Reflections

In creating this blog, I have come to realization that there are many aspects of modern journalism that are taken into account in publishing and designing a document. I undertake a lot of research in publishing this blog for I know the professional ethics and morale is not a joke.

Schriver (1997) state that in order for a message to be delivered effectively, both texts and images must be present. I have put several pictures in the post so that the readers will understand more clearly about my posts. 

Creativity in publishing a document, freedom of speech, as well as ethics are important things that designers need to look into before publishing a document because they can't just simply publish documents without considering the public that are going to view their documents.

Reference:

- Schirev, KA 1997, 'Dynamics in Document Design: Creating Text For Readers', Wiley Computer Publisher, New York, USA.

A New Form of Satire

Take a look at this http://twitter.com/rioferdy5 and this http://twitter.com/rioferdinand5. See the differences? How about this http://twitter.com/justinbieber and this http://twitter.com/justin_bieber15. Again, see the differences? Yes, if you are on Twitter and follow one of these celebrities, you might notice that one is a real account and the other is a fake account. We can notice whether the account is a real or fake by noticing the "Verified Account" logo on the top of the celebrities' profiles.

Notice the blue ticked "Verified Account" logo on the right side, on top of the celebrities' profile.

This is not a new issue. It has been around for quite some time. And sometimes these fake accounts have more followers than the real accounts. But why? According to Berry (2010), these fake twitter accounts reveal the viral power of satire. The influence of the fake accounts relies on the real-world renown of the company they’re satirizing but the fake accounts receive far more engagement, have a higher network score and generally have more Twitter influence. Another example is when an impersonator of Kanye West started creating profile under the artist name. The artist then posted in his blog that he doesn't have a Twitter account and that who uses his name in Twitter had been irresponsible and deceitful to the faithful users. Twitter responded by removing the fake account the same day the entry of the blog was posted (Issac, 2010).

Twitter co-founder, Biz Stone stated that these impersonators express skepticism whenever someone claiming to be a celebrity joins the service. Since there are many new users that signed up for Twitter everyday, it is impossible to monitor the impostors. Twitter have to rely on the person who is being misrepresented contacting the company. Stone also said that these fake accounts might be parody and it can be used for healthy expression if it is done right and does not cross into impersonation. Stone also encouraged celebrities not only to join the service but also to run their account themselves. The problem for Twitter is that if enough "fakesters" cause havoc, people will lose trust in the system, something that's hard to win back online (Owens, 2009).

References:

- Owens, Simon 2009 'How Celebrity Imposters Hurt Twitter Credibility', MediaShift viewed 12 November 2010 <http://www.pbs.org/mediashift/2009/02/how-celebrity-imposters-hurt-twitters-credibility051.html>

-Issac, Mike 2010 'The Most Notorious Fake Twitter Accounts', Forbes.com viewed 12 November 2010 <http://www.forbes.com/2010/08/02/bp-angelina-jolie-technology-twitter.html>

-Berry, Megan 2010 'When Fake Twitter Accounts Beat Out Their Real Counterparts', Klout viewed 12 November 2010 <http://klout.com/blog/2010/06/when-fake-twitter-accounts-beat-out-their-real-counterparts/>

Forget Blogs, Let's Tweet!

In an era where information spreads quickly among individuals, many people keep themselves updated with latest news, gossips, rumors as well as trends. How do people manage to do that? The answer is simple, Twitter.

We all know that this particular microblogging phenomenon has increased rapidly during these past few years. Fleet (2009) states that corporations seem to be much more willing to sign up for Twitter than they are to set up blogs. Many major corporations in the world have signed up for Twitter, such as Ford, General Motors, Dell as well as small companies like Natura Mattresses.

In Malaysia itself, Twitter has become the media for the citizens to update themselves with recent political issues. For example, during the trial of Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, it is stated that Twitter provides "live" updates of the trial (The Malaysian Insider, 2010). 

So what is it that makes people are so into Twitter rather than blogs? There are several factors that I would like to highlight. First, mobility and speed. We can access Twitter anywhere and anytime we wanted. Today, telecommunication technology has allowed people to access internet via their mobile phones. Twitter, which is designed specifically for mobile phone users, allows its users to access it almost anytime they wanted and anywhere they are. There are many types of Twitter application that we can download and install in our mobile phones. For example, there is UberTwitter for Blackberry users, Twitterific for iPhone users, and many more such as Mobile Tweete, Digsby, Seesmic, and Snaptu. These applications allow Twitter users to update and send tweets via their mobile phones.

