Reflections

Creating weblogs is so simple nowadays with so many websites providing a step-by-step guide. It is safe to assume that every single Internet user would know how to operate or have stumbled across weblogs.

As my previous assignments required me to produce materials for print, I am learning something new by creating solely for an online environment. There are plenty of things I need to take into consideration such as:

• The Internet is a multimodal environment with plenty of modes (Kress and van Leeuwen 1998)
  
  
• Every mode has its own affordance due to the modes' special features (Schriver 1997)
  
  
• The culture of my audience to help improve their understanding. Halliday (1985) stated that context of culture is necessary for a text to be fully understood

A blogger also needs to be ethical. He or she must not blog about sensitive or false issues. The blogging phenomenon is growing and ultimately, everybody will be affected by it in one way or another.

Happy blogging!

References:

Halliday, M & Hasan R 1985, Language, context and text: aspects of language in a social-semiotic perspective, Deakin University, Victoria.

Kress, G & van Leeuwen, T 1998, ‘Front pages: (the critical) analysis of newspaper layout’, in Bell, A & Garrett, P (eds) 1998, Approaches to media discourse, Blackwell, Oxford, chapter 7, pp. 186-219.

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

Is the Internet safe for our children?

Young children being polluted with violence and pornography online. We should never underestimate its impact.

The table shows Internet pornography statistics. Notice the entries about youths. Source: Internet Filter Reviews

"Mark, 12, was surfing and chatting online with his friend. Suddenly, a pop-up appears and a naked woman is shown on screen. Out of curiosity, he clicks on the pop-up and is exposed to more pornographic materials. Mark became hooked."

Consider the situation above. The Internet has become a safe haven for the distribution of pornographic materials and these irresponsible people are targeting children. Erin Roach (2007) discussed about the discovery of the fact children are constantly being 'fed' information (pornography) they have never requested for from the Internet in the article 'Study finds children plagued by unwanted exposure to porn.'

According to Sharon Hirch, a University of Chicago psychiatrist, "They are seeing things that they are not really emotionally prepared to see yet."

Children are not emotionally prepared to view pornography.
Source: Google Images

Will the children understand that pornography is indeed a bad influence? Most probably not. Putnis and Petelin (2006) and Walsh (2006) argued that readers construct meanings based on their previous knowledge. As the child has no prior knowledge about pornography, he or she might think that it is something good.

If unsupervised or stopped, a child might create a schemata, or mental template towards a certain topic, (Putnis & Petelin 1996) of pornography being a good thing and becomes addicted to it. This is where the roles of parents come in.

Children must be educated to say 'NO' to pornography. Parents must help too.
Source: Google Images

As discussed in the article, parents need to play a major role in educating their children about the dangers which lurk in the Internet, especially pornography. The article also outlined steps which parents should take to protect their children from the negative influences of cyberspace.
There is a need for adults to supervise children's activities on the Internet. Filter programs such as NetNanny is effective only to a certain degree. Adult supervision still works best.

References:

Putnis, P & Petelin, R 1996, Professional communication: principles and applications, Prentice Hall, Sydney.

Roach, E 2007, Study finds children plagued by unwanted exposure to porn, Christian Examiner Online, viewed 30 October 2007, <http://www.christiantimesnewspaper.com/Articles/Articles%20Mar07/Art_Mar07_15.htm>

Walsh, M 2006, ‘“Textual shift”: examining the reading process with print, visual and multimodal texts’, Australian journal of language and literacy, Vol. 29, No. 1, pp. 24-37.

Shall We Share Files (online)?

While it is not a problem to share copyrighted books in a library, why is it illegal to share music files online? Puzzling?

The issue of illegal downloading is not something new. The issue gained prominence when Napster was charged for endorsing illegal music files sharing and was subsequently shut down in 2001. However, despite gallant efforts from the music industry, illegal music file sharing is fast becoming an uncontrollable epidemic.

Napster no more.
Source: Sizlopedia.com

In the article 'Young prefer illegal song swaps', it was reported that those using illegal file-sharing websites for music downloads outnumber those using legal services by three times. To make matters worse, those abusing this system are youngsters who do not treat music as a paid commodity. If they are not educated on the concept of paying for copyrighted materials from young, it will be a massive task to change their belief when they grow older.

According to Mark Mulligan, "The digital youth of today are being brought up on a near limitless diet of free and disposable music from file-sharing networks."

Why are the users downloading music from the Internet for free when they know it is illegal? It could be due to the affordance made possible by this online mode (Walsh 2006). Many programs are available for users to get the songs they want for free. If it is available for free, why pay?

Google also raised some eyebrows when they announced their plans to make public libraries available online. They are undertaking the mammoth task of scanning very book and making it available online. Google is also taking advantage of they affordance (Walsh 2006) offered by the Internet, easily reached regardless of the geographical location.

