs, tutorial blogs, travel/cultural blogs, fashion & lifestyle blogs, and personal blogs.

In my opinion, Misty Belardo's is better than Simons' one because the latter is more complicated and hard to understand. Belardo classify the blogs according to the content or topic and the target audience is clear and definite. Hence, I prefer Belardo's classification method to Simon's taxamony of blogs.

Reference List:

1. Belardo, M 2010, The 5 types of blogs; which one suits you best?, Inkrebels, viewed on 24th August 2011,http://www.inkrebels.com/insp/the-5-types-of-blogs-which-one-suits-you-best/
2. Simons, M 2008, Towards a taxonomy of blogs,viewed on 24th August 2011, http://www.apo.org.au/commentary/towards-taxonomy-blogs-0.

Blogs as current phenomenon & benefits to the community

In this digital age, everyone has the internet access , thus , most of the people voice out their feelings, experiences, opinions or thoughts by blogging. Today, it seems like everyone has a blog which contains different kinds of information (Gil Pizano, 2010). According to the State of Blogosphere 2010 from Technorati (Jon Sobel,2010), most of the bloggers are male aged between 18 to 44 and have been blogging more than 2 years. Besides that, Sobel (2010) reports the majority of the bloggers are educated and have college degrees.

(Technorati.com, 2010)

There is another pie chart shows that 65 percent of bloggers are hobbyist who blog for fun without reporting any income compared with part-timers ( 13%) , self-employeds ( 21%) and corporates ( 1%).

(Technorati.com, 2010)

There are various blogging trend in different countries, for instance , Malaysia has the highest ranking of blogging in the world after Indonesia and the European Union. Additionally, mobile blogging is one of the most popular trends these days. Bloggers using the smartphone to update their blog and change the way they blog ( Sobel,2010)

There are several types of blogs such as personal blogs, collaborative blogs, corporate blogs, topical blogs and spam blogs, podcasts and videocasts and photologs ( Blogging the phenomenon ). Corporate blogs and personal blogs which focus on sharing daily experiences and feelings are prevalent in US. Most of the US Bloggers cited their life and experiences as their primary topic and do not quote sources ( Nevillehobson.com, 2006).

Personal blogs and corporate blogs can influence the society or media by sharing ideas as the traditional media lack of freedom of speech. Furthermore, politicians can improve the society by getting the opinions of citizens from their blogs.

Reference List:

1. Blogging, The Phenomenon, Types of Blogs 2006, viewed on 23^rd August 2011,<http://library.thinkquest.org/05aug/01130/typesofblogs.html>
2. Hobson, N 2006, Latest blog trends from Pew Internet, viewed on 23^rd August 2011, <http://www.nevillehobson.com/2006/07/19/latest-blog-trends-from-pew-internet/>

3. Pizano, G 2010, It Seems like Everyone has a Blog These Days, Helpful Insights Online, viewed 23rd August 2011, <http://gilpizano.com/social-media/blog-days/>.

4. Sobel, J 2010, State of the Blogosphere 2010 Introduction, Technorati, viewed 23^rd August 2011,<http://technorati.com/blogging/article/state-of-the-blogosphere-2010-introduction/page-2/>
5. The Star Online 2008, Blogging in Malaysia ranks among highest in the world, viewed 23^rd August 2011, <http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2008/4/3/nation/20827588&sec=nation>.

Purpose

This weblog is one of the tasks in my course. The purpose of this blog is for me to share and discuss the issues in publication and design. The target audience would be communication students or people who interested in publication and design. At the end of this semester, I hope that I can improve my creativity and understanding of the theories and concepts.