UberTwitter for Blackberry. Image source : http://blackberry-soft.com/2010/07/23/ubertwitter-beta-8-now-available-for-download/

The second factor is that Twitter requires less commitment than blogs. Fleet (2009) said that writing a blog post requires 20 minutes to a couple of hours, depending on its content. However, Twitter takes just a little of our time. This shows that Twitter's appearance require much less of a commitment than writing a “traditional” blog. Usually people update their blog once in awhile or routine, depends on the popularity or the importance of the posts. Twitter, is constantly updated. Each day, there would be multiple posts, and sometimes it might reach over a hundred post.

The third factor is information content. Blog gives an in-depth detail regarding an issue, while Twitter just provides the "headlines" or "big-picture" of an issue. However, many people use Twitter to promote their blogs or websites. Also, it is said that Twitter users can get updates on what they think or feel about particular issue and it is inclusive. This is something that newspaper or televisions can't do (The Malaysian Insider, 2010).

So, these are my thoughts on why Twitter is more chosen these days as a media of information rather than blog. I personally think that blog itself is a good example of media since it provides in-depth information on issues. However, Twitter for me is a way to gain quick information when I'm not in front of my computer, or not reading a newspaper because I can access Twitter from my mobile phone.

References:

- Fleet, Dave 2009 'Blogging Vs. Twitter: A Different Kind of Commitment' viewed 12 November 2010, <http://davefleet.com/2009/02/blogs-vs-twitter-different-commitment/>

- Zahiid, Syed Jaymal 2010 'Blogging is so yesterday, politicians turn to Twitter' The Malaysian Insider 11 February 2010.

Sexism Advertising

Take a look at these pictures.

Image source : http://www.clickliverpool.com/business/business-news/129469-laddish-ads-demeaning-to-women.html

Image source: http://pinkstinks.wordpress.com/2010/06/30/off-side-rule-for-girls/

Okay, so those are WKD beer ads. They recently put up the billboards around England in their campaign for the World Cup 2010 last summer. We might think the ads are funny. But if we carefully look into the words, does it feel a little bit awkward?

Yes, it is demeaning. It is unjust. And it's sexism. How does a beer manufacturer come up with such advertising? And to the shocking part, its in England! Where men and women worship football like its a religion. Sport England’s Active People survey in 2008 tells us that 260,000 women and 1.1 million girls play some form of football in England and that there are 26 million females playing across the world, of which 4.1 million are playing affiliated football (PinkStinks, 2010).

Sexism in the media is overlooked so much but it’s still giving small girls the impression that they will grow up to be house-wives living just to cook, clean and look after their children and husbands (BeyondJane, 2010).

Perera (2010) states that, there's nothing particularly new about advertising that plays on gender stereotypes. Many ads have a sexist and offensive tone or content. Usually this is hidden behind a semblance of subtlety: the nakedness of the female character is loosely connected to the product in question; the gender stereotype is reinforced in an indirect or "knowing" way.  We've largely come to accept these images as part of the landscape of modern life, images women may resent or feel intimidated by in silence but which we also fear will leave us accused of over-reaction if we voice our concerns in public. 

Reference:

- PinkStinks, 2010, 'Offside Rules for Girls', PinkStinks, viewed on 12 November 2010, <http://pinkstinks.wordpress.com/2010/06/30/off-side-rule-for-girls/>

- shhark, 2010, 'Sexism in Advertising', BeyondJane, viewed on 12 November 2010, <http://beyondjane.com/women/sexism-in-advertising/>

- Perera, K 2010, 'Time to kick sexism out of advertising', Guardian.co.uk, viewed on 12 November 2010, <http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/jun/29/kick-sexism-out-of-advertising>

Facebook and Privacy Breach

In recent news, The Wall Street Journal reveals that the most-used social networking, Facebook, violates privacy policy. The newspaper stated that it found out that the applications in Facebook turns out to provide the users' names and in some cases, the users' friends' names to companies that build detailed databases on people in order to track them online (ABC News 2010).

