On Final Reflections

Producing a Weblog

The journey of production and maintenance of this blog is indeed a valuable experience for me. It all started with an assignment i need to complete for the subject of 'Issues in Publication and Design', where i am required to create a blog of my own and post current issues of media and publication with academic referencing and resources.

At the beginning, i was as blur as a person could be and i had no idea on how to create much less to maintain a blog. Nonetheless, along the way, with the guidance of my lecturer, Ms Jenny Heng and my coursemates, i managed to familiarize myself with intertextuality of weblogging besides incorporating good writing skills and applying publishing and design theories to my work.

What have i learned?

Along the process of blogging, i learned that as sensible web-users, moral and ethics should always be applied to my work. All web-users should always respect the feelings and personal space of others (Patterson & Wilkins 2005, p. 256-257). All internet sites, including personal websites like blogs should always be abiding by the ethics line, where content should be always made neutral to avoid causing discomfort to other web-users (Patterson & Wilkins 2005, p. 256-257). As Walsh (2006, p. 33) explains it, "The way we interpret new text, whether words or images, will then produce new interpretations, new responses and new meanings".

Hence, different people have different perspectives towards the same topic or issue. To avoid any misunderstanding or discomfort to other web-users, all web content are made neutral. As bloggers, before we publish something online, we must consider the implications of our blog content to the wider society. Think before you post.

According to Schriver (1997), text and images complement each other in a way where both coexist together to convey a message to the audience and to enhance the clarity and understanding of the audience. Therefore, besides just words, i included images into my blog posts as well, with captions under them to explain the picture. Walsh (2006, p. 30-31) stated that multimodality of a document helps strengthen the message intended to be conveyed across to the audience. Hence, there are multimodal modes in my blog as well. For instance, there are hyperlinks in it, connecting my blog to other sites, building a network of links.

Credibility and accuracy of information in a useful website as stressed by Lannon (2006, p. 468), is an essential element thus, all acedemic citations and quotes are properly referenced. All pictures taken from the World Wide Web are properly sourced. This is as to avoid issues like copyright infrindgement and defamation.

Skills I Have Acquired

As a blogger, one should have an objective in mind when blogging. To blog without a clear objective is no different from spamming. As an academic blogger, i planned my postings and i researched my information thoroughly. This is to ensure the credibility and accuracy of my content.

All bloggers should be ethical. In that sense, as a blogger, it has become my moral responsibility to respect other cultures and norms of the society. Hence, sensitive issues that might spark misunderstandings are avoided.

Besides that, i learned to incorporate the theories of web design to my work. As it is always easier on the eyes for readers to read a clear and simple looking document as compared to reading a complex one, hence, i made sure that the layout for my blog is simple but still attractive enough to pull in readers.

Conclusion

Blogging has expanded to be one of the largest phenomenon in today's modern society (Tremayne 2007, p. 3), therefore, i certainly believe that blogging is a skill that everyone must equip themselves with. But, there is a right way to do it. For that very reason, i find that the publication and design principles and theories that i have learned from my course, have been of great assistance to me in the overall production of this blog.

Reference List:

1. Lannon, JM 2006, 'Technical Communication', 10th Edition, Pearson Education, USA

2. Patterson, P & Wilkins L 2005, 'Media Ethics: Issues and Cases', McGraw-Hill Higher Education, New York

3. Schriver, KA 1997, 'Dynamics in Document Design: Creating Text For Readers', Wiley Computer Publisher, New York

4. Walsh, M 2006, 'Textual Shifts: Examining The Reading Process With Print, Visual and Multimodal Text', Australian Journal of Language and Literacy, vol. 29, no. 1, p. 24-37

Games: Blood, Gore and Violence

Games: The Introduction

Video games, definitely one of the most recognised form of virtual entertainment ever to be created and introduced into today's modern world. With its user interactive mode and salient images, combined with sound and visual effects, video games are an instant hit with people, especially the youth (Weaver & Carter 2006, p. 319). Introduced to video games at the age of 7 years old, and attracted to its interactivity, i have been playing games ever since. Gaming is also a way to relax my mind and relieve stress.

However, due to its variety of genres and with the advancement of modern technology, we find that, today, video games are constantly being linked to social violence.

