Reflection

Sem 2 finally is over. Classes and tutorials was difficult but I've gained something useful as a media student, which is very useful for media publishing and design. This blog has come to an end. I've learned the theories such as framing and salience, and from experienced author Kress and van Leeuwen (2009), blogging is not a very hard thing for me anymore. I also learned not to post sensitive issue in my blog because it might hurt the readers feeling. Because my audience comes from different cultural and their language is different from mine (Walsh, 2006). Reep (2006) also taught me how to use color enhance a document design's usability. The importance of being careful in what I wanted to write in my posts. And never steal others people's contents and return credits to the author (Tan, 2007). Therefore it is important to cited my work. 

Lastly, I learned about not to plagiarize other people's work. We as a student have to come up with out own work because the experience of blogging is learned by ourselves, but not people. 

1. Kress, G and van Leeuwen, T 2006, 'Chapter 1: The Semiotic Landscape, language and visual communication' in Reading images: the grammar of visual design, 2nd ed, Routledge, London.

2. Reep, D.C 2006, 'Document design', in Technical Writing, 6th ed., Pearson/Longman, New York, pp.133-172.

3. Tan, Z.M 2007, 'Blogging etiquette: for bloggers and readers', suite101, viewed 12 November 2010, from <http://www.suite101.com/content/blogging-etiquette-a22222>

4. Walsh, M 2006, 'Textual shift: examining the reading process with print, visual and multimodal texts', Australian Journal of Language and Literacy, vol. 29, no. 1, pp.24-37.

Twitter

With Twitter, it has become a more preferable platform where you are restricted to only 140-characters at a time, and you can follow celebrities, businesses or friends to receive and exchange updates which mentioned in the article Blogging is so yesterday, politicians turn to twitter’.  Twitter has gained popularity worldwide and currently has more than 175 million users (John Denner, 2010).

Twitter is a user friendly microblogging social network site for people to follow,  politicians such as President Obama (@BarackObama) also uses Twitter as a platform to share political messages, and was able to have massive followers (Wright, 2009).Due to its speed and simplicity, the public is able to reach politicians easier through Twitter (The Economist, 2010).

You can design and customize your Twitter background and build your own personality. Besides, by uploading photos that are exclusive to can let people know it’s really you behind the account. As a social network, Twitter revolves around the principle of followers. When you choose to follow another Twitter user, that user's tweets appear in reverse chronological order on your main Twitter page. If you follow 20 people, you'll see a mix of tweets scrolling down the page: breakfast-cereal updates, interesting new links, music recommendations, even musings on the future of education (Steven Johnson, 2009).

Twitter has successfully become an important platform in the politics area (Wright, 2009). Besides acting as a powerful tool for marketing and social networking, Due to its speed and simplicity, the public is able to reach politicians easier through Twitter (The Economist, 2010).

New technologies changes every day. Politicians now use a simple pathway to update of any political messages, and public can receive the latest news. Public must be careful of the misinformation among the politicians. Public asked question by using the ‘#’ sign (FoxNews, 2010).

Besides, there is also a function called ‘re-tweet’.  Retweeting isn't just a great way to spread information through the twitter network; it's also a great way for you to discover new and interesting content. Twitter now shows retweet information for all public tweets.Retweeting is a great way to add quality and value to your Twitter. If used incorrectly retweeting can actually hurt your personal brand and future traffic. If done right, retweeting can help you educate your followers, build your personal brand, increase future traffic, and connect you to other bloggers / content creators in your niche.

