So far, writing the posts on this blog has taught me that writing everything that comes to mind does not apply in most cases. I have read multiple articles and journals to identify and interpret different systems. This blog is multimodal, as I have used visual and textual modes on my blog. As a blogger for this topic I have learnt that there are many issues that come with the new media. Publication ethics for one is ultimately important, as there is the dreaded copyright infringement. I have also learnt to pay attention in the details of the design of each of my blog posts, aligning them well and choosing the right visuals to go with the right text. Visuals play a big role in helping assist texts so adding them to spice up a certain part of the text is necessary.
Blogs nowadays are used for multiple purposes. Be they social commentary blogs, blogs that promote ones work, blogs that are set up like boutiques, news blogs or personal diary blogs, all of these blogs are personal and is used as a platform to express ones individuality. Some of these blogs are very important too. Like those of political blogs, they advocate democracy by giving criticisms to the government in order to see improvements in society. The fundamental principal of freedom of speech are made used by bloggers in this case (Deuntzer, 2009) These blogs help to frame political discourses and also set the agenda for public policy-making.
According to Technorati’s State of the Blogsphere Report (2008), blogging is now considered a party of the new media eco-system; it is now integral to the media’s eco-system. They are now termed mainstream as the top ten websites of all key categories include some blogs. Technorati says that bloggers are the ones to watch. This is because they often come up with new web applications and get their word out there. On top of that, companies also turn to blogs because they are deemed a cost effective method to promote their services and gain an increase in visibility by attracting more traffic to their websites. This is done without having to burn a hole in their pockets. (Nasir, 2010) In contrast to that, although blogging gives one the ability to be able to voice out thoughts and opinions, there are certain boundaries that come with that too. For instance, talking about taboo issues like race, religion, insulting politicians and the government, insulting the monarch are strictly forbidden.
Like that of a recent case of a mysterious blogger in West Bank that hurled insulting remarks at the Prophet Muhammad and claimed he was God. He was caught and risks spending the rest of his life behind bars. He faces heresy charges for “insulting the divine essence”. Many conservative muslims took his remarks to heart and even said that he should be “burned to death”. (Hadid, 2010) Moreover, blog posts that goes against the government intensely will also get you in trouble. For example, Raja Petra Kamaruddin, a prominent political blogger was put in jail for two years due to his anti-government views that allegedly posed a threat to national security by creating racial tension. (Adiwira, 2008)
"Not everything you read on Twitter is factual or true", how often have we heard people utter those words. However, when we hear of a piece of news all too frequently, it immediately becomes credible. Twitter has that power to do so. For example, The Times (2010) reported that rumours about France’s President Sarkozy and First Lady Carla Bruni having extra-marital relationships were spread and the news got on twitter. Although being a complete fabrication, the news quickly spread in a matter of minutes. With the efficiency of sharing information with the existence of the retweet button, people would not even bother to check their facts before posting. Moreover, there have also been cases of fake celebrity or company accounts on Twitter. These imposters post up complete lies. Albeit being funny, it gives a blow to Twitter's credibility. Like that of a fake BP account @BPGlobalPR, sending out tweets that mock the efforts of BP's public relations sector with tweets that go like "Think about it this way, the ocean is like rootbeer and oil is like ice cream. We just made America a giant rootbeer float!," and "Really worried about the effect this disaster will have on bikini season. The sun is still shining ladies, get out there!,". (Heussner, 2010) These tweets are offensive to BP’s public relations sector as they are giving their best to combat the situation. On the other hand, with its increasing popularity, twitter has in a way made a big impact on media journalism. They are now under pressure to produce fast news. Now, media journalists have to face a much bigger competition than bloggers, which is Twitter. (Dawson, 2009) However, this heightened pressure to be the first to post out a piece of information and the problem of accurate reporting is said to be unbalanced. This is because journalists do not care if the news is reliable or truthful. In order to capture viewer’s attention and gain a larger following. However, with that said, Twitter is still useful in one way or another. It helps to bring people closer, get questions answered, expand one’s social and professional network, promote items or work and learn of important news or facts. (Zelenka, 2007) It also acts as a platform for one to vent their emotions or thoughts at that moment, being a form of expressing ones individuality.
