Online Social Networking : A Revolution

Early forms of online social networking dates back to 1985 through online communities such as The Well, Theglobe.com, Geocities and Tripod.com. These online communities allow individuals to connect with each other via chat rooms and sharing personal information and ideas. People are doing networking online 25 years ago, which is as old as I am. And the concept has not changed much. We are all exploiting the Internet to expand our social networks and connect with friends.

Over the years, there are notable changes in the interface and the portal of these social network sites. Now, users can create their own profile, including music, pictures and create groups for people with the same affiliation to congregate together online.

Friendster was once considered the hippest social networking sites in the early 21^st century amongst my social circle. However, it failed to maintain that position since the virtual invasion of Facebook and Twitter. Hardly anyone I know doesn’t have at least an account one of these sites. These days, when I meet new people, instead of exchanging numbers we add each other on Facebook. Even popular stars and well known people connects with their fans on these portals.

References:

Wikipedia contributors. "Social network service." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 10 Jan. 2010. Web. 1 Feb. 2010.

Image Source:

http://www.colorado.edu/atlas/social_network_logos.jpg

e-Everything

Everything is turning into e-Something these days. Everything is going online. From your bills to newspapers, music, movies, games, government related services, mails and the list goes on.

For the older generation it is something to adapt or learn altogether. As much as it intends to be convenient, it comes across being an exasperating experience to first time users. As easy internet banking can be, my mom refuses to give it a try despite the fruitless attempts of tutorials given to her. She still prefers her ATM. She says it’s easier like that.

Like everything else, there is usually a limitation or glitch in the system. It is a rarity that anything man made is foolproof or flawless, even Superman has his Kryptonite and not forgetting that the mighty Titanic sank. Internet is a vast medium that is free and available to all, even to hackers and anyone else with malicious intents. I am one of those unfortunate Netizen that got shafted by cyber attack. It is every Internet user nightmare to get a call from the bank verifying an online transaction on my credit card from a country that is half way around the world at 2 in the morning. Ironically, I am relieved that the bank personnel were vigilant in monitoring clients’ accounts and was swift to take action despite the consternation from the whole incident.

Did you know that the term bug was coined by Rear Admiral Grace Murray Hopper discovers a moth trapped between relays in a Navy computer in 1945. She calls it a "bug," a term used since the late 19th century to refer to problems with electrical devices. Murray Hopper also coined the term "debugging" to describe efforts to fix computer problems.

Reference:

Krebs B, 2003, A Short History of Computer Viruses and Attacks, The Washington Post, retrieved online on 31^st December 2009 at http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A50636-2002Jun26.html

Image Source:

http://www.mayfairfcu.org/On-Line%20Services%201.gif

New forms of media publishing

Media publication has evolved over the years. From broadsheets to tabloid spread to magazine to online publication. With the evolvement and discovery of new technologies, we often find ourselves challenged to break boundaries and explore the unknown and to better the current situation just to make life ever more comfortable.

Hence, no exception for media publications. For instance, the major publications in Singapore have turned to the new media to engage and possibly lure new readers to its site. Most dailies in Singapore now have an online publication site on top of their broadsheets.

For instance, The Straits Times has an online site, which provides a much in depth, and interactive read. Readers are allowed to comment in real time on the online ST forum page, thus interacting with the other readers and writer on their views.

It is understandable why these publication giants moved into the online niche to expand their viewership. The Internet is a vast medium and with the current technology, it is accessible practically anywhere and on most gadgets such as the laptop to mobile phones. This is a bonus for the new age readers. Back then, we used to pay about a dollar to get our papers. Today, with just a click of a button we can get a variety of publication on our computers or phones. Amazing isn't it...

Print vs Online

Print or online. It’s the obvious case of the 'Chicken and Egg' theory. Which comes first?

Some may argue that it is indisputable that print came about earlier than online design, but to design print, most of the planning and the work are usually done online. That is just my thought on it, might not be true.

My point is the principles of designing for print or online has many similarities, although most web designers may beg to differ. Both have to appeal to the target audience.

The Guttenberg Diagram (right) has been the chosen guide for many designers for their work.

There are certainly differences in designing for print and online. Each designer have to not only consider the appealing factors for their target audience, they will also have to master the nature of their artform. What do I mean by that? The artist will have to understand the properties and behavior of his canvas, only then he can translate his vision onto the canvas seamlessly. A good print designer will not be able to produce a good functional website with the principles of print design.