1. Blogging Bits, 2008, How to Re-tweet? A simple guide, viewed on 14/11/2010, retrieved from <http://bloggingbits.com/the-art-and-science-of-retweeting-for-twitteraholics/>

2. FoxNews 2010, White House using Twitter to spread messages, viewed on 14/11/2010, retrieved from http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010/03/08/white-house-using-twitter-spread-message/

3. John Denner, 2010, Twitter, viewed on 14/11/2010, retrieved from<http://johndenner.wordpress.com/>

4. The Economist 2010, Politics and Twitter: sweet to tweet, viewed on 14/11/2010, retrieved . from http://www.economist.com/world/international/displaystory.cfm?story_id=16056612

5. Owens, S 2009, 'How celebrity impostors hurt Twitter's credibility,' Media Shift, February 20th, viewed 3rd November 2010, <http://www.pbs.org/mediashift/2009/02/how-celebrity-imposters-hurt-twitters-credibility051.html>

6. Wright, B 2009, The effect of Twitter on politics – it’s not just for profits, viewed on 14/11/2010, retrieved from http://www.corporate-eye.com/blog/2009/03/the-effects-of-twitter-on-politics-its-not-just-for-profits/

Blogging etiquette

Why do people write blogs? Blogging seems a form of communication, a personal thoughts and opinions of Internet users to read.  The most sensational one are usually about bloggers charged against slander and defamation. Reep (2006, p. 41) states that ‘people who use [blogs] to criticise companies or other people can face lawsuits for Internet slander’. This is why some people have lost their job because of blogging.

Raja Petra Kamarudin is a well-known political blogger and also the editor of Malaysia Today (Walker, 2008). Because his blog write about he hates incitement on Islam in his blog and arrested under Internal Security Act (ISA).

As a blogger needs to be aware of the rules and ethics because of the articles is published publicly. Li (2004) delineated code of ethics for bloggers such as I will tell the truth, write deliberately and with accuracy and so on. A bloggers will keep private issues and topics private, since discussing private issues would jeopardize own personal and work relationships.

As a blogger, I will blog helpful to record my activities and events and to document my life. According to Nardi et al, 2004, who states that bloggers are driven to document their lives, express deeply felt emotions, through writing and maintain community forums. Also, employees might find blogs helpful for team projects and an exchange of information (Reep 2006, p. 41). However, we should know how to respect other people and to behave ethically when blogging to prevent from ethical problems. 

. Tan (2007) pointed some tips for bloggers and also readers of blogs. 

For bloggers;-

·                     always keep in mind that our blogs are published and accessible to anyone, though it may be personal one.

·                     never steal other people's contents

·                     always return credit on other’s people images

·                     comment what should say

1. Li, Charlene 2004, Blogging policy examples, empowered, viewed 2nd November 2010, <http://forrester.typepad.com/groundswell/2004/11/blogging_policy.html>

2. Nardi, BA, Schiano, DJ, Gumbrecht, M & Swartz, L 2004, ‘Why we blog’, Communications of the ACM, vol. 47, no. 12, pp. 41 – 46. 

3. Reep, DC 2006, Technical writing: principles, strategies, and readings, 6th edn, Pearson Education, Inc., New York.

4. Tan, Z.M 2007, 'Blogging etiquette: for bloggers and readers', suite101, viewed 12 November 2010, from <http://www.suite101.com/content/blogging-etiquette-a22222>

5. Walker, R 2008, 'Malaysian blogger arrested for posting anti-government comments', Guardian, 12 September, viewed 12 November 2010, from <http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/sep/12/malaysia.pressandpublishing>

What is E-books

As the world changing, everything needs to be go digital.  We are exposed to the world of technology, and you can just get the songs you need from Internet but not CDs. The old way buying albums from the stores is decreasing now and lovers have changed the way and this cause some record stores to downside (WAPT.com, 2010). Everything needs to be lighter than air and faster than bullet.

Most citizen are dragged away from bulky books and into electronic books, which is the book trend now, E-books. It is a digital form of publication based on text and image similar to to printed publication but published on computers or digital devices (Gardiner & Musto, 2010). Sasson (n.d.) defines e-book as a book in electronic format that is downloaded to any kind of computer and is read on the screen. It also produces visual and audio.

E-books are very simple and easy to purchase and download e-books through the Internet. It is exactly like purchasing any other product. The only difference is that after payment you can download the book. But you don’t have the printing of the book. With today technology you can read e-books anywhere, and e-books are more safety stored and carried from one place to another, than ordinary books. People living in big modernized cities, very hard to find bookstore can easily get it if have a laptop and wireless Internet connection.

