Introduction

There are many ways to which people choose to blog. According to blogger.com, their definition of a blog is a personal diary, a daily pulpit, a collaborative space, a political soapbox, a breaking-news outlet, a collection of links or even one’s personal thoughts about the world. (Source: blogger.com)

In my opinion, one of the purposes as to why people blog is because, blogging is a medium where people can teach and learn from one another. Some use the blogs to ask stimulating questions, promote sharing of knowledge or even encourage alternative new ideas.

According to a recent study by "Blogging Asia: A Windows Live Report", significantly, about 50 per cent of bloggers in Malaysia use the medium to express their thoughts, mean while 63 per cent are interested towards the entertainment world. However, about 49 per cent of the bloggers used it as a channel to exchange their viewpoints among family and friends. Nevertheless, Malaysian bloggers share the same interest as most Asians where their blogs are mostly on technology, travel and music.

The significant reason as to why most people choose to blog and what they get out of it is because most blogs are used to share information which includes important data such as links to other resources, opinions, statistics, and much more. This then might be a useful source for most people who share a common interest or in a professional business to exchange ideas. In addition some blogs contains audio, video, and visuals elements to add up the interest.

Some classification of the different topics of blogs might include, sports, fashion, politics and etc. While some of the examples of media type might be sketchlog, tumblelogs, linklog or the vlog. Some of the elements which one must look at is the audiences and the purpose and outcomes.

It is important to look at the audiences for a blog. For example if a blog is regarding a school. Then one should know who the primary and secondary audiences are. Some of the primary example of this might be the students themselves or the teachers. Secondary audiences might be the parents or other local community members.

Some outcomes of blogging could cause interaction. Some blogs are focused on communicating between the person posting the entry and those who are commenting. The responses however may include expanded ideas, additional information or even critiques.

It is vital for a person who blog to belong in a certain community. This community is formed by a shared passion or interest. Many of times some e-mails have been sent to friends with the address of a particularly interesting web page but somehow end up sending it to the wrong person who don’t share the same interest.

An example of this would be a person who is so enthusiastic about fashion and then sent the email about the recent clothing label to a person who is interested in politics instead. Hence, a blogging community is essential because wouldn't it be good to get if one owns a web page where they could publish their comments of interest, making it a daily journal of thoughts and ideas.

There are many weblog’s great benefits according to Jakob Nielsen. One of it is that it actually frees a person from "Web design." It’s very simple when one writes a paragraph, clicks a button, and it's posted on the Internet. There is no need for visual design, page design, or any programming or server maintenance. Second benefit is that they're a Web-native content genre which relies on link and short postings. This is when someone finds something interesting on the other site and link to it. (Nielsen, J. 2005)

Newest trends of media publishing is the electronic publishing that is distinguished by creativity which is the birth of new forms of publishing media that borrow from the elements of the first two phases but somehow brings users to the new and original ways of communicating. (Nisenholtz, 2004)

Some examples includes from books to video games which creates profitable industries, and generate a new collective class of creative people to produce the content. (Nisenholtz, 2004) Thus, in my opinion on weblogging, it is just another tool for users to type in entries on their personal beliefs intended for a handful of friends and families to read it and post up comments which could be expressive and delight the user on an emotional level.