Reflection of the COMM 1043 Journey

This note of reflection not only marks the end of this course, but also the end of the journey I endured as an undergraduate student. Although I have blogged prior to the commencement of this course, I did so with little knowledge about theories and principles of designs. Today, as I stand at the end of this phase, I can bravely say the the immense knowledge gathered from COMM 1043 have changed my perception on the area of publication and design.

I have understood the need to have proper knowledge on audience, purpose and context in order to be able to communicate effectively. Apart from that, I have also learnt about the compositions of salience, framing and layouts and how these elements help enhance readability (Kress and van Leeuwen 2006).

This course also asserts that each medium has its own affordance that could be beneficial if capitalized in the right manner (Schriver 1997). When designing this blog, I have also managed to put into practice some of the theories I have learnt such as the use of hyperlinks to provide easy navigation (Nielsen 2000).


Reference List

Kress, G. & van Leeuwen, T. 2006, 'Chapter 1: The semiotic landscape: language and visual
communication' in Reading images: the grammar of visual design, 2dn edn, Routledge, London.

Nielsen, J. 2000, 'Chapter 3: Content Design', Designing web usability, New Riders, Indianapolis.

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

Webisodes for kids: A format that allows manipulation of contents?

Webisodes are becoming increasingly popular, almost rising exponentially with the usage of mobile phones to view short movies. Although webisodes have been made available on the net over the past few years, the demand for more shows have soared lately given the rise in mobile phones that enables viewing of movies.

Nowadays, children as young as pre-school goers are equipped with mobile phones and many of them possess high-end mobile phones. Given the shift in cultural paradigm, webisode producers seemed to have pushed the extra mile to cater for this relatively new target audience with anticipation that webisodes would be the main source of entertainment for children, replacing comics.

In terms of the contents of webisodes, producers have the responsibility to ensure that that they do not bring harm to children. It has to be acknowledged that children are not wise enough to make informed decision and it is very easy for them to get carried away (Donnelly 2008). Therefore, contents showing excessive stunts may compel the child to attempt the same. When shown in television, such acts may be omitted from a scene if it is targeted at children(Tapscott 1998). Even if it shown, there is often a warning sign stating that it is only meant for professionals. However, webisodes are not subject to such censorship as they do not have any official guidelines to abide by.

Below are some of the scenes from a violent webisode known as Happy Tree Friends.

Source: Happy Tree Friends

Source: Happy Tree Friends

In terms of format, webisodes are often shown through mediums such as the web or mobile devices. This brings about the issue of easy accessibility. For television viewing, shows not suitable for children would be aired at late hours and this minimizes the chances of them coming across such shows(Unnikrishnan & Bajpai 1996). However, with webisodes, they could view it any time of the day. The length of a webisode is usually 5 minutes as it caters to children (Corbert 2007). The attention span of children is relatively short compared to teens and the best way to effectively communicate with them is by making the show as short as possible. To increase its effectiveness, the affordance of the webisode could be capitalized upon by using an engaging combination of audio and visual elements (Walsh 2006).

With the right format, webisodes can effectively reach children. However, children could also be easily influenced by harmful contents that have been irresponsibly included by producers with the intent of creating an excitement among children.

Reference List

Corbert, C. 2007, “Webisodes for Kids”, The Media Report, ABC Radio National, viewed transcript on 12 November 2009

http://www.abc.net.au/rn/mediareport/stories/2007/2124198.htm

Donnelly, K. 2008, “Youth Participation and Media Literacy on The-N.com”, Studies in Media and Information Literacy Education, Vol. 8, No. 1.

Tapscott, D. 1998, Growing up digital: The rise of the net generation, McGraw Hill, New York, pp.336-338.

Unnikrishnan, N. & Bajpai, S. 1996, The impact of television advertising on children, Sage Publication, Thousand Oaks, CA.

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, p.24-37

Drawing the fine line between ‘attempting to inform’ and ‘attempting to insult’ with regards to a cultural context.

In August 2009, the Arab European League(AEL) website published a cartoon in what is believed to be an attack initiated at the Jews.

Holocaust Cartoon (source: AEL Website)

Given the historical past of the Nazi-era whereby the Jews were humiliated and tortured, this cartoon emerged on a pro-Arab website in Netherlands; the same country in which the Prophet Muhammad cartoon emerged. Therefore, many considered this Holocaust cartoon an act of cultural retaliation by the Arab world.

