Blogs, Search Engines & Social Networks
Published by Emil Abraham,
A blog (short for weblog) is a personal online journal that is frequently updated and intended for general public consumption. Blogs are defined by their format: a series of entries posted to a single page in reverse-chronological order. Blogs generally represent the personality of the author or reflect the purpose of the Web site that hosts the blog. Topics sometimes include brief philosophical musings, commentary on Internet and other social issues, and links to other sites the author favours, especially those that support a point being made on a post.
Blogs represent a significant shift in information flow, where information flows from many to many seamlessly. It is a serious challenge to traditional journalism. Blogs do not have gatekeepers, so they are raw, honest, immediate passionate, opinionated and strike an emotional chord. At times they may not be credible as there are no gatekeepers. It is professional journalism versus amateur journalism. Media has realised the growing power of blogs. So news websites nowadays encourage blogging by their employees on their site.Many celebrities too have their own blogs.
Blogs are on varied topics. They are easy to start but difficult to sustain. Those who wish to start a blog will have higher cyber space without payments and start to use the space. Add text, colours, paintings, photos, audio, visual, animation, graphics and more. Publish advertisements, persuasive pieces, and campaign materials; make money by business promotion, public relation activity, reviews etc. The owner of the blog decides the content and design. Seamless freedom is the major attraction of blogs. This is a global space. Any person around the world with internet accessibility can open the page and read. Blogs offer such an international opportunity to interact with the real faceless community. Though there is an international accepted code of ethics in journalism, all laws and regulations regarding publications in one country are applicable for a blog.
The advantages of blogs are creative freedom, instantaneity, interactivity, lack of marketing constraints. The key features of a blog includes content area, archives, comments, feeds, plug ins, widgets, themes, templates, trackbacks, pingbacks.
The blogosphere is made up of all blogs and their interconnections. The term implies that blogs exist together as a connected community (or as a collection of connected communities) or as a social networking service in which everyday authors can publish their opinions. Blogs can follow other blogs and repost portions of original posts or link out to original sources that prompted a post, such as news articles or product releases. Although bloggers can become influential and even profit from their posts, blogs are often maintained out of a desire to share thoughts with like-minded people rather than profit.
The blogosphere has become an invaluable source for citizen journalism – that is, real-time reporting about events and conditions in local areas that large news agencies do not or cannot cover. Blogosphere is a term some writers have used to describe the grassroots and interactive journalism made possible by participants in blogs (logs or journals maintained on the Internet) and the symbiotic relationship between bloggers and traditional journalists.
Example blog: The One Rule for Life by Mark Manson
Vlog
A vlog (or video blog) is a blog that contains video content. The small, but growing, segment of the blogosphere devoted to vlogs is sometimes referred to as the vlogosphere. is a form of web television. Vlog entries often combine embedded video (or a video link) with supporting text, images, and other metadata. Entries can be recorded in one take or cut into multiple parts. The vlog category is popular on YouTube.
Some bloggers have included video content for years. However, vlogging is becoming more common as equipment becomes cheaper and supporting software and hosting and aggregation sites become more prevalent. Both Yahoo and Google feature video sections and most MP3 players, such as iPod, support video. Anyone with access to a video-capable camera and a relatively recent computer with a high-speed connection can create a vlog and publish and distribute it online.
The vlogosphere is a very democratic arena. Unlike mainstream media, such as television or commercial Web sites, vlogs are not, for the most part, created to make money. As a result, vloggers are free to make their content about whatever they desire, no matter how controversial or esoteric the topic. Vlogging gives average citizens an audience and a chance to make their voices heard. Vlogs are often distributed through RSS feeds. Video content distributed in this way is sometimes called a vodcast or a vidcast.
Podcast
A podcast is an audio file that is automatically received from the internet and then synced to an MP3 player. The files are received by subscribing to what's called a podcast feed. A podcast is a digital medium that consists of an episodic series of audio or digital radio, subscribed to and downloaded through web syndication or streamed online to a computer or mobile device.
A list of all the audio or video files associated with a given series is maintained centrally on the distributor's server as a web feed, and the listener or viewer employs special client application software, known as a pod catcher, that can access this web feed, check it for updates, and download any new files in the series. This process can be automated so that new files are downloaded. Files are stored locally on the user's computer or other device ready for offline use. Podcasting contrasts with webcasting (Internet streaming), which generally isn't designed for offline listening to user-selected content.
