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