Ebooks are good for paperbook publishing. By setting an example for diversity and freedom of expression, ebooks may motivate the stagnant book publishing industry towards the renewal of small presses, the end of the blockbuster-bestseller publishing mentality, and a healthier balance between the needs of commerce and culture.

E-books are good, but printing books is more comfortable than reading online because they are both provide us knowledge and information but still, we can choose e-books or printing books (Shiratuddin et al, 2003). 

1. Cornwall, D 2010, 'E-books popularity on the rise', The 7.30 Report, ABC Video Transcripts, viewed 1st November 2010, <http://www.abc.net.au/7.30/content/2010/s2849989.htm>.

2. Sasson, R n.d, The advantages and benefits of ebooks, viewed 1st November 2010, <http://www.successconsciousness.com/ebooks_benefits.htm>.

3. Smith, B.A, Latham, J, Denigris, J, and Schuttler, R 2008, 'A Quantitative Analysis of the Impact of E-Book Format on Student Acceptance, Usage and Satisfaction, viewed 11 November 2010, from <http://www.drjohnlatham.com/Dissertations_files/B%20Smith%20dissertation%20final%2020081002.pdf>

4. Shiratuddin, N, Landoni, M, Gibb, F, and Hassan, S 2003, 'E-Book Technology and Its Potential in Distance Education', Journal of Digital Information, vol. 3, no. 4, viewed 11 November 2010, from <https://journals.tdl.org/jodi/article/viewArticle/90/89>

5. WAPT.com 2010, 'Digital Media Changing Music Industry : Some Record Stores Forced to Downsize', 11 November, viewed 12 November 2010, from <http://www.wapt.com/money/25750065/detail.html>

Sexism in advertising.

The definition of sexism is discrimination or devaluation based on a person's sex (Smith, 2010). Almost all advertisements contain a mild sense of sexism or gender discrimination, for example, father come back from work, mother cooking dinner in the kitchen and so on. This shows that sexism in advertising has its own function in marketing as well.

Another article found by BeyondJane discussed about how sexism is being portrayed in advertising. Gucci put out an ad of dead and emotionless looking women on the ground with a man walking over her. It promotes domestic violence, sexual assault and other forms of violence against women (Shhark, 2010). In advertising, sexism is often related to the use of female role stereotypes. 

The WKD Original Vodka company has launched a big advertising campaign during the World Cup season in which their advertisements comprised of sexual discrimination contents, that were intended to be funny to the audience (Perera, 2010).

Another examples by watching a football game, usually find an attractive young lady being swept off her feet by a less than attractive man after he opens the beer of his choice. Or, if you are lucky, you can witness several young women materialize on a desert island with the male drinker after, of course, he opens his can of beer. These advertisements present women as a goal, a trophy if you will, that can only be attained with the proper beverage. These women seldom have anything to say besides "Yes," making them seem like unintelligent sex objects. Unfortunately, the exploitation does not stop with women. Beer commercials exploit minorities as well (Shafeeq, 1997).

The issue here is that how has sexism become a part of the advertising trend. The Advertising Standards Agency (ASA) controlled to regulate the contents of the advertisements. There is a particular requirement for ads to avoid causing offence on the grounds of sex.Sexism in advertising is often fought back by terms like democracy or freedom of speech. The Section 4 of the CAP codes shows that any type of marketing communications must not contain elements that could cause offence to the people (Committee of Advertising Practice, 2009).

In conclusion, there are countless ads that show discrimination towards women. Like what Perera (2010) wrote for her title of her article, it's time to kick sexism out of advertising.

(Source: http://smilepanic.com/sexism-in-advertising)

1.Committee of advertising practice, 2009, CAP code pdf versions, bcap.org.uk, 14/11/2010, http://bcap.org.uk/The-Codes/CAP-Code/CAP-Code-pdf-versions.aspx.

