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| Blogging is so easy even a baby can |
We usually get ourselves immersed reading blogs and writing/posting on it almost every other day. But many of us are clueless of the real meaning of the term and what blogging is all about.
So, I am reproducing here a
wikipedia entry on the meaning of the word
BLOG, just to remind me/us that the
blogosphere of blogs and bloggers is not as simple as it seems.
If you are a blogger, please take note of the type(s) of blog you are working on and by which genre. I believe this blog belongs to the
personal blogs type and the
participatory journalism or
citizen journalism genre.
This blog can also be categorize under the linklog, as the name suggest.
As for the term sopo (social political) and non-sopo blogs, I have yet to find a wiki entry on it. I have a feeling it is a Malaysian invented terminology. Read
What genre are you? by mindsblog.com on what SOPO blogs and other genres are all about.
Also read:
I have deliberately made
BOLD some of the word and phrases to show its significance.
A
blog (a
blend of the term
web log)
[1] is a type of
website or part of a
website.
Blogs are usually maintained by an
individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in reverse-chronological order.
Blog can also be used as a verb, meaning
to maintain or add content to a blog.
Most blogs are
interactive, allowing visitors to leave comments and even message each other via widgets on the blogs and it is
this interactivity that distinguishes them from other static websites.
[2]
Many blogs provide commentary or news on a particular subject; others function as more personal
online diaries. A typical blog combines text, images, and links to other blogs,
Web pages, and other media related to its topic. The ability of readers to leave comments in an interactive format is an important part of many blogs.
Types of Blogs
Most blogs are primarily textual, although some focus on art (
Art blog), photographs (
photoblog), videos (
video blogging), music (
MP3 blog), and audio (
podcasting).
Microblogging is another type of blogging, featuring very short posts.
A brief history of Blogs
The term "weblog" was coined by
Jorn Barger[4] on 17 December 1997. The short form, "blog," was coined by
Peter Merholz, who jokingly broke the word
weblog into the phrase
we blog in the sidebar of his blog Peterme.com in April or May 1999.
[5][6][7] Shortly thereafter,
Evan Williams at
Pyra Labs used "blog" as both a noun and verb ("to blog," meaning "to edit one's weblog or to post to one's weblog") and devised the term "blogger" in connection with Pyra Labs'
Blogger product, leading to the popularization of the terms.
[8]
More on
History of Blogging
Political impact and mainstream popularity
Since 2002, blogs have gained increasing notice and coverage for their role in breaking, shaping, and
spinning news stories. The
Iraq war saw bloggers taking measured and passionate points
[15] of view that go beyond the traditional
left-right divide of the
political spectrum. An early milestone in the rise in importance of blogs came in 2002, when many bloggers focused on comments by
U.S. Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott.
[16]
Senator Lott, at a party honoring
U.S. Senator Strom Thurmond, praised Senator Thurmond by suggesting that the United States would have been better off had Thurmond been elected president. Lott's critics saw these comments as a tacit approval of
racial segregation, a policy advocated by Thurmond's
1948 presidential campaign. This view was reinforced by documents and recorded interviews dug up by bloggers. (See
Josh Marshall's
Talking Points Memo.) Though Lott's comments were made at a public event attended by the media, no major media organizations reported on his controversial comments until after blogs broke the story. Blogging helped to create a political crisis that forced Lott to step down as majority leader.
The impact of blogging upon the mainstream media has also been acknowledged by governments. By 2004, the role of blogs became increasingly mainstream, as
political consultants, news services, and candidates began using them as tools for outreach and opinion forming. Blogging was established by politicians and political candidates to express opinions on war and other issues and cemented blogs' role as a news source.
In 2009, the presence of the American journalism industry had declined to the point that several newspaper corporations were filing for bankruptcy, resulting in less direct competition between newspapers within the same circulation area. Discussion emerged as to whether the newspaper industry would benefit from a stimulus package by the federal government.
President Barack Obama acknowledged the emerging influence of blogging upon society by saying
"if the direction of the news is all blogosphere, all opinions, with no serious fact-checking, no serious attempts to put stories in context, then what you will end up getting is people shouting at each other across the void but not a lot of mutual understanding”.
[22]
See also: Political blog
Types of Blogs
There are many different types of blogs, differing not only in the type of content, but also in the way that content is delivered or written.
- Personal blogs
- The personal blog, an ongoing diary or commentary by an individual, is the traditional, most common blog. Personal bloggers usually take pride in their blog posts, even if their blog is never read. Blogs often become more than a way to just communicate; they become a way to reflect on life, or works of art. Blogging can have a sentimental quality. Few personal blogs rise to fame and the mainstream, but some personal blogs quickly garner an extensive following. One type of personal blog, referred to as a microblog, is extremely detailed and seeks to capture a moment in time. Some sites, such as Twitter, allow bloggers to share thoughts and feelings instantaneously with friends and family, and are much faster than emailing or writing.
