Epilogue

CREATING and maintaining this web blog with a range of posts had drawn my attention to various perspectives. The design features of this web blog were carefully planned before placement. Texts and visuals were properly positioned in sequence so that readers will be able to view them in the best order to the use of the document (Reep 2006). As deemed by Kress and van Leeuwen (1998), the arrangement and visual appearance of writing helps contribute to meaning. For example, images (with captions) were posted after elaborating on certain issues to provide the extra effect on meaning-making. Therefore, in every post, I tried to apply and practice theories suggested by various theorists.

On top of that, throughout this assignment, my writing skills had improved. This is because, before writing and composing the post, I need to read and analyze the issues given before conveying my stance. In the whilst of transmitting my point of view, I need to understand what I am writing, why I am writing, and what my readers hope to find before concluding the entire post (Putnis and Petelin 1996).

Conclusively, this assignment had imparted me with knowledge which I am unable to sum up effectively with words. All of the information, theories and practices gained through this assignment would be praised in the future.

Till then, it had been a pleasure learning this subject,
and to be a part of this course. :)

Source: Google.com

References:

1. Kress, G & van Leeuwen, T 2006, 'Chapter 6: the meaning of composition', in Reading Images: The Grammar of Visual Design, 2nd edn, Routledge, New York, p. 175-214.

2. Putnis, P & Petelin, R 1996, 'Chapter 7: writing to communicate', in Professional Communications: Principles and Applications, Prentice Hall, Sydney, p.223-263.

3. Reep, DC 2006, 'Chapter 4:Principles of document design', in Technical Writing, 6th edn, Pearson Edu Inc, New York, p.173-190.

My people TWIT your people

I found it astonishing that one person can actually have as big of a voice online as what an entire media company can on Twitter.

(Ashton Kutcher)

WHAT exactly is a Twitter? Twitter is like a stream of mini blog posts. Its value lies in your own community of followers and who you decide to follow. Twitter, as defined by Twitter.com (2009), is a free service which allows you to keep in touch with people through the exchange of quick and frequent answers through simple questions like; what are you doing? Similar to short messaging service (SMS), Twitter’s message character limits up to 140 characters (Steroid.com).

Everyone inclusive celebrities tweet. As of 15 June 2009, 838 celebrities tweeted on that day (Celebrity Tweet 2009).

Celebrity Twitter

Moreover, Nielsen Wire's (2009) research indicated that Twitter users beat other social-networking sites; Facebook and Multiply. The amount of Twitter users have grown tremendously over the years.

Source: Nielsen Wire 2009

Early this year, Twitter’s top tweeter, celebrity Ashton Kutcher challenged CNN in a race to 1 million followers, which he won (CNN.com 2009). However, later on, Kutcher threatened that he will stop tweeting if this micro-blogging company decided to co-operate with TV producers Reveille and Brillstein Entertainment on an unscripted show which “put ordinary people on the trail of celebrities in a revolutionary format” (CNN.com 2009). Kutcher said:

It's all fun and games until somebody gets stalked.

So, why tweet?

Mould your image

Regular postings on Twitter provide others a glimpse of their lives. That glimpse will shape your public image. Do your posts draw you as a slacker or a high-powered professional? Therefore, one should always think before posting because you can shape how other see you (Legal Technology 2008).

Widen your network

As a media practitioner, the importance of human connection is widely identified, both for personal enjoyment and professional growth. Hence, Twitter allows user to meet people from different network, other than the usual existing network. You would be surprise upon joining Twitter at the amount of contacts you made and how quickly you made them (ProBlogger.com).



References:

1. Ambrogi RJ 2008, Sixteen reasons to tweet on Twitter, viewed on 15 June 2009, <http://www.law.com/jsp/legaltechnology/pubArticleLT.jsp?id=1202426490041>.

2. Celebrity Tweet 2009, Stalk celebrities on Twitter, viewed 15 June 2009, <http://www.celebritytweet.com/>.

3. Duke A 2009, Kutcher threatens to stop Twittering, viewed 15 June 2009,
<http://www.cnn.com/2009/SHOWBIZ/Movies/05/26/ent.kutcher.twitter/>.

4. McGiboney M 2009, Twitter's sweet smell of success, viewed on 15 June 2009, ttp://blog.nielsen.com/nielsenwire/online_mobile/twitters-tweet-smell-of-success/>.

