A - Blogs as current phenomenon & benefits to the community

The ubiquity of blogs today is analogous to the pop phenomenon Spice Girls created a decade ago. This proof is in the numbers – there were over 5 million blogs tracked by Technorati in June 2009. Of the 2900 bloggers surveyed by Technorati in 2009, 72% are hobbyists while the remainders are professionals. Findings from the survey conclude that bloggers are predominantly highly educated, affluent, male and between 18-44 years old.

Source : Technorati

In technologically advanced nations like the US, video blogging has become increasingly popular. In the survey, video-blogging comes in second with corporates as the majority of the video-bloggers. Take Michelle Phan, an American blogger who posts how-to-make-up videos, for example. Her popularity has caught Lancome’s eye and the cosmetic brand has made her the official online spokesperson. Most Asian countries, like Malaysia and Singapore prefer posting photos such as Singaporean blogger Dawn Yang.

Screenshots of dawnyang.com

For countries frequently in the political spotlight, blogs serve as a powerful political tool. In Iran where media is restricted, blogs can provide another side of the story and the realities that have been screened by “Big Brother”. Newspapers must obtain license, and majority of the 'key reformist newspapers' are closed down (Usher 2006). Therefore, reformist and opposition journalists proceeded to opening blogs to bypass the press censorship (Usher 2006).

Reference List
1. McLean, J 2009, State of the Blogosphere 2009 Introduction - Page3, viewed 17 April 2010, <http://technorati.com/blogging/article/state-of-the-blogosphere-2009-introduction/page-3/>.

2. Sussman, M 2009, Day 1: Who Are The Bloggers? SOTB 2009 - Page 3, viewed 17 April 2010, <http://technorati.com/blogging/article/day-1-who-are-the-bloggers1/page-3/>.

3. Usher, S 2006, Iran's leaders harness media power, viewed 19 April 2010, <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4804328.stm>.

Bibliography
1. Orwell, G 1949, 1984, Signet Classic, United States of America.