Facebook is the most current social networking that was used by hundreds of millions of people all around the world. I have a Facebook account myself. Mostly, I used it to keep track of current events, friends birthdays, playing games as well as uploading photos. One thing I do realize that in Facebook, most people provide their personal information on the profile page. This way, their peers will know how to contact them, what are their preferences, and many more. However, recent issues regarding privacy breach has made changes in Facebook on how their users privacy can be protected.

Facebook is known for its third party applications that are accessible by its users. Most apps aren't made by Facebook, but by independent software developers. According to Steel & Fowler (2010), several apps became unavailable to Facebook users after the Journal informed Facebook that the apps were transmitting personal information; the specific reason for their unavailability remains unclear. The information being transmitted is one of Facebook's basic building blocks, the unique "Facebook ID" number assigned to every user on the site. Since a Facebook user ID is a public part of any Facebook profile, anyone can use an ID number to look up a person's name, using a standard Web browser, even if that person has set all of his or her Facebook information to be private. For other users, the Facebook ID reveals information they have set to share with "everyone," including age, residence, occupation and photos.

In responding to this issue, Facebook has then created a control panel that lets users see which apps are accessing which categories of information about them. It indicates, for example, when an application accesses a user's "basic information" (including a user ID and name). However, it doesn't detail what information friends' applications have accessed about a user. Also, Facebook has been reported disabling thousands of applications that violates its policies.

References:

- ABC news 2010, Facebook admits privacy breach, viewed 12 November 2010, <http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/10/19/3042594.htm>.

- Steel, Emily & Fowler, Geoffrey A. 2010 'Facebook in Online Privacy Breach', The Wall Street Journal, viewed 12 November 2010, <http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304772804575558484075236968.html> 

New Forms of Media Publishing

In the current state where the world is constantly changing and information travels faster than ever, there are new forms of media publishing that we can see nowadays. Examples of these new media are Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, and many more. People can access information freely nowadays and they don't depend on one source of media publishing. By using Facebook, people can build a social network among friends. Twitter, a new media of microblogging, allows fast information exchanging between individuals. And lastly Youtube allows people to upload a video log so that it can be shared and viewed  by others from around the world.

However, as appealing as it looks. There are issues in several countries that limits user to actually publish articles in certain medias. The government of the country might view the articles as threat to the nation. For example, in Cuba where media publishing is strictly monitored by government. Any form of publishing that contains misleading thoughts will not be published. In China, media publishing is used to express concern on society benefits rather than political critics.

Like many kinds of media publishing, Twitter has become the rising media in the world nowadays. Because Twitter can be used with ease on both PCs and mobile devices, and because it limits users to very short messages of 140 characters or fewer, it has become one of the largest platforms in the world for sharing real-time data. As Twitter grows, it will increasingly become a place where companies build brands, do research, send information to customers, conduct e-commerce and create communities for their users.

References:

Loewenstein, A 2008, 'The Blogging Revolution', The Media Report, viewed 30 September 2010 http://www.abc.net.au/rn/mediareport/stories/2008/2351985.htm

http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1901188_1901207_1901196,00.html

Blogging Communities

As stated in Wikipedia, blogging community can be defined as several online communities which exist that connect people to blogs and bloggers to other bloggers.

A blogging community is essential to being a successful blogger. Not only are you showing off yourself, your product or services to the world but you are also creating a name and reputation for who you are and what you have to say. Having a community of your peers who enjoy what your blog has to say and respect you as part of the blogosphere goes a long way. (Nikki, 2008)

Below are steps on how to build a blogging community:

1. Start by reading other blogs, we can get a feel for what we like in a blog. We might also discover blogs that we share common interests with. 

2. Leave comments on other blogs. By leaving comments, it shows that we pay more attention that just reading the blog. If you include your URL, others will find it easy to locate you.

3. Reply comments on your blog. People wanted to be heard when they post a comment in your blog. The reply doesn't have to be lengthy. A simple "Thank you for visiting my blog" is sometimes enough. It shows that we engage with our readers.

4. List your blog in internet directories. By using search engine such as Google, it may bring many results.

5. Write as often as possible. This way it will keep your readers at your blog longer and at the same time providing them with variety of topics in your blog.

6. Make your posts entertaining. We don't want our readers to be bored of our posts. Keeping them entertained is one thing, but we also should develop our skill in writing over time.

