Reflections on my blogging experience – 14 June 2008

13 weeks ago I began a new experience – creating a blog for IPD. The blog helped me to consider issues in publication and design and implications of media issues and new technologies.

Whilst I don’t think my writing style lends itself to be entertaining, blogging has given me a voice and an opportunity to raise points of interest without necessarily replying on a response. Email has made us all expect instantaneous response and when we don’t get it, we wonder if the addressee has in fact received our email. Blogging has been fun, posting and waiting, checking to see a response – not getting any but this doesn’t mean nobody has read the post just that somebody may have read the post and be considering their thoughts.

As a big fan of journal writing I can see where an anonymous blog could be used and could become part of my everyday life.

Thanks IPD for introducing me to the world of blogging – I’ll be a keen participator from here on I think!

When was the last time you wrote a handwritten letter? – 14 June 2008

A program on Life Matters on ABC Radio National which was first broadcast on November 30, 2007 led me to consider when was the last time I wrote a handwritten letter. The funny thing is on Friday I hand wrote a greeting card and was so annoyed because I mis-spelt a word and couldn’t go back and correct it that I had to go out and buy another card.

This experience made me think about the changing nature of handwriting. With most of our written communication nowadays taking place via electronic modes be it computers or mobile phones, our handwriting is often limited to short notes, shopping lists and greeting cards.

When was the last time you handwrote a letter? When I shut down my computer I’m going to write a handwritten letter to my Nanna – perhaps because she is one of the few who wouldn’t think it was strange to receive a handwritten letter!

http://www.abc.net.au/rn/lifematters/stories/2008/2188818.htm

A Living Library – 9 June 2008

I came across a really interesting website which is a living library.

“Issuu is the place for online publications: Magazines, catalogs, documents, and stuff you'd normally find on print. It's the place where YOU become the publisher: Upload a document, it's fast, easy, and totally FREE. Find and comment on thousands of great publications. Join a living library, where anyone finds publications about anything and share them with friends”

http://issuu.com/

This looks like a great concept and looks to me like an extension to the idea of a blog. You can post your own designs and documents and have your friends, peers and even strangers comment on them. It is another form of collaboration and yet another example of how technology is encouraging ‘online’ communities.

In my professional career I think that the living library concept could be of value and could help to increase usability of the documents I may one day produce. It is a skill to step away from something you are so close to and put yourself in the shoes of your audience so, this site may be of assistance in doing this.

Is there room in professional communication for emoticons? – 9 June 2008

Often people will talk about the blunt email they received and you will hear people talk about how someone misinterpreted the email they sent. Emoticons are increasingly being used to give this some context. To add emotion and give the reader of the email an idea of how the message is intended – whether it be sad, happy, joking etc people are using emoticons. Faces created originally through the use of symbols and now special characters themselves.

Is there room for these emoticons in professional communication? I’m not sure that there is. If I received an email from my Chief Executive with a smiley face at the end of it, I would interpret the message less seriously and it would diminish the authority of the sender. To me emoticons are for use in emails to friends and we should continue to maintain a level of formality in a professional context.

The Media Report 18 October 2007 featured a story on Emoticons and email etiquette and I found an interesting transcript to read.

http://www.abc.net.au/rn/mediareport/stories/2007/2064342.htm

Another website on the topic of email etiquette is
http://www.netmanners.com/

Technology is affecting basic communication skills – 7 June 2008

After receiving a text message from my 16 year old niece which was written in text speak I realized that I wasn’t the young hip aunty I thought I was. The message which was full of abbreviations, dropped vowels and ‘mis-spelt’ shortened words immediately made me think that technology was failing the younger generation. My mum constantly says how young people these days can’t spell, phonetics aren’t taught in school and lots of young people lack face to face communication skills. I agree with her but at the same time am quick to point out that times have changed. Technology is changing everyday and there are two choices – jump on board for the ride or get left behind.

So to decipher the message I called my niece and asked her to explain the message – so simple and logical….why didn’t I see it! Why couldn’t I get it? A sign of the times I was raised in. I now look to include emoticons and text speak when engaging in text messages with younger people.

What this experience taught me is to stop and consider that perhaps there is nothing wrong with text speak – it is merely communication changing and that there is no right or wrong just differences.

LOL – C u 2moz!

The link below is to an article which discusses texting and its impact on spelling.
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4188/is_20060601/ai_n16461902

Eventually books will disappear completely as they become superseded by electronic media and therefore irrelevant – 6 June 2008

After listening to a radio interview about publishing’s carbon footprint, it led me to consider e-books and the impact they may have. Whilst I don’t think they will replace hard copy books entirely, I do think that one day they will occupy a place in society. There will be specific hand held, lightweight devices that will appeal to those who like to read without having to carry around a heavy, bulky book.

Some people thought that radio would disappear with the introduction of TV but as we have seen each platform has continued to co-exist. This will be the same as books and e-books. For as long as the web cannot be relied upon as a completely credible source of information (wikipedia etc) due to the fact that content can be published, changed and put on by anyone around the globe without any real authority, books of acknowledged authors and theorists will continue to exist.

Have you ever sat next to someone on the bus who is reading a paper? I know I have and have felt like the person next to me is taking up a lot more than their allocated space! Perhaps an e-reading device would solve this problem and give us all our allocated space back?

New era of publishing and broadcasting – 4 June 2008

I looked at the Guardian’s blog for content to discuss in this post. You will note that the BBC is looking at content on portable viewing devices such as iPhones as viewers increasingly demand content that can be viewed anywhere at anytime. I put it to you that users are driving the rapid conversion to emerging media technologies. The phrase word of mouth may next be coined power of text or something similar to encapsulated the essence of this sort of viral marketing which will see the boundaries being dramatically reduced and more content accessed globally.

The link below to the blog on the Guardian website highlights the post talking about new media platforms and new eras of broadcasting and publishing.

http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/digitalcontent/2008/06/why_the_new_media_world_looks.html