Furthermore, the change of genre (Paltridge 2000) from physical library to online library will certainly benefit the masses as anyone can access the library from anywhere, as long as they are equipped with an Internet connection.

The Google story: From a search engine to Google Earth and now the Google Library Project. What's next?
Source: Google

Perhaps we should ask ourselves, is online file-sharing a bad thing? If books are allowed to be shared in physical libraries, why not in an online library? Also, it is common for one compact disc to be shared among few friends. Are those illegal as well? This issue can go on forever.

References:

Platridge, B 2000, Making sense of discourse analysis, Antipodean Education Enterprises, Gold Coast, Queensland

Walsh, M 2006, ‘“Textual shift”: examining the reading process

with print, visual and multimodal texts’,

Australian journal of language and literacy, Vol. 29, No. 1, pp. 24-37.

Young prefer illegal song swaps, BBC News, viewed 29 October 2007, <http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/4478146.stm>

Designing For The Online Environment

How different(or difficult?) is it compared to designing for print?

Designing for the web and for designing for print are essentially two very distinct types of design. However, a designer can design for both web and print.

Khoi Vinh, design director of nytimes.com, wrote an article on how print designers can adapt to web designs, ‘This Way to the Web, Print Designers!’ Khoi Vinh emphasised on the difference between web and print design. Equipped with the rights tools and approach, a print designer can easily adapt to designing for the online environment.

Designers need to realise print and online are two different genres. Genre refers to types of texts deployed for specific purposes in specific contexts (Schirato & Yell 1996, p.119). Texts are written differently for both print and online. Online texts are generally shorter than print-based texts.

For example, in print-based texts, its affordance lies in its ability to ‘tell’. Hence, texts are written in a more narrative way (Walsh 2006). Meanwhile, web readers do not read every single word but they only seek the information they need. Online texts need to be short and concise and provide readers with the exact information they need (Reep 2006).

Another reason would be it is more difficult to read online than reading from paper (Parker 2003, p.270). Onscreen reader’s eyes suffer from fatigue easily due to the projected light from the screen, resulting in them spending less time reading.

“The fact that I’m repeating that the Web is not like the printed page, that online information consumption is fundamentally different from print. On the Web, design is not a method for implementing narrative, as it is in print, but rather it’s a method for making behaviours possible,” Vinh said.

Making behaviours possible refers to the interactivity feature of websites. Websites are considered as multimodal texts (Walsh 2006) while print texts are monomodal (text only).

Other elements in addition to the text such as videos and hyperlinks encourage the readers to interact with websites.

References:

Parker, RC 2003, Looking good in print, 5^th edn, Paraglyph Press, Scottsdale, ARZ.

Reep, DC 2006, Technical Writing, 6^th edn, Pearson/Longman, NY.

Schirato, T & Yell, S 1996, Framing context, St. Leonards, NSW.

Vinh, K 2007, This way to the web, print designers!,

Subtraction.com, viewed 28 October 2007, <http://www.subtraction.com/archives/2007/0816_this_way_to_.php>

Walsh, M 2006, ‘“Textual shift”: examining the reading process

with print, visual and multimodal texts’,

Australian journal of language and literacy, Vol. 29, No. 1, pp. 24-37.

Is the web killing our language?

The Wonderful World of IM

Is instant messaging on the web killing our language? It is not uncommon to find conversations like this:

Online A : Hey! How r u?
Online B : Fine. TQ. Wat bout u?
Online A : LOL. Do u hav 2 be so formal?
Online B : I m bz now. Can we chat later?
Online A : k k. ttyl
Online B : C ya!

The amount of abbreviations used in such a simple conversation is astounding. Everything on the Internet is supposed to be fast and even the language can not escape from it. Some experts are worried that this phenomenon will be detrimental to language development and destroying our ability to articulate properly. There are cases where students are using this type of language in their school works.

However, Kristen Philipkoski refutes this idea in her article 'The web not the death of language'. She noted that we are moving into a new era of expression. The Internet has got more people writing and it is a good thing. It should be seen as a platform for writers to express themselves in a creative manner. A study also showed that instant messaging users are being more particular about spelling out words correctly.

Brian Paltridge (2000, p.106) noted that languages are ‘a resource for making meaning rather than a set of rules.’ When using languages, users are constantly making choices such as expressions. In the world of instant messaging, users opt for shorter words to get the message across quickly. More importantly, no meanings are lost despite the usages of abbreviations and acronyms.

Portable instant messaging (IM) devices such as the Sony Mylo encourage instant messaging on-the-go. The debate continues, is IM good or bad for us?
Source: Sony Mylo

Michael Halliday (1985) stated that the ways in which we understand language lies in the study of texts and there is two notions to understand texts: context of situation and context of culture. ‘Netizens’ who are so used to the online culture have no problems apprehending the abbreviations or acronyms used on the Internet.

