Rise of the mobile video blog

Video blogging has moving from webcam and onto the mobile phones nowadays. Mobile video blogging has become a familiar sight which provides convenient to the users. It is possible to do onboard editing by adding text, voice track and then directly send it over video sharing website such as YouTube, Facebook and ShoZu, without the need of transferring all over to computer (Simmons 2008).

Mobile Vidoe Blogging
Source: Google Image

Mobile Video blogging ease the communication of the society by high speed and convenient features where users can post up the video anywhere, anytime. However, there is limitation of the increasing dominant of mobile video blogging as some of them are against the ethical principles where unhealthy and irrelevant video are posted up.

Mobile video blogging is communicated to the publics through a synchronization of modes which incorporate spoken or writing language, moving images, music and sounds. This is known as multimodal. As stated in Walsh (2006), multimodal can ease the readers to understand and interpret the message better than monomodal. In addition, the combinations of the texts, images and sounds can afford readers with better information than either one alone. According to Kress and Van Leeuwen (2006), verbal and visual need to support each other in order to reach a definite meaning in interpretation and deliver it effectively to the readers.

Further, the effectiveness of citizen journalism in providing information at speed is surprisingly out of expectation. Referring to McShea (2009), media was not the main stream of getting first hand information while it was the blogosphere and eye witness accounts loaded up to the web on Facebook, blogs and YouTube videos. This can show the effectiveness and how powerful mobile video blogging is nowadays.

After looking at the benefits mobile video blogging, the negative issue needs to be emphasizing too. The ethical issue which violated the communication is concerned by the publics and government nowadays. For example, Chinese government has banned its citizens from videos from YouTube to prevent the spread of harmful information and for national security (Oates 2009). In March 2008, China blocked YouTube during the riots in Tibet as videos which carry unacceptable political issues have been posted up (cnn.com 2009).

To read more about ‘Why China banned YouTube, visit cnn.com. http://edition.cnn.com/2009/TECH/ptech/03/25/youtube.china/

As conclusion, mobile video blogging provides us with high speed and convenient communication on the net which fully utilize multimodality in delivering messages. The effectiveness of citizen journalism in providing information at speed is rather fast too. However, the limitation such as ethical issues needs to be taken into consideration to prevent the spread of harmful information.

Referencing

Cnn.com 2009, YouTube blocked in China, viewed 11^th June 2009, http://edition.cnn.com/2009/TECH/ptech/03/25/youtube.china/.

Kress, G, & van Leeuwen, T 2006, ‘The semiotic landscape: language and visual communication’, Reading images, Chapter 1.

McShea, K 2009, What the "Purple Tunnel of Doom" Teaches Us About Crisis Communications, Emerald Strategies, Inc, viewed 11^th June 2009, http://www.emeraldstrategies.net/buzz/articles/2009/200901-purple-tunnel-of-doom-and-crisis-communications.htm.

Oates, J 2009, China bans YouTube again, The Register, viewed 11^th June 2009, http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/03/24/tibet_china_youtube_ban/.

Simmons, D 2008, Rise of the mobile video blog, bbc news, viewed 11^th June 2009, http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/click_online/7392594.stm.

Walsh, M 2006, ‘Textual shift’: Examining the reading process with print, visual, and multimodal texts,’ Australian Journal of Language and Literacy, vol. 29, no.1, p.24-37.