The main difference between print and online is the type of canvas the designers are working on. I found one website that gives a much detailed breakdown of the differences between the two media type. Click here to read more.

Image source:

http://spanring.eu/blog/2006/03/05/social-explorer-simplicity/gutenberg-diagram/

Blogging Communities

What is blogging community? Is it a community of bloggers or is it taking ur blog to the community?

It can be both depending on how you view it. It natural for bloggers that shares the same interest and passion on certain topics will follow other fellow bloggers of that genre. Hence they form a small community of niche bloggers. Sometimes, some bloggers may be more passionate and fervent in their chosen genres and wishes to publicize it to the community. For others, it may be to increase traffic to their site.

Bensen (2008) shares some tips on taking your blog to the community. Some new bloggers, myself included, will just continue posting new reads and expect other readers to stumble upon our blogs and be a follower. After reading Connie Bensen’s (2008) article, I realized that there is actually more to blogging than just putting up new post at your site. You have to be proactive in contributing on other’s blogs or outreaching to new community blogs. That way, you can expect higher site traffic on your blog in time.

Reference:

Bensen, c. (2008, July 6). Taking your blog to a community. Retrieved December 24, 2009, from Problogger: http://www.problogger.net/archives/2008/07/06/taking-your-blog-to-a-community/

Types of Blogs

I am guilty of once owning a blog site in my schooling years and abandoning it once I entered the workforce. Back then, blogs were the rage, at least among my peers. It was cool to own a blog, and even cooler to gave high site traffic. We will have a message board for friends to leave a shout out, smiley, or rants apart from the 'comment' link. Our blogs are usually journalistic posts with the occasional pictures to show off the cool crowds and activities we partake. Well, we were young and naïve.

As I embark on this task, I realized that blogging has evolved to more than just an online diary. Long were the days where people pour out their deepest thoughts onto a site in the World Wide Web. Today blogs have even made people rich, put some behind bars and for some, a rewarding job.

Blogs can be typically categorized as personal blog, corporate or organizational blogs or by genres, media types or devices.

Personal blog are the more common ones around as it is an avenue for the author to reflect on life, express his thoughts and write just about anything he wants. In essence, it’s a journal, only published online.

Blog genres are extensive; it can be any topic imaginable. Some of the popular genres are politics, travel blogs, niche blogs, music and art blogs.

Did you know that there are a few Weblog competition hosted by various international bodies annually? Deutsche Welle, the German International Broadcasting Service founded The Best of Blogs (The BOBs).

References:

The BOBs (weblog award). (2009, August 6). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 06:38, December 21, 2009, from http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.phptitle=The_BOBs_(weblog_award)&oldid=306386148

Chong C.K (2005), AsiaMedia Archives. Retrieved December 21, 2009, from SINGAPORE: Two charged with making racist remarks on Net: http://www.asiamedia.ucla.edu/article.asp?parentid=29745

The Blog : A Phenonmenon

In the internet era, its uncommon to hear of anyone who hasn't heard of blogging or owns a blog. Blogging has become one of the popular justifications for the Internet apart from social networking or online gaming. It is a growing trend that transcends age, gender, race or even language. To most, blogging is the equivalent of an online journal; to some it’s a portal of expression of one’s interest and gathering a small community that shares the same interest or passion of that particular topic. So it forms little niches of interest based online community.

Birth of 'Weblogs'

Apparently, John Barger coined the term ‘Weblog’ in 1997(Wiki). It is mainly to describe online diaries which was later popularized by Evan Williams of Pyra Labs who further devised the word to “blog” and “blogger”. It has been a decade and the blogging fever has not left the building. Blogs are very easy to set up, all you need is an email address and an internet connection. The accessibility and total control of the blog by the author makes weblog a appealing to the masses. The author can edit, delete or create any post at any time they want.

Did you know that Bruce Ableson set up the first blog community, Open Diary, in 1998 and since then, there were a few other blogging host that launched similar sites such as LiveJournal and Blogger.com..

To date there are a total of 126,861,574 blogs online which covers a plethora of topics from politics, health, art even to the bizarre and taboos.

References:

BlogPulse (2009), 'BlogPulse STATS', viewed December 16, 2009, from http://www.blogpulse.com/

Blog. (2009, December 16). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 03:27, December 16, 2009, from http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Blog&oldid=345279945