Reflection

Over the semester, I've learnt that there are many issues that needs to be considered in publishing and design. I am now able to relate and utilize theories of document design from Reep (2006) on the importance of page balance, spacing and graphic aids. 

I've also learned about the reading process and multimodal texts which is important in giving direction to understand the text from Walsh (2006). It's also important to consider Halliday & Ruiqaiya's (1985) context of situation and context of culture when writing as texts and images are perceived differently by individuals who are with different language skills and cultural understanding.

As a blogger myself, I love using multimodal texts as pictures and text help each other balance out and also makes readers understand easier by relating to the pictures. But there is also a need to take into consideration of the target audience and tone of text as in my personal blog, I can use a less formal language with short forms and emoticons. With this weblog talking about document design, I need to take note of things such as the font used to ensure readability and a more formal and third person tone when addressing the issue.

This has benefit me in terms of writing for difference audience and I have now developed more skills in document design!

References
1. Halliday, M.A.K & Ruqaiya, H 1985, 'Chapter 1: Context of Situation', Language,context and text: aspects of language in a social-semiotic perspective, Deakin University Press, Victoria, p. 3-14.

2. Reep, Diana C. 2006, ‘Chapter 4: Principles of Document Design,’ in Technical Writing, 6th ed., Pearson Edu, Inc., New York, p.173-190.

 

3. Walsh, M 2006, 'The 'textual shift': Examining the reading process with print, visual and multimodal texts,  Australian Journal of Language and Literacy, Australia, vol. 29, p. 24-37.   

Effectiveness of Social Media

Social media has changed the pace news has been delivered. With platforms such as Facebook and Twitter, a news article and be shared almost instantly by just sharing links on these social networking websites.

Source: Phan Thao Blog

For example, I woke up one morning and found the #prayforjapan hashtag trending on Twitter which immediately grab my attention. After clicking on the hashtag, it lead me to the devastating news of Japan being hit by earthquake and tsunami. Links to news websites and pictures where shared by many regarding the incident and I found in so much information in just a few minutes.

Al-Jassem (2010) states that social media makes a strong influence on all groups of society which brings individuals who share a common interest together as well as helping the community to act. The news of Japan's disaster was known to people around the world within an hour with live tweets and Facebook. People around the world was deeply sympathetic with the disaster and aid organizations such as Red Cross have used social media to help collect funds for disaster victims (Blackburn 2011).

Social media today has improved accessibility of instant information for people around the world and it has become a primary platform for people to get information and news. Social media has certainly broke the rules of traditional journalism where social media is a real-time content of breaking information to its mass audience (Solis 2010). But as we race towards the immediacy of news in social media, is does the news have credibility (Newsroom Magazine 2010)? According to a survey of perception by journalists, 84% of them believe that information in social media is much less reliable than traditional media due to the lack of-checking, verification and reporting standards (Solis 2010).

Besides the credibility and accuracy issues in social media, there are also advantages of social media. Schriver (1997, p. 375) implies that effective navigation of a complex document especially online is needed to guide readers to the order how information is read. Social media uses easy navigation to help readers to be directed to the links and images immediately and reading the whole article without distraction. Whereas, traditional newspapers sometimes direct readers to another page to read to rest of the article makes it difficult to navigate and sometimes getting distracted by other headlines which caused readers to sometimes forget to read the remaining article. Also unlike traditional media which is text heavy, social media uses multimodal texts (Walsh 2006, p.24) that enhances the readers ability of processing of information by integrating the text, images and graphics.

References

1. Al-Jassem, D 2010, Social media key to positive change, Arab News, 16 December, viewed 12 June 2011, <http://arabnews.com/saudiarabia/article216506.ece>.

2. Blackburn, B 2011, Japan Earthquake and Tsunami: Social Media Spreads News, Raises Relief Funds, ABC News, 11 March, viewed 12 June 2011, <http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/japan-earthquake-tsunami-drive-social-media-dialogue/story?id=13117677>.

3. Newsroom Magazine 2010, Immediacy in Journalism - Enemy of Accuracy, viewed 12 June 2011, <http://newsroom-magazine.com/2010/opinion/essays/immediacy-in-journalism-enemy-of-accuracy/>.

4. Shriver, K 1997, 'Chapter 6: The interplay of words and pictures', Dynamics in document design: creating texts for readers, Wiley Computer Publication, New York, p. 361-441.

5. Solis, B 2010, The Information Divide: The Socialization of News, viewed 12 June 2011, <http://socialmediatoday.com/index.php?q=SMC/173658>.

6. Walsh, M 2006, 'The 'textual shift': Examining the reading process with print, visual and multimodal texts,  Australian Journal of Language and Literacy, Australia, vol. 29, p. 24-37.  

