Blogging is becoming a phenomenon among people these days. A weblog serves different purposes for different people. It is a form of communication whereby people like politicians uses blog to send out messages or express their opinions on any political subject matter. As a teenager, the reason for me to blog is to share information and express my point of view on any issues that interest me. However, for this serious weblog, I tend to focus more on issues that are currently discussed in the media regarding publication and designing.

Choosing Blogger as my weblog domain has made my work easier as I am used to the options provided in the website. Blogger is known for its user-friendliness and simplicity in terms of functions, compared to other blog domains. Links and hyperlinks provided in this weblog help my readers and myself refer to other websites to seek for more information by clicking on any of them respectively. There were no major difficulties throughout the process of completing this serious weblog. However, I encountered one minor complication in uploading videos from YouTube to the blog but managed to overcome it during the blogging process. In a personal opinion, blogs with graphics are certainly more attractive and easier to understand, when they are provided with simple explanations. On the other hand, the blog layout has to suit the target audience and the postings should be short and precise.

To conclude, blogs are very useful in many ways. It is an important medium of communication in this technology-savvy world today. Everyone have the chance to own a blog and share their experiences with other people since creating a blog will only take up 5 minutes to complete. I think blog is a good practice to those who wish to improve on their writing skills. Nonetheless, they should be wary to not touch on sensitive issues, as blogs are accessible by people from all over the world and they might not know who or what they are messing with.

The tension brought about the application of digital technology, Internet and most significant of all, the consumers will provide the ‘drivers’ that the business needs, and when balanced will provide the benefits (Copyright and Digital Media in a Post- Napster World 2005). For example, the new business model adopted by film industries sees the distribution of their products via the Internet, and not via the silver screen (Copyright and Digital Media in a Post- Napster World 2005). This means of distribution will definitely allow a global reach of their products; however it also adds the illegal downloading of copyrights materials.

Though from a political standpoint that access to all digital information will be good for society in general, it also has to consider the copy issues raised by creators and producers of these. However, the digital providers of where these products are deposited does not necessarily toe the legal line, In addition, certain countries has no copyright laws, and as such raises the global issue of illegal downloading and piracy. In Canada, it is not illegal to downloading copyright music, whilst uploading these files is not. Musicians and songwriters are funded by levies charged on mediums such as blank CDs and others. The US is stricter and allows copying copyrighted music for personal consumptions only, and uploading copyright music for public consumptions would breach the laws (Beal 2004).


The legal procedures imposed on those digital providers provide peer-to-peer downloading and breaching copyrights laws has not been easy. There is a classic case of Napster, who was persecuted with being primarily accountable for allowing consumers to download music from its website. Though this company has closed down, its case has raised another legal dimension that consumers are also as guilty as the prime providers. Napster is fading away, but others like Aimster, Grokster, and Kazaa appeared, with consumers applying the same modus operandi of the peer-to-peer model, however, this time around, the secondary breach to existing copyright laws also should fall on the shoulders of consumers (Pornography, Technology, and Process: Problems and Solutions on Peer-to-Peer Networks 2003). Though the defenders of copyright laws infringement accused songwriters or musicians with inflated profits, the dimensions of further potential issues apart from the Napster case escalates further when the film industry has such large files of full movies being copied and downloaded from the internet. This indicates the dynamics of the new business model, the consumer behavior and the legal implications brought about to manage this trend and growth.

Despite the laws surrounding legal prosecution for breaching copyrights laws, studies shows that people continues to download, copy and uploads stacks of consumer items such as movies and music. However the study by the University of Dayton, published in the December issue of the NASPA Journal indicates positively that education on their students on issues surrounding illegal piracies of copyright materials, and other curbing efforts such as restricting bandwidths, exposing non-compliances and ensuring that students who agree to the campus policy has somewhat raised the level of compliance (Curbing Illegal Downloading 2007).



References:

• Beal, V 2004, When Is Downloading Music on the Internet Illegal?, online, retrieved 11 June 2008, from http://www.webopedia.com/didyouknow/Internet/2004/music_downloading.asp

• Copyright and Digital Media in a Post- Napster World 2005, online, retrieved 11 June 2008, from http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/media/files/wp2005.pdf

• Curbing Illegal Downloading 2007, online, retrieved 11 June 2008, from http://www.udnews.org/2007/02/curbing_illegal.html
  

• Pornography, Technology, and Process: Problems and Solutions on Peer-to-Peer Networks 2003, online, retrieved 11 June 2008, from http://www.copyright.gov/docs/regstat090903.html
  

