New Forms of Media Publishing

With the existence of new media - the Internet - comes websites that can alter the roles of traditional journalism. Gone were the days where journalists acted as gatekeepers, as the ones who fact-checked information for credibility before publishing them (Ibbotson & Rudin 2002). Now, not only are journalists publishing news on the Internet, but also people who are irresponsible with facts. For example, recently, a fake picture of Osama bin Laden's corpse has been circulating on the Internet, and even got published by news media (Young 2011).

Another role of the traditional journalist that has changed is the way the gathering of information is done. Before the existence of the Internet, journalists had to rely on books, documents and old newspaper articles in order to do research. Now, journalists just need to do research online in order to get the information that they need (JournoList 2011). However, not many journalists are experienced in gathering information online (JournoList 2011), so they are forced to learn this skill.

A change that is worthy to take note of is that journalists that live in the Internet age are expected to work more. They now have to create videos, podcasts and they also have to work longer hours than before (Bunz 2009). Their hours are so long that they now spend more time doing research online instead of going out and doing it in person (Bunz 2009).

References:

1. Ibbotson, T & Rudin, R 2002, An Introduction to Journalism, Focal Press, Great Britain.
2. Young, S 2011, Web's bin Laden 'death photo' (just the photo) is fake, MSN, viewed 3 May 2011, <http://photoblog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/05/02/6568249-webs-bin-laden-death-photo-just-the-photo-is-fake>.
3. JournoList 2011, The JournoList: The Internet for Journalists, The JournoList, viewed 3 May 2011, <http://www.johnmorrish.com/journolist/>.
4. Bunz, M 2009, Journalism has improved in the internet age, say media professionals, guardian.co.uk, viewed 3 May 2011, <http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/pda/2009/sep/17/digital-media-future-of-journalism>.

Blogging Communities

The definition of blogging communities seem to vary as some people have their own definition of it. I've chosen to go with Nancy White's definition of, though. There are three types of blogging communities, which are one blog centric community, topic centric community and boundaried community (White n.d.). These three types often combine in some way or another, creating a mixture (White n.d.). Blogging communities rely on the communication between bloggers, commentors and readers in order to be formed (White n.d.). Without any of these, they will not exist.

A one blog centric community has one blog as its platform, and it may have more than one blogger (White n.d.). Here, the blogger controls the topics, and the commentors will comment on posts. Friendship may surface if the commentors get to know each other. The same goes to the blogger and the commentors.

From here, one can conclude that blogging communities are just that; communities. It's where where people who share a mutual interest gather to socialise with each other (The Travel Tart 2009).

To create a blogging community, one has to first sign up for a blog account. I've chosen a community called Stopping Plagiarism as a reference. A post by one of its users, dysonrules (2011), was assigned several tags to make it easier for readers to search through posts (nzherald 2006). People who were interested in the post commented on it. This community is a one blog centric community with multiple bloggers. Everyone is allowed to post on this blog as long as they are a member, follow the rules and keep it on topic.

References:

1. White, N n.d., Blogs and Community - launching a new paradigm for online community?, The Knowledge Tree, viewed 3 May 2011, <http://kt.flexiblelearning.net.au/tkt2006/edition-11-editorial/blogs-and-community-%E2%80%93-launching-a-new-paradigm-for-online-community>.
2. The Travel Tart 2009, What Is A Blogging Community?, viewed 3 May 2011, <http://www.thetraveltart.com/what-is-a-blogging-community/>.
3. dysonrules 2011, Plagiarism by "faith_hope_freedom_and_love" on ff.net, Stopping Plagiarism, viewed 3 May 2011, <http://stop-plagiarism.livejournal.com/146677.html>.
4. nzherald 2006, What are tags?, viewed 3 May 2011, <http://www.nzherald.co.nz/site-information-help/news/article.cfm?c_id=500827&objectid=10414474>.

Classification of Blogs

Many blogs are a combination of a variety of styles - this makes it difficult to classify them. Some blogs might only talk about one subject matter, some might talk about a few specific subject matters, and then there are some that talk about a very wide range of topics. This is where taxonomy comes in to help classify them.