Mobile gaming

Mobile gaming is becoming such a big hit that there are more smartphone users whom are paying for mobile games.

Source: AppModo

Taking example of the Angry Birds phenomenon which has generated more than 200 million downloads across all platforms such as Apple and Android. Statistics in seven countries shown that there are 63 million iOS gamers who download an average of 2.5 games a month on their iPhones, iPod touches and iPads. (Dredge 2011)

Technology advancement has developed smartphones into user friendly phones with varieties of applications. Along with technology, mobile gaming has also changed it's layout and functionality in order to keep up the ever changing technology. Compared to the classic snake game that exists decades ago, mobile gaming has now evolved into coloured display, touch screen ability and so much more exciting functions.

Game developer expects where used in the Angry Birds developing team to produce great characters and optimized touch functions for the game (Fuld, 2010). They also take into heart on the importance of social media and using it as a marketing tool. In that way, the developers will know what gamers think about the new Angry Birds features and alerting them about things (Fuld, 2010). This help to enhance the bond between the developers and the users to provide and improvise on the game for better gaming experience.

Competitive and interactive, Angry Birds uses marketing strategies to keep gamers to come back for more. A game with an easy starting level and only gets harder as the level goes up makes the game engaging and addictive as gamers get the hang out of the game, they would not cave in easily (Fleischman 2010)

Comparable with Reep's (2006) theory on document design, the purpose of a design feature is to raise a readers interest document with eye catching graphics while reflecting on the image that a designer wants the readers to have. Similarly, Angry Birds also uses interesting graphics and characters in developing the game which piques a gamers curiosity when encountering the game for the first time and then getting more focused into a game.

References
1. Dredge, S 2011, Angry Birds: 200m downloads are the tip of mobile gaming iceberg, The Guardian, 19 May, viewed 12 June 2011, <http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/appsblog/2011/may/19/iphone-game-stats>

2. Fleischman, J 2010, Top 4 Online Legal Marketing Tips from Angry Birds, viewed 12 June 2011, <http://www.legalpracticepro.com/top-4-online-legal-marketing-tips-from-angry-birds/>.

3. Fuld, H 2010, Peter Vesterbacka, Maker of Angry Birds Talks about the Birds, Apple, Andriod, Nokia, and Palm H/P, Tech N' Marketing, 27 December, viewed 12 June 2011, <http://technmarketing.com/iphone/peter-vesterbacka-maker-of-angry-birds-talks-about-the-birds-apple-android-nokia-and-palmhp/>.

4. Reep, Diana C. 2006, ‘Chapter 4: Principles of Document Design,’ in Technical Writing, 6th ed., Pearson Edu, Inc., New York, p.173-190.

Cultural sensitivity in publishing

 Source: The Malaysian Insider

Interlok, a Bahasa Malaysia novel that was chosen as a required reading for Form Five students. It's written by Abdullah Hussain in 1971 which tells about the pre-independent times of Tanah Melayu (Malaysia). The novel talk about how the Malaysian multicultural society came about with the beginning of colonial society and the arrivals of Indians and Chinese labourers (Kuppusamy 2011).  It came into controversy when the book was found to contain an offensive word which is considered as a derogatory term by the Indian community, who feels strongly about the issue which lead to a call for a ban on the book.

Language is understood in its relationship to social culture (Halliday & Ruqaiya 1985, p. 4). It means that the semiotic of the signifier and the signified is affected by the human culture and how each culture interprets each sign differently (Halliday & Ruqaiya 1985, p. 3). In a Malaysian context, people might find the novel content offensive due to the cultural upbringing that affects a reader's interpretation process. But in a outsiders context, they might find the novel content to be non-offensive and instead finding it educational with the history of Malaysia and how its multicultural society came about.

Schirato & Yell (1996, p. 110) states that 'intertextuality refers to the process of making sense of texts in reference to their relations with other text. It involves the circulation and exchange of meanings, not as atomised bits but as packages of meanings'. As each individual is brought up in different culture, values and tradition, the process of making meaning of a text differs which individuals draws their own knowledge and experience in meaning making (Schirato & Yell, 1996, p. 110). People who feel offended by the novel feels so because they relate to the experience of being called the derogatory term in the past which caused their dissatisfaction when it's found in a context of a book.

Similarly, Walsh (2006, p. 25) also mentions that a text interpreted can be enhanced by the reader's background knowledge of the world, along with cultural and linguistic knowledge. People who are not familiar with the Malaysian cultural and linguistic standards will not be aware of the offensive term and would just remark it as a normal term. But for those who are familiar with a Malaysian context of the society, they would understand the full meaning of the derogatory term.