The popularity of online social networks these days have not only become the talk among youths and adults that are participating for many reasons, it has also become the spotlight of the media. Online Social network started off by offering dating networks and connecting one business entrepreneur to another by providing contacts to them online (Greenlee 2004). However, because of the way of living has now changed due to globalisation, social networks has also moved along with the changes. Online social networks like Myspace and Multipy serves a certain purpose for each individual that are interested to join these social networks. Around 3 million users were said to be joining Multiply and the numbers are still increasing (Cashmore 2006). Multiply offers services such as “… photo sharing archive, advanced messaging, blogs, calendars, contact management, email and recipes” (Cashmore 2006). Besides that, users can also chat with their contacts akin to any other instant messenger (Mulitply.com - Share your life with your friends n.d).

It is interesting to see how the way of communicating with each other has changed from posting letters to e-mails, and how meeting people from different walks of life through online social network at just a click away. Multiply, an online social network aim differs from other online social networks, whereby they concentrate more on “… how individuals consume information in the social network” (Iskold 2006). As to my preferences, I prefer Multipy rather than Myspace because of its structure of content provided. It is more organized and easier to understand and less spamming for other contacts. According to Reep (2006, p. 174), in organising web pages issue, content is the most important element in a web page although users may enjoy the presence of other graphics such as pictures and music videos. On the other hand, website editors should be wary enough to understand their audiences because different groups of people decode information differently (Lannon 2006, pp. 30-31). In this case, the content of the site should be as simple and precise as it should be to avoid misunderstanding and confusion among users.





References:

• Cashmore, P 2006, Multiply- a Popular Social Network, online, retrieved on 11 june 2008, from http://mashable.com/2006/07/14/multiply-gets-funding/

• Greenlee, D 2004, Multiply.com: Next Generation Online Social Network, online, retrieved 11 June 2008, from http://www.webtalkguys.com/090404.shtml

• Iskold, A 2006, Multiply: A Different Approach To Social Networking, online, retrieved on 11 June 2008, from http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/mutiply_analysis.php

• Lannon, J M 2006, Technical Communication, 10th edn, Pearson Education, USA.

• Mulitply.com - Share your life with your friends n.d, online, retrieved 10 June 2008, from http://www.killerstartups.com/Social-Networking/mulitplyshare-your-life-with-your-friends

• Reep, D C 2006, Technical writing: principles, strategies, and readings, 6th edn, Pearson Education, Inc., New York.

Wikipedia Logo
(Sourced from: http://kempton.files.wordpress.com/2006/08/wikipedia-logo.png )

Vs.

Encyclopedia Britanica Logo
(Sourced from: http://www.webtraderuk.org.uk/_Attachments/Gallery/Shared/10044%20Encyclopaedia%20Britannica.jpg)

Whenever the word ‘online encyclopaedia’ comes into sight, the first thing that came into mind would be Wikipedia and Encyclopaedia Britannica. These two online encyclopedias are popular among the Internet users for its accessibility. Wikipedia essentially tops the Google search engine as the ‘search’ button is clicked on. The numbers of users referring to either one of these encyclopaedias are enormous as its availability is unlimited. The main reason why people keep coming back to these sites, especially Wikipedia, is mainly because they are free of charge. The difference is that an amount of money is required to be paid to view in-depth information on Encyclopedia Britannica. However, issues on online encyclopedia like Wikipedia and Britannica have often brought about on their accuracy and reliability in providing information. Experts have detected inaccuracy on a scientific article from both encyclopedias. They found 162 from Wikipedia and 123 from Britannica on issues such as “factual errors, omissions and misleading statements” in the information provided (Cauchi 2005). Information credibility provided by online encyclopaedias has often questioned by many others who are concern about the credibility of sources used in a subject matter.


Some users will just accept the information and end up misinterpreting it. Schriver (1997) said a person interprets information based on their knowledge, experiences, culture, feelings, social awareness and the context of a particular text. As an example of false information is the case of a 78 years old former editor of The Tennessean in Nashville, John Seigenthaler Sr. Wikipedia provided false information on him by saying “… he was thought to have been directly involved in the Kennedy assassinations of both John and his brother Bobby” (Seelye 2005). In a personal point of view, Wikipedia will always remain the top source in searching for information because it is free of charge and is user-friendly in many ways. As discussed by Nielson and Morkes (1997), Internet users are seen to be judgemental in terms of a website appearance. With this, Wikipedia could maintain its credibility among Internet users.



