Blog Classification

There are many different ways as to how one can classify blogs, classifying blogs can help you understand their targeted audience. Technorati (2008) provides a very general way of classifying blogs: Personal blogs, corporate blogs and professional blogs.

However an article by Rowse (2005) listed more than 20 different types of blogs:

1. Instructional

2. Informational

3. Reviews

4. Lists

5. Interviews

6. Case Studies

7. Profiles

8. Link Posts

9. Problem Posts

10. Rant

11. Contrasting Two Options

12. Inspirational

13. Research

14. Collation Posts

15. Predictions and Review Posts

16. Critique Posts

17. Debate

18. Hypothetical Posts

19. Satirical

20. Memes and Projects

In an interview with media analyst Margerett Simons (Funnell 2008) also attempted to classify blogs, she introduced us to the following classifications.

1. Pamphleteering Blog- Written to argue a point or to express a strong point of view, often political in nature and includes views on current events.

2. Digest Blog- A summary or collection of materials on the same topic. Often taken from mainstream media or other blogs and may include commentaries.

3. Advocacy Blog- Which pushes a particular point of view on an issue, often by companies or government in a dictatorial manner.

4. Popular Mechanics Blog- How-to blogs done by enthusiasts on any topic, from photography to gardening.

5. Exhibition Blog- Maintained by Artists, Photographers and Poets as a form of exhibiting their works.

6. Gate Watcher Blog- Where media has gatekeepers, people who control what gets published, these are the gate watchers, people who critique, analyze and inform how and why the gatekeepers make the decisions they do.

7. The Diary- Basically a self-expression blog, where people treat the blog as they would a personal diary.

8. Advertisements- Made by commercial companies trying to sell a product.

9. News Blog- Due to technological advances, many blogs now actually break news.

Comparing the different classification of blogs, I see some that overlap with each other as in the case of the Instructional blog and the Popular Mechanics blog and the Debate and Critique posts bear similarities to Pamphleteering Blogs. Blogs are ambiguous and hard to classify, most use a combination of classifications. These are why most blog posts are separated by tags which makes searching for a particular topic easier.

References:

White, D 2008, “Who are the bloggers?”, Technorati.com, accessed 18^th September 2010, http://technorati.com/blogging/article/day-1-who-are-the-bloggers/>

Rowse, D 2005, “20 types of blog posts- battling bloggers block”, Problogger.com, accessed 18^th September 2010, http://www.problogger.net/archives/2005/11/29/20-types-of-blog-posts-battling-bloggers-block/>

Funnell, A & Davies, A 2008, A taxanomy of blogs, The Media Report, access on 18th September 2010, http://www.abc.net.au/rn/mediareport/stories/2008/2372882.htm#transcript>

New Forms of Media Publishing

Most newspapers are steadily making the transition into having online news portals where people can easily read news at the click of a mouse. The European Monitoring Centre on Change (2003) states that besides reducing production costs and being more efficient, digitization of content allows for it to be transmitted via social networking medias like Youtube, Twitter and Facebook.

A screen capture of TheStar's official Twitter homepage taken on the 30th of September 2010

This has altered the way of journalism and communication substantially, Youtube allows them to post up accompanying short videos to their news, The Star has even opened up a New Media department to handle their online tv portal- TheStarOnline.tv with a new term for the journalists that handle these stories: Mojo’s (A combination of Mobile+Journalists). On top of that, they have a Twitter account which allows them to send short snippets of news accompanied by permalinks that link to their online paper. Besides The Star, there are examples of 100% online newspapers, like MalaysiaKini, where people pay a small fee and read their newspapers online.

There is no doubt that the internet is an inherently democratizing force. In Malaysia where bloggers and journalists are warned not to publish any sensitive news (Anti-government) online, there is a freedom of speech the government cannot completely silence. MalaysiaKini journalist Steele (2009) quotes Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi as saying “We certainly lost the Internet war, the cyber-war... It was a serious misjudgement. We made the biggest mistake in thinking that it was not important." According to her, this insight came during the election of 2008 where opposition parties in Malaysia were only 30 seats short of winning a majority in Parliament. With at least 5 well-known bloggers elected to Parliament, there is no doubt that the power of online media should not be underestimated.

