Reflection

Finally, it comes to an end for this subject, Issues in Publication and Design. Throughout this subject, I came across many theories about document designs and also writing. I learned about how theories of composition such as salience and framing, as stressed by Kress and van Leeuwen (2009), play an important role in attracting readers' attention. Besides that, I learned about the importance of white space between texts. Reep (2006) mentioned that white space smooth readers' eyes and directs them to important information in documents with complicated data and lots of details. Thus, I applied this theory into my posts by clearly written out the headings and added extra space between paragraphs to increase readability.


In addition, I also noted on how colour enhance a document design's usability. Reep (2006) gave out some strategies for colour to enhance usability of a document design. I limit the number of colour used in this blog as Reep (2006) explained readability will be reduced if too much colour are used. In doing all this posting, I realized the importance of being careful in what I wanted to write in my posts. I mentioned about blogging etiquette in my previous post. We must never steal other people's contents and always return credits to when we are using other people's materials (Tan, 2007). Therefore, I cited works by other people whenever I mentioned them in my blog posts, including this post. Lastly, I hope that this blogs are able to help media students and also those involved in media publishing.

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References

Kress, G. and van Leeuwen, T. 2006, 'Reading images, Chapter 6: The meaning of composition', 2nd ed., Routledge, London.

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

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

Blogging Etiquette

In my previous post, I mentioned about state of the blogosphere and bloggers are now blogging even more compared to last time. Some blogs about political issues, some blogs about food and places and some blogs for fun. Have you ever think of what you wrote in your blog may bring you some hard time? A Malaysian political blogger was arrested for posting anti-government comment on his website (Walker, 2008).

Raja Petra Kamarudin is a well-known political blogger and also the editor of Malaysia Today (Walker, 2008). He was arrested under Internal Security Act (ISA), an act that detains citizens who are considered as a threat to the country indefinitely without any trial. The reason behind his detainment was due to his hate incitement on Islam in his articles. Another similar incident, a 34-year-old woman was arrested for blogging about police (DarkGovernement, 2009). She was accused of intending to harass a police officer.

As a blogger, we wouldn't want to be arrested just because of what we posted on our blogs. In order to avoid the problem, we should be aware of and practice blogging etiquette. 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 just to maintain your blog.
• always return credit to if you are using other people's contents or images.
• think twice before you reply comments especially when you are riled by commenters.

(For more blogging etiquette by Tan, please click here)

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References

DarkGovernemnt 2009, 'Women Arrested For Blogging About Police', 20 August, viewed 12 November 2010, from <http://www.darkgovernment.com/news/woman-arrested-for-blogging-about-police/>

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

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>

Sharing is Caring?

Now that almost everyone are able to access to Internet, we all shift to Internet to search for information rather than in library. Unlike searching in library, in Internet, all you need to do is key in the search terms in the search engine and click 'Enter' on your keyboard, and all information related to your search terms will appear in seconds. Some famous site where people turn in to search for information are Google and Yahoo. 

Google Search (source: google.com)

In my previous post, I mentioned about music industry has gone digitalized. Music lovers are now getting music from file sharing sites. Williams mentioned that music piracy had become a main internet activity due to the emergence of file sharing software which allow users to copy each other's music (Funnell, 2010). Napster, the first file sharing system faced legal action from recording companies for copying digitized recordings of mainstream music and eventually shut down (Funnell, 2010). Although Napster had shut down, this does not prevent the emergence of other file sharing systems such as KaZaa and BitTorrent. 

The executive director of Australian Federation Against Copyright Theft also acknowledge that the significance and importance of issue in illegal peer-to-peer file sharing has increased (Elliott, 2010). The Australian Recording Industry Association stated that the annual sale by all volume of physical music products have fallen by 21% from 2003 and suffered 35% of loss from the sales of physical products in 2007 compared to 2003 (Funnell, 2010). Not to be forgotten that in my previous post, I also mentioned about how some record stores are forced to downsize due to availability of music online. This clearly shows that file sharing systems kill the music industry as in sales of physical products.

So, will you still buy your favourite music album from record stores or download it online? For me, I will still buy it from record stores as I like the feeling of holding an album and it gives me satisfaction. Is sharing really caring? You decide it!

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References

Elliott, G 2010, 'Canberra urged to join net fightback', The Australian, 19 April, viewed 12 November 2010, from <http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/media/canberra-urged-to-join-net-fightback/story-e6frg996-1225855218786>

Funnell, A 2008, 'The rise and rise of file-sharing', The Media Report, ABC Video Transcript, viewed 12 November 2010, from <http://www.abc.net.au/rn/mediareport/stories/2008/2376707.htm>

Sexism in Advertising

Gucci ads (source: mtr, 2010)

Before I further discuss about the issue of sexism in advertising, there is a need to define 'sexism' first. 'Sexism' is a form of discrimination based on gender (Smith, 2010). Discrimination, on the other hand, refers to treating someone in a less favourable way (Alexis, 2010). Therefore, sexism means an action of treating someone in a less favourable way based on gender.