The AEL website, in their defense, claimed that they were merely informing the viewers of what had transpired in the past. According to Bugeja (1997), messages that are being conveyed to the audience should be true. From a narrow perspective, it is arguable that AEL did emphasize on the truth as it presented historical facts. Based on that argument, their action of publishing the cartoon was of informational value.

However, from a broader perspective, the intent behind the publishing of the cartoon is questionable. The country it was published in is the same of which Prophet Muhammad’s cartoon emerged soon before. Therefore, it appears to be done out of rage. Davies(2008) states the whilst honest reporting is utmost priority, it should be done with no malicious intent or to fit a specific interest. Gilleard & Gilleard(2002) goes on to say that highly sensitive issues should be presented in a way whereby it would not be construed as a provocation aimed at the audience. This contradicta the Holocaust cartoon as the Jewish man was shown poking the skeletons with a stick and therefore, the manner in which the cartoon is presented is seen as one that degrades and insults the community affected.

What can be done to ensure that ‘attempting to inform’ is not used as a pretext to ‘attempt to insult’?

Due to the heavy cultural influence and background, there should be a degree of moral duty exercised by the publishers. This is supported by Natasa (2008) whereby the intercultural essence of communication is stressed upon as a fundamental base of conflict management. Nordby (2008) strengthens the argument of the need of moral action in this context by suggesting imposing individual values that would outweigh culturally-shaped values held by publishers. This is done on the assumption that culturally-shaped values are not universal and are potentially biased towards a certain culture or community.

Reference List

Bugeja, M. J. 1997, "The value of instruction for a commitment to truth", Journalism and Mass Communication Educator, Vol. 51, Iss. 4, pp. 63-67.

Davies, M. M. 2008, “Fair and Balance Reporting”, Journal of Children and Media, Vol. 2, Iss. 3, pp. 305-310, Routledge.

Gilleard, J. & Gilleard, J. D. (2002), “Developing Cross-Cultural Communication Skills”, Journal of Professional Issues in Engineering, Education and Practice, Vol. 128, Iss. 4, pp. 187-200.

Natasa, B. M. (2008), “Re-imaging Understanding of Intercultural Communication, Culture and Culturing”, Journal of Intercultural Communication, Iss. 17., pp. 23-29.

Nordby, H. (2008), “Values, Cultural Identity and Communication: A Perspective from Philosophy of Language”, Journal of Intercultural Communication, Iss. 17., pp. 8-16.

Bibliography

Halliday, M. A. K. & Hasan, R. 1985, 'Chapter 1: Context in Situation' in Language, context and text: aspects of language in social semiotics perspective, Deakin University, pp. 3-14.

How much merit does technological heft hold in ensuring the new media dominance?

MySpace and News Corp: The Battle of Technology

The Gurdian reported prominent entrepreneur Michael Wolff as having said that the MySpace acquisition by Rupert Murdoch did not turn out to be a success tale because it lacked the technological heft needed to fit MySpace into his company seamlessly.

This statement is vital for the rapidly emerging new media and the question of how important technological heft is in terms of ensuring new media dominance begs to be answered.

Technological heft is IMPORTANT.
Murdoch acquired MySpace when he felt that his company, News Corporation, has not been engaging with the online world. MySpace was brought it for that purpose but his strategies were not realized because News Corporation was a ‘digital immigrant’ whose knowledge of the online world and new media ecosystem were below par. This is in accordance with Schaefer & Durham (2007) who stressed on the importance of companies being competent technologically in order to incorporate itself into the inevitable new media culture.

Is it still worth the risk?
Yes. There is a shift of paradigm in terms of communicating and reaching audiences from the traditional media to the new media. Livingstone (2004) noted that failure to capitalize on this could result in a relatively low reach-rate and inefficiency on the part of the particular media member.

Another important point to note would be the business of the media. Recognizing the emergence of the new media, many online firms have placed huge sums of investments and engaged in business dealings. For example, the internet search agreement deal between News Corporation and Google worth $900million in condition that MySpace guarantees a minimum volume of traffic (McIntyre 2009).

Lesson to be learnt?
Technological heft is important to be able to sustain in the ecosystem of the new media. Media should start embracing it to avoid the risk of being consumed in the rapidly emerging and evolving phenomena. Furthermore, Lessig (2004) asserts that the shift in paradigm towards the new media looks inevitable given the fact that it is very much in line with the modern, fast-paced and digitally-oriented contextual lifestyle that we, the audiences, lead today.

