Myself, as a blogger

When I signed up to my first blog, I had never ventured onto the publication type before; I perceived it as a space where people would place their most opinionated thoughts about their everyday life and it didn’t contribute to our lives much. After completing my blog, I attained many skills and a wider mindset about the publication in all its glory.

I learnt the meaning of two important lessons in life: ‘short and sweet’ and ‘persistence pays off’:
The blog post word-limit meant that the content of my posts were to be short and succinct, this developed my skills as a writer and I learned how to put forward my thoughts and present an issue that did not veer off topic or wander around aimlessly, such as many essays do.

I also acquired the life lesson of, ‘persistence pays off’: instead of leaving things to the last minute (just as many past assignments have been), I found the importance of pacing yourself and maintaining a constant flow of thoughts improved the content of my blog posts. I presented many different viewpoints and opinions about the topics I was writing of, because I had more time to put thought and depth into each individual post.

I have a flowing theoretical position within my blog of the slow death of print publication and its remaining importance within the world, however I also look towards the future and how it is greatly changing and shaping our community, our knowledge-base and our world- If we are going to introduce technology and the virtual world into our lives, then we may as well embrace it and take it for all it’s got.

Finally, I have learned the many uses for a blog- initially believing it was a place for people to rant and rave about their problems. I can appreciate the existence of blogs in our lives, as they are an echo of voices and opinions around the world contributing to the enhancement of this world.

Mobile Advertising: you may welcome it!

It is becoming increasingly difficult for advertising to reach and be absorbed by the viewers, and the ad agencies are constantly using our growing collection of technology to find pathways to be seen and heard by their viewers. Mobile phones are the new carrier for our advertisements, resulting in a complete transformation of how we design our advertisements.

The reason of choice is largely due to mobile phones being the most popular form of communication in this generation, and its ability to be transported and viewed at all times. Research undertaken by Adweek, has provided some interesting results about the new form of advertising; it has found that, ‘1 in 7 people [surveyed in America] reported that they had bought a product or visited a store as a result of seeing a mobile advertisement’. Mobile advertising is becoming increasingly mainstream and, the funny thing is, people are welcoming it!

The use of mobile phones as an advertising courier has forced the advertisement agencies to improve dramatically in style and substance; otherwise people won’t seek, download and view their advertisements. Some new marketing ploys they have used include: discounts at stores, advertisements for films and musicians and the entertainment factor. Some brands want consumers watching their advertisements over and over again, so they’re employing games based around the brand to be played.

Technology has transformed the way we communicate and design our ‘documents’, it has improved our ability to engage people visually rather than just through blocks of text. It is viewed by Gunther Kress (1997) that visual representation is a rival to the written language, though if used correctly it can assist in the readability and translation of text. This is one great advantage technology, specifically computers, have created for both viewer and writer, as it has supplied a better way for the writer to communicate what they intend, and it in turn, provides the reader with further information through visual representations and design.

The many forms of communication have grown thanks to technology, giving the viewers more of an opportunity to view these documents, as opposed to only viewing them in books or newspapers. Today technology has created many carriers of documents, such as: the internet, mobile phones and televisions, giving us a wider knowledge base, better stylistic designs and an overall improvement on the once drab and plain printed publication.

Kress, G, 1997, Visual and verbal modes of representation in electronically mediated communication: the potentials of new forms of text, Allen & Unwin, St.Leonards, NSW

Pearce, J, 2004, Ads on your mobile: Believe it or not, you may welcome them, ZDNet Australia, viewed 2 November 2010, .

Dolliver, M, 2009, Advertising on Mobile Phones Now the Norm,viewed 3 November 2010,

Dr-op shops

The future of yet another is being jeopardised by the rise of the internet, specifically online shopping. This time it’s our beloved op shops and Aussie charities being forfeited as the online giant crushes everything in its path- and this time the Australian public are suffering.

The ability to now buy and sell anything and everything online is appealing to the major retailers, which were responsible for a large proportion of donations to the Australian Charities and op shops, and the charities are now facing an uncertain future. The big companies whom used to donate their surplus or damaged stock to the op shops are now choosing a buck over their charitable responsibility.

This is the same situation for the Australian public, and instead of donating their unwanted items, they’re choosing to sell them over EBay to the highest bidder- making it too hard for charities to compete with the other buyers. Mr Magro, the retail support coordinator for Lifeline Australia, says it’s “getting harder and harder for charities to rely on donations to stock their op shops, which in turn, is forcing up store prices.”

The issue contained in this media article is the diminishing social responsibility for our country, caused by online shopping facilities. Is the internet turning us all into money and power-hungry people by supplying everything at our fingertips? Is it also taking away our kind Aussie spirit, and crushing the less-fortunate whom cannot compete with its existence? Will the day come, when the internet is considered more valuable than that of human beings?

Image source: http://www.humanrights.gov.au/racial_discrimination/partnerships/images/redcross_logo.jpg
News source: ABC News Online, November 4, 2010, ‘Op shops losing out as retailers go online’, Amy Simmons

Bye-Bye Paperboy

It is becoming more and more common for traditional media to be transported to the world of online; now this is becoming all too true for something we share a love-hate relationship with- Junk mail.

Apparently, anywhere from 50-85% of consumers are now using the internet as part of their buying process: retailers are taking full advantage of this and are now supplying catalogues online- and it’s working! The iNC Network reportedly reaches 3.8million consumers a month with its catalogues from various retailers. Although it appears as though it’s a win-win for consumer and retailer, it’s ultimately another blow to the traditional print-media publication.
The issues raised in this article is the rise of the digital-world and how the shift from print to online is being welcomed with open arms; we are increasing our efficiency and effectiveness, but losing our ‘paper boys’ in the process.