In advertising, sexism is often related to the use of female role stereotypes. As mentioned by Perera (2010), football advertisement as an example, women are often being viewed as stupid, incapable of understanding basic concepts and having no participation in the sport just because of their sex. Women are seldom being pictured in high level professional roles but often associated with supportive and subordinate roles to men (Plakoyiannaki et al, 2008).

Another article found on BeyondJane talks on how sexism is still being portrayed in the media. The article, by shhark (2010) mentioned several ads that clearly show discrimination towards women. It mentioned how some fashion designers broad casted some sexist ads that describe women as weak and fragile. An example of ads being mentioned in the article is from Gucci which portrayed an emotionless looking woman on the ground with a man walking over her. sshark (2010) reviewed it as promoting domestic violence and sexual assault against women. 

There are countless ads that shows discrimination towards women. As a viewer, wouldn't you be angry looking at all these ads? As a viewer, especially as a female viewer, I am angry looking at all those ads. Like what Perera (2010) wrote for her title of her article, it's time to kick sexism our of advertising.

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References 

Alexis, W 2010, 'What is Discrimination?', WiseGeek, viewed 11 November 2010, from <http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-discrimination.htm>

Perera, K 2010, 'Time to kick sexism our of advertising', guardian.co.uk, viewed 11 November 2010, from <http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/jun/29/kick-sexism-out-of-advertising>

Plakoyiannaki, E, Mathioudaki, K, Dimitratos, P and Zotos, Y 2008, 'Images of Women in Online Advertisements of Global Products: Does Sexism Exist?', in Journal of Business Ethics, vol.83, no.1, viewed 11 November 2010, from <http://www.springerlink.com/content/h34647512786260k/fulltext.pdf>

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

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

E-books over conventional books?

Now that everyone is trying to be tech-savvy, everything need to be digitalized too. Take the music industry into context, before we are exposed to the world of technology, we used to buy record albums from record stores. As for now, music lovers get their favourite musics by downloading them from the Internet. Some sites for music downloading are Apple iTunes, KaZaa and also iHoneyJoo. Music lovers have changed the way to get music and this causes some record stores to downsize (WAPT.com, 2010).


Since the music industry has changed due to the demand of digital world, what about books readers? Most of the conventional books which are usually bulky in size have been converted into electronic books (e-books). E-books, as defined by Shiratuddin et al (2003), are digital format of books converted from paper books, displayed on computers. 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. He also mentioned that e-book is no different than any printed book as it can have numbered pages, table of contents, pictures and graphics.

AUO eBook (source: ubergizmo.com)

What makes readers prefer e-books over conventional books?

1, Availability of e-book is almost instant. All you have to do is purchase and download it, and then you can start reading your 'book'. 

2. Convenience. Hundreds of books can be stored in a portable device. There is no need to bring a huge amount of books around with you or a room to store them. Furthermore, you are able to read e-books at anytime and anywhere.

3. Interactivity. Audio, animations and videos can be included in e-books, thus enhancing the messages conveyed by the authors.

(These are only some advantages of e-books. For more advantages of e-books, please refer to Sasson)


Though it seems like e-books are so much of good side, there are still people who prefer conventional books. Reading printed notes is still more comfortable than reading online (Shiratuddin et al, 2003). Another survey done in 2004 indicated that only 11% of 4000 students at 21 colleges in Minnesota preferred e-books ( Smith et al, 2008). Nevertheless, it is still a personal choice whether we prefer e-books or conventional books. No matter what we prefer, books still provide us with knowledge and information.

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References


Sasson, R n.d., 'The Benefits and Advantages of Ebooks', SuccessConsciousness.com, viewed 11 November 2010, from <http://www.successconsciousness.com/ebooks_benefits.htm>

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>


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>

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>

New Forms of Media Publishing

-'It's truism that our communications environment is changing'- John Naughton (2006)

The emergence of new forms of media publishing is rapidly replacing the old media (Naughton, 2006). Audiences were once seen as passive receivers and just consume what is being reported. Thanks to the advancement of technology, audiences are now able to interact and/or respond immediately to what is being reported as soon as the contents are released online. Audiences are able to do so with the new media platforms such as Youtube, Facebook, blogs and the rising star, Twitter.