Remember, it is not a mere aspiration to be technologically savvy. It is essential to fulfill this requirement to be able to continuously maneuver communication strategies based on the factors of audience, context and purpose (Bhuiyan 2006).

Reference List

Bhuiyan, S. I. 2006, “Impact of new media technology on society”, The Daily Star, September 5 2006, viewed November 12 2009,

http://www.asiamedia.ucla.edu/article.asp?parentid=52164

Guardian 2009, “Murdoch and Google eye Twitter as moguls gather in Sun Valley”, July 8 2009, viewed November 12 2009,

http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2009/jul/08/twitter-rupert-murdoch

Lessig, L. 2004, Free culture: How big media uses technology and the law to lock down culture and control creativity, Penguin Press, New York.

Livingstone, S. 2004, “Media literacy and the challenge of new information and communication technologies”, Communication review, Vol. 1, Iss. 7, pp. 3-14.

McIntyre, D. 2009, “MySpace in trouble on $900 million Google deal”, Daily Finance, November 5 2009, viewed November 11 2009,

http://www.dailyfinance.com/2009/11/05/myspace-in-trouble-on-900-million-google-deal/

Schaefer, P. & Durham, M. G. 2007. "On the social implications of invisibility: The iMac G5 and the effacement of the technological object." Critical Studies in Media Communication, Vol. 24, Iss.1. pp. 39-56.

Photojournalism in controlled regulation system: A force that gives rise to propaganda?

Photographs are powerful tools in conveying messages. Though various representational modes, individuals are able to indulge in meaning-making when a visual image is presented (Kress & van Leeuwen 2006). Individuals may comprehend images differently and attempt to fill the gaps based on their own cultural background and experience (Walsh 2006). Being a powerful element in the minds of audiences, it is a concern that the images presented may not be what it is made out to be.

Does photojournalism bring about credibility issues?
When combined with journalism, the element of photography potentially brings about various levels of editing. This may range from photo editing which is done for enhancement purposes to the act of eliminating certain information by those on the editorial board. As such, the final ‘product’ that is presented to the audience loses its originality due to unwarranted innovations and limitations.

Therefore, it would also alter the audiences’ meaning-making of a photograph (Walsh 2006). As for photography without the institution of journalism, the essence of the originality captured by the photographer through his physical presence remains for the audience to appreciate and comprehend.

Photojournalism as a propaganda tool?
A photograph could be edited or falsely represented to the audience in order to influence them to conform to a particular propaganda. Apart from citizen journalism, many media agencies have been reported to have close tied with the government and authorities. On top of that, media agencies in some countries require licensing in order to operate.

Therefore, if the media such as the newspaper displays a picture which is not in favor of the government or refuses to publish a picture which is intended to serve as a government propaganda, the authorities may choose not to renew the license. In the Malaysian context, a Tamil daily known as Makkal Osai had been banned by the Home Ministry in 2008 after giving front-page coverage to a gathering organized by the opposition coalition.

Makkal Osai Front Cover Page

The propaganda technique of ‘ad hominem’ can also be observed in photojournalism where the intent of the manipulated photo is to attack the opponent, and not the arguments of the opponent(Hinman 1982). An example of a blend between this technique and photojournalism was observed in a Fox News show whereby the co-hosts attacked two New York Times journalists for giving the show low rating by airing their digitally altered photos. This was seen as a propaganda to discredit the New York Times. In the manipulated photos, the journalists were spotted to have yellow teeth and also had their nose and chin widened.

On the right: Manipulated photo of New York Times journalist, Jacques Steinberg

On the right: Manipulated photo of New York Times journalist, Steven Reddicliffe

The Fox News video: Propaganda through photo manipulation

Sims (2003) asserts that visuals are a strong tool of communication. Therefore, it has to be recognized that an abuse of image manipulation could give rise to misrepresentation and miscommunication(Reaves 1989). Photographs taken in private capacity is not subject to such rulings and therefore enables both sides of the scenario to be shown. Through this, the audience would be able to make a more informed decision having seen the scenario from a diverse perspective.

Reference List

Hinman, L. M. 1982, “The case for ad hominem arguments”, Australasian Journal of Philosophy, Vol 60, Iss. 4, pp. 338-345.

Kress, G. & van Leeuwen, T. 2006, Reading Images: Grammar of Visual Design, Routledge, London.

Media Matters 2008, "Fox News airs altered photos of NY Times reporters," July 2 2008, viewed November 12 2009

http://mediamatters.org/research/200807020002

Reaves, S. 1989, “Digital alteration of photographs in magazines: An examination of the Ethics” Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication.

