Screen versus Print Document Design

As what has discussed in the previous post, new media has a big impact on journalism. Other than it alters the trend of journalism, it also creates differences between Screen and Print document design. The following is going to examine three main considerations (differences) of designing based on the elements of layout and writing structure.

1. Dimensionality

In this case, the dimension is referred to Page Dimension. According to OLAP (1995), 'a page dimension is generally used to ... define the specific page requested for display'. In other words, it considers the element of spatial on a page. Print design is 2-dimensional. It pays much attention to layout of the page. Readers can turn the page physically, but it is rare to have substantial interplay between different spreads. Nielsen (1999) states that 'typically, each view is a design unit created for a fixed size canvas - often a big canvas when designing newspapers or posters'.

Example of two-page-spread in Lucky Magazine (Palma Collection 2009)

On the other hand, 'web design is simultaneously 1-dimensional and N-dimensional' (Nielsen 1999). Instead of flipping the page in canvas, users have to scroll the page to read further. There is no fixed spatial relationship between elements. As Nielsen (1999) clarifies, 'users often begin scrolling before all elements have been rendered, and different users will scroll the page in different ways throughout their reading experience'.

The arrow shows the way of scrolling Twitter page on a smartphone screen. (Business Insider 2011)

2. Typography

Typography (Brown 2009)

'Typography is a central component of design. It gives us an understanding of the heritage behind our craft' (Bailey 2011). It helps to pass on information to others by arranging the type.  The arrangement of type influences readers' understanding on a particular subject or content. 'It works with your layout, grid, and color choice to create a well-rounded design ... your choice of typefaces and your technique of setting type give your composition its character, pace and style' (Bailey 2011). For instance, types of fonts can maximize legibility. 

In print form, 'the number of fonts available are almost limitless and a font can be chosen that precisely gives the feeling and function desired' (Benetos 2005). Conversely, screen form has the limitation of the choice of fonts. This is because the font in a hypertext document has to be common to the platform which displays the hyperdocument. Monitor resolutions and reader preferences have to be considered for the appearance of the text. For instance, serif fonts are more legible in print, while 'sans-serif fonts are [the most] legible at small sizes for most monitor displays' (Benetos 2005).

Newspaper in serif fonts (In House Media n.d.)

Sans-serif fonts on webpage (Lloyd 2009)

3. Multimodality

Multimodality is needed to express the meanings in texts effectively. According to Walsh (2006, p. 24), ' ... meaning is communicated through a [synchronization] of modes. That is, they may incorporate spoken or written language, still or moving images, they may be produced on paper or electronic screen and may incorporate music and sound'. For example:

(i) Print form - picture books, newspaper and magazine.

(ii) Screen form - film, video and the Internet.

Print-based texts (DHD Multimedia Gallery n.d.)

The novel above is in print-based texts. Print-based texts are 'the words that "tell", including the discourse, register, vocabulary, linguistic patterns, grammar. Arrangement and layout of chapters, paragraph and sentence structure, typography' (Walsh 2006, p. 35). The reading pathway is mostly linear and   follows a certain sequence.

Multimodal Texts (Jessica & Heidi n.d.)

The picture above shows multimodal texts that consist of photos, hyperlinks and tagging. Multimodal texts are 'visual images that "show" including layout, size, shape, [color], line, angle, position, perspective, screen, frames, icons, links, hyperlinks. Movement, sound, animation with graphics, video clips, voice-over and write-over' (Walsh 2006, p. 35). The reading pathway is non-linear and non-sequential.

References:

Bailey, C 2011, 'The basics of typography', Design Instruct, June 22, viewed 22 August 2011, <http://designinstruct.com/tools-basics/the-basics-of-typography/>.

Benetos, K 2005, Design considerations when writing: print vs screen, TECFA, Universite de Geneve, viewed 22 August 2011, <http://tecfa.unige.ch/staf/staf-k/benetos/staf13/per5/lire.html>.

Brown, A 2009, The use of typography, Examiner, viewed 22 August 2011, <http://www.examiner.com/web-2-0-in-miami/the-use-of-typography>.