Games: The Genres

Changes in the interests of modern society and with the evolution of technology, give rise to the birth of different genres (Neale & Turner 2001, p. 6). There are various kinds of video games, from the action-adventure genre to role-playing to dating stimulation games. The most popular genres being the action-adventure type. Shirato and Yell (1996, p.114) state that "one genre can involve one genre giving way or interupting or blending in with another" while according to Neale & Turner (2001, p. 6), different genres can overlap one another and be hybridised to form a new sub-genres. Thus, we see that from action-adventure, the genre further splits to other violent sub-genres like survival horror, hack and slash and shooting.

Game Mod: [ON] Kill Mod: [ON & READY]

A shooting scene from Resident Evil 4, one of the most violent games of survival horror genre. Survival horror is a genre with horror fiction elements, like the death with blood and gore.

(Picture sourced from: www.mundogamers.com)

Thrill Kill, one of Play Station's most controversial and gruesome game is cancelled before its release and has never been officially published in any region due to its level of violence and gore. In this game, players slash and hack each other to death in the most gruesome and grotesque way where body parts fly off and blood splatters all over the place. However, despite its extreme violence, Thrill Kill remains as one of the most popular underground market item. This game is of fighter cum survial horror genre.

(Picture sourced from: Imageshack)

The number one games of choice for youths these days are those that promotes blood spill, gore and violence.

But why is that so? Why violence? Why the blood and the gore?

According to Weaver and Carter (2006, p. 323), the "intensity of colour, the recently-added-three-dimensional nature of the characters and settings, the speed and variety of movement, as well as the explosions, blood pools and of course the multitidinous forms of bodily multilation" is what that catches the attention of game playes world-wide. For instance, Play Station's Bloody Roar, proudly advertise that you can "maim, crush and devour your enemies in over 200 different ways". (Weaver & Carter 2006, p. 323).

A fighting scene from Bloody Roar

(Picture sourced from: Arcade-History)

As a girl, even though i do not agree to violence neither do i support or promote it in anyway, however, if the designs and interactivity of the game is interesting enough, even i might be drawn to play it. Definitely, the three-dimensional settings of the game, its colourful graphics and the variety of movements the characters have is surely an eye-catching factor, even for me.

Final Fantasy 7: Crisis Core, the beautiful designs and three-dimensional settings of the game is one of its main highlights that attracts game players

(Picture sourced from: Photobucket)

Besides that, with the advance technology we have these days, games can be very realistic with superficial expressions on the characters and even CGI to enhance its gameplay. Therefore, those that wanted to escape reality for awhile and immerse themselves into the virtual reality of cyberspace can do so through playing games (Osgerby 2004, p. 200-201) .

Games and Violence

No matter how interesting and exciting these video games can be, there is no doubt that with such controversial contents, these games highly promotes and expresses violence. Game players, especially game addicts who are constantly in direct contact with these violent genres are very likely to become aggressive themselves. As Kirsh (2006, p. 130-137) puts it, by constantly watching and playing games that contains extreme violence, the level of aggression and anger can be influenced to increase. Another worrisome factor is that most people have the tendency to imitate what they see (Kirsh, 2006, p. 130-137). Hence, playing these kind of games might just implant ideas of torture and violence into the minds of the players, be it directly or indirectly.

A picture of children playing video games

(Picture sourced from BruceOnGames.com)

Solutions To The Problem

According to Shriver (1997, p. 362), document publishers should always consider the interaction between the targeted audience and the product, the causes and effects. In this case, game creators should think of the mental well-being of their targeted audiences first, instead of the profit gained. No matter how in demand these kind of games might be, there should be a limit to how gruesome and violent the content should be.

As a gamer myself, i think that all gamers should be able to judge for themselves the pros and the cons of playing these kind of games. One should be able to differentiate the good from the bad and not be influenced into something bad just because of a temporary exposure to it.

Reference List:

1. Kirsh, SJ 2006, 'Children, Adolescents, and Media Violence: A Critical Look at the Research', Sage Publications, USA

2. Neale S & Turner G 2001, 'Chapter 1, Introduction: What is Genre?', The Television Genre Book, British Film Institute, London, p. 1-7

3. Osgerby, B 2004, 'Youth Media', Routledge, London

4. Schriver, KA 1997, 'Dynamics in Document Design: Creating Text For Readers', Wiley Computer Publisher, New York

5. Shirato, T & Yell, S 1996, 'Communication and Cultural Literacy:An Introduction', Allen & Unwin, New South Wales

6. Weaver, CK & Carter C 2006, 'Critical Readings: Violence and The Media', Open University Press, New York

Blogs: The Dark Side

The Misusage of Blogs

With the diversity of the World Wide Web, just as weblogs can be put to good use like citizen journalistic blogging, these weblogs can also be misused for bad intentions. For instance, some people turned their blogs into hate sites.

