According to Wikipedia (2008), there are many different types of blogs, each differing in style and content. Wikipedia categorizes them into six types:
1. Personal Blogs
2. Corporate Blogs
3. Question Blogging
4. Blogs by Media Type, i.e.: log, photolog
5. Blogs by Device, ie: moblog
6. Specialised Blogs, ie: fashion blogs, political blogs
Moblogs, www.smartdevicefreeware.com
On the other hand, Margaret Simons, an author and media analyst, seems to classify blogs more specifically. Although her distinction is also based on the style and content, she also focuses on the motive and function of the blog (Simons, 2008). In a nutshell, her classifications of blogs are:
1. Pamphleteering Blogs
2. The Digest Blog
3. The Advocacy Blog
4. The Popular Mechanics Blog
5. The Exhibition Blog
6. The Gatewatcher Blog
7. The Diary
8. The Advertisement
9. The News Blog
Social Semiotics and Blogs
Given the large number and variety of blogs available on the web, it is hard to distinguish between the natures of each blog, especially since the word ‘blog’ itself offer little differentiation (Simons, 2008). One of the best ways to tell them apart is perhaps by looking at the social semiotics behind these blogs. By identifying the field (purpose of the context), tenor (target audience) and mode (how is text structured, writing styles), we will be able to gauge the sort of message each blog contains and therefore sort them out into their respective categories (Schirato and Yell, 2000).
The Blogging Community
The blogging community can be defined as an online social network that links people with a shared common interest through personal blogs. Analysts have identified three forms of blog based communities-the Blogger Centric Community, the Topic Centric Community and the Boundaried Community (White, 2006).
Three forms of blogging community
One of the blogging communities that I have come across is Share Your Story, a site for parents with babies in neonatal intensive care units. It is good example of a Boundaried Community where other tools such as discussion boards, social networking systems and instant messaging built in are part of the overall system (shareyourstory.org, 2008).
www.shareyourstory.org
As a social blogger myself, I can form a blogging community on my personal blog by using tools such as comment form, shout box, tags and permalink that will foster interaction between the readers and I.
Reference List
Blog 2008, Wikipedia, the free encyclopaedia, November 13, viewed 11th November 2008, http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Special:Cite&page=Blog&id=251496721
Schirato, T & S. Yell. 2000, Communication and Cultural Literacy: An Introduction, Allen & Unwin, Australia, Chapter 3, pp. 43-65.
Simons, M. 2008, Towards a taxanomy of blogs, Creative economy.org, September 11, viewed 10th November 2008, http://www.creative.org.au/webboard/results.chtml?filename_num=229836
White, N. 2006, Blogs and Community-launching a new paradigm for online community,The Knowledge Tree, September 2005, 11th ed., viewed 10th November 2008, http://kt.flexiblelearning.net.au/tkt2006/edition-11-editorial/blogs-and-community-%E2%80%93-launching-a-new-paradigm-for-online-community
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