There are several ways to classify blogs. One can classify blogs according to media type (Paz 2009), device (Jacqueline 2009) and genre. The way of classification that I am familiar with and prefer to use is to classify blogs according to their genre or topic. Examples of blog genres include collaborative, corporate, tutorial, educational, travel and cultural, fashion and lifestyle, personal, and citizen journalism (Belardo n.d.).

Simons seems to classify blogs according to their genre as well, but in a different way. She claims (2008) that there are nine types of blogs, which are pamphleteering, digest, advocacy, popular mechanics, exhibition, gatewatcher, diary, advertisement and news blogs. It would be difficult to classify blogs using her way of classification without knowing the meaning for each category.

Compared to Simons' style of classifying blogs, Belardo's is easier to understand - it is straight to the point, thorough, and will not be easily confused for anything else.

References:

1. Paz, SM 2009, How to design a blog, slideshare, viewed 1 May 2011, <http://www.slideshare.net/sumuipaz/how-to-design-a-blog-by-susana-muos-paz>.
2. Jacqueline 2009, An Introduction to Moblogging, viewed 1 May 2011, <http://www.problogdesign.com/accessibility/an-introduction-to-moblogging/>.
3. Belardo, M n.d., The 5 Types of Blogs | Which One Suits You Best?, Ink Rebels, viewed 1 May 2011, <http://www.inkrebels.com/insp/the-5-types-of-blogs-which-one-suits-you-best/>.
4. Simons, M 2008, A taxonomy of blogs, The Media Report, viewed 1 May 2011, <http://www.abc.net.au/rn/mediareport/stories/2008/2372882.htm#transcript>.

Blogs as Current Phenomenon & Benefits to the Community

It is almost impossible to get an accurate number for the number of blogs that exist as every day, up to tens of thousands of blogs are created (Haynes 2010). In less than ten days, a million of blogs can come to existence. With this fact in mind, it is no wonder that it is difficult to give an exact number for this.

There are many trends that exist in the blogosphere. Some people blog as a hobby, some for a corporation, some blog part-time and some blog full-time. A rapidly growing trend that has emerged in the blogosphere is the trend to make money through blogging (Jendi 2011). There are two common ways to make money through blogging; people can write reviews on products (Jendi 2011), or they can set up their own business online (webbiquity n.d.). The most prevalent blog genre are personal blogs. These bloggers only blog as a hobby, or for fun, and don't earn any money from blogging (Sobel 2010). These blogs promote connectivity between bloggers, especially if the blogger is a mother (Sobel 2010). The reason for this is because mothers usually seek connectivity with others (Sobel 2010). Bloggers are able to connect with each other and form bonds by commenting on each other's blogs. Since hobbyists often blog about their personal interests and musings, people can find other like-minded people through blogs (Sobel 2010). Hence, blogging can help improve one's social life.

References:

1. Haynes, J 2010, So How Many Blogs Are There, Anyway?, Hat Trick Associates, viewed 1 May 2011, <http://www.hattrickassociates.com/2010/02/how_many_blogs_2011_web_content/>.
2. Jendi 2011, Blogging Trends for 2011, Blissfully Domestic, viewed 1 May 2011, <http://blissfullydomestic.com/life-bliss/geek-life-bliss/blogging-trends-for-2011/>.
3. webbiquity n.d., B2B Blogging Trends for 2011, viewed 1 May 2011, <http://webbiquity.com/business-blogging/b2b-blogging-trends-for-2011/>.
4. Sobel, J 2010, State of the Blogosphere 2010 Introduction - Page 2, Technorati, viewed 1 May 2011, <http://technorati.com/blogging/article/state-of-the-blogosphere-2010-introduction/page-2/>.
5. Sobel, J 2010, WHAT: Topics and Trends - Day 2 SOTB 2010 - Page 4, Technorati, viewed 1 May 2011, <http://technorati.com/blogging/article/what-topics-and-trends-day-2/page-4/>.