References:

• Berinstein, P 2006, Wikipedia and Britannica, online, retrieved on 10 June 2008, from http://www.infotoday.com/searcher/mar06/berinstein.shtml

• Cauchi, S 2005, ‘Online encyclopedias put to the test’, The Age, 15 December 2005, retrieved 11 June 2008, from http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/online-encyclopedias-put-to-the-test/2005/12/14/1134500913345.html

• Morkes, J & Nielsen, J 1997, Concise, scannable, and objective: How to write for the web, online, retrieved 11 June 2008, http://www.useit.com/papers/webwriting/writing.html

• Schriver KA 1997, Dynamics in document design: creating texts for readers, Wiley Computer Pub., New York.

• Seelye, K. Q 2005, Snared in the Web of a Wikipedia Liar, online, retrieved 10 June 2008, from http://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/04/weekinreview/04seelye.html?_r=2&pagewanted=1&oref=slogin

• Wikipedia Online Encyclopedia Founder Discusses Freedom of Speech 2006, online, retrieved 11 June 2008, from http://www.america.gov/st/washfile-english/2006/May/20060519162945eaifas3.490627e-03.html

• Wikipedia Survives Research Test 2005, online, retrieved 10 June 2008, from http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/4530930.stm

The Internet is one of the most well known contemporary media since its existence in the 1990’s. This is proven as the Internet has drawn so much attention from users of different background and culture around the world. Over 957 million people worldwide have been reported to be using the Internet in 2005 (La Ferle n.d, p.287). The Internet has affected an individual way of thinking and living. This fact however is an advantage to business-minded individuals. Online shopping or also known as e-commerce is now becoming more popular among Internet users. In 2001, a research made by Forrester Research Online Retail Index found that $4.3 million was spent by the Internet users to buy things online (Online Shopping and Technology 2001). Online stores like Lelong.com.my, Lowyat.net and ebay.com.my,offers a range of items to choose from at a lower price than a normal store would offer. These online stores sell many different types of items to offer from clothing to electronic goods. Although e-commerce has emerged as a preferred way of purchasing things these days, there are also pros and cons to it.

Advantages
Online shopping is an advantage of the Internet development. There are many reasons why these days, the majority of internet users prefer to shop online rather than to drive to the shopping mall, spending some time to look for the things they want. Why drive to the nearby local stores to shop when it is possible to shop online and save half the time to spend on doing more important work (Online Shopping 2005). The best thing about shopping online is that the online shop is open 24 hours a day every day (Fabiola 2008). In this case, it serves conveniences in many ways as possible as online shoppers could easily browse through items they wish to purchase by clicking on the hyperlinks provided on the website. According to Nielson (1997), hyperlinks on websites plays an important role as Internet users rely on hyperlinks to direct them from a page to another.


Disadvantages
As more Internet users shops online, there is a possibility of shoppers to fall into the traps of scammers if they are not wary enough. The privacy of online shoppers are often invaded if they shop at online shops that are not certified or that they know a little about. The main reason why some people do not want to shop online is due to the privacy and credit card security issues as payment are made online. However, a study has shown that people are more concern with their privacy rather than their security (Schaupp & Belanger 2005 cited from Online Shopping 2005). Besides that, online shoppers will not have the chance to see up close the merchandise before they purchase them. Shoppers will experience the lack of knowledge on the item they purchased because the lack of explanation on the product by salesman (Online Shopping Advice, Reviews and Tips n.d).

Ebay Malaysia Website
(Sourced from: http://www.ebay.com.my/)

Mobile blog or known as Moblog is a form of new media publishing these days. With Moblog, bloggers are able to update their blog when they are away from the Internet to keep their readers updated. An example of blog that can turn into a Moblog would be Blogger (Turn any blog into a moblog - just like that! 2004). Issues concerning this newest trend would be publishing false pictures that causes huge misunderstandings among the society. For example, the Mongolian murder case that arises an impact towards Malaysia political institution. A picture of Altantantuya together with Malaysia Deputy Prime Minister, Datuk Najib Razak and Razak Baginda was clearly manipulated using a photo editing software by the public were posted on a blog and linked to other blogs as well, where it drew large attention to all sort of criticism (Politics 101 Malaysia 2007).

Vlog
Another new form of media publishing that is widely used is Vlog. Vlog simply stands for video blog. A Vlog consist of video streaming community where communities are able share videos with each other. An example of a successful Vblog would be YouTube. One of the many reasons why Youtube is gaining popularity is because it provide users with wide range of videos and easy browsing feature (Why YouTube Works 2006). Other than that, YouTube serves a role in the political constitution where election candidates in America publishes relevant videos of their political point of view to draw and to convince their potential voters (Jarvis 2007). Youtube provide an official channel especially for 2008 United States presidential election (O’hear 2007).