Therefore, it's important to consider cultural sensitivity in ethical publishing as it might offend certain parties unknowingly.

References

1. Halliday, M.A.K & Ruqaiya, H 1985, 'Chapter 1: Context of Situation', Language,context and text: aspects of language in a social-semiotic perspective, Deakin University Press, Victoria, p. 3-14.

2. Kuppusamy, B 2011, Unlocking the 'Interlock' issues, The Star, 9 January, viewed 11 June 2011, <http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?sec=focus&file=/2011/1/9/focus/7763036>.

3. Shriver, K 1997, 'Chapter 6: The interplay of words and pictures', Dynamics in document design: creating texts for readers, Wiley Computer Publication, New York, p. 361-441.

4. Walsh, M 2006, 'The 'textual shift': Examining the reading process with print, visual and multimodal texts,  Australian Journal of Language and Literacy, Australia, vol. 29, p. 24-37.

Insensitive publishing?

Have you ever come across publications being inconsiderate in articles? I came across some articles and it makes me wonder whether these publication do it to raise their sales in a non-ethical way or they are just being indifferent. 

 Source: dailycontributor.com

One of the recent cases is sparked by Berita Harian in March where they published a cartoon sketch showing Ultraman running away from the tsunami. At that time, Japan was hit by earthquake and tsunami which has killed thousands and many people homeless. The cartoon was condemned by the public and also their readers, saying that it's 'distasteful' and 'insensitive' (Wong 2011). The news on the cartoon sketch has also drawn international attention where it was reported on CNN iReport which puts Malaysia and the media in a bad light (dancingtiger 2011). Berita Harian later apologized for their mistake via Facebook, Twitter and its website.

According to Ward (2009), avoiding harm is one of the important conduct in journalism ethics. It's important for a journalist to not post harm directly or indirectly towards the public and readers. I find that this journalism ethics was not followed by Berita Harian as they let such an insensitive cartoon to be published out in the newspaper. It shows that the newspaper is not being careful or responsible enough where the editors were careless in overlooking the problem in the cartoon.

Pictures hold a better memory in people's mind than words (Shepard, cited in Schriver 1997, p. 407). This shows that pictures create a more impactful significance when interpreting them. With Japan's tsunami disaster being reported and sympathized by people around the world, the cartoon sketch that was published was not appropriate and opposite of what the news reports is trying to portray. This goes along with Schriver's (1997, p. 410) theory which states that visuals are not always helpful as in this case, sympathy and humour does not blend well together.

Therefore, responsibility is important in publishing to minimize harm where journalist and editors should not overlook facts and information no matter how trivial it is.

References
1.  Dancingtiger 2011, Malaysian newspaper pokes fun at recent tsunami disasters, CNN iReport, 13 March, viewed 10 June 2011, <http://ireport.cnn.com/docs/DOC-570978>.

2. Shriver, Karen A. 1997, 'Chapter 6: The interplay of words and pictures', Dynamics in document design: creating texts for readers, Wiley Computer Publication, New York, p. 361-441.

3, Ward, S.J.A 2009,  Nature of Journalism Ethics, School of Journalism & Mass Communication, University of Wisconsin-Madison, viewed 11 June 2011, <http://www.journalismethics.info/research_ethics/nature_of_journalism_ethics.htm>.

4. Wong, P.M 2011, Berita Harian issues public apology over tsunami cartoon, The Star, 14 March, viewed 10 June 2011, <http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2011/3/14/nation/8262608&sec=nation>.

New Media

With the advancement of technology and the internet, we're able to obtain information with just a click away. The birth of online media and social networking platforms have build a strong base of support for fast sharing information among the technology savvy and younger generations today.

Source: Hosting.ber-art.nl

Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and more are free platforms that enables sharing of information instantly to the whole world. Instead of traditional media such as newspapers that will print out today's news the next day, the internet enables these media go go online such as BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation) to update their latest news almost instantly after the event. For example, the British royal wedding that happened recently was streamed live online and millions of people across the world are able to watch the event on the same day.

Source: The New York Times

According to Walsh (2006), a reader's reading path can be multi-linear and multi-directional. For example, The New York Times website layout as seen on the image above attracts the readers with header and photographs which will direct them to another page for more information on the article when they click on them. These user interface gives the readers an easy way to get information instantly. Layout, attractive images and interesting headlines is the key to attracting readers via new media as the readers attention is focused to their topic of interest immediately.

On the other hand, cultural boundaries (Schriver, 1997) must also be taken into consideration as layouts and symbols used must be understood by the readers. Reading sequence is important for the people's interpretation and understanding of the text whereby the most common reading pattern is from the left to right.