Reference:

European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions 2003, ‘The future of publishing and media’, Sector Futures, Wyattville Road, Loughlinstown, Dublin 18, Ireland, accessed 30^th September 2010, http://www.eurofound.europa.eu/emcc/publications/2003/sf_pm_1.pdf>

Steele, J 2009, “How Malaysiakini challenges authoritarianism”, MalaysiaKini.com, accessed 13^th September 2010, http://www.malaysiakini.com/news/117130>

Blogging Communities

As the internet community evolves, traditional methods of interaction between people online are slowly changing as well. (White 2006) The online community has been narrowed down into one that revolved around blogs- a blogging community. A blogging community can be defined as a group of people that interact with each other through blogs. According to Efimova (2006), a blog can be author-centered or topic-centered.

There are many ways to create a blogging community, start with reading other peoples blogs and leaving comments. These are now akin to calling cards, and most weblog hosts require you to leave your URL. This not only brings visitors into your blog but also gives you an identity on the website. Replying to comments lets you interact with your readers. Put the “Follower” gadget in the sidebar of your blog, this allows your readers to follow and keep track of your updates.

Figure shows the model for a Blogger Centric Community. (Click for image source)

According to White (2006), there are three kinds of blogging communities. First the blogger centric community, where the blogger has the power to set the conversational topic, feedback is possible but there is no expectation of democracy as the blogger may easily remove or filter comments. Second, the central connecting topic community, where a community is formed around blogs that cover a common topic; these communities have more power compared to blogger centric communities, the existence of the community does not depend on one blog. Finally, boundaried communities where people are connected through a single site or platform with a defined boundary; a closed system that allows for a denser closer community. Take the popular fashion blog: The Cherry Blossom Girl as an example of a blogger centric community. The author, Alix has control over the community which rests on one blog with her as the central identity of the blog, if she were to close down her blog, her community would cease to exist with no other way of connecting.

Reference:

White, N 2006, ‘Blogs and Community- launching a new paradigm for online community?”, The Knowledge Tree, Edition 11, accessed 9^th September 2010,

Efimova, L. 2006, ‘Author-centred vs. topic-centred blogging’. Retrieved 4th September, 2010 from http://blog.mathemagenic.com/2006/08/14.html

Blogging Trends and Benefits to the Community

I was unable to find an official number regarding the size of the current blogosphere. Usually Technorati would be the go-to source for statistics regarding the blogosphere but the best I could do is a number from the 2008 State of Blogosphere Report that stated Technorati has tracked 133 million blogs since 2002.

Click image to go to source.

A blogging trend that is becoming prevalent in Malaysia is political blogs. In Malaysia, where traditional mainstream media is controlled by the ruling political party, oppositional views and media are restricted and in fact controlled by laws like the ISA (Internal Security Act) which allows for detention without trial or criminal charges when someone or something is regarded as a threat to the national security of Malaysia. (CNN.com 2001) However, what is regarded as a threat is up to the interpretation of the ruling party and this is where those laws may be misused.

With the emergence of the internet, the voices of the opposition are getting harder to restrain as they slowly resort to political blogs to get their views heard. This benefits us where it helps us to maintain our state of democracy. Schirato (2009) states that there is a relationship between media and democracy, the public sphere (In our case, political blogs) serve as a counter to state authority. They serve to keep politicians in track and to legitimate their effectiveness in governing the country.

Reference:

CNN.my, 2001, “Malaysia’s Internal Security Act”, accessed 4^th September 2010,

Schirato, T 2009, “Media and the Public Sphere”, Understanding Media Studies, Oxford University Press, South Melbourne. Chapter 6, pp 110-135.

Win, P 2008, “State of the blogosphere 2008”, Technorati, accessed 4^th September 2010, http://technorati.com/blogging/article/state-of-the-blogosphere-introduction/>