Sims, B. R. 2003, Technical Communication for Readers and Writers, 2nd edn, Houghton Mifflin Company, USA.

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, p.24-37.

Bibliography

Evans, P. 2006, 'Chapter 2 The Principles and Elements of Publication Design' in Publication Design, Thomson-Delmar, New York.

Schriver, K. A. 1997, 'The interplay of words and pictures', Dynamics in document design: creating texts for readers, Wiley Computer Pub, New York, Chapter 6, pp.361-441.

Dissecting regulations: Are bloggers subject to a standardized or ambiguous ethical publishing code?

Many countries that claim to respect freedom of speech often stress on the need of ethical publishing. Blogs are on the rise as a popular platform to convey information or opinions and it is fair to assume that blogs too are subject to the same condition; that there must be ethical publishing. It is fair for this condition to be respected but what happens when the term ‘ethical publishing’ is constantly manipulated to suit the government in power and used as a tool to suppress freedom of speech?

What constitutes the term ‘ethical publishing’?
To conform to ethical norms, bloggers are expected to publish the truth. However, as stated by Singer (2006), a dilemma exists when authorities put in laws and regulations that prevent the truth from being communicated .

Regulations as prevention of ethical publishing?
The Malaysian Sedition Act of 1948 prevents the public, bloggers included, to publish seditious articles. Human rights activists consider this Act as being extremely vague as Section 4 of the Act stipulates that an action is seditious "when applied or used in respect of any act, speech, words, publication or other thing that qualifies the act, speech, words, publication or other thing as having a seditious tendency". Authorities are seen to exploit on the vagueness of this Act by using it against those who are not in favour of the government in power.

In 2008, blogger Syed Azidi Syed Aziz was charged under Section 4 (1) of the Sedition Act for flying the national flag upside down on his blog (The Star 2008). The authorities considered the act of flying a national flag upside down unethical, disrespectful and seditious. However, flying a flag upside down is a universal symbol of a state in distress. In the United States, people began flying the flag upside down soon after the World Trade Centre attack (Kellogg 2001). It does not reflect anger towards the country but instead reflects sympathy to the way the country is being run. It is only disrespectful if the flag is shown as torn or being burnt.

Screenshot: The blog of Sheih Kickdefella with the upside-down Malaysian flag

Federal Constitution guarantees every citizen freedom of speech. While it is understood that malicious statements should not be made on an unfounded basis, due respect should be given to bloggers to exercise their right on freedom of expression as long as they do not result to defaming an individual or institution in a baseless manner (Zha & Perlmutter 2009).

There is nothing unethical about having opinions that are not in the same line with the authorities, and regulations should be imposed fairly so that responsible bloggers with clear consciences would not be subject to ambiguous laws that prohibit them from acting ethically simply because of political affiliation.

Reference List

Laws of Malaysia, Sedition Act 1948, viewed November 11 2009,

http://www.agc.gov.my/agc/Akta/Vol.%201/Act%2015.pdf

North County Times 2001, ‘Upside down flag is a distress signal’, 28 September 2001, viewed November 12 2009.

http://www.uni-muenster.de/PeaCon/global-texte/g-a/Upside%20down%20flag%20is%20distress%20signal%20-%209-28-01%20-%20NCTimes_net.htm

Singer, J. (2006), "'Truth and Transparency: Bloggers' Challenge to Professional Autonomy in Defining and Enacting Two Journalistic Norms", Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Comm convention, presented to Media Ethics Division, London.

The Star 2009, ‘Blogger Kickdefella arrested for sedition’, 17 September 2008, viewed November 11 2009.

http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2008/9/17/nation/20080917192953&sec=nation

Zha, W. & Perlmutter, D. D. (2009), "Blogs as Stealth Dissent?: 'Eighteen Touch Dog Newspaper' and the Tactics, Ambiguity and Limits of Internet Resistance in China.", International Media Communication in a Global Age, pp. 277-295. New York, Routledge.

New forms of media publishing: Malaysiakini and the changes it brings to the new media ecosystem.

Malaysiakini

Malaysiakini has established itself at the forefront of the alternative online newspaper for its unbiased coverage. Communicating the truth has been the tenet of journalism ethics but sadly there have been various degrees of control that prevented impartial reporting Singer (2006). Due to the lack of regulations to prevent web-based news portals from reporting independently and requiring a license to operate unlike print media, Malaysiakini was one of the few online alternative media that was able to conform to the ethical notion of unbiased reporting without much fear. This changed the landscape of the new media ecosystem and more news portals are emerging with the likes of Malaysian Mirror, Malaysian Insider and FreeMalaysiaToday.