The existence of new media has made information readily available instantly to the mass audience compared to the traditional media. Nowadays, new media has enabled us to obtain information for free and we are easily connected to the whole world (Ketsdever, 2008). 

References

1. Ketsdever, N 2008, Advantages and Disadvantages of Social Media and Web 2.0, viewed 6 May 2011, <http://compassioninpolitics.wordpress.com/2008/02/01/advantages-and-disadvantages-of-social-media/>

2. Shriver, K 1997, 'Chapter 6: The interplay of words and pictures', Dynamics in document design: creating texts for readers, Wiley Computer Publication, New York, p. 361-441. 

3. Walsh, M 2006, 'The 'textual shift': Examining the reading process with print, visual and multimodal texts,  Australian Journal of Language and Literacy, Australia, vol. 29, p. 24-37.

Blogging Communities

What is a Blogging Community?

A blogging community is where a group of individuals who shares the same interest in a particular topic which they blog about. Blogging community also serves as a platform for individuals to connect and interact with each other. (Kinkeldi, 2007)

How to Create a Blogging Community?

Source: BlogLovin

Blogs can be shared through blogging communities such as Bloglovin where readers can follow their favourite bloggers according to categories and interest. Bloggers sign up at this community so that their posts will be updated and it is used as a form of interaction between the bloggers and readers by gaining more followers based on common interest.

To build a community around your blog, one must be able to:

(a) Create your own direction and style of your blog

Contents of a blog are mostly based on individual interests and this can help to narrow down the topics and attract readers who share the same interests. Layout of the blog is also important as simple and user friendly layouts will enable readers to navigate around your blog easily (Yoskovitz, 2007).

(b) Networking with other bloggers

Blogs provides a huge networking opportunities where bloggers can interact with one another. By networking, bloggers of the same interest will link up your website on theirs and vice versa thus creating a community where their readers can also refer to your blog while browsing through their blogs. Approaching established bloggers is also another method to build up your blogging community by supporting on another (Crowe & Holman  2011).

(c) Comments

Interacting with readers who post on your blog by replying their comments will build a rapport with readers and this will help build up readership as readers give their own opinions or agree with the topic that you have posted on your blog (Schaefer, 2011).

(d) Submit blog to blog directories and using tags

Submitting your blog to blog directories will automatically update and place your post in the search engines which has a higher chance of getting discovered by readers. Labeling your blog post with keywords according to the topic you have blogged about will also direct readers to your blog as internet searches from websites such as Google will pick up that keyword and eventually lead the readers to your blog. 

(e) Promoting your blog

With social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter, blogs can be easily shared to friends by posting up blog links that will direct them to the website.

Types of blogging communities

According to White (2006), there are three main patterns of blog based community which are:

(I) One Blog Centric Community - A community formed through the blogger and the readers or commentors.

(II) Topic Centric Community - A network formation through common passion or topic.

(III) Boundaried Community - A collection of blogs and blog readers hosted in a single website. Example: A Malaysian blog community, Blog.my.

Foodbuzz

Source: Foodbuzz

Foodbuzz is an online food blog community which brings together food enthusiasts, people who share their recipes and passion for food blogging. Foodbuzz is a boundaried community which has tools of social networking features such as featured posts, polls, contests and more. Foodbuzz helps bloggers to grow their blog, as well as boost relations between bloggers, readers and food lovers. Recent updates and popular posts are published on Foodbuzz to keep the community updated.

References

1. Crowe, P & Holman K 2011, How to Create a Blogging Community, viewed 5 May 2011, <http://www.spiceupyourblog.com/2011/03/how-to-create-blogging-community.html>.

2. Kinkeldi, B 2007, Forging Connections and Promoting Growth Through Blog Communities, viewed 5 May 2011, <http://www.21publish.com/pub/21publish/blogging-whitepaper.pdf>.

3. Schaefer, M 2011, How do you REALLY build a blog community? A love story, viewed 5 May 2011, <http://www.businessesgrow.com/2011/05/05/how-do-you-really-build-a-blog-community-a-love-story/>

4. White, N 2006, Blogs and Community - launching a  new paradigm for online community?, viewed 5 May 2011, <http://kt.flexiblelearning.net.au/tkt2006/edition-11-editorial/blogs-and-community-%E2%80%93-launching-a-new-paradigm-for-online-community>

5. Yoskotitz, B 2007, 8 Steps to Growing Your Blog Community One Person At a Time, viewed 5 May 2011, <http://www.instigatorblog.com/8-steps-to-growing-your-blog-community-by-1/2007/01/09/>.