Obama political campaign on Youtube
(Sourced from: http://youtube.com/user/BarackObamadotcom)

One of Barrack Obama's video posted on YouTube
(Sourced from: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=acI9u-6I8bs)

Print newspaper
(Sourced from: www.cnn.com/WORLD/9610/09/diana.hoax/)

VS.


Online

Designing for online and print varies from one another in terms of the layout and amount of information provided. According to Nielson (1999), “In print, your document forms a whole and the user is focused on the entire set of information”. The set of information on print are easily read while information online is divided into sections pertaining one section to another. Besides that, readers prefer to read shorter post online because the percentage of readers reading online is 25 per cent slower than reading prints like newspaper (Nielson 1999). Often readers will browse through the online pages without having to read them thoroughly because they only need to get the information that they want (Morkes & Nielson 2007). Therefore, blogs must be short and precise. However, different readers have different reading preferences as their level of making meaning out of the text depending on “… the socio-cultural context of the text production” (Walsh 2006, p.25). On the other hand, reading trends are now changing where “… the written text is no longer structured by linguistic means through verbal connectors and verbal cohesive devices” (Kress & Van Leeuwen 1998). Instead, it is depending on the page structure including the elements, visuals and graphic presented on the page itself (Kress & Van Leeuwen 1998).

Blogs are divided into a few categories, giving readers and bloggers varieties to suit their preferences. As blogs are widely categorized, there are a few main blog categories before they are broken down into smaller categories.

a) Personal Blog
-This blog consist of the blogger’s personal views on a subject matter. In general, most teenagers and young adults prefer this type of blog because they are more interested in sharing the event that occurs in their daily life (Blogging the Phenomenon 2006). One example of a personal blog would be by Kinkybluefairy

b) Community Blog
-A community blog exists in an existing community where the authors sometimes are not aware that they are blogging. This type of blog exists on Myspace (Identity in the Blogosphere 2006).

c) Corporate Blog
- This type of blog is usually for business purposes. Entrepreneurs’ uses blogs to engage with their customers and at the same time to gain more profit as establishing a blog is easy and free. For example, Cuppacakes promote products to their potential customers on their blog.

One of Stickgal's drawing on her blog
(Sourced from http://stickgal.blogspot.com)

Most blogs these days are combination of different styles, format and attracts different types of audience. This is caused by the audience’s different preferences and interest. The style of publishing blogs changes as the time goes by. Today, blogs can be accessed and updated through mobile phones and this blogging trend is called moblogging (Blogging Goes Mobile 2003). However, one of the ways to identify a unique blog is to observe the types of entries, which are being posted on the blog itself.

Blogging Community
A blogging community, also known as blogosphere is a network connecting bloggers from all over the world together. It is possible to create a blogging community by the existence of hyperlink, chat space, comment post and also tags on the blog itself. One of the existing blogging communities would be MyBlogLog. Blog authors joining this blogging community are able to monitor their readers (Kirkpatrick 2006). Besides that, MyBlogLog helps authors to interact with other bloggers sharing the same interest.

MyBlogLog blogging community logo
(Sourced from: http://www.mybloglog.com/)

According to Young (2005), there is at least one blog created within a day. The blogs are still increasingly growing with a total of more than 175,000 blogs created every single day, approximately “1.6 million posts per day and over 18 updates a second” (Welcome to Technorati n.d).

Based on a comparative study following Social Media trends by Universal McCann, the result found that China is dominating the number of blogging community worldwide with 42 million in total (Weiss 2008). On the other hand, blogging community in Korea and India are likely to read blogs that covers within their personal interest (Blogging Phenomenon Sweeps Asia n.d). As for blogger community trend in United Kingdom, technology blog is the most popular blog genre with 21 per cent out of 100 per cent blog genres (Brown 2006).


There are three types of blogs that are common in Europe and Asia which are community blog, personal blog and also corporate blog. However, the blogosphere for non-community blogs are divided into technology, politics and world events, arts, sports, personal and others (Identity in Blogosphere 2006).

As blogs are now becoming popular, entrepreneurs and politicians tend to use blogs to attract their audience in each respective field. Malaysian political blogger like Jeff Ooi are among other bloggers whom discusses issues regarding politics, keeping his readers updated on political concerns surrounding the country. Business blog’s main purpose is to gain profit. Example of a business blog that provide profit for both authors and subscribers would be Advertlets.