2.Perera, K 2010, Time to kick sexism out of advertising, guardian.co.uk, viewed 14/11/2010,

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/jun/29/kick-sexism-out-of-advertising#history-link-box#history-link-box. 

3.Shafeeq Sadiq, 1997, Racism and Sexism in Advertising, viewed on 14/11/2010, <http://www.deltacollege.edu/org/deltawinds/DWOnline97/racismandsexisminads.html>

4.Smith, S.E 2010, 'What is Sexism?', WiseGeek, viewed 11 November 2010, from <http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-sexism.htm>

5.Sshark 2010, 'Sexism in Advertising', BeyondJane, 28 March, viewed 11 November 2010, from <http://beyondjane.com/women/sexism-in-advertising/>

New forms of media publishing

The new media is taking over the cyber world and replacing the old media ecosystem.  Audiences are no longer just passive receiver, they are no longer just consuming but also producing. Internet users are now able to interact and responds to contents online such as youtube.com, facebook.com, twitter and so on. This new media ecosystem act as a new platform to connect to other users, and provide a way to internet users to publishing. This leads to an example of internet as an interactive media as reviews are usually provided by consumers themselves. (Oyanagi.M 2010)

Part of our difficulty is that we lack a discourse that is appropriate to what is happening. Besides just being discovered, consumers are practically ‘journalist’ these days. In Malaysia, the mainstream media is no longer a trustworthy news source, thus leads to emergence of new websites such as Twitter. 64% of blogger and 36% of reporters is said to use twitter as a research tool for stories. (Rao.L 2010)

The new media ecosystem is a dynamic, complementary communication channel. It create connections and develop influence to build a genuine community.  Twitter gives the snippets while blogging gives in--depth information. That, why they use twitter to promote blogs (Zahiid.S.J 2010). Youtube is a useful tool for showcasing talent online for others to see. For example, Justin Bieber was discovered when his mother started posing videos of him at youtube (O’neill.M 2010).Both of these new medias have changed the roles of communication in a revolutionary way.

 Catone, J 2008, Twitter as a tool for social change, viewed 30th September 2010, <http://www.sitepoint.com/blogs/2008/10/21/twitter-as-a-tool-for-social-change/>

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

Neville Hobson , 2005, The new media ecosystem,  viewed on 30th September 2010, <http://www.nevillehobson.com/pubfiles/downloads/051020_NewMedia_FEIEA.pdf>

O’neill.M 2010, Is youtube the new American idol? ,viewed on 30th September 2010,<http://www.socialtimes.com/2010/04/is-youtube-the-new-american-idol/ >.

Oyanagi.M 2010, Vol.22 – What Distinguishes Internet/Web From Traditional Media? , viewed on 30th September 2010,<http://megoyanagi.thoseinmedia.com/2010/02/21/vol-22-%E2%80%93-what-distinguishes-internetweb-from-traditional-media/ >.

Rao.L 2010, Study:52 percent of bloggers consider themselves journalist, viewed on 30th September 20100,<http://techcrunch.com/2010/04/01/study-52-percent-of-bloggers-consider-themselves-journalists/ >.

Zahiid.S.J 2010, Blogging is so yesterday, politicians turn to twitter, The Malaysian insider, viewed on 30th September 2010,<http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/index.php/malaysia/52749-blogging-is-so-yesterday-politicians-turn-to-twitter >.

Blogging community

Blogging community is a group of people share same interest interact with each other on the latest blog in some blogs. Several online communities exist that connect people to blogs and bloggers to other bloggers, including BlogCatalog. Interest-specific blogging platforms are also available, they have their own practices and behaviors to helps create norms (Wei. C, 2004). 

Many of us interested in the application of online community to learning and work, ‘grew up’ in this era of bounded communities. There is a guide to create a blog community is to start by immersing in the community around. The next is to learn  which tools are important (Denise 2009). This is to allow you to get familiar with the services and the opportunities that make you more easier when searching information through blog. Tagging is also a helps bring others into the loop, this categorize people onto a certain group of same interest. Tags are really nothing more than keywords used to describe a piece of data (Sue, 2010). 