There are now thousands of podcasts and the number is growing rapidly. Podcasters (as they are called) are not restricted by traditional broadcast formats and regulations. This allows for numerous subjects and formats. Podcasting is an escape from the same old, corporate conglomerate, worn-out, Clear channel controlled, pre-programmed. Anyone can create a podcast. All over the world, people are creating podcasts on subjects ranging from movies, to technology, to music, to politics etc. This is new original content made by passionate people who want to share their creativity with the world. The cost to start podcasting is so low that anyone can do it. Podcasters are creating very raw and real content and listeners are responding. Some podcasts are "talk show" style. Others introduce the latest bands and music. With podcasts one can stay current on the news, get a glimpse into someone’s life, listen to movie reviews and the list goes on.
The first podcasts were downloaded into an ipod, the portable audio player of Apple company. The words ipod and broadcasting were combined to form podcasting. Podcasting does not challenge radio, but its advantages are negligible production, and hosting cost, easy to create and edit, wide reach, no licensing.
Example podcasts:
People Power: Coming Together For Science (Bird watching citizen-scientists in Kerala and the great power of crowds coming together for a natural history project.)
Search Engines
The better way to locate specific information is to use a search engine. It is a web tool that helps to find specific sites on the internet. These are searchable indexes running on powerful computers that look up information, using key words. When enter a word or phrase to look up, the search engine locates any document containing the key words. The listed documents are called hits. The search results are generally presented in a line of results often referred to as search engine results pages (SERPs). The information may be a mix of web pages, images, and other types of files. When a user enters a query into a search engine (typically by using keywords), the engine examines its index and provides a listing of best-matching web pages according to its criteria, usually with a short summary containing the document's title and sometimes parts of the text. The index is built from the information stored with the data and the method by which the information is indexed
E.g. Google, Yahoo, DuckDuckGo
Social Media
Social media are computer-mediated tools that allow people to exchange information, ideas, and pictures/videos in
media depend on mobile and web-based technologies to create highly interactive platforms through which individuals and communities share, co-create, discuss, and modify user-generated content. They introduce substantial and pervasive changes to communication between businesses, organizations, communities, and individuals. These changes are the focus of the emerging field of techno self studies. Social media differ from traditional or industrial media in many ways, including quality, reach, frequency, usability, immediacy and permanence. Social media is the collective of online communications channels dedicated to community-based input, interaction, content-sharing and collaboration. Websites and applications dedicated to forums, micro blogging, social networking , social bookmarking, and wikis are among the different types of social media.
Prominent examples of social media:
Facebook is a popular free social networking website that allows registered users to create profiles, upload photos and video, send messages and keep in touch with friends, family and colleagues. According to statistics from the Nielsen Group, Internet users within the United States spend more time on Face book than any other website.
Twitteris a free micro blogging service that allows registered members to broadcast short posts called tweets. Twitter members can broadcast tweets and follow other users' tweets by using multiple platforms and devices.
Whatsapp, a mobile messaging App is very popular today. According to latest figures, nearly one in seven people use Whatsapp each month to stay in touch.
Wikipedia is a free, open content online encyclopaedia created through the collaborative effort of a community of users known as Wikipedians. Anyone registered on the site can create an article for publication; registration is not
required to edit articles.
LinkedInis a social networking site designed specifically for the business community. The goal of the site is to allow registered members to establish and document networks of people they know and trust professionally.
Reddit is a social news website and forum where stories are socially curate and promoted by site members. The site is composed of hundreds of sub-communities, known as "subreddits." Each subreddit has a specific topic such as technology, politics or music. Reddit site members, also known as, "redditors," submit content which is then voted upon by other members. The goal is to send well-regarded
stories to the top of the site's main thread page.
Pinterest is a social curation website for sharing and categorizing images found online. Pinterest requires brief descriptions but the main focus of the site is visual. Clicking on an image will take one to the original source, so, for example, if a registered user click on a picture of a pair of shoes, he/she might be taken to a site where he/she can purchase them. An image of blueberry pancakes might take you to the recipe; a picture of a whimsical birdhouse might take you to the instructions.
Applications that have developed within and around these platforms, websites, and tools are endless in number and functionality, but all make online sharing and searching easier in some fashion, regardless of their niche. As nearly every type of business has an association in the non-digital world, so too does the internet offer an endless number of niche social communities where members can gather around a common topic. Topics both general and specific now have living homes on the internet; anything from colon and digestive health to security and compliance can and do have active social media communities.
Books For reference
1. Arvind Kumar, ‘ Digital Media & Weblog Journalism’, Anmol Publications Pvt. Ltd. New Delhi.2006.
2. Cecilia Friend and Jane B. Singer, Online Journalism Ethics; Traditions and Transitions, PHI Learning Pvt. Ltd, New Delhi,2004.
3. Leah A. Lievrouw and Sonia Livingstone (Editors) , Handbook of New Media, Social Shaping and Social Consequences of ICTs, Sage Publications, New Delhi,2007.
4. Sunil Saxena, Web Journalism 2.0, Tata McGraw-Hill, New Delhi, 201