Hate sites as defined by the Media Awareness Network are websites that expresses and promotes hate and ill intentions. Common characteristics of these sites include capitalizing on paranoia, freely expressing crude criticism involving racism, sexism, religion and sexuality, exploitation of an individual, organisation or community and lastly, the spreading of smear campaigns.

The intertextuality of online networks actually contributes to the spreading of these hate sites. Multimodal modes like hyperlinks allow web-users to jump from webpage to webpage as well as creating a network of links with other websites (Schriver 1997). Therefore, with these hyperlinks, the spreading of hate messages promoted by a hate site is just a click away. This is why hate sites can indeed be a serious issue as hate messages can be easily scattered and distributed all over the internet within a short period of time.

A screenshot of an example of a hate site

Blogging with evil intentions

Unethical blogging methods like creating hate sites give raise to cyberbullying.

According the article, 'What can stop cyberbullying?' in BBC News, cyberbullying is defined as "the use of information and communications technology, particularly mobile phones and the internet deliberately, to upset someone else." As according to another BBC News article, this problem is growing across the world with the raise of cyber literacy as more young people, having able to obtain access to the internet, computers and even having mobile phones, are using them for ill intentions.

Today, in this modern age of technology, all texts are multimodal text, comprising of a combination of words, images and other visual modes (Walsh 2006, p. 26). Thus, a hate message can be spread through ways and means of blackmails, computer viruses, hate mails, grostesque pictures or videos and even death threats.

An example of a death threat note found in Google

(Picture sourced from: http://boles.com/called/07/jackie1.jpg)

A picture example of what cyberbullying is like

(Picture sourced from: www.uberreview.com)

Would you like it if you are ambushed with disturbing mails and threats to the point where even home does not feel safe anymore? Like the old saying goes, 'do not do unto others what you dont want others to do upon you'.

Robyn, a victim of cyberbullying. She received numerous death threats from her cousin through her mobile phone and computer and had to change her mobile phone number a lot of times to get rid of the threats.

(Picture sourced from: BBC News)

Blogging with ethics

All bloggers belonged to an online social networking system also known as the Blogosphere (Tremayne 2007, p. 2). As users of the internet and community members of the blogosphere, there are certain ethics and rules that we need to abide by (Patterson & Wilkins 2005, p. 256-257). We need to respect the feelings and personal space of other web-users (Patterson & Wilkins 2005, p. 256-257).

Thus, as a blogger, we need to be cautious in the information we put up into our blogs as as to avoide offending anyone's feelings. As Schriver (1997) puts it, decoding of a message is influenced by a person's general knowledge, personal experiences, culture, social awareness and feelings. Different people have different interpretations of the same issue or topic, hence, as ethical bloggers, we need to make sure that the content of our weblogs are neutral. Also, as web-users with ethics, internet sites and weblogs should not be abused in a way where it causes harm and discomfort to other people.

Let's all be friends!

(Picture sourced from Flickr)

Reference list:

1. Cyberbullying 2007, BBC News, viewed on 14 June 2008 at http://www.bbc.co.uk/northyorkshire/content/articles/2007/02/20/txtbullying_feature.shtml

2. Deconstructing Hate Sites 2008, Media Awareness Network, viewed on 13 June 2008 at http://www.media-awareness.ca/english/issues/online_hate/deconst_online_hate.cfm

3. Patterson, P & Wilkins, L 2005, 'Media Ethics: Issues and Cases', Fifth Edition, McGraw-Hill, High Education, New York

4. Schriver, KA 1997, 'Dynamics in Document Design: Creating Text for Readers', Wiley Computer Publisher, New York

5. Tremayne, M 2007, 'Blogging, Citizenship and the Future Media', Routledge, New York

6. Walsh, M 2006, 'Textual Shifts: Examining The Reading Process With Print, Visual and Multimodal Text', Australian Journal of Language and Literacy, vol. 29, no. 1, p. 24-37

7. What Can Stop Cyberbullying? 2007, BBC News, viewed on 14 June 2008 at http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/education/7006326.stm

Journalistic Blogging

An Introduction to Citizen Journalism: Blogger Turned Reporter

In today's modern world where the World Wide Web is at its height of evolution, weblogs are sprouting all over the internet like mushrooms after the rain. Hence, it is not surprising that more blogs are being used for citizen journalism or participatory journalism purposes.