Business Insider 2011, 20 secret tips and tricks to get the most out of your iPhone, viewed 22 August 2011, <http://www.businessinsider.com/iphone-hidden-easter-eggs-2011-4#if-youre-scrolling-through-a-long-web-page-or-list-tap-the-bar-on-the-top-of-your-screen-to-go-immediately-to-the-top-1>.

DHD Multimedia Gallery n.d., Texturas text-sample-of-novel, viewed 22 August 2011, <http://gallery.hd.org/_c/textures/text-sample-of-novel-DHD.jpg.html?sessionVar=spider&sessionVarLocale=es>.

In House Media n.d., Newspaper design - how can you use it to improve your website, viewed 22 August 2011, <http://www.ihm.co.uk/blog/news/newspaper-design-how-you-can-use-it-to-improve-your-website/>.

Jessica & Heidi n.d., Websites, viewed 22 August 2011, <http://bedyear4newliteracies.wikispaces.com/Jessica+and+Heidi+--+Websites>.

Lloyd, I 2009, Learn HTML and CSS: an absolute beginner's guide article, Sitepoint, viewed 22 August 2011, <http://www.sitepoint.com/html-css-beginners-guide-14/>.

Nielsen, J 1999, Differences between print design and web design, viewed 22 August 2011, <http://www.useit.com/alertbox/990124.html>.

OLAP 1995, OLAP glossary, viewed 22 August 2011, <http://altaplana.com/olap/glossary.html>.

Palm Collection 2009, Palma collection is in Lucky Magazine this month (April 2009)!, viewed 22 August 2011, <http://store.palmacollection.com/blogs/media/1267902-palma-collection-is-in-lucky-magazine-this-month-april-2009>.

Walsh, M 2006, 'The 'textual shift': examining the reading process with print, visual and multimodal texts', Australian Journal of Language and Literacy, vol. 20, no.1, pp. 24-37.

New Forms of Media Publishing

In the 21st century, cyberspace plays a dominant role in a new media ecosystem. Instead of using the word 'replacing', the Internet is a complement to traditional media. According to Oyanagi (2010), 'traditional media are mostly push media ... while the Internet is a pull medium ... which means tactics to drive web users to the website is inevitable, and this often means using and mixing with other media/communication channel'. In the new trend of publishing, audiences are no longer just passive receivers, but they can consider themselves journalists by blogging. Will this phenomenon cause the end of journalism? Well, Naughton (2006) clarifies that 'a new organism has arrived in our media ecosystem and existing organisms are having to accommodate themselves to the newcomer ... relationships are emerging between the new medium of blogging and more conventional print journalism'.

Twitter (Smashing Editorial 2009)

Twitter is 'a free social networking and micro-blogging service that enables users to send and read messages (known as "tweets")' (Stassen 2010, p. 7). Twitter consists of short fragments of instant information and news, either it is from official or unofficial sources. It provides a platform for users to share the latest information and news happening around the world in short but concise form. For instance, news about 311 Japan Earthquake was updated through Twitter during the happening. Besides, it also enhances the interactivity among the users and media as people can track news by clicking 'follow', 'retweet' or giving comments. Somehow, it acts as a backup channel of information in journalism. According to Rao (2010), '91% of bloggers and 68% of online reporters "always" or "sometimes" use blogs for research'. 

This phenomenon can be related to the concept of Produsage. Twitter serves as user-led space and it breaks down the boundaries between producers and consumers. As Snurb (2007) states, 'produsers engage not in a traditional form of content production, but are instead involved in ... the collaborative and continuous building and extending of existing content in pursuit of further improvement'.

The Prodeser (Snurb 2007)

Twitter is 'fundamentally built on the affordances of the technosocial framework of the networked environment' (Snurb 2007). The term affordance means 'what is made possible by the modes used' (Walsh 2006, p. 34). In this case, the content in Twitter is shared and not owned by any authoritarian. Users can share any information without waiting for the approval of gatekeepers (as what traditional media facing with). It extends 'the boundaries for the community of participants able to contribute to [Twitter]' (Snurb 2007). For instance, the dissemination of information causes a formation of citizen journalists, who do not exist in previous traditional media. However, there is still a controversy about social networking in journalism. Communicators need to be aware of this issue as it affects communication system.

References:

Naughton, J 2006, Blogging and the emerging media ecosystem, Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, University of Oxford, viewed 21 August 2011, <http://reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac.uk/fileadmin/documents/discussion/blogging.pdf>.