5. Rowse D 2007, Why Twitter isn't a waste of time, viewed 15 June 2009, <http://www.problogger.net/archives/2007/10/23/why-twitter-isnt-a-waste-of-time/>

6.Steroid.com 2009, Why do celebrities like Twitter?, viewed 15 June 2009, <http://stereoroid.com/culture/why-celebrities-like-twitter/>.

Me blog? No, it's Moblog!

MOBLOG is a weblog created via mobile phone or personal digital assistant (PDA). Moblog usually features photographs of the author’s travels or daily life and brief text commentary (O’ Connell 2005). The origin of blogging- the transmission of information from a portable source like mobile phone to a blog; stories like the Internet urban legend. Moblogging (mobile blogging) is much more than an urban legend. Occupying only laptop and a wireless card, moblogging offers potential for hybrid forms of media that is accessible anywhere, anytime. Multimedia news can now travel faster as users call up information and text images from the street via mobile phones. The result; a three way conference call between wireless technology, real time mobility and mobdriven media (Fevre 2003). Rheingold deems that the rise of this new type of subjective media as “the birth of peer-to-peer journalism”.

If something happens, suddenly all these mobiles sort of appear from nowhere, and start taking pictures…you see it everywhere.

(Henry Reichhold)

Screen shot of Blogger Mobile.com

Moblog Journalism

Journalism is not only about the conventional media lending immediacy to their stories with content from ordinary people; it is also about first-hand journalism in the form of online diaries or weblogs. According to BBC News (2008), the application of open source news or moblog journalism has flourished in the recent US election campaign.

Quote the digital artist, Henry Reichold:

Not many people walk around with their cameras, but they always have their mobile phones with them. If something happens, suddenly all these mobiles sort of appear from nowhere, and start taking pictures.

Moblogs are able to offer immediate local news coverage. For example, in an anti-war democratizations whereby activists send still photos and live video to the internet. Meanwhile, in all previous demonstrations, police covered up brutality by seizing cameras and destroying film. Therefore, with the application of moblog, images or videos are not entirely filtered out when they are directly sent to the internet. Take the BERSIH rally which happened in Malaysia for instance. Videos are recorded then dirctly uploaded onto the website; Youtube.

Moblogging feeds human with the thirst for new ways to learn, create and communicate, along with the political necessity for a truly effective journalism as a counter to disinfotainment league. Once upon a time, reporters were seen as heroes. Now, moblogging may revive this endangered yet vital tradition.

References:

1. BBC News 2004, Mobile picture power in your pocket, viewed 15 June 2009, <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/3991775.stm>.

2. Insafe 2005, Children and young people's use of moblogs, viewed on 15 June 2009, <http://www.saferinternet.org/ww/en/pub/insafe/news/articles/moblogs.htm>.

3. Le Fevre 2003, The three M's of moblogs: mobile phone blogging, real-time mobility and mob media, viewed on 15 June 2009, <http://journalism.nyu.edu/pubzone/ReadMe/article.php%3Fid=120.html>.

4. Rheingold H 2003, Moblog seen as a crystal ball for a new era in online journalism, viewed on 15 June 2009, <http://www.ojr.org/ojr/technology/1057780670.php>.

5. Tekrati 2006, Moblogs destined for continuing niche status, viewed on 15 June 2009, <http://software.tekrati.com/research/8039/>.

6. Whatis.com 2008, Moblog, viewed on 15 June 2009, <http://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/0,,sid9_gci1180174,00.html>.

7. Youtube 2007, Bersih rally: Tear gas at Jalan Laut, viewed 15 June 2009, <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EKTBU0D8cBI&feature=related>.

A photograph is memory in the raw

Writing is the process of using language to discover meaning in experience and to communicate.

(Murray 1982)

MURRAY (1982) believes strongly in the power of words and language. He deems that the power of persuasion and manipulation lies on how the author pens down his words. However, in today’s temperamental and digital savvy society, is it entirely possible to transmit an effective message across without the use of visual aids? Kress and van Leeuwen (2001) challenged the notions of traditional literacy emphasis on print in the essence of the growing dominance of multimodal texts and digital technology. Written text is now no longer the dominant part of the message. Heath (2000) deemed that a new type of community requires a new type of text with different conceptualizations to enhance creative thinking.

For instance, photographs of the unfortunate series such as wars would be able to reach out to the audience better. The images could be used as an idea to concentrate and make people more aware of these conflicts and with hope, the government are able to understand the sufferings of the innocent before sanitizing another new war.