In my opinion, I believe this ‘instant messaging language’ should remain within the context of its origin: instant messaging. It is acceptable to use ‘LOL’ and ‘TTYL’ when chatting online but it should be avoided altogether when writing an article or email and it should never be used outside the online context of situation.

References:

Halliday, M & Hasan R 1985, Language, context and text: aspects of language in a social-semiotic perspective, Deakin University, Victoria.

Is txt mightier than the word? 2003, BBC News, viewed 22 October 2007, <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/2814235.stm>

Philipkoski, K 2005, The web not the death of language, Wired, viewed 22 October 2007,
<http://www.wired.com/culture/lifestyle/news/2005/02/66671>

Platridge, B 2000, Making sense of discourse analysis, Antipodean Education Enterprises, Gold Coast, Queensland.

Everything Has A Purpose

This blog is created with the intention to analyse certain issues related to the new forms of publishing such as the Internet. The target audience for this weblog is everyone who is interested to find out more about the current issues affecting the new media. It is hoped that this blog will be able to provide a deeper understanding for its readers regarding the issues analysed.

And So It Begins...

And So It Begins…with the Introduction!

Purpose Of Blogging

Why do people blog? Blogging can be seen as a method to express one's views and opinions without restrictions. People get hooked to blogging due to a myriad of reasons: personal, business, political and even for defaming others. The sceptics may view blogging as pure stupidity as more and more people reveal their personal information on the Internet. However, the main purpose remains the same throughout the years; to get the message across loud and clear to a global audience.

A magazine article titled 'Blog Power'

Source: Business Next - Blog Power on Flickr

Classification Of Blogs
Blogs may be classified into a variety of types. Listed below are some brief classifications of blogs:

• By genre - Blogs are classified based on the topics they cover (i.e. politics, entertainment, personal, etc.)
• By media - Classification of blogs based on the media they present (i.e. vlogs for blogs comprising videos, photoblog for blogs comprising photos, etc.
• By device - Moblogs are blogs created using mobile phones/PDAs.
  

Blogs as Current Phenomenon

"Depending on your take, blogs are either a fantastic liberation, a self-indulgent waste of time, or a complete mystery." - Giles Wilson (2006).

The quote above clearly shows that people's opinion on blogs are diverse and different. The introduction of Blogger in 1999 shaped the world of blogs which we know today as the 'blogosphere'. More people turned to writing blogs and even more were waiting to read blogs. While some people are attracted by the popularity which blogs might bring to its author, most bloggers are merely ordinary people documenting their lives on the Internet. Blogs are increasingly recognised as a powerful and competent publishing tool (Jensen 2003).

Malaysians too has caught the blogging fever. A press release by Microsoft, 'Women rule in Malaysian Blogosphere' reported that a survey done in September 2006 discovered 49 per cent of Malaysian blogs are created as a way to connect with friends and families. 50 per cent of respondents like writing about their thoughts and commenting on current issues. Interestingly, only three per cent of Malaysian bloggers consider themselves as 'citizen journalists'.

Blogging Communities

The rising number of bloggers also prompted the growth of blogging communities. Blogging communities are a group of people who gather together based on their common interests or shared values. Such communities exist in Malaysia. Nuffnang Malaysia, Asia's first blog advertising community and Bloglah.org are examples of prominent blogging communities in Malaysia.

The Nuffnang logo

Source : www.nuffnang.com.my

Designing for Online vs Designing for Print

Both print and online are examples of multimodal texts. According to Maureen Walsh (2006), multimodal texts are texts which incorparate a few elements such as text, visuals and sound.

Based on personal experience, I believe designing for print is more difficult compared to designing for online. Designing for print has more limitations compared to websites. I also believe that when given a choice, people will prefer the print form rather than the online form for heavy reading. According to Diane Reep (2006), readers only 'scan' websites and they hardly read every single line and they only seek the information they want on the website.

New Forms of Media Publishing

Blogs are a good example of the new forms of media publishing. This phenomenon has been around for nearly a decade now and it shows no signs of slowing down. More and more people are signing up and creating new blogs everyday. Yet, new forms of media publishing does not mean the death of the traditional forms; they complement one another.

References:

Jensen, M 2003, Emerging alternatives: a brief history of weblogs, Columbia Journalism Review, viewed 27 October 2007, < http://cjrarchives.org/issues/2003/5/blog-jensen.asp>

Reep, DC 2006, Technical Writing, 6^th edn, Pearson/Longman, NY.

Walsh, M 2006, ‘“Textual shift”: examining the reading process

with print, visual and multimodal texts’,

Australian journal of language and literacy, Vol. 29, No. 1, pp. 24-37.

Wilson, G 2006, Down with blogs, so here’s another, BBC News, viewed 26 October 2007, < http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/5116654.stm>

Women rule in malaysian blogosphere 2006, Press Microsoft Malaysia, viewed 27 October 2007, <http://www.microsoft.com/malaysia/press/archive2006/linkpage4337.mspx>