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According to Sauers (2006), a blog is an online journal, blogging is ‘the act of creating posts for a blog’ and a blogger is ‘the person who creates those posts’(p.1). Kelly (2004) sees blogging as ‘a new form of journalism unfettered by the constraints of the traditional press with the power to influence public opinion’.
Types of Blogs
Types of Blogs
There are many types of blogs online, published in over 100 languages. They can be categorized into three main groups.
Personal: This is most general category and bloggers blog about personal topics like entertainment, travel and music.
Business: Professionals may share their expertise and experience and companies use blogs to stay engaged with their customers.
By Genre: These blogs emphasizes on special topic of interests, such as sports blogs, political blogs and music blogs.
According to a news report by BBC News (2006), the introduction of blogs leads to the possibility of ‘consumer online self-expression’. Internet has caused a revolutionary change of media communication ‘from a predominantly one-way, read-only medium to a more two-way, participatory, collaborative and interconnected medium’. This results in the empowerment of consumers to influence others and poses an impact to bigger entities, like businesses. For instance, if a blogger comments on bad experience with products, followers will have an unfavorable perception of the company. News media can no longer hide facts from audiences as the public are able to publish immediate information.
References
BBC News 2006, Blogs making their impact felt, Technology, 5 May, viewed 7 January 2011, <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/4976276.stm>
Kelly, F 2004, ‘Blogging’, Radio National Breakfast, ABC Radio National, 16 April, viewed 7 January 2011, <http://www.abc.net.au/rn/breakfast/stories/2004/1088524.htm>
Sauers, M P 2006, Blogging and RSS: a librarian’s guide, Information Today, New Jersey