So, how does new media change the communication ecosystem? As mentioned above, audiences are no longer accepting what is being reported. Taking Malaysia into context, Center for Independent Journalism (2008) reported that mainstream media has lost its credibility. This clearly shows that audiences are no longer being passive receivers. Audiences now refer to alternative sites such as Malaysiankini and The Nut Graph to have wider perspective of current issue. MacLean (2009) states that the growth of blogosphere is strong and bloggers  are blogging more than ever. Rao (2010), refers to a study done by PR Week and PR Newswire, 52% of bloggers who took part in the survey considered themselves as journalists. So, what do you think of the credibility of news you found on blogs?

Another new media than changes our way of communication is no other than Twitter. Twitter works as a platform which gather data or news from anyone and anywhere. Catone (2008) stated that twitter are able to collect information faster from a larger ground coverage. Twitter make use of the hashtags '#' for a particular event or news to separate them from other millions of thousands of tweets. This makes the effort of searching for updates on particular event or news easier.

As far as we are concerned, new forms of media publishing has greatly change the communication ecosystem. The only way to keep yourself up-dated in this ever changing world is through adapting all or some of the new media. Keep reminding yourself to be an active receivers!

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

MacLean, J 2009, State of the Blogosphere 2009 Introduction, Technorati, viewed 26 September 2010, from <http://technorati.com/blogging/article/state-of-the-blogosphere-2009-introduction/>

Naughton, J 2008, Blogging and the emerging media ecosystem, Reuters, viewed 30 September 2010, from <http://reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac.uk/fileadmin/documents/discussion/blogging.pdf>

Rao, L 2010, Study:52% Of Bloggers Consider Themselves Journalists, TechCrunch, viewed 30 September 2010, from <http://techcrunch.com/2010/04/01/study-52-percent-of-bloggers-consider-themselves-journalists/>

Blogging Communities

'Blog' as defined by Marketingterms.com (n.d), it is a frequent chronological publication of personal thoughts and Web links (more info of blog, see here). Dictionary.com (n.d) defined 'community' as a social group sharing common interests and perceived/ perceiving itself as distinct in some respect from the larger society within which it exists. Therefore, blogging community can be defined as a group of people who share a common interest (blogging) in blogosphere. Bloggers share links, photos and videos and support each other by exchanging ideas and comments. Some of the widely used blogging site are Blogger, WordPress and Xanga.

So, how are we going to get support from other bloggers once we have a blog? All we have to do is to build a blogging community. There are various options for you to build your blogging community.

1.Using social media
   - Reed (2009) suggests that we should reach a larger audience via Facebook and Twitter.
   - Networking ourselves online by creating profile outside of our blogs (LeMerle, 2007).
2. Comments
   -Leaving comment with your blog URL enable other people to find you.
   -Reply to comments enhance interactivity between the authors and readers.
   


As listed by White (2006), there are three types of blogging communities. Single Blog Community is that the visitors of a blog can interact not only with the author, but also with others who leave comments there.

Single Blog Community (Source: White, 2006)

The second blogging community is Central Connecting Topic Community. This community is a group of blogs linked by shared passion or topic. Food bloggers and travel bloggers are examples given by White.

Central Connecting Topic Community (Source: White, 2006)

Boundaried Communities, as defined by White (2006), is a collections of blogs and blog readers engaged within a single platform. Members need to register to join in the community and are able to interact with other members using built-in tools such as discussion board and instant messaging.

Boundaried Communities (Source: White, 2006)

DONGBANGCITY is an example of boundaried community. This site is aimed for readers/fans who admire a South Korean boyband namely TVXQ. This site need members to register before releasing any posts on the discussion boards. Only registered members are able to leave comments on posts and all the posts are nicely separated by subjects. Members are able to communicate with others members using the built-in instant messaging tool called 'ShoutBox'. It also make use of social networking site such as Twitter and Facebookto keep engaging with its readers and also to build a bigger blogging community.

source: onetvxq.com

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References

LeMerle, R 2007, 10 Step Guide to Building Your Blogging Community, neodigitalist, viewed 30 September 2010, from <http://www.neodigitalist.com/2007/02/10-step-guide-to-building-your-blog-community/>

Reed, M 2009, How to build an online community, communityspark, viewed 30 Spetember 2010, from <http://www.communityspark.com/how-to-build-an-online-community/>

White, N 2006, Blogs and Community-launching a new paradigm for online community?, The Knowledge Tree, viewed 30 September 2010, from <http://kt.flexiblelearning.net.au/tkt2006/edition-11-editorial/blogs-and-community-%E2%80%93-launching-a-new-paradigm-for-online-community>