Oyanagi, M 2010, 'Vol.22-what distinguishes Internet/Web from traditional media?', Future Direction of Web 2.0 and Internet Marketing, blog posting, 21 February, viewed 21 August 2011, <http://megoyanagi.thoseinmedia.com/2010/02/21/vol-22-%E2%80%93-what-distinguishes-internetweb-from-traditional-media/>.

Rao, L 2010, 'Study: 52 percent of bloggers consider themselves journalists', TechCrunch, blog posting, 1 April, viewed 21 August 2011, <http://techcrunch.com/2010/04/01/study-52-percent-of-bloggers-consider-themselves-journalists/>.

Smashing Editorial 2009, 'Tools icons, horror icons and Twitter icons', Smashing Magazine, 12 January, viewed 21 August 2011, <http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2009/01/12/tools-icons-horror-icons-and-twitter-icons/>.

Snurb 2007, Produsage: a working definition, Produsage, viewed 21 August 2011, <http://produsage.org/node/9>.

Stassen, W 2010, 'Your news in 140 characters: exploring the role of social media in journalism', Global Media Journal, vol. 4, no. 1, viewed 21 August 2011, <http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=2e15f1ac-add8-432a-b387-7ed312a6e851%40sessionmgr104&vid=2&hid=112>.

Walsh, M 2006, 'The 'textual shift': examining the reading process with print, visual and multimodal texts', Australian Journal of Language and Literacy, vol. 20, no. 1, pp. 24-37.

Types of Blogging Communities & Methods to Build Blogging Communities

Blogosphere consists of million of bloggers, this phenomenon can be identified as Blogging Communities. According to Owyang (2007), 'an online community is where a group of people with similar goals or interests connect and exchange information using web tools'. In blogosphere, bloggers can visit other blogs and share their common interests and experiences with each other. The mutual interests somehow form a norm in different blogging communities.

Furthermore, bloggers can communicate and form bonds with new friends within the blogosphere. 'Blogging can be passive activity' (Denise 2009). Thus, it is required for individual blogger to step away from personal blog and start immersing oneself in the blogging community. The below are several methods to build blogging communities:

1. Tagging

Tagging (Raymond 2007)

Tagging allows users find a blog post according to a specific keyword. As Kinkeldei (2007) states, 'a tag cloud allows [people] to aggregate the community users' most popular bookmarks and lets new users immediately identify the most important topics related to the blog community'.

2. Allowing Comments

Comment box in Blogger (Chitu 2008)

Bloggers can interact with readers by reading and replying their comments. 'The ability for readers to leave comments in an interactive format is an important part of many blogs' (Kinkeldei 2007).

3. RSS Feeds (Really Simple Syndication)

RSS Feeds (DFW Renaissance n.d.)

It allows reader to subscribe to updated blog posts. 'RSS Feeds [provide] concise summaries to prospective readers ... [it] encourages [readers] to return' (Housley 2008).

4. Social Networking

Social Network Icons (Search Engine Island 2011)

Social networking is useful for promoting blogs as it becomes a major media in communication. Users can share their blogs through social networking websites, such as Facebook, Twitter and etc.

Three types of blogging communities by Nancy White

Figure 1: Blog Based Communities (White 2006)

'[Blogging communities show] up in three main patterns with a wide variety of hybrid forms emerging between the three' (White 2006). The patterns are reviewed based on technology/design; social architecture; the role of content or subject matter; and other issues (eg. scalability and lifecycle). The three patterns are listed below:

1. Single Blog/Blogger Centric Community

Figure 2: Single Blog/Blogger Centric Community (White 2006)

Blog owners are the central identities in this community. As they get to know each other, they build relationship and personal identity among commentors. Besides, they have ultimate power of control. For instance, a blog owner can remove his/her blog, disable comments and even censor readers. They setting the conversational topic, but commentors cannot control it. In other words, 'there is no expectation of democracy [in this community]' (White 2006).

