What is a blog?
Posted by Peter Brady on Tue 5th June 2007 at 07:23 AM, Filed in Background
A few years ago I would have given a very simple answer to this question. Afterall, we were all associating blogs with personal diaries.
But in 2007 I think we have to say that the blog as we know it has evolved into something far bigger and more powerful than a humble diary.
Yes the basic infrastructure of a blog is almost the same but the spectrum of uses has certainly widened substantially.
Before I go on to talk about these uses it is important to give the base definition. Here’s my stab at it:
“A Weblog is a web site with the capability to draw upon different pieces of content which can then be presented in a variety of different ways.”
I like my definitions kept short and simple!
The Wikipedia description is a little bit more long winded as you might expect:
“A blog (short for web log) is a website where entries are written in chronological order and displayed in reverse chronological order.
Blogs provide commentary or news on a particular subject such as food, politics, or local news; some function as more personal online diaries. A typical blog combines text, images, and links to other blogs, web pages, and other media related to its topic. The ability for readers to leave comments in an interactive format is an important part of many blogs. Most blogs are primarily textual, although some focus on art (artlog), photographs (photoblog), sketchblog, videos (vlog), music (MP3 blog), or audio (podcasting), and are part of a wider network of social media.
The term “blog” is a portmanteau of the