The above pictures showed the sufferings of the innocent during the Lebanon war
Source: emaddana.com

Furthermore, the emergence of technology today has introduced us to an abundance of photography software and tools. Adobe Photoshop for example. This software is vastly used for editing images. Nevertheless, in WhyDontYouBlog.com, Aleisha Dixon made a BBC3 programme about how all magazine pictures are Photoshopped. One of the misuses of Photoshop is this picture of Clive Owen, advertising an anti-ageing cream for men. In the effort to improve him, it manages to make him look averagely young and good-looking.

Edited picture of Clive Owen

Source: WhyDontYouBlog.com

Generally, this scene of editing is able to channel and mislead the society because it can create a false sense of security. Therefore, using photo editing software onto images is able to produce a new form of message altogether if it was not used wisely.

Here are some examples of celebrities pictures before and after photoshop:

Actress: Nicolette Sheridan

Before

After
Source: Hemmy.net

How images are edited before publishing:

Famous talk show host: Oprah Winfrey

References:

1. Heath SB 2000, 'Seeing our Way into Learning', Cambridge Journal of Education,
vol. 30, no.1, pp. 121–131.

2. Kress, G & van Leeuwen, T 2001, Multimodal Discourse, Arnold, London.

3. Murray D 1982, Learning by teaching, Boynton, Montclair, New Jersey.

4. Quote Garden 1998, Saying for photographers, viewed 14 June 2009, <http://www.quotegarden.com/photography.html>.

5. WhyDontYouBlog 2008, Faking everything, viewed 14 June 2009, <http://www.whydontyou.org.uk/blog/tag/aliesha-dixon/>.

6. YouTube 2007, Oprah's Photoshop Makeover, viewed on 14 June 2009,
<http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=6817928177077137080&postID=558660605772324807>.

Email Etiquette

Communication between humans is approximately 90% body language, 8% tone of voice, and 2% what you say. With email, you remove the first 98%.

TODAY, email has become a symbol, a sign of how we treat someone. Email is the standard way for communicating with organizations, corporations, customers and business partners. In business, the formality of email messages tend to vary, between the semi-formal approach that was previously the domain of the inter-office memo, to the chatty exchanges that you may with someone over the phone (Dynamoo 2004).

Nevertheless, it is typical for email messages to cause problems; offhand remarks, unguarded comments, thoughtless turn of phrase and careless wording. In order to avoid some of those pitfalls, the proper email etiquette needs to be applied. As defined by Netm@nners.com (2009), email etiquette is the way to behave when taking into consideration how one’s actions (or lack thereof) could affect others. The fact that the society is using emails for almost everything created a loophole for email users and receivers. Previously, email was used to send condolences and for firing employees. In Forth Worth (America), RadioShack Company fired 400 employees through an email. The email, which was sent on a Tuesday morning reads:

The work force reduction notification is currently in progress. Unfortunately, your position is one that has been eliminated.

(San Francisco Chronicle 2006)

The aforementioned was an example of bad email etiquette.

Email Etiquette

Here are several tips on how to channel a positive impact when sending an email:

1. Do ensure that you have a relevant "Subject" line.

Example of of a relevant subject line Source: Google.inc

2. Do include a brief signature on your email messages to help the recipient understand who it is from, especially if you are dealing with someone you do not know very well.

Example of how you should include a brief signature before sending the email
Source: Google inc.

3. Don't send excessive multiple postings to people who have no interest. This is known as "spamming" and is considered to be ignorant, and may lead to serious trouble with your Internet Service Provider (ISP) or IT department.

Screen shot of a spam email

References:

1. Dynamoo 2003, Email Etiquette, viewed 14 June 2009, <http://www.dynamoo.com/technical/etiquette_old.htm>.

2. Email Etiqutte (n.d.), How to make a positive impact when sending email, viewed 14 June 2009, >.

3. Judith 2009, Blackberry Etiquette, viewed 14 June 2009, .

4. McKay DR 2009, Email Etiquette: Why is it important?, viewed 14 June 2009, >.

5. San Francisco Chronicle 2006, Radio Shack uses email to fire employees, viewed 14 June 2009, <http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2006/08/30/financial/f131351D00.DTL>.

6. Intuit Developer Network Advisory Counsel (IDNAC) 2004, Email Etiquette: Manners and Tone, viewed on 14 June 2009, <http://www.idnac.org/newsletters/emailetiquette-mannerstone.pdf>.