With traditional newspapers, it would take time before news reaches the audience. However, the affordance of the new media gives it the technological edge of being able to reach a wide range of audience within seconds Walsh (2006). Also, discussions in print newspapers come in the form of writings through the ‘opinions’ or ‘letters’ column. Malaysiakini, whilst having the same features, have taken the extra leap by offering interactive discussions through its strategic participation in another new media player, Facebook. News alerts are posted on Facebook and members are able to comment and discuss on it.

Malaysiakini in Facebook (click on image to enlarge)

Based on the above, it can be said that the new media ecosystem does not only give room for a player to expand independently, but also allows convenient collaboration between new media players that leads to the creation of added-value information for the audience.


Reference List

Singer, J. (2006), "'Truth and Transparency: Bloggers' Challenge to Professional Autonomy in Defining and Enacting Two Journalistic Norms", Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Comm convention, presented to Media Ethics Division, London.

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, p.24-37.

Bibliography

Malaysiakini
http://www.malaysiakini.com

Facebook
http://www.facebook.com

Print vs Online designing: Linking the issue of salience to their characteristics

When designing a document, conventional reading paths held by readers should not be overlooked. It is important for designers to note that readers do not show a consistent reading path between print and online material.

The characteristics
For print materials, the conventional reading path is linear(Kress & van Leeuwen 2006). The cultural background determines the linear direction it holds. For Western countries and most parts of the world, it would be from left to right while for the Arab region, it would be from right to left.

Linear reading path for print materials. (source: Philanthropy Magazine)

For online materials, the reading path follows an F-shape pattern whereby lines are read in horizontal movement and scrolled down vertically before being read in horizontal movement again. This goes to show that readers often only ‘scan’ through the web in that pattern do not read the entire content presented. Nielsen (1997) gives credence to this claim as he states that readers hardly read every word of web contents.

F-shaped reading path for online materials. (source: Nielsen 1997)

How can we link it to salience?
Having understood the differences between designing for print and for online purposes, what can we say about salience?

In my opinion, it is arguable that salience should be emphasized more for web designing. This is due to the fact that viewers merely scan through the pages and there is less reader-engagement compared to the linear reading path seen in print materials. Therefore, salient elements on the web could give rise to visual grammars that would potentially enable higher levels of reader-engagement (Walsh 2006).

Reference List

Kress, G. & van Leeuwen, T. 2006, Reading Images: Grammar of Visual Design, Routledge, London.

Nielsen, J. 1997, How Users Read the Web, viewed November 11 2009, http://www.useit.com/alertbox/9710a/html

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, p.24-37.

Blogging community- A brief explanation using an example

Blogging community

A blogging community refers to a group of bloggers who interact online and often contribute to discussions and ideas Rich (1999). Blogging communities can be built by enabling the comment option on the blog and also by listing the blog on directories that are visible to other bloggers. Also, the blogroll and followers option on blogs could be utilized to keep members of the community informed of the latest postings. Through proper labeling on each posts, readers of similar interests would be able to track the postings in a more convenient manner and thus enhance the chances of interaction.

An example of the structure of a blogging community

Malaysia Today is a blog owned by Raja Petra Kamaruddin. This blog falls under the category of a blogger centric community (White 2006). The owner holds much of the control over the blog and the community is built around registered users who often comment on the articles posted. In other words, it is a bounded community system.

A bounded community structure whereby only registered users are part of the community. The 'Login' and 'Register' links are circled in blue. (click on image to enlarge)

The commentary on Malaysia Today leads to a form of discussion amongst registered members.

The commentary section that builds the community of Malaysia Today. (click on image to enlarge)

However, as stated by White(2006), the owner deserves the right to delete any comment that is deemed inappropriate. In the context of Malaysia Today, Malaysiakini had reported that Raja Petra was hauled up by the Malaysian police for allowing a seditious comment to be posted in his blog. Therefore, the concept of a bounded community gives rise to accountability responsible commentary.