The Twitter Universe
References:
Heussner, KM 2010, Fake BP Twitter Account Mocks Oil Spill PR Efforts, viewed 14 November 2010, <http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/fake-bp-twitter-account-mocks-oil-spill-pr/story?id=10737669>
The media has certainly evolved in the past decade with the emergence of more and more Internet users. Development is rapid with digital convergence, personal computing and global networking, thus causing tremendous changes in the media. The ecosystem has shifted radically with newsprint declining due to broadcast media television being on the rise. However, this has made them adapt rather than to bow out as they now serve as commentators, provide analysis and features of news. (Naughton, 2006) Social networking sites like that of Youtube, Twitter and Facebook have been proven useful for jounalism and communication. 3 years ago, then Prime Ministerial candidate, Kevin Rudd was known to embrace social media, using online sites to communicate and provide feedback to supporters. (Bruns, Wilson & Saunders, 2007) Many journalists also use sites like Twitter or Facebook to share breaking stories. News travel fast online whilst print media takes time to be published and distributed. However, with these sites being available to anyone at anytime, with unlimited use and freedom of speech, there are bound to be controversial issues arising. For example, Malaysian songwriter Wee Meng Chee, or better known as Namewee, has posted controversial videos on youtube of himself rapping about his dissatisfaction about racial issues and poking fun at other races too. This caused an uproar in society as his videos contained vulgarities and obscenities. (Harakahdaily, 2010) This freedom of speech has instead backfired on him many citizens and political leaders took offence in his words.
Source: gvishnu.com
References:
Bruns, A, Wilson, J & Saunders, B 2007,‘Citizen Journalism as Social Networking: Reporting the 2007 Australian Federal Election’, viewed 29 September 2010, <www.produsage.org/articles>
Naughton, J 2006, ‘Blogging and the emerging media ecosystem’, viewed 29 September 2010, <http://reuteursinstitute.politics.ox.ac.uk/about/discussion/blogging.html>
Blogs are generally very difficult to be put into their own categories. According to Qu, La Pietra and Poon (2009), the informal, capricious style of writing on blogs makes it difficult to accurately classify them. Simons’ (2008) categorization is too wide. One of these categories is pamphleteering blogs where an individual or many individuals come together to push a cause. The categories provided by Qu, La Pietra and Poon such as personal diary or politics may fall into this category as the content of a blog may be pushing a cause too. In Simons’ article, she has a category called ‘The Diary’ too, in which the blog is made for individuals who make postings about their everyday life and what not. However, this specific genre of blog may also fall into the category mentioned before which is Pamphleteering blog as individuals may post how they have worked for a cause for a day. Besides, Simons has come up with a new category known as the Advertisement Blog which is fairly hard to classify as bloggers blog about their personal lives or social commentaries yet have advertisements on their headers or the sides. The same can be said for News Blogs. Some New Blogs have advertisements on the sides or even after every posting made too. Specificity is key when classifying blogs. Smich (2010) has come up with ten different types of blogs. They are Cultural, Business, Personal, Topic, Collaborative, Science, Eclectic, Directory, Educational and Forum Blog. This is much more reliable.
There are different perceptions as to what makes a good PowerPoint presentation. There has to be a few criteria present. In terms of document design, there has to be key phrases of the topic. (Russell, 2010) These phrases have to be highlighted or bold so that viewers are drawn to those words and make out what the presentation is all about. Besides that, we have to give importance to the layout of slides. This is an issue as some slides are not rearranged according to their topic and this may pose problems when presenting. Another tip is to avoid fonts that are too flashy or fancy. (Russell, 2010) This may deviate the attention away from what is trying to be presented. Keep the background simple too; this is to avoid contrasts between the words and the background. (Marquez, 2010) The slides should be kept simple and easily read and understood. (Bear, 2010) The number of slides per presentation should not exceed a certain limit. This depends on what is to be presented and the time limit for the presentation. An audience would not appreciate a very draggy presentation with more than a hundred slides. There should also be photos or short clips in the presentation to further support what is in text. Captivate the viewer’s attention by doing so. (Krieger, 2010) This should make the presentation lively and interesting and not bore the audience. (Russell, 2010) On the other hand, a good presentation also must consist of good content. This content must have relevant information in which it is written for a direct and specified purpose. This information should also be able to be transferred to the audience without information loss. (Rothman, 2005) The writing should also include all specific details of the topic and reason with what is written.
Reference
Bear, J 2010, ‘Before you create a PowerPoint Presentation’ viewed 25 August 2010,
Rothman, S 2005, ‘What Makes Good Scientific and Technical Writing?’ viewed 26 August 2010, <http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/9447/error>
Russell, W 2010, ‘10 Tips for Creating Successful Business Presentations’ viewed 26 August 2010, <http://presentationsoft.about.com/od/powerpointinbusiness/tp/bus_pres_tips.htm>