There are three types of blogging community:

Blog Based Communities

One blog centrie community

First form of blog based of community to emerge. The one blog is owned by one owner but more than one blogger writing in a blog. eg: http://www.downes.ca/ . Stephen Downes

Central Connecting Topic Community

The Central Connecting Topic Centric blog community is a network formation. This form is a community that arises between blogs linked by a common passion or topic. It basically begins when there is a shared interest between bloggers. Eg: http://globalvoicesonline.org/

Boundaried Communities

They are required to register and ‘join’ the community and being offer a chance to create a blog. Eg:http://www.shareyourstory.org/

Other samples of blogging community:

Source: Livejournal.com

Personally I am familiar with Twitter.com which readers can subscribe and be notified when there is an update with the new posts. Twitter is also another form of blogging. Besides, it is increasingly used. It is simple and easy user interface to build a blogging community. 

Denise 2009, How do you build community?, viewed on 29 September 2010, <http://www.blogher.com/how-do-you-build-community >.

Sue Chastain, 2010, What is tagging, viewed on 29 September 2010, <http://graphicssoft.about.com/od/glossary/a/tagging.htm>

Wei. C 2004, Formation of Norms in a Blog Community,viewed on 29 September 2010, <http://blog.lib.umn.edu/blogosphere/formation_of_norms.html >.

White. N 2006, Blogs and community-launching a new paradigm for online community, going communal, edition 11, viewed on 29 September 2010, <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.

People blog for different reasons, and also create different types of blogs depend on their interest and target audience (Chris, 2010). 

Classification of blog is essential so that bloggers have a clear vision to refer to, Chris, 2010, mentioned in his blog by tags are most certainly needed and helpful, at least is easy discovery and consumption of materials of interest.

According to Simons (2008), he classified blogs into 9 different categories as follows;

• Pamphleteering blogs, eg: Andrew Norton's blog
• Digest blogs, eg:  FairGoFairfax
• Advocacy blogs, eg: Telstra's exercise in corporate spin
• Popular Mechanics blogs, eg:  Strobist
• Exhibition blogs, eg: AroundtheWorldIn20Quilts
• Gatewatcher blogs, eg: Beat Blogging
• Diary 
• Advertisement
• News blogs, eg: Mayne Report

Subject Matters:

• politics
• fashion
• history
• law

Media types:

-vlog - is short video blog, is a term use to describe a blog that contains video clips. Examples of vlog areyoutube.com.

-linklog - is a blog that consist of other blogs' URL and you can link to those blogs. Example of a linklog is Linkwalla.

-sketchlog - is a blog that consists of images, especially sketches and other drawings. Example of a sketchlog is Karin Rindevall’s sketch log. 

-tumblelog - is a short and concise blog that provides little or sometimes no commentary at all. -photolog - is a blog that contains photos, where the photos is the primary element not the text. 

-splog - is short for spam blog.

Device: 

-moblog - is short for mobile blogging. it is a blog where Mobile Phones acts as another device to publish blog entries. Example of a moblog is flickr.

State of Publishers:

-Corporate blogs, e.g. Redfin Corporate Blog

-Business blog, eg: GuruFocus.com

When comes to the combinations of blog styles, there is a need to identify the topics, style and format. In my opinion, Simons classification compare to my findings of classification is more terminology words to name the type of blog. My findings is more simple and straight forward. But the classification did not include interactive blog to produce a discussion and share same thoughts but they have forum.

Chris Heuer, 2010, Simple blog classification system, viewed on 29/9/2010, retrieved from <http://www.chrisheuer.com/2005/07/14/simple-blog-classification-system-please-no-acronyms/>

Simons, M 2008, Towards a taxonomy of blogs, Australian Policy Online, viewed 28 September 2010, from <http://www.apo.org.au/commentary/towards-taxonomy-blogs-0>