2. Topic Centric Community

Figure 3: Topic Centric Community (White 2006)

This community is a network formation. The network is linked by a common interest or a topic shared by blogs. 'The boundary of the network is a combination of subject matter (domain) and membership (community)' (White 2006). Power and identity are allocated through the community. As White explains further, 'identity is manifest through the relevance, quality or amount of enjoyment a post provides to others'. Furthermore, tools like hyperlinks, RSS and etc are applied by each blogger. These tools categorize the blog posts according to a mutual topic and they actually blur the boundaries of each individual blog.


3. Boundaried Community

Figure 4: Boundaried Community (White 2006)

In this community, one has to register and join as a member. Members not only can create a blog, but also have internal connections with other members. A defined boundary in the community makes it easier to access other blogs. 

According to White (2006), 'power in boundaried communities is held in part by the "owner" of the platform who can impose rules on the community'. However, power is also applied by members in three typical ways: '(i) Frequency of Posting; (ii) Popularity or Interest as measured by how many comments a blogger gets; (iii) Social Networking Tools associated with the blog that help visualize relationship' (White 2006).

Edublogs is one of the examples of Boundaried Community.

Edublogs (Farmer 2007)

Edublogs is a blog hosting and '[a] custom blogging platforms to individual teachers, school districts and hundreds of thousands of students' (Edublogs 2011). It is rich with features such as discussion tools, video embedding, integration of social networking sites, wikis and etc. Besides, it offers 'a specific set of terms of use, identify what is not allowed, and the rest is up to the participants' (White 2006).

References:

Chitu, A 2008, 'Don't talk about blogger's comments', Google Operating System, blog posting, 15  March, viewed 20 August 2011, <http://googlesystem.blogspot.com/2008/03/dont-talk-about-bloggers-comments.html>.

Denise 2009, How do you build community?, blog posting, 9 March, viewed 20 August 2011, <http://www.blogher.com/how-do-you-build-community>.

DFW Renaissance n.d., About the editor, viewed 20 August 2011, <http://www.fwrenaissance.com/outsider-mom/>.

Edublogs 2011, Why Edublogs?, viewed 20 August 2011, <http://edublogs.org/why-edublogs/>.

Farmer, J 2007, 'Edublogs 2.0', Incorporated Subversion, blog posting, 31 July, viewed 20 August 2011, <http://incsub.org/blog/2007/edublogs-20>.

Housley, S 2008, What are RSS Feeds?, viewed 20 August 2011, <http://knol.google.com/k/what-are-rss-feeds#>.

Kinkeldei, B 2007, 'Forging connections and promoting growth through blog communities', Whitepaper Blog Communities, 21 Publish, viewed 20 August 2011, <http://www.21publish.com/pub/21publish/blogging-whitepaper.pdf>.

Owyang, J 2007, 'Defining the term: "online community"', Web Strategy, blog posting, 28 December, viewed 20 August 2011, <http://www.web-strategist.com/blog/2007/12/28/defining-the-term-community/>.

Raymond 2007, 'A simple blogger tag cloud widget', Compender, blog posting, 5 December, viewed 20 August 2011, <http://www.compender.com/2007/12/simple-tag-cloud.html>.

Search Engine Island 2011, Social networking site - what benefits can it offer?, blog posting, June, viewed 20 August 2011, <http://www.searchengineisland.com/2011/06/social-networking-site-what-benefits.html>.

White, N 2006, 'Blogs and community - launching a new paradigm for online community?', The Knowledge Tree, 11th edn, Commonwealth of Australia, viewed 20 August 2011, <http://kt.flexiblelearning.net.au/tkt2006/edition-11-editorial/blogs-and-community-%E2%80%93-launching-a-new-paradigm-for-online-community>.

Classification of Blogs & Opinion about the most Appropriate Classification Approach

The development of blog phenomenon causes varieties of blogs. The differences are not only in types of content, but also in other aspects, such as media types, audiences, devices and etc. Thus, blog taxonomy helps to classify the blogs. 'Blog taxonomy is the study of organizing your blog for both search engines and human beings' (Herzog 2011).

Two different classification systems are discussed in this post. First of all, blog taxonomy that is introduced by Margaret Simons. Below is the list of nine different types of blogs:

1. Pamphleteering Blogs

Pampheteering is 'important to [every] social movement since the printing press was invented ... [Unlike political blogs which only focus on political issues, authors will give] points of view on current events, [politics], sometimes broader events' (Simons, cited in Funnell 2008).