As defined by Lasica (2007), citizen journalism also known as participatory journalism is the act of people or citizens assuming the role of a journalist in gathering, investigating and dissemination information as truthful as possible through small online publications like weblogs.

An example of a citizen journalism website

(Picture sourced from www.vectoreyes.co.uk)

Personal tools like cameras, mobile phones and audio recorders can be use in aiding the collection of information by taking photos and recording videos to support the information gathered (Lasica 2007).

Journalistic tools: Mobile phones, which can be used to take photos to support the information gathered.

(Picture sourced from Google Images)

A cartoon drawing of a 'citizen journalist'

(Picture sourced from: Cartoon Stock)

Blogs as Small Independant News Sites

According to Papacharissi (cited in Tremayne 2007, p. 21), blogs "offer a virtual space where information ignored by the mainstream media can be published." This is because, internet sites like weblogs, where information is presented in various modes, combining text with images, videos, sound effects, animation, navigational bars and hyperlinks is very much preferred by the audiences, compared to the normal print media as stated by Walsh (2006, p. 30). Multimodal text, where words are complemented by images and other modes help enhance the readers clarity and understanding towards a topic (Walsh 2006, p. 26-28).

From an audience's perspective, blogs as small independant news sites are important in reminding the mainstream media that we, as audiences are not passive absorbers of information. This is because not all information presented in the mainstream are fully accurate as some, deemed too controversial or confidential to certain bodies of power like the government are left out on purpose (Tremayne 2007, p. 241-242). This provides us as readers, a two-sided view into a story, the mainstream view and the extra or other side of it, satisfying the needs of the audience. (Lannon 2006 p. 29).

As a college student, i do visit journalistic blogs to read up extra information regarding certain news topics which have not been given proper or full coverage by the mainstream media. For instance, the Altantunya Shariibuu murder case in Malaysia. The mainstream had not reported the case as truthfully as they should as there are obvious loopholes and gaps in the story. This is because there is a possibility that the case is linked to a high government official in Malaysia. Hence, blogs become my second source of information regarding this case.

A screenshot of a blog used for citizen journalism, Mickey Kaus's blog (kausfiles.com)

Jeff Ooi's blog

Jeff Ooi, whose blog, Screenshots is one of the most influential and most visited blogs in Malaysia is well-known for his political blogging. According to a newsletter in Wordpress, Ooi who practices citizen journalism is known for his blog entries on the welfare of Burma citizens where basic human rights are being stripped away by the iron-rulling Junta government.

At a time where the people in Burma were facing the worse ever case of human rights violation and information dissemination is blocked by the Junta military ruling in Burma, Jeff Ooi's journalistic blogging brought light upon their plight to the whole world.

Jeff Ooi, a citizen journalist in Malaysia.

(Picture sourced from Flickr)

Credibility of journalistic blog entries

The credibility of these blogs has always been an issue as citizen journalism increases over the time. According to an Online Journalism Review, the credibility of information in these blogs are questioned as the author of the blogs are mostly normal citizens and not journalism professionals and their news stories might be infiltrated by personal or biased views.

As a solution, Glaser (2004) stated that, independant news sites like OhMyNews of South Korea, made out of an online community of journalistic editors were built to check and confirm the credibility of the news reports that were written by the citizens, before allowing them to be published online. As Lannon (2006, p. 468) puts it, information credibility and accuracy is an essential element in a useful website. This is to ensure the level of reliability of the website or blog itself.

Reference List:

1. Glaser, M 2004, 'The New Voices: Hyperlocal Citizens Media Sites Want You (to Write!)', USC Online Journalism Review, viewed on 12 June 2008 at http://ojr.org/ojr/glaser/1098833871.php

2. Lannon, JM 2006, 'Technical Communication', 10th Edition, Pearson Education, USA

3. Lasica, JD 2007, 'What is Participatory Journalism?', USC Online Journalism Review, viewed on 12 June 2008 at http://www.ojr.org/ojr/workplace/1060217106.php

