journal of digital research & publishing - The Sydney eScholarship ...

1 P M J O U R N A L O F D I G I T A L R ESEARCH & P UBLISHING
rising class of professional bloggers (Technorati, 2009). According to the 2009 State of
Blogosphere report, produced annually by Technorati, 28% fell into the general designation
of professional bloggers. This article will focus on fashion blogs.
Fashion blog and Fashion magazine
In essay Gatekeeper and knowledge diffusion in the fashion industry, Huage (2006) stated
that knowledge transmits though “pipeline”. He point out that fashion companies need
deliver information of their recent development and looks of their latest trends though
the “pipeline” to consumers, at the same time, consumers also need the “pipeline” to
receive information. Therefore, according to Huage, “media play an important role in the
information diffusion of new trend style”. This paper will focus on fashion magazine, as
it is part of traditional printed media. Before fashion blog had attracted public attention,
the interpreter power was only hold by few fashion editors (Allen, 2010), Huage (2006)
describes such interpreter as “knowledge gatekeeper”, and they play the role as mediator
between producers and consumers. Editors of mainstream fashion magazines were
gatekeepers of fashion ideas and they had power to interpret what is “in style”. The rising
popularity of fashion blogs has made those fashion bloggers also become “gatekeepers”.
Allan (2010) argued that “the Internet has not revolutionised the way we communicate, the
advance in communication technology has facilitated the evolution of our communication
practice”. In other word, blog provide a conversational two­way communication, and it
is an evolution of one­way communication that was provide by traditional printed media
(magazines). Bloggers as gatekeepers uses their blog as “pipeline” to communicate with
readers and shares a more personal idea of fashion. Because the nature of blog enables
reader to common on blog articles, it engages reader into a personal conversation with
the writer of the blog, which is a more interactive communication compare to magazines.
Magazine editors worked carefully with educated writers, fashion journalists and
professional photographers before they publish any document or visual elements, the
use of langue and meaning of words in communication has discussed by precisely before
the document published (Allen, 2010). Blogs are popular because everyone can express
their opinion through it and share with the public, although blog is media, it is not as
processional as traditional media. Misspelling and evidence of the lack of respect of
conventions of grammar are common mistakes in blog articles. Journalist has to pass
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