Blogs; classifications and its' uprising communities

BLOGS are viewed as the best medium for channeling information. The fact that blogs are seen as one of the best tools for transmitting information unconsciously formed the different categories and classifications of blogs. Furthermore, the graphic aids (heading, jumplines, images) used in blogs provide readers with a quick access to information as it distinguishes the type of blog they are viewing (Reep 2006). By sorting the blogs according to its classifications, different forms of communities emerged amongst us. Firstly, here are several methods on how blogs can be classified:

By theme:

1. Fashion
2. Health

Screen shot of Health Blog

3. Sport
4. Entertainment

Screen shot of and entertainment blog: Perez Hilton

5. Education
6. Food
7. Travel

Screen shot of a travel blog: Asia Travel

8. Politics
9. History
10. Business/corporate

By media:

1. Vlog: YouTube
2. Splog: MalwareWipe Removal Blog

Sreen shot of a splog

3. Photolog: Flickr
4. Podcast: Imeem

Screen shot of Podcast: Imeem

5. Linklog: Tony Finch's link log

Screen shot of a link log: Tony Finch

6. Sketchlog: DeviantART
7. Moblog (mobile phone blog): Moblog Community

Screen shot of Moblog

Blogging communities

Blogs is shaping the image of the how and what the community looked like today. According to Full Circle Associates (2006), there are three types of blogging community; the single centric community, the central connecting topic community and the boundaried community.

1. The single centric community

Source: Full Circle Associates

The primary identities of this community are the blog owners. The commentors’ identities may emerge from time to time, but more likely, as commentors get to know each other, they slowly share their personal details via private email, instant messaging, and social-networking sites. As deemed by David Wilcox (2006) of Designing for Civil Society, ‘…blogs are personally defined spaces’. The power of this community lies in the hand of the blog’s owner. This is because if the author of the blog decided to delete the blog, the community would be devastated and shattered until they had formed an alternate communications path to each other. The features of the blog represent the range of features available to the community. Blogs are able to survive because of the readers’ interpretation through the multiple cues; language, terms, pictures (Shriver 1997). Some of the blogging tools available for users are WordPress and Blogger.

2. The central connecting topic community

Source: Full Circle Associates

The central connecting topic community exist when blogs are linked by common interest or topic. An example of a shared community who uses this form of community is the Global Voices community. This community accumulates blogs from developing countries in order to have the mainstream media to notice the certain issues of those countries.

Screen shot of Global Voices page

3. The boundaried community

Source: Full Circle Associates

Boundaried communities are a collection of blogs or blogs readers that host a single site. This community usually have other functions such as discussion boards, social networking-sties, wikis and instant messaging built in. The fact that bloggers or blog readers are within a defined boundary, created and opportunity for users to gain access to other blogs. For example, MySpace.

Screen shot of a MySpace profile

References:

1. Full Circle Associates 2006, Blogs and community- launching a new paradigm for online community?, viewed on 11 June 2009, <http://www.fullcirc.com/weblog/2006/12/blogs-and-community-launching-new.htm>.

2. Make You Go Hmm.com 2008, The 8 Different Types of Blogging , viewed on 11 June 2009, <http://www.makeyougohmm.com/20080124/5040/>.

3. Reep, DC 2006, 'Chapter 4:Principles of document design', in Technical Writing, 6th edn, Pearson Edu Inc, New York, p.173-190.

4. Schriver, KA 1997, 'Chapter 6: The interplay of words and pictures', in Dynamics in document design: Creating Text for Readers, Wiley Computer, New York, p.361-441.

5. Wilcox D 2006, Designing for Civil Society, viewed on 11 June 2009, <http://partnerships.typepad.com/civic/>

6. WordPress (n.d.), Types of Blogs, viewed on 11 June 2009, <http://en.wordpress.com/types-of-blogs/>.

Blogging phenomenon and it's benefits to the community

Blogging is how we roll, yo!

Merriam-Webster dubbed blog as the word of the year for 2004 and ABC declared blogger as the People of the year.

BLOG (short for ‘web log’) is a way to describe and online diary or journal which can be made up from different forms of media; writing, video, images from the web or from the mobile phone (Pruitt 2005). The aforementioned forms are some of the formats applied when writing blogs. Specifications of forms; video and images are used to increase readers’ interest in the document because eye-catching graphic aid and attention-getting format devices keep readers focus on the information they need (Reep 2006).

