BLOGOSPHERE: HOW YOUTH PERCEIVED BLOGS CREDIBILITY

Malaysia practice open democracy and would continue to promotedigital democracy as internet is an engine for economic growth anda portal to a knowledge society. malaysia which has set its sightson becoming a high-income nation in nine years had one of theliveliest and least controlled blogosphere in the world. bloggers arenot only limited to adult political specialists or amateur journalists,but also in the world of youths, where blogs offer an outlet forpersonal expressions and reflection, as well as way to communicateand connect with others. the overabundance of informationavailable online, coupled with the heavy reliance on the internetby information-seekers raises the issue of the credibility or qualityof blogs found online. questions and concerns about credibilitystems from the fact that internet and digitization technologies havelowered the cost of information dissemination while increasingthe accessibility to information. using quantitative approach,this paper aims to present some findings in relation to the youth’sperception on the credibility of blogs. considering the wide usageof blogs and its influences among malaysian internet users, thesesurveys while by no means comprehensive, gives a preliminaryidea of the dynamism of the blogosphere in malaysia and mayexplain how to assess the credibility of online information.