Blogging Classification and Communities

There are so many types of blogs on the internet, each different not only in their content, but also the style of writing or presentation.

Media analyst, Margaret Simons (2008), says that there are 9 classifications of blogs in terms of content and presentation style:

1. Pamphleteering Blog
2. Digest Blog
3. Advocacy Blog
4. Popular Mechanics Blog (the How to do blog)
5. Exhibition Blog
6. Gatewatcher Blog
7. Diary Blog
8. Advertisement Blog
9. News Blog

Of course, there are other more specific categories in terms of content such as the one on EatonWeb:

1. Celebrity
2. Entertainment
3. Health
4. Money
5. News
6. Politics
7. Religion
8. Education
9. Technology
10. Family
11. Internet
12. Nature
13. Personal
14. Real Estate
15. Travel
16. Science

Blogging communities form when readers and authors have a common interest and are able to interact with each other. Skellie (2007) shares ideas on building a comunity around your blog such as having group chats, hosting a forum on your blog to engage more readers.

Fashion-truth is a popular blogging community that acts between buyers and sellers. It reviews fashion and online clothes boutiqes as well as acts as a community board for users of online shopping in Malaysia. Part of their success lies in allowing their readers to help create content by inviting feedback about their online shopping experiences and scouting for bargains on similar items. Also, as Skellie (2007) suggests, they invite readers to be guest bloggers occasionally by posting their emails on the site for topic discussions.

Reference:

EatonWeb 2008, Browse the Directory, viewed 4 November 2008, http://portal.eatonweb.com/

Simons M 2008, Towards a Taxonomy of blog, Creative Economy, viewed 4 November 2008, http://www.creative.org.au/webboard/results.chtml?filename_num=229836

Skellie 2007, Building a community around your blog, viewed 4 November 2008 http://www.dailyblogtips.com/building-a-community-around-your-blog/.