Blogs are hitting the mainstream. It has been years since blogging was dominated by early adopters who believed its potential and decided to try it out. What was once a quirky hobby based on sharing intimate details with the world, is now morphed into something used by major corporations and various media outlets. Even the newspapers and television stations are starting up blogs to stem the tide of dwindling readers and viewers (McGee 2008).

As a result, figuring out who exactly blogs becomes more difficult. The mainstream adoption of this activity introduced their attentions to spammers, whose spam blogs (splogs) artificially increased the numbers. According to an article from eMarketer (2008), Technorati had tracked a number of blogs, recently lowered its amount after filtering out the splogs.

Why blog?

Cause you want to be popular!
By nature, blogging is an attention-seeking platform. It is positive and negative; seek attention for positive causes (raising money for charity) and seek attention for negative causes (as an extreme, attacking a religion).

Money Money Money
The fact that blogs are publishing platforms, information publishing and networks are a good source of income if one has mindshare and a profitable business plan. Websites like Nuffnang gives you some of the manuals and guidelines onto customizing and making their blog better, as a source of income.

Screen shot of Nuffnang Malaysia

Hear me Hear me
The urge to let your voice be heard and wanting to influence the public’s opinion, be it you are trying to change the views of an industry or of a society (Bilal 2007). Simply put, very few bloggers have the means to influence mass audience, and it starts with the most basic things; getting hold of people’s attention and interest.

Its’ benefits to the community

Blogging has become one of the easy alternatives to extend one’s reach. One of the various benefits blogs had promised us with is; blogs make it easy for people to search for your content once they’ve visited your blog. A blog automatically organizes your information and publishes it via XML (RSS) feeds which make it easier to be discovered through search engines (Movable Type 2007).

Doesn’t cost much at all!

A blog can be easily started as it does not require an expensive content management system. Blogging is as easy as email because writers get started without being forced to endure such lengthy training process. For example, blogs are used by authors to promote and sell their products. Young writers can simply set up a blog and be a businesswoman, without
having to do or pay for anything!!!
http://www.ap2cboutique.blogspot.com is an online blog which sells off young and fashionable female clothes. This blog was a success that it was listed under the 100 most fashionable shopping sites in Malaysia.

Screenshot of http://www.ap2cboutique.blogspot.com

Anywhere, anytime
Authors of the blogs are able to post from their laptop and mobile devices because blogging software offers this capability automatically. Blogs can be updated from anywhere you have access to a standard web browser. This then allows the society to communicate and interact with each other through the use of comments. By creating an active community, opportunity for links and positive publicity would be opened up whereby it can improve one’s blog search engine rankings (Scribd 2008).

Kenny Sia blogging from his brand new iPhone.

Loophole for Malaysian politicians
Malaysia is one country where information and facts are strictly controlled by its implemented laws; Sedition Act, Internal Security Act, Printing Presses and Publications Act. Thus, blogs have become a form of escapism for politicians and journalists to channel their information. Lim Kit Siang, Malaysia’s renowned democratic socialist blogs his way through all the censorship laws regulated in Malaysia. Information which is filtered or over-looked by the mainstream media would be posted through blogs. Hence, Malaysians have the advantage of obtaining opinions from both angles; opposition and government. Blogging provided a route for Malaysian citizens to express themselves.



References:

1. Bilal A 2007, 3 reasons why people blog, viewed 12 June 2009, <http://performancing.com/3-reasons-why-people-blog>.

2. eMarketer 2008, Who blogs now: Looking at blogger demographics, viewed 11 June 2009, <http://www.emarketer.com/Article.aspx?R=1006357>.

3. Movable Type Organization (2007), The Benefits of Blogging for Media Organization, viewed 12 June 2009, <http://www.movabletype.org/documentation/business-blogging/benefits-for-media.html>.

4. McGee M 2008, An Emergint Trend in Blogging, viewed 11 June 2009, <http://www.smallbusinesssem.com/hyperlocal-blogs/1195/>.

5. Pruitt, C 2005, The Blogging Phenomenon: Who? How? Why?, Digital Divide Network, viewed 10 June 2009, <http://www.digitaldivide.net/articles/view.php?ArticleID=86> .

6. Reep, DC 2006, 'Chapter 4:Principles of document design', in Technical Writing, 6th edn, Pearson Edu Inc, New York, p.173-190.

7. Scribd 2008, Benefits of blogging, viewed 12 June 2009, <http://www.scribd.com/doc/7630530/Top-SEO-Benefits-of-Blogging>.