I believe that this is a great way to reach more people, however, the printed and tangible catalogue should still be used- the aesthetics of a damp-smelling, brightly-crowded, crinkled catalogue that you can circle and cut-out the specials from is still more appealing to myself- call me old-fashioned?

Image Source: www.news.bbc.co.uk

News Source: The Australian, October 28 2010, Matt Berriman, 'How one traditional media is fairing in the online space'

‘Virtual Suburbs’: The Blogging Classification

Just the same as everything in life itself, blogs need structure. In order to form online communities we need to separate them into our ‘virtual suburbs’. Blog classification is a necessary tool in defining our blogging identity and allowing users to identify with the right ones. Many blogs may cross into other classifications, however they all fall under one specific category, such as; Personal, business, educational, news and media, non-profit and niche.

Let me give you a tour of our typical ‘virtual suburbs’:

Personal blogs are written by individuals about personal topics such as likes and dislikes, hobbies and opinions.
Business blogs have recently embraced blogging as a way to connect with customers, grow their business and advertise their services.
Non-profit blogs allow organisations to share information about their cause, gain support and raise money.
News and Media blogs raise awareness of current affairs and provide reviews and discussions of entertainment.
Educational blogs are for use by schools and students to mentor, teach and post research and findings to help expand their knowledge base.
Niche blogs are written about very specific topics and can be collaborative or individually created.

Blogging communities are formed under these ‘virtual suburbs’ through large groups of people communicating and forming a network of ideas about one topic- these ideas and conversations travelling through the blogging communities are developing them in an evolutionary fashion, just as a neighbourhood would evolve through cultures and influences ( Jacobs, Rushkoff, 2006). Each blogging community has its own culture allowing the similar needs of strangers to debate, exchange and speculate on topics of interest that might have otherwise never existed.

Thus, the classification of blogs is like giving each blogging identity an area code to live in where their dream blog and community awaits- honey I’m home.

Jacobs, J, Rushkoff, D, 2006, “Blogs and the Communications Renaissance”, in Uses of Blogs, eds Bruns, A, Jacobs, J, Peter Lang Publishing, New York, pp.239-248.
Gunelius, S. 2010, Blogging All-in-One For Dummies, Wiley Publishing, Indianapolis, Indiana.

15 Minutes of Fame

The rise of mass media is giving more people their chance at ’15 minutes of fame’. Through internet, television and blogging applications, people’s lives are placed in the public eye. The article describes it as, ‘It spreads the word faster and wider than an atomic bomb going off; provides a powerful and anonymous forum for every opinionated nobody in the world to vent his spleen; and it's made the media industry desperately competitive to the point of tying itself in knots.’

They used the cases of Sarah-Marie from Big Brother season 1- who’s fame rose from a reality television stint where she became infamous for her ‘bum dance’- she quoted, saying “ [she] started to feel like a performing seal”. In another case, the story of Stuart Diver, who was the sole survivor of the Thredbo landslide, was unwittingly placed in the media limelight for viewers demand to sympathise with him.

The central issue is the power internet and technology is giving and taking from everyday people. The issue was defined when in 1968 Andy Warhol proclaimed, “In the future, everyone will be world-famous for 15 minutes”, whether they intend to or not. This raises questions regarding the consumer demand for constantly new and more novel things- are our attention spans that short?-And how far will the mass media go to adhere to public demand? What does it now mean to be ‘famous’ in the eyes of mass media? And how can we control unwanted attention?

I personally find that mass media is allowing everyday people to feel as though they are being heard and they are defining themselves amongst the billions of other people. The line is blurred, however, between people who place themselves in the public eye, and others who hold no control over being placed in the public eye- does mass media have its limits?

Image source: www.qbd.com.au
News source: The Sunday Age, July 4 2010, John Elder, Your Time Starts Now

New kids on the blog

The introduction of online blogging forged an association with the word ‘online community’; but is this the correct term/use of blogging? Is it a phenomenon in the social networking world of online media? And has it really affected our community?

Barry Wellman (2001) wrote, "I define "community" as networks of interpersonal ties that provide sociability, support, information, a sense of belonging, and social identity. I do not limit my thinking about community to neighbourhoods and villages. This is good advice for any epoch and especially pertinent for the twenty-first century." He identifies a “community” as a network within society, and does not ‘limit’ it to the physical sense of the word- online blogging has therefore given meaning to this by allowing the interaction of people who share information and give a sense of ‘belonging’.

White (2005) describes them as, “ecosystems of people writing about things they care about”- thus blogs began to take the form of niche’s just as our physical communities had niche’s of businessmen, families, ethnic or the elderly. Blogging established a new platform for which our physical pockets of communities could interact within a wider community- the internet.

Currently, blogpulse.com has identified 149,393,857 blogs, 47,118 of those being created within the past 24 hours- the rapidly growing blogging network is a new phenomenon in social interaction amongst a wider “ecosystem”. It is though that this phenomenon will soon become ‘a thing of the past’, however it is clear that there are many uses for blogging being invented every day- such as blog mentoring communities, implying that the blogging ‘community’ has a lot more to give to our community.

Wellman, B, 2002, “Physical place and cyberplace: the rise of networked individualism”, in Community Informatics: Shaping Computer-mediated Social Networks, eds B, Loader, L, Keeble, Routledge, New York, pp.17-42.

White, N. 2005, 'How Some Folks Have Tried to Describe Community'. Retrieved 28 October, 2010, from http://www.fullcirc.com/community/definingcommunity.htm