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>

Classification of blogs

Technorati tracked over 70 million of weblogs back in 2007 and it mentioned in their State of The Blogosphere 2009 report that bloggers are now blogging more than ever. All of these blogs cover a variety of topic discussed from politic to daily lifestyle. Hence, it is essential to classify blogs into different category so that blogs readers have a clear vision on which blogs to refer to. However, classifying them is a not as easy as it seems to be. According to Simons (2008), he classified blogs into 9 different categories as follows;

• Pamphleteering blogs
• Digest blogs
• Advocacy blogs
• Popular Mechanics blogs
• Exhibition blogs
• Gatewatcher blogs
• Diary 
• Advertisement
• News blogs

(for more information of  Simons' classification of blogs, read here)

Blogs are not limited to word-based only. There are other medium of blogs exist now such as video blogs (YouTube), sketch blogs (Deviantart) and photo blogs (Photobucket). Not to forget about the emergence of blogs that combine multiple styles and subjects together at one time. However, this kind of blogs create troublesome for us when it comes to searching for the right blogs for the right information. Fear not, as Reep (2006) mentioned that design feature of a document can guide us to the information that we want. She mentioned that design features such as graphic aids provide readers with quick access to information.

As for me, I would look at the topics of the blog as a way to classify the blogs. To be clearer, when you visit a blog which most entries related to personal lifestyle or feeling, based on Simons' taxonomy of blogs, you can easily classify the blog as diary.

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References

Reep, DC 2006, 'Document design', in Technical Writing, 6th ed, Pearson/Longman, New York, pp133-172.

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>

Blogs As Current Phenomenon and Benefits to the Community

Over 70 million of weblogs were tracked in 2007 compared to 4 million back in 2004 (Sifry, 2007). This indicates that the growth of blogosphere has been rising tremendously. While the latest number of tracked blogs are not given by Technorati, MacLean (2009) stated that bloggers are now blogging even more and the State of the Blogosphere is strong.

Source: www.technorati.com

Self-expression and sharing expertise remain to be the primary factors for bloggers (Sussman, 2009). In Malaysian context, Gaman (2007) found out that 28% of the Malaysian Top 50 Bloggers write about their personal stuff through his survey. About 16% of bloggers take on technology and politics respectively. The reason of this trend may be due to 64% of Malaysian bloggers are female which 56% of them wanted to have a space for their opinions (Ooi, 2006).

The print media in Malaysia is strictly controlled by government. Therefore, blogs become an alternative way to search for in-depth information that are shunned by mainstream media. It is beneficial because blogs provide us different aspects on news found in mainstream media as we no longer blindly believe what is reported on paper. In Malaysia, taking politics into context, opposition parties were able to take over the ruling power for 5 states in 2008 Malaysia General Election. This is because they were able to state out their messages and reach the masses through blogs which the government have limited control on online publishing media. Thus, the community are able to obtain wider perspective in political landscape.



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References
Gaman 2007, 50 Most Influential Blogs in Malaysia, Sabahan.com, viewed 27 September 2010, from <http://www.sabahan.com/2007/02/06/50-most-influential-blogs-in-malaysia/>

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/>

Ooi, J 2006, Microsoft: '64% of Malaysian bloggers are female', AsianCORRESPONDENT, viewed 27 September 2010, from <http://asiancorrespondent.com/jeff-ooi-blog/2006/12/64_of_malaysian_bloggers_are_f.php>

Sifry, D 2007, The State of the Live Web, Sifry's Alerts, viewed 26 September 2010, from <http://www.sifry.com/alerts/archives/000493.html>

Sussman, M 2009, Day 2:The What and Why of Blogging-SOTB 2009, Techorati, viewed 27 September 2010, from <http://technorati.com/blogging/article/day-2-the-what-and-why2/>