Eg. Larvatus Prodeo 

2. The Digest Blog

It acts 'primarily as guides and summaries to things you can access elsewhere, either in mainstream media or no other blogs. Sometimes they include commentary as well' (Simons 2008). 

Eg. Fair go, Fairfax

3. The Advocacy Blog

It is quite similar with Pamphleteering Blog. It is divided into a different category is because it focuses on related topics. 'These blogs tend to be run by established advocacy groups or commercial organisations rather than by individuals, and concern themselves with a single topic, whereas the pamphleteering sites cover many different issues' (Simons 2008).

Eg. Telstra Exchange

4. The Popular Mechanics Blog

This blog consists of information that offers instructions or advices on a specialist field. 'Now there is a huge welter of blogs out there now on just about any speciality you care to list, from quilting to gardening, to photography, to scuba driving' (Simons, cited in Funnell 2008).

Eg. Photography Blog 

5. The Exhibition Blog

It is especially for artists, writers, craftspeople and different kinds of artisans to share their works to a wider audience. 

Eg.

Paintings by Justin Clayton

6. The Gatewatcher Blog

This a blog which critiques the reporting issues of media. It 'allowing specialist, experts and others with particular knowledge of public events to watch and hold to account the 'gatekeepers' of traditional media' (Simons 2008).

Eg. Possums Pollytics

7. The Diary

It is more personal and intended for an author's family and friends. 

Eg. My Personal Blog

8. The Advertisement

As what has stated in the previous post, blog is used as an effective tool in advertising. 'Some of the [blogs] are actually created by the commercial companies and are thinly-veiled advertisements' (Simons, cited in Funnell 2008).

Eg. 

Malaysia Property Blog

9. The News Blog

Authors post the latest news and information in their blogs.

Eg. Baghdad Burning

Next, the second classification system is introduced by Partha Sarathi Mandal. There are five categories of blogs, such as:

1. Media blogs

    -Vlog (eg. Howard Rheingold's Vlog)

    -Sketch Log (eg. Jillian Tamaki Sketchblog)

    -Photo log (eg. Flickr Blog)

    -Tumble log (eg. Tumblr)

    -Art Log (eg. Ea's Artlog)

2. Device blogs

'A blog written by a mobile device like a mobile phone or PDA is called Moblog' (Mandal 2011, p. 156).

Moblog (Digital Family 2011)

3. Subject Blogs

These blogs focus in a specific subject. For example: music, fashion and etc.

Eg. MusicBlog

4. Legal Status

Blogs can be personal, public, or corporate.

5. Searching Blogs

These help to search for the blogs available on the Internet by using key terms.

Eg. Technorati

These two classification systems have a similarity: both systems categorize blogs based on the nature of the written contents. It is more convenient to distinguish the blogs according to written contents, because each blogger has different purposes and target audiences. As comparison with Mandal's system, Simon's taxonomy classifies blogs in a more specific way. On the other hand, Mandal's classification is too broad. For instance, even though blogs such as vlog and photo log have distinctive contents, they are still grouped into the same category: Media Blogs. Hence, Simon's taxonomy provides the better classification method.

References:

Digital Family 2011, Blog design for every screen, viewed 19 August 2011, <http://www.digitalfamily.com/mobile/blog-design-plugins.html>.

Funnell, A 2008, 'A taxonomy of blogs', The Media Report, transcript, 25 September, ABC Radio National, viewed 19 August 2011, <http://www.abc.net.au/rn/mediareport/stories/2008/2372882.htm#transcript)>.

Herzog, A 2011, 'Why blog taxonomies are important', Social Media Journal, blog posting, 24 January, Social Media Club, viewed 19 August 2011, <http://socialmediaclub.org/blogs/social-media-journal/why-blog-taxonomies-are-important>.

Mandal, PS 2011, 'Blog and its role in library and information services', Journal of Library & Information Technology, vol. 31, no. 3, pp. 155-158, viewed 19 August 2011, <http://publications.drdo.gov.in/ojs/index.php/djlit/article/viewFile/983/411>.

Simons, M 2008, Towards a taxonomy of blogs, Australian Policy Online, viewed 19 August 2011, <http://www.apo.org.au/commentary/towards-taxonomy-blogs-0>.