7. Market your blog. Link your blog to forums, discussion rooms, message boards, or even place signature link at your email.

According to Arren(2009), there are several blogging communities provided by the internet for enthusiastic bloggers. Most blogging communities have similar features, and it provides benefits if you choose the right one and it should bring pleasure in your blogging. Some examples of blogging communities are Livejournal, Xanga, BlogFeast, Revenews, BlogCatalog, Freelance writing job and Greatest journal.

References:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blog

Nikki, 2008 'How to Build Blogging Community' eHow.com viewed on 30 September 2010 http://www.ehow.com/how_2152382_build-blogging-community.html

Arren 2009, 'Blogging Communities for the Blogging Enthusiast', Web Business Wiz, viewed 30 September 2009, http://www.webbusinesswiz.com/blogging/blogging-communities-for-the-blogging-enthusiast/.

Classification of Blogs

There are many kinds of blogs that we can find on the web these days. According to Misty Belardo in her article in Ink Rebels, there are 5 types of blogs.

1. Collaborative Blogs

Collaborative blogs are those blogs which have multiple authors. Example of these blogs are Ink Rebels, Raster Rebels and many more. The concept behind this type of blog is to pull together resources from several writers. The blog follows a theme. The articles are scheduled at agreed upon intervals.

2. How To/Tutorial Blogs

This type of blog contains information on how something is made or how something works. This type of blog is usually time consuming in making, but if the content is relevant or inspiring the result is that the post will get a lot of traffic and comments. Example of this blog is Photoshop Tutorial Blog

3. Travel and Cultural Blogs

This blog is ideal for people who love to chronicle their journeys. Some sites offer user to upload photos of their journeys, map their trips as well as meeting other travelers. Example of this blog is Travel Blogs

4. Fashion and Lifestyle Blogs

Nowadays people want to look good and follow lifestyle trends. One way to follow all these is via the fashion and lifestyle blogs. Some people tend to get recommendations from blogs before they start buying new fashion items or indulge in new lifestyle trends. Example of this blog is I am Fashion, Lifehack, last100, and many more.

5. Personal Blogs

Personal blogs are the most used blogs by people in the web. It is the most common and popular type of blog. The contents are basically based on personal experience and most people really don't care if there were any readers or not because it is one of the greatest form of self expressions. The main important thing is that the content must include personal ideas, thoughts and know how. Examples of personal blogs are Psykotha, another HELLO for last GOODBYE, and many more.

References:
Belardo, M 'The 5 Types of Blogs, Which One Suits You Best?' Ink Rebels viewed on 30 September 2010 http://www.inkrebels.com/insp/the-5-types-of-blogs-which-one-suits-you-best/

Blogging Phenomenon

In today's world that is constantly changing, blogging has become such a phenomenon. Almost everyone has a blog. In Technorati State of The Blogosphere 2009 report states that the growth of the blogosphere's influence on subjects ranging from business to politics to the way information travels through communities continues to flourish. As people blogs more nowadays, the size of the current blogosphere is increasing.  The number of people who are involved in blogging also varies. In Technorati report, 72% of the respondents are those who take blogging as a hobby, 15% of them consider blogging as part time jobs, 9% are self employed who uses blogs for their own company or organization, and the 4% of the respondents are the pros who claims to blog for a company or organization.

There are many kinds of blogs in the web today and each blog differs from one to another. For example during the 2008 US Presidential Election, there was a blog made for it, http://www.danielpipes.org

Also in Malaysia itself, there is a political blogs that discuss many aspects of Malaysian political condition http://gila.sarawho.com. Another example of political blog outside Malaysia is http://www.thememriblog.org/iran. This blog focuses on the situation that arises in the Middle East.

All examples of these prevalent blogs benefits the society in many ways. The people who view these blogs will benefit by knowing what is happening on the globe, locally as well as internationally. These blogs also give the society the chance to comment on any posts that the blogs have. By commenting the posts, people will have the benefits to interact with others and exchange thoughts as well as forming a society within the blogs.

References:

McLean, J 2009 'State of The Blogosphere 2009 Introduction' Technorati Blogging viewed 30 September 2010 http://technorati.com/blogging/article/state-of-the-blogosphere-2009-introduction/

Good PowerPoint Presentation

Nowadays PowerPoint presentations are used almost everywhere. Whether it is in government agencies, public companies, universities and even schools. We often see many presentations that are very colorful and sometimes very dull. Also, sometimes the design of the presentation slides is so bombastic that people pay attention more to the slides rather than what are we trying to present. In this post, I'm going to discuss what is it that makes a good PowerPoint presentation.

