Classification of Blogs

Blogs can be categorized according to many aspects such as based on the media or based on the subject matter of the blog. Corporate blogs or enterprise blogs is a form of classification of blogs which can be later classified based on external and internal (Enterpriseblogs.info, 2010). Branding blogs and sales blogs are examples of external corporate blogs whereas culture blogs is an example of internal corporate blog (Enterpriseblogs.info, 2010). Besides, blogs can also be classified according to the type of media such as video sharing, microblogs and social bookmarking (Onbloggingwell.com, n.d.).

Classification of Blogs

According to Simons (2008) style of classification of blogs, she classifies blogs into eight categories which are the pamphleteering blog, digest blog, advocacy blog, popular mechanics blog, exhibition blog, gatewatcher blog, diary, advertisement and news blog. Basically, Simons (2008) classify blogs based on the subject of the blog. Based on that, classifying blogs according to topics or subjects is the most suitable and appropriate way as classifying blogs according to audience and style would be inappropriate and inaccurate. For instance, classifying blogs based on the type of audience would be difficult to identify. A blog’s audiences would not just consist of those who are interested but also those who just glance through the blog and those who are uninterested.

Reference

Enterpriseblogs.info 2010, Corporate blogging, viewed 20 September 2010, <http://www.enterpriseblogs.info/corporate-blogging>.

Funnell, A 2008, A taxonomy of blogs, The Media Report, 19 September 2010, <http://www.abc.net.au/rn/mediareport/stories/2008/2372882.htm#transcript>.

Onbloggingwell.com n.d., 23 types of social media sites, viewed 20 September 2010, <http://onbloggingwell.com/23-types-of-social-media-sites/>.

Blog as Current Phenomenon

The size of blogosphere has been increasing year and year, in other words the size of the blogosphere is directly proportional through time. In a report of the size of blogosphere in Technorati, bloggers noted that they write blogs more in the year 2009 compared to the previous year, however, the opposite individuals stated that social networking sites are the reason behind the rate of decline in blogging (Berlin, 2009). According to Singer (2009), who has done a report on the State of the Blogosphere in the year 2009 with statistics. In the report, Singer (2009) stated that most of the bloggers write blogs to promote products to attract clients or to express their opinions and emotions through blogging

Trend and Benefits

The blogging trend in Malaysia would be personal blogs as teenagers in Malaysia would use blog as a medium for expressing their emotions and feelings instead of writing a diary or journal. The trend of personal blogs is normally prevalent or common in certain countries, notably Asian countries such as Malaysia, Singapore and Japan. The benefit of personal blogs is that it is able to build a strong and construct blogging community and enable to create a medium for a more “personal” communication with friends, clients and interested readers (Perera, 2008).

Reference

Berlin, E 2009, Richard Jalichandra keynote: blogworld 2009, Technorati, viewed 19 September 2010, <http://technorati.com/blogging/article/richard-jalichandra-keynote-blogworld-2009/>.

Perera, G 2008, The personal benefits of blogging, Article Alley, viewed 19 September 2010, <http://www.articlealley.com/article_669123_15.html>.

Singer, A 2009, 70 usable stats from the 2009 State of the Blogosphere, The Future Buzz, 20 September 2010, <http://thefuturebuzz.com/2009/12/10/blogging-stats-facts-data/>.

A Good Presentation

"What is a good presentation?", this is one of the common questions that have been questioned by students. In order to have a good presentation, it is not only dependant on having a good presenter, a good presentation layout is also needed. A presentation layout must consist of two important elements which are the visual treatment (document design) and good writing skills, in order to keep the audiences' interest and focus (Russell, n.d.). The combination of the two elements would be able to convey the message to the audiences (Kress & van Leeuwen, 2006).


It is notable that in order for a pleasant and good document, the aid of visual treatment is definitely needed in order for the audience to understand the document better. If given a text or document without any visualization such as pictures or charts, readers would easily feel bored or unable to interpret the document easily (Marquez, 2010). In addition, the presentation slides should rather have a simple background and the background colour should not be similar with the text colour (Marquez, 2010).


Besides, having a good document design for the presentation, it is also essential that good writing skills is needed in the presentation. A good presenter has to possess good writing skills in order to deliver sufficient and important information to the audiences (Rothman, 2005). Besides, it is important to insert key words rather than putting the whole text or paragraph in the presentation slides to avoid audiences' loss of interest(Russell, n.d.). Good technical writing is also required for accurate and relevant detail with rhetorical reasoning and proof (Rothman, 2005).

 

 
The image above is a good example of a presentation slide from a presentation of "Semiotic landscape" as the background of the presentation slide uses a light tone and uses keywords as points. However, it would be better with the aid of visual treatment such as pictures.
 
 
 
 
References
 
Kress, G & van Leeuwen, T 2006, "The semiotic landscape: language and visual communication" in Reading images,

Marquez, ZL 2010, How to make a good powerpoint presentation, Ezine Articles, viewed 26 August 2010, <http://ezinearticles.com/?How-to-Make-a-Good-PowerPoint-Presentation&id=4313178>.

Rothman, S 2005, What makes good scientific and technical writing?, Associated Content, viewed 26 August 2010, <http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/9447/error?cat=4>.

Russell, W n.d., 10 tips for creating successful business presentations, About.com, viewed 26 August 2010, <http://presentationsoft.about.com/od/powerpointinbusiness/tp/bus_pres_tips.htm>.

Purpose of Blog

Nothing is perfect in the media industry. Therefore, the purpose of this blog is to discuss various issues regarding the media and designs. The main targeted audienece for this blog is for those who are interested in designs, regardless lecturers or students, and for those are pursuing in the media field, especially advertising, journalism and digital media.