B. Classification of blogs & opinion about the most appropriate classification approach.

A good classification system is called for due to the fact that  blogs are recognised to be unstable as they remain to mutate and hybridise (Subramaniam and Tan 2009), and that a plethora of blogs have burgeoned so vastly. In my opinion, ‘good’ means holistic, and answers the questions ‘what’ and ‘why’.

One of the blog classification types I am familiar with is by media type. This is because it is extremely straightforward – a blog that features videos is called a videolog or vlog, and that which features photos is called a photolog.

Youtube : One of the mediums used for vlogging.
Photo source : Google Images

An example of photoblog. Click for source.

Despite its simplicity, I think that this classifications system is inferior to Margaret Simons’ classification. A glaring fact is that the list of media types need to be updated as new technologies emerge – hence, it is not a holistic system. It also does not tell you what the subject and the purpose of the blog is. Simons’ classification, on the other hand, meets all 3 criteria of a good system.

However, Simons has classified blogs into 9 types which leans on the larger side (Simons 2008). Classifications that are so large could hinder rather than guide and cause confusion as there may be overlaps. For example, Pamphleteering and Advocacy are similar as both are used to push a particular point of view.

Reference List
1. Simons, M 2008, A taxonomy of blogs, viewed 19 April 2010, <http://www.abc.net.au/rn/mediareport/stories/2008/2372882.htm#transcript>.

2. Subramaniam, R and Tan, LWH 2009, Handbook of research on new media literacy at the K-12 level: Issues and Challenges Volume 1, viewed 19 April 2010, <http://books.google.com.my/books?id=wkVednJXY4gC&pg=PA6&dq=taxonomy+of+blogs&hl=en&ei=R3nNS_mIB5LDrAfjyal7&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CDQQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=taxonomy%20of%20blogs&f=false>.