1. Title and Key Phrases

A sample of title in a presentation slide.

In each presentation, it is important to have title so that our audience know what are we trying to deliver. The title must be clear and can be seen by the audience. The usage of bold, clear and easy to read letters are essential.

Secondly, the usage of key phrases is a must in each presentation. In any topic that we want to deliver, try to choose the top three or four important points and make them consistently throughout the presentation. Try to limit and simplify the words in the slides and use not more than 3 bullets on each screen so that the audience will be able to grasp what are the main points we want to deliver.

From both slide samples, we can see that the title is clear and can be easily read by the audience. On the contrary, the information given on the other slide contains too many words. This may confuse and/or distract the audience. The presenter should cut out the unnecessary words in the slides so that the information will be much more clearer and easily read by the audience.

2. Slides Layout, Design and Limitation of The Number of Slides

We want our audience to be able to follow our presentation clearly. So, we must construct the layout of our slides carefully. Place the title at the top of the slides so that the audience can see it clearly and phrases should be read from left to right and top to bottom.

The design of the slides is also important because we need to choose the appropriate design for the audience. For business clientele it is better to use a straightforward layout. If the target audience is children, then it is best to use layouts that are full of colors and contains variety of shape.

We must also consider the limitation of the number of slides during our presentation. The purpose of the limitation is to ensure that the presentation will not become too long or drawn out. Also, it avoids the continuity of changing slides because it can be a distraction to the audience.

3. Fonts and Contrasting Colors for Text and Background

A sample of good font choices for formal presentation.

Try to avoid fancy fonts because some of them are very hard to read on the screen. Use fonts such as Arial, Times New Roman or Verdana. If it is possible, you can put at least two different type of fonts for the presentation, one for the title and the other for the phrases. Use large fonts (at least 24 or preferably 30) so that the audience can see clearly.

A sample of contrast between texts and background color.

Another important thing to consider is the contrast between the colors of the text and the background. It is more suitable to use dark text colors on a light background, but avoid white backgrounds. If your presentation is for the formal audience, then it is best to use dark background and light text colors. Also, keep in mind that patterned or textured backgrounds may reduce the readability of your presentation.


4. Use of Photos, Charts and Graphs

A sample of combination of pictures and texts in a slide.

It is highly recommended to include photos, charts, graphs or even videos in presentations. This is to avoid your presentation become very dull and bored the audience.







5. Make Sure Your PowerPoint Slides Can Run on Any Computer
The most crucial part of all is to make sure that your slides are able to run on any computer you are going to use for your presentation. Make sure when you save your presentation slides, it is in a format that can be operated on any computers.



These are all essential points that I consider to be very crucial on how to make a good PowerPoint presentation. The sample slides that I included in this post is actually a presentation that I did for my IPD class. I personally considered that the slides are still not good enough because I use a lot of words to explain the topic that I was presenting during that time. I hope that this post can help those who view my blog in doing their presentations.

Cheers.

References:
- http://presentationsoft.about.com/od/powerpointinbusiness/tp/bus_pres_tips.htm

- http://ezinearticles.com/?How-to-Make-a-Good-PowerPoint-Presentation&id=4313178

Foreword

Hello and welcome. Actually this is not my first time blogging, because I have my own personal blog which consists of my personal experiences, thoughts and perceptive. This blog will mainly discuss what I learned on my Issues in Publication & Design in Taylors University College Malaysia.

After 4 weeks of attending the IPD classes, I come to realization that there are so many factors need to be considered when we publish documents. How choices of words must be selected carefully so that it won't offend the public, or the images that are used to support the documents we publish. Also, the design of the document plays an important role as well; where we want to put the title, pictures, or sub-headings of the document so it won't confuse or offend the public or the audience we targeted for our documents. Another thing is that it is not only the design of the document but also the publishing issue is discussed as well. 

Lastly, this blog is open to students, lecturers and perhaps publisher as well. Please feel free to comment on my post as I'm still a student and still learning about design and publishing. Perhaps we can even share our thoughts and knowledge together.


Cheers.