Blogs- Of Classifications and Communities

Classified to your liking!
Blogs can be classified into a range of various genres. Technorati.com (2008) has classified blogs in various categories such as:

• Entertainment - Gaming, Music and Television
• Lifestyle - Art, Pets and Travel
  
• Sports - Badminton, Football and Baseball
• Business - Advertising and Economy
  
• Politics - Foreign Policy and Independent
  
• Technology - Computers, Gadgets and Web 2.0
  

Netizens, basically reads or creates their own blogs to match their own interests.

The Blogging Communities
First of all what is a blogging community? Vinson (2006) suggests that it is a group of people that has the same interests and are bound together by that interest. They do not have a specific place for themselves, hence the sense of community comes from the communications or interactions with the readers and across numerous blogs. The blogging community can be built and improved through various ways. According to Chromatic (2002), the most vital thing to take account of when building a blogging community is the "purpose" of the blog.He says that blogs without a goal or aim will confuse readers or users, thus a simpler way to do it is to make the site as simple as possible as to not confuse the readers, and evade adding anything that makes users or readers say "rubbish"!

Besides that, Chromatic also explains the need of attracting the users. The basic promotional approaches used constantly consists of search engines, and submitting links to other websites. Usually, chromatic says, that at least one of your active user will spread the word about your blog, thus attracting other readers as well! In short, there are many other ways to build a blogging community. Patrick O' Neil (2008), the Professor and Chair of the Department of Politics and Government at the University of Puget Sound, for example uses a blog (and other social software tools) to create a community for departmental alumni, students and the faculty. In a recent video, he describes the methods he used to create a (blogging) community. (Look below for full interview session!)





There are plenty of blogging communities. Possibly the most interesting and somewhat popular blogging community is Xanga, which is basically a social networking site, where bloggers could meet with other bloggers! They can then upload and share pictures, videos and basically keep in touch with friends. (Roeder, 2009)


Reference:

Roeder, L 2009, What is Xanga? What does Xanga have to offer?, About.com, viewed 14th June 2009, <http://personalweb.about.com/od/xangacom/a/whatisxanga.htm>

Chromatic, 2002, Building Online Communities, O'Reilly.com, viewed 14th June 2009,

Using a Blog to Build Community with Students and Alumni 2008, Digital Teaching showcase, viewed 14th June 2009

Technorati 2008, Blog Directory, viewed 14th june 2009
<http://technorati.com/blogs/directory>

Vinson J 2006, Blogging and Communities, viewed 14th june 2009
<http://blog.jackvinson.com/archives/2006/06/26/blogging_and_communities.html>