I agree that genres are still relevant, and particularly in a commercial media context where they can be used to categorise potential audience demographics and therefore advertising potential. I have found the concept of genre to be useful in analysing the relevance of monetised personal blogs. Drawing from Lüders et al. I have approached genres as sociotechnical assemblages that “specify and generalize communication, ensuring coordination of specific practices involving many people, and contributing to the reproduction of social institutions and sectors in society” (Lüders et al. 2010: 950). Although it is true that any particular blog can have a variety of types of writing, they can usually be roughly identified with a particular genre. The usefulness of genre is that they reflect and constitute particular communicative patterns that stabilise particular social contexts. A personal blog aimed at a small group of family and friends uses language and pictures appropriate to maintaining relations amongst those people. When some personal blogs gained a large audience, the bloggers usually toned down some of the more intimate aspects in order to avoid offending family members and so on, and sought to blog about topics that kept the audience present (e.g. more blog posts about how to style one's hair). When they were given the opportunity to make money, the blog posts tended to become more impersonal and oriented around consumption, public events (product launches, parties), and so on. This led to a new genre, the 'lifestyle blog', that reproduces opportunities for localised advertising, marketing opportunities, and so on. New bloggers can see these different genres in operation, and are likely to choose to emulate one or the other, thus demonstrating the relevance of genre to ongoing blogging practices. Lüders, M., L. Prøitz & T. Rasmussen 2010. Emerging personal media genres. New Media & Society 12, 947 -963. All the best, Julian ++++++++++ Blog: www.julianhopkins.net Twitter: @julianhopkins Skype: julhop -----Original Message----- ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Message: 1 Date: Sun, 15 Jan 2012 15:14:39 -0800 (PST) From: "Denise N. Rall" <denrall@yahoo.com> To: Matthew Allen <M.Allen@exchange.curtin.edu.au>, "Air-L@listserv.aoir.org" <Air-L@listserv.aoir.org> Cc: "ravindra.mohabeer@viu.ca" <ravindra.mohabeer@viu.ca> Subject: Re: [Air-L] Are 'categories' the same as 'genres'? Message-ID: <1326669279.63475.YahooMailNeo@web112719.mail.gq1.yahoo.com> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1 As much as I can hardly disagree with a Professor, not to mention a life-time member of AoIR and a memorable past-President, my recent trip to the USA during which I (unfortunately) watched television, I have to say that in the 300 - 600 multi-channel media that tv has become, if anything,? genre is even more pronounced. There are sci-fi channels, sports channels, lifestyle channels, history channels, and one of my country friends leaves his set tuned to the Western Country Riding channel. There is little or no cross-flow. To change channels, one can stay in the genre (sports, etc.) or at the insistence of other family members, switch to another genre (such as a movie channel). While I agree totally that the word genre is perhaps outdated, it appears to drive selection into an increasing narrow version of reality - lifestyle vs. sports, etc. The biggest movie channels, such as HBO would have the opportunity to offer cross-cultural (sic) events such as new dramas, new comedy, and new mini-series that include more than one 'lifestyle' such as gangsters, chic flicks, history fiction (The Tudors) and so on. I am tempted to say the word 'lifestyle' while ridiculous, offers a chance to differentiate between the goth, the nerd, the gangbanger, the preppy, the hipster, the tragic romantic, and so on, might offer a clue to the next generations after X and Y (whatever they are called) as to what genre might mean. Genre indicates multiple things (among others) appropriate beginnings, tone, rhetoric, and endings. Category seems a weak way to cover that richness of terminology. ? Dr Denise N. Rall, Research Assistant, School of Health & Human Sciences Upcoming exhibit: "The Bride as Banquet" The Channon Gallery, The Channon, NSW? Denise N. Rall, Mobile +(61)(0)438 233344 Fax +(61)(0)2 6624 5380 http://www.scu.edu.au/schools/esm/staff/pages/drall/ ________________________________