New Forms of Media Publishing

What do you get when; videos can be uploaded on the net to a server which is free of charge? Youtube. Yes Youtube was the first free online video sharing website that was introduced in 2005. The time when video hosting was still considered a scarcity. Why is it so popular? Well it is free to access and upload and there aren’t many restriction and rules to begin with.

"Youtube in action"

There are issues where Youtube are caught hosting sensitive or pornographic issues. However, the Youtube management team has taken actions to eradicate this issue, by applying law where videos will need to have adult advisory steps. (Polly, A, Jean 2006) Recently, Youtube also encounter issues where users posted vulgar words in comment boxes which are not children friendly.

There are many issues ranging from sensitive political videos to obscene entertainment videos that were hosted up in YouTube. Some memorable ones are the videos that documented the local ‘Bersih Rally’ in 2007. Many of the videos were not available in the mainstream media in Malaysia. Another one was the controversial video ‘Negarakuku’ by Namawee which offended the Malaysian Citizens in general. As a conclusion, we can tell that new age media platforms such as Youtube, can be benefits and also disadvantages to our society. Therefore, effective planning before implementing such platforms should taken in consideration.

Reference List

Jean Armour Polly (2006) commonsense media blogs, Viewed on 6^th May 2008 at http://www.commonsensemedia.org/website-reviews/YouTube.html

Designing for Online Vs. Print Documents

We are basically talking about two different mediums; one is online which text is on screen and print which are conventionally straight forward articles printed on papers. Really not much space to be creative, in my opinion. Below you are able to view documents which are designed on print and online.

An example of an online document



An example of a printed document

As you can notice, both print and online designing has its advantages. Online designing for instance can be beautified by added interactive features such as videos and animations. You can virtually see an article come to life, as you read it. However, according to Jakob Nielsen, readers in general do not read an article or text online, they just scan it. (Nielsen 2007) What do I mean by scanning? Try using the term ‘proofreading’. In other words, Jakob Nielsen interprets scanning as highlighting keywords, sub headings which roughly tells a reader what is the whole document about in the first place. (Nielsen 2007)

So print or online designing, which is better? In my opinion, neither. It is a different ball game and market all together. You could derive better response from older readers which are not tech savvy in print media, and vice verse. Fundamentally, the sole objective and targeted audience for the document affects the designing document process.

Reference List

How user’s read on the web: Alert box, Jakob Nielsen 2007 October 1, Viewed on 6^th May 2008 at http://www.useit.com/alertbox/9710a.html

Classifications of 'Blogs'

The Types

There are many types of blogs these days. Some are called Vlogs, Linklogs and Moblogs. However, Moblogs intruded me somehow. Moblogs are basically the new form of taking pictures or even video by storing, sharing, publishing and communicating with meanings and messages. (Koskela, I & Arminen I, 2007) Once a picture is successfully uploaded to their blog, visitors would be able to comment and communicate via chatterbox. It is undeniable; moblogs will appeal more to younger generation crowds when it comes to blogging.

“All you need is just a mobile phone these days”

So how do you identify blogs with many combinations of styles?

Simple, in my opinion the core clue is always located in the content of the blog itself. Besides, another way of identifying a blog is through its decoration or images/template around it. For Example, a photography blog would obviously have more pictures which are edited in it.

What is Blogging community and how do you create it?

We all heard about blogging communities such as Blogger, Xanga and also Friendster blogs that was an extension from the famous social network site. From here, group or rings are created among people who share same interest. To prove credibility for the contents in a blog can be done, simply by linking to credible links.

Through interactive tools such as chat box/comment box and also the new voice comment will make a blog’s awareness high. Experience, trustworthiness and expertise in the particular field you are blogging about are the gold when credibility is mentioned. (Rowse, D. 2007)

Name a new blogging community trend?

Celebrity fan club blogs are a huge trend. For instant, American Idol’s Bo Bice had a blog site at http://bobicemusic.blogspot.com/ where millions of fan share their thoughts, opinion about his music and life.

Reference List

Koskela, I. & Arminen, I (2007) ‘Attractiveness and Responsiveness of Moblogs’ Journal 3. University of Tampere, Finland.

Pro Blogger: How to create a credible blog. (2007) Viewed on 7^th May 2008 at
http://www.problogger.net/archives/2007/10/24/how-to-build-a-credible-blog/

'Blogs' as a current phenomenon

The Benefits?

Knowing the fact, that we can have a personal page to pen our thoughts online for free is a pretty big deal. Blogs are free to own and it will offer people freedom of speech and limited restrictions to follow. Malaysia’s former Prime Minister, Dr Mahathir Muhammad recently establishes his own blog at www.chedet.com and quoted:

“Welcome to my Weblog. This site is dedicated to publishing my writings as and when I am able to pen my thoughts and opinions.”

Dr Mahathir Muhammad, 2008

In a glimpse, blogs literally connects people internationally and locally. Furthermore, with new features such as Rich Site Summary (RSS feeds), users can obtain updates on sites instantly. (Lemire, 2005)

What types of blogs are prevalent in Europe, Asia and America?

Due to limitations, I would like to stress upon blogs that made it big during the 2004’s American presidential election. There was a commotion between liberal and conservative blogs during the election. Regardless, blogs were one of the highest media preference for information. Matt Drudge’s ‘Drudge Report’ Blog http://www.drudgereport.com/ had been cited and linked for about 7800 times. (Intelliseek, BlogPulse 2008)

Intelliseek, Blogpulse.com 2008

In a nutshell, blogs had rise up tremendously being an unbiased preferred source of information, politically speaking of course.

What are the trends in Europe, Asia and America?

In Malaysia, the blogging trend is rapidly growing as broadband services are being fully utilized. Blog content are really diverse categories ranging from personal, humor, entertainment and politics. Based on the facts from www.sabahan.com , the most top influential blog in Malaysia goes to www.kennysia.com with 4,828 links from 2,406 blogs. There is about 28% of Malaysian bloggers writes about personal content, which is a big amount in my opinion.

What is the current size of blogsphere?

According to Bobbie Johnson, as of 2007 there is about 70 million blogs around the net worldwide and about 120,000 blogs created everyday. (Johnson, B. 2007) You can already estimate how huge the size of blogsphere today.

Reference List

BlogPulse Campaign Radar 2004. Viewed at 25^th April 2008 at

http://politics.blogpulse.com/politics_summary.html

Blogs Marks the first 10years in Technology: The Guardian. Bobbie Johnson 2007. Viewed at

http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2007/apr/07/blogging.news

Dr. Mahathir Muhammad’s Weblog. Viewed at 6^th May 2008 at

http://www.chedet.com/

Daniel Lemire’s Blog , Montreal Canada. Viewed at 26^th April 2008 at

http://www.daniel-lemire.com/blog/archives/2005/02/10/real-benefits-of-blogs/

Sabahan.com: About computers, Blogging, Making Money Online, Marketing and Interesting Stuff. Viewed on 7^th May 2008 at

http://www.sabahan.com/2007/02/06/50-most-influential-blogs-in-malaysia

Why was my blog created?

Blogs, Blogs, Blogs....

This very blog of mine was created to illustrate my understanding and discussion on theories of document design as well as publication. Yet, this blog is solely not created just to fulfill my academic requisition. I myself have that curious feeling to know how document and publication design theories relates to ‘blogging’. This gives me the opportunity to explore the new medium of e-publishing through blogging which offers various tools such as audio, video and visual inputs.

"Keyboards & Mouse are essential equipment for bloggers"

Therefore, I aspire to have college students as well as professional document designers to view my blog at a daily basis.