4. Screenshots 2008, JeffOoi.com, viewed on 12 June 2008 at http://www.jeffooi.com/

5. Tremayne, M 2007, 'Blogging, Citizenship, and the Future of Media', Routledge, New York

6. Walsh, M 2006, 'Textual Shifts: Examining The Reading Process with Print, Visual and Multimodal Texts', Australian Journal of Language and Literacy, vol.29, no.1, p. 24-37

7. Webs@Work 2008, Wordpress, viewed on 10 June 2008 at http://blogswork.wordpress.com/category/journalism/

Wiki vs Briti; A Battle of Credibility Comparison

An Introduction to Wikipedia and Encyclopedia Britannica

As a college student and an internet junkie, the World Wide Web is my ultimate source of information when it comes to research, homework and assignment. Hence, this introduces us to Wikipedia, the 37th most visited website in the internet as reported by the Alexa research service. Reep (2003, p.5) stated that useful contents and effective information distribution attracts audiences to the website. Wikipedia, according to the Associated Press, has 3.7 million articles in 200 languages, all neatly categorised. Therefore, this appeals to me as a suitable site for information gathering. Free for all web-users, 'wiki-ing' information has become a habit.

Wikipedia, is a free online information resource site that relies on volunteers to pen and edit its articles. On the other hand, Encyclopedia Britannica, according to Terdiman (2005) is a well-established, standard-bearer of facts, written by full-time editors and professional contributors who are paid to write.

The official logo of Wikipedia

(Picture sourced from: www.citris-uc.org)

The official logo of Encyclopedia Britannica

(Picture sourced from www.webtraderuk.org.uk)

Why is Wiki doubted of its credibility and accuracy?

Oswald (2005) stated that, Wikipedia's founder, Jimmy Wales himself is a victim of information vandalism due to the fact that any anonymous person can edit articles on Wikipedia. This is because Wikipedia provides open-access to all web-users to contribute information. Wales' biography in Wikipedia turned out to be inaccurate as a result of that obvious flaw. In another case, according to Bergstein (2007), the so-called 'prolific' Wiki contributor, who claimed to be a Professor of Theology has been exposed to be a 24-year-old college dropout, Ryan Jordan.

Jimmy Wales, the founder of Wikipedia

(Picture sourced from the Age)

On the other hand, Encyclopedia Britannica is said to be more credible, as its contributors are all selected diligently and are of professional expertise in their respective fields. These professionals are paid for the job unlike Wiki contributors.


Credibility and Accuracy; Wiki vs Briti

British journal, Nature, conducted a study on the credibility and accuracy of both Wikipedia's and Encyclopedia Britannica's articles. The study found out that Wikipedia is not as accurate as Britannica with an average of 2.92 errors per article for Britannica and 3.86 for Wiki. Overall, Wikipedia has a total of 162 factual errors while Britannica only has 123 mistakes. The accuracy gap between both encyclopedias is quite big. Thus, this sums up to the fact that Encyclopedia Britannica is a more trustworthy medium than Wikipedia.


Problem Solution

Nielsen and Morkes (1997), stated that information credibility is important on all websites, as audiences do not want to be "fed on false facts". Therefore, all information has to be referenced and attributed correctly. On the other hand, Reep (2006, p. 175), stated that a credible website should include "links to any legal warnings, copyright statements or privacy information". Hence, in order to solve the problem of information inaccuracy and credibility on Wikipedia, today, we see that, links to references and bibliographies are also included in its articles.


Reference List:

1. Bergstein, B 2007, 'Wikipedia to seek proof of credentials', Associate Press, viewed on 8 June 2008 at http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17508203/

2. Morkes, J & Nielsen, J 1997, 'Concise, Scannable and Objective: How To Write For The Web', Useit.com, viewed on 8 June 2008 at http://www.useit.com/papers/webwriting/writing.html

3. Oswald, E 2005, 'Wikipedia Credibility Under Fire Again', Beta News, viewed on 10 June 2008 at http://www.betanews.com/article/Wikipedia_Credibility_Under_Fire_Again/1135198368

4. Reep, D 2006, 'Technical Writing', 6th Edition, Pearson Education, New York, p. 5-190

5. Terdiman, D 2005, 'Wikipedia vs Encyclopedia Britannica: An Equal Match?', Silicon.com, viewed on 10 June 2008 at http://networks.silicon.com/webwatch/0,39024667,39155109,00.htm?r=5

6. Wikipedia, Britannica: A Toss Up 2005, Wired.com, viewed on 10 June 2008 at http://www.wired.com/culture/lifestyle/news/2005/12/69844