Reference List

Rich, C. 1999, Creating online media: a guide to research, writing and design on the Internet, McGraw Hill, Australia

White, N. 2006, "Blogs and community: Launching a new paradigm for online community?", Going Communal, viewed November 11 2009
http://kt.flexiblelearning.net.au/tkt2006/edition-11-editorial/blogs-and-community-%E2%80%93-launching-a-new-paradigm-for-online-community

Bibliography

Malaysiakini 2007, "Cops quiz Raja Petra for 8 hours", viewed November 12 2009,
http://www.malaysiakini.com/news/70345

The various spectrums of blogs prohibits it's very own uniqueness?

The seemingly uncontrollable vast expansion of blogs has given rise to two apparent segregations; notably by subject matter and by media type.

Segregation by subject matter would include topic-specific blogs such as political, fashion, war, news and religion (Smolkin 2004). These blogs are usually catered for pre-defined audiences who have similar interests and continue to be avid followers. Some topic-specific blogs such as political and religion oriented ones could be linked to the classification of advocacy blogs as specified by Simmons (2008). An example would be The People's Parliament, a political oriented blog pushing for the cause of justice and equality.

The other segregation comes in the form of media type and this includes splogs, vlogs, sketchlog and tumblelogs. Conventionally, vlogs, tumblelog and sketchlog rely on the power of visuals (image, videos and sketches) with restricted words. Splogs are blogs with fake contents aimed at search engine spamming and does not serve as a communications medium.

Screenshots
Vlog


Tumblelog


Sketchlog


Splog


Do segregations really exist?

Although these segregations exist theoretically, their distinctions are often blurred in reality. Some news oriented blogs may be inclined towards politics while some may be inclined towards war. Therefore, even topic-specific blogs tend to overlap with one another. Similarly, Simmons(2008) classified blogs as diaries but if taken as a whole, how would we classify blogs that incorporate both sketchlogs and diary entries as seen in Rob Sheridan’s blog?

Reference List:

Simmons, M. (2008), "A taxamony of blogs", ABC Transcript, viewed on November 12 2009,
http://www.abc.net.au/rn/mediareport/stories/2008/2372882.htm#transcript

Smolkin, R. (2004), "The expanding blogsphere", American Journalism Review, Vol. 26, Iss. 2, pp. 23-25.

Bibliography

Li, B., Xu, S. & Zhang, J. 2007, "Enhancing clustering blog documents by utilizing author/reader comments", ACM Regional Conference Paper, New York.

The uprise of blogging: A phenomena?

Blogs operate as a platform in which ideologies, thoughts and issues are shared and debated upon. The common types of blogs include personal, corporate, genre-type and media-type blogs. Statistics indicate that there are 1.4 million new blog posts each day around the globe (BlogWorld 2009). The Star reported a study by University Malaya stating that blogging in Malaysia ranks among the highest in the world with 500,000 active bloggers, behind only the European Union and Indonesia.

In his keynote address at BlogWorld 2009, Richard Jalichandra, the CEO of Technorati claimed that Teachnorati's report indicate that there is a surge in blogging activities in 2009 as compared to 2008 among both the professionals and hobbyist bloggers. An important trend seen in 2009 is that 72% of the respondents blog as a hobby (Technorati 2009). Therefore, there is still a lot of room for blogging for business purposes and the hurdle faced would be cutting through the clutter.

Is the blogger demographic widening?
No, the trends are similar to the past few years. The majority of bloggers are males, affluent and educated.

Report from the Technorati survey that shows blogger affluence based on salary (click on image to enlarge)

What are the benefits of blogging?
The benefit of it in the Malaysian context is prevalent particularly in the political scene. The blogosphere was credited in bringing about a change in the hearts of voters through the issues discussed. These issues, such as the Bersih and Hindraf rally to name a few, were given minimal emphasis in the mainstream media. On a more general note, blogs are seen to be advantageous for its role to able to educate the public by highlighting events that may lack the deserved coverage in other mediums.

Extra: Past reports to analyze blogging trends across years.
(Click on images to enlarge)

2006 Hourly Posts on Top Four Languages










2004-2007 New Blogs Per Day










2003-2007 Weblogs Cumulative










2006 Posts by Language











Reference List

BlogWorld 2009, Important Blogging Statistics, viewed 12 November 2009,
http://www.blogworldexpo.com/general-information/important-statistics

Technorati Report 2009, viewed 12 November 2009,
http://onlinejournalismblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/houshold-income-barchart-606x3061.png

The state of the live web 2007, viewed 12 November 2009,
http://www.sifry.com/alerts/archives/000493.html

The Star 2008, "Blogging in Malaysia ranks among highest in the world" 3 April 2008, viewed 12 November 2009
http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2008/4/3/nation/20827588&sec=nation