Key Idea: This topic is a family of online and digital text types — the blog, the website, the social media post, and the transcript. They live on screens, so they share a habit: they work in seconds. Blogs and posts win you with a relatable, informal voice; a website steers your eye and your click through design; a transcript captures real speech so exactly that the ‘um’s and interruptions become evidence. In Paper 1, name the choice and show what it does — the informality is crafted, never careless.
🗝️ The online & digital text types
| Text type | What it's for | Conventions to spot |
|---|---|---|
| Blog | To share, entertain and bond like a friend | Direct address (‘you’, ‘Reader’); chatty fragments; humour/self-mockery; a closing nudge |
| Website | To be scanned, and steer the click | Short headings for skimming; a bright call-to-action button; ‘you’; image/layout hierarchy |
| Social media post | To relate and get shared in seconds | A short punchy caption; image + caption together; hashtags/emojis; a pull to engage |
| Transcript | To capture real speech exactly | Fillers/hesitations (‘um’); interruptions & overlaps; turn length; notes like ‘(pause)’ |
🔍 The one move that scores
Analyse each the same way: name the choice (direct address, a fragment, a bright button, an emoji, an interruption), say its effect (what it makes the reader feel, do, or realise), then reach the so what — the trust it builds, the click it wants, or the character/power it reveals, and who it's for. Two reminders: for a website read the design (biggest = message, button = the click); for a transcript the ‘um’s, pauses and interruptions are the evidence. A label alone scores nothing.
✍️ IB-style worked examples
IB-style question — analyse a blog
Analyse how the blogger builds a friendly voice: “Right. So I decided to grow my own vegetables. Reader, I have killed a cactus. A cactus. But — and I still can't believe I'm typing this — I actually grew a tomato?”
Step by step:
Name the choices: direct address ‘Reader,’, self-mockery ‘I have killed a cactus’, and the surprised fragment ‘I actually grew a tomato?’.
Effect: the address and self-mockery make the writer relatable; the fragments sound like real, unpolished speech, not a how-to guide.
So what: because the writer is honest and funny about failing, we trust them and read on like a friend — the informal voice is crafted, not careless.
‘Reader,’ and the self-mockery ‘I have killed a cactus’, plus the surprised ‘I actually grew a tomato?’, make the writer relatable and honest — so the crafted informal voice builds trust and keeps us reading.
IB-style question — analyse a website
Analyse this animal-shelter homepage: a full-screen photo of a dog at a wire fence, over it the heading “He's been waiting 214 days.” Below, one bright button: “Meet him today.”
Step by step:
Read the design: the full-screen dog + heading ‘waiting 214 days’ comes first, then a single bright button.
Effect: the image and the exact number make the wait feel real and press gentle guilt; the one bright button makes acting feel easy and immediate.
So what: emotion first, then one easy click — the hierarchy removes every reason to hesitate before booking a visit.
The full-screen dog and the precise ‘waiting 214 days’ make the need feel real, and the single bright ‘Meet him today’ button makes acting feel immediate — so the design turns feeling into one easy click.
IB-style question — analyse a transcript
Analyse this transcript: “A: And you're sure you're okay to present on— B: (quickly) Totally. Totally fine. A: —your own? B: (after a pause) …could someone sit near the front?”
Step by step:
Name the speech features: B jumps in with ‘Totally. Totally fine.’, and the note ‘(after a pause) …could someone sit near the front?’ hesitates.
Effect: jumping in sounds eager to seem confident; the pause and the request reveal nerves under the brave front.
So what: the WAY B speaks — not the words alone — reveals someone anxious and quietly asking for support.
B jumping in with ‘Totally. Totally fine.’ sounds forced, while ‘(after a pause) …could someone sit near the front?’ betrays real nerves — so the speech features, not the words, reveal B pretending to be confident while asking for help.
Important: Don't dismiss the informality. A blog's fragments and slang are deliberate (they build trust); a post is never ‘too short to analyse’ (the brevity is the craft — every emoji and hashtag is a choice); a website isn't read top to bottom (analyse the design and the button); and a transcript's ‘um’s and pauses are evidence, not mistakes to tidy away.
Tap each card to check yourself.
Are a blog's fragments and slang mistakes? No — they're deliberate choices that build a relaxed, friendly, trustworthy voice; analyse them as craft.
Why is a website ‘scanned, not read’? Visitors skim headings and images and decide in seconds, so design (hierarchy, buttons) carries most of the persuasion.
Is a social post ‘too short to analyse’? No — brevity is the craft; read image + caption together and analyse why THIS word, emoji and hashtag earn a like or share.
Why keep the ‘um’s and pauses in a transcript? They're evidence — signs of nerves, thinking, uncertainty or power; who interrupts and who is cut off shows who's in control.
What does a website's call-to-action button do? Its colour and placement pull the eye to the one click they want (Buy, Join, Donate) — say what it DOES, don't just name it.
Exam tips
- Every text: name the convention → its effect → the trust, click or character it produces.
- Treat a blog's informality as CRAFTED — analyse the choices, don't call them mistakes.
- For a website, read the design (biggest first, image, button), not just the paragraphs.
- For a post, read image + caption + hashtag together; the brevity is the craft.
- For a transcript, analyse HOW people speak (pauses, fillers, interruptions, turn length).