- Corporate and organizational blogs
- A blog can be private, as in most cases, or it can be for business purposes. Blogs used internally to enhance the communication and culture in a corporation or externally for marketing, branding or public relations purposes are called corporate blogs. Similar blogs for clubs and societies are called club blogs, group blogs, or by similar names; typical use is to inform members and other interested parties of club and member activities.
- By genre
- Some blogs focus on a particular subject, such as political blogs, travel blogs (also known as travelogs), house blogs,[23][24] fashion blogs, project blogs, education blogs, niche blogs, classical music blogs, quizzing blogs and legal blogs (often referred to as a blawgs) or dreamlogs. Two common types of genre blogs are art blogs and music blogs. A blog featuring discussions especially about home and family is not uncommonly called a mom blog.[25][26][27][28][29] While not a legitimate type of blog, one used for the sole purpose of spamming is known as a Splog.
- By media type
- A blog comprising videos is called a vlog, one comprising links is called a linklog, a site containing a portfolio of sketches is called a sketchblog or one comprising photos is called a photoblog.[30] Blogs with shorter posts and mixed media types are called tumblelogs. Blogs that are written on typewriters and then scanned are called typecast or typecast blogs; see typecasting (blogging).
- A rare type of blog hosted on the Gopher Protocol is known as a Phlog.
Blurring with the mass media
Many bloggers, particularly those engaged in
participatory journalism, differentiate themselves from the
mainstream media, while others are members of that media working through a different channel. Some institutions see blogging as a means of "getting around the filter" and pushing
messages directly to the public. Some critics worry that bloggers respect neither
copyright nor the role of the
mass media in presenting society with credible news. Bloggers and other contributors to
user-generated content are behind
Time magazine naming their 2006
person of the year as "you".
Many mainstream journalists, meanwhile, write their own blogs — well over 300, according to CyberJournalist.net's J-blog list.
[citation needed] The first known use of a blog on a news site was in August 1998, when
Jonathan Dube of The
Charlotte Observer published one chronicling Hurricane Bonnie.
[39]
Crossing the platform from blogs to other media
Some bloggers have moved over to other media. The following bloggers (and others) have appeared on radio and television:
Duncan Black (known widely by his pseudonym, Atrios),
Glenn Reynolds (
Instapundit),
Markos Moulitsas Zúniga (
Daily Kos),
Alex Steffen (
Worldchanging),
Ana Marie Cox (
Wonkette),
Nate Silver (
FiveThirtyEight.com), and
Ezra Klein (Ezra Klein blog in
The American Prospect, now in the
Washington Post). In counterpoint,
Hugh Hewitt exemplifies a mass-media personality who has moved in the other direction, adding to his reach in "old media" by being an influential blogger. Equally many established authors, for example
Mitzi Szereto have started using Blogs to not only update fans on their current works but also to expand into new areas of writing.
Blogs have also had an influence on
minority languages, bringing together scattered speakers and learners; this is particularly so with blogs in
Gaelic languages. Minority language publishing (which may lack economic feasibility) can find its audience through inexpensive blogging.
There are many examples of bloggers who have published books based on their blogs, e.g.,
Salam Pax,
Ellen Simonetti,
Jessica Cutler,
ScrappleFace. Blog-based books have been given the name
blook. A prize for the best blog-based book was initiated in 2005,
[40] the
Lulu Blooker Prize.
[41]
However, success has been elusive offline, with many of these books not selling as well as their blogs. Only blogger
Tucker Max made the
New York Times Bestseller List.
[42] The book based on
Julie Powell's blog "The Julie/Julia Project" was made into the film
Julie & Julia, apparently the first to do so.
Consumer generated advertising in blogs
Consumer generated advertising is a relatively new and controversial development and it has created a new model of marketing communication from businesses to consumers. Among the various forms of advertising on blog, the most controversial are the sponsored posts.
[43] These are blog entries or posts and may be in the form of feedbacks, reviews, opinion, videos, etc. and usually containS a link back to the desired site using a keyword/s.
Blogs have led to some disintermediation and a breakdown of the traditional advertising model where companies can skip over the advertising agencies (previously the only interface with the customer) and contact the customers directly themselves. On the other hand, new companies specialised in blog advertising have been established, to take advantage of this new development as well.
However, there are many people who look negatively on this new development. Some believe that any form of commercial activity on blogs will destroy the blogosphere’s credibility.
[44]
But Amir Muhammad has the upper hand with his creative write-up (click on pic on the left) by squeezing the rules in a satirical way. He writes a fictitious story about the real-life idiosyncrasies of Malaysian politicians and their blood(y) type of politics.
