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/>.