Blogs as Current Phenomenon and Benefits to the Community

Blog, which alternatively called as weblog, ' ... is a term used to describe web sites that maintain an ongoing chronicle of information' (WordPress n.d.). Nowadays, with the growth of technology, blogs become more accessible and convenient.

Technorati is an Internet search engine that tracks and analyzes the growth and trend in the blogosphere. According to Yeager (2011), 'there have been more than 133,000,000 blogs indexed by Technorati since 2002'. The blogosphere is consistent doubling every six months and more than 75,000 blogs are created daily, as the two line graphs below show:

Weblogs Cumulative March 2003 - January 2006 (Sifry 2006)

New Blogs per Day (Sifry 2006)

In 2010, Technorati's findings focused on female bloggers and mobile blogging. The team found out that the impact of current social media causes changes on the trend in the blogosphere. Sobel (2010) states that 'as the blogosphere converges with social media, sharing of blog posts is increasingly done through social networks'. Below is the data collected by Technorati regarding how social media associate with blogs:

'How do you use the Facebook page associated with your blog?' (Sobel 2010)

There are different types of blog such as personal blogs, celebrity blogs and etc. The blogging trends in Middle East and Malaysia are mostly based on politics. Political blogs are prevalent in Middle East and Malaysia as they provide a public sphere which ' ... facilitates the public use of reason in rational-critical debate ...' (Naughton 2006, p. 7). Current movements such as Kifaya National Movement for Change in Egypt and Bersih 2.0 in Malaysia, were mostly brought out through blogs to fight for democracy. As Malky (2007) clarifies, ' ... blogs have provided the means for Kifaya's mobilization'. Same goes to Malaysia where information flow is restricted by rules and controlled by local government. Blog becomes one of the channels to reveal the hidden truth of information. For example, Voice of Malaysian benefits readers to voice their opinions on the current issues of Malaysia.

On the other hand, Asia countries such as Indonesia, entertainment and celebrity blogs are most likely to be visited in the countries. 'In Indonesia, the youth [dominates] the Indonesian blogosphere ... anything related to the entertainment industry like personal life of the celebrities will attract their attention' (Wee 2011). These famous blogs act as an effective tool in advertising. '[According to Kukuh], most advertisers believe bloggers are very good influencers. They have a large number of readers who usually seek recommendation about product [or] services they are willing to buy' (cited in Wee 2011). For instance, blog advertising markets such as Nuffnangs and Blogsvertise will reward the bloggers with ad income.

Therefore, blogs benefits the communities differently according to the current blogging trends in each country.

References:

Malky, RA 2007, Blogging for reform: the case of Egypt, Arab Media & Society, viewed 18 August 2011, <http://www.arabmediasociety.com/topics/index.php?t_article=39>.

Naughton, J 2006, Blogging and the emerging media ecosystem, Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, University of Oxford, viewed 18 August 2011, <http://reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac.uk/fileadmin/documents/discussion/blogging.pdf>.

Sifry, D 2006, 'State of blogosphere, February 2006 part 1: on blogosphere growth', Sifry's alerts, blog posting, 6 February, viewed 18 August 2011, <http://www.sifry.com/alerts/archives/000419.html>.

Sobel, J 2010, State of blogosphere 2010, Technorati, viewed 18 August 2011, <http://technorati.com/blogging/article/state-of-the-blogosphere-2010-introduction/>.

Wee, W 2011, idblogNetwork talks about the blogosphere in Indonesia, Penn Olson, viewed 18 August 2011, <http://www.penn-olson.com/2011/07/18/blogs-in-indonesia/>.

WordPress n.d., Introduction to Blogging, viewed 18 August 2011, <http://codex.wordpress.org/Introduction_to_Blogging>.

Yeager, B 2011, 'Blogging Statistics', The west program blog, blog posting, 19 April, viewed 18 August 2011, <http://thewestprogram.com/blog/505/blogging-statistics/>.

Purpose of the Blog

This blog is especially created and targeted to communicators who aware of current media and publishing issues. As the technology and audience are developing constantly, issues in media publishing and design arise. Therefore, this blog acts as a medium for discussing and reviewing the current issues by applying relevant and related theories.

Let's explore this phenomenon together! ^^