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/>

Document Design

We as college students, are always asked to prepare powerpoint presentations during our entire study life. Even though we have gone through numerous presentations, that does not mean that we are already an expert in preparing a good powerpoint presentation that attracts the interest of our audience. So, how is a good powerpoint presentation should be?

Let's talk about the content of the presentation first. We always say that a good writing can attract people's interest but what a good writing is? According to Putnis and Petelin (1996), this is an complex question as there is no such thing as definitely right or wrong writing but only effective writing at a given situation and readership. They gave an example that newspaper readers may not be interested in reading a well-researched essay. This is because newspaper readers expect something short and straight to the point. This is supported by Rothman (2005) who states that a good scientific and technical writing relays specific information directly and literally with no symbolic or associative interpretations. Marques (2010) also mention in his article that write down only the principal matters related to the topic you are presenting.

• The content in the presentation slide shown above is way too lengthy. 
• Presentation slide should have points that are short and precise for the understanding of audience

The second part of the presentation will be focused on the layout. Layout is important as it also play a role in attracting audiences' interest. This is supported by Russell who mentions that slide layout is important and the slides should be easy to be followed. She also mention that contrasting colours should be used for text and background so that it will be easy on eyes. Putnis and Petelin (1996) also state that negative space (white) and positive space (text, title, visuals) should be balanced. Besides that, Singer (2002) says that slides are easier to read using unjustified (ragged) margins. This is supported by Putnis and Petelin (1996), that compared to a justified right margin, a ragged right edge on a one-column page is easier to be read.

• The layout of presentation slide shown above is too blank, only black and white.
• The usage of negative and positive space is imbalance.
• The picture should be placed beside the words and the background of the slide should not be white.

So now, we have discuss the way to create a good powerpoint presentation from the content to the layout. Hopefully this post will be useful to those who are and will be preparing a powerpoint presentation.

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References

1. Marquez, Z.L 2010, How to Make a Good Powerpoint Presentation, viewed on 27 August 2010, <http://ezinearticles.com/?How-to-Make-a-Good-PowerPoint-Presentation&id=4313178>

2. Putnis, P and Petelin, R 1996, 'Writing to communicate', Professional communication: principles and applications, Prentice Hall, Sydney, pp.223-263.

3. Rothman, S 2005, What Makes Good Scientific and Technical Writing, viewed 27 August 2010, <http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/9447/error?cat=4>

4. Russell, W , 10 Tips For Creating Successful Business Presentations, viewed 27 August 2010, <http://presentationsoft.about.com/od/powerpointinbusiness/tp/bus_pres_tips.htm>

5. Singer, D 2002, Ten Steps to Good Document Design, University of Alabama, Huntsville, viewed 27 August 2010, <http://www.uah.edu/colleges/liberal/english/shared/doc_des_singer.htm>

Purpose

The advancement in technology enables the work of publication become much easier compared to years ago. However, there are many issues regarding publication and also the design of a document. There is a need to for document designers to create a document which is able to express his or her own opinions and also to gain interest of readers.

Therefore, this blog is created to share my point of views regarding on issues dealing with publication and the document designing. The targeted audience of this blog are potential publishers, people who are and will be working in the publishing industry, and also college students who are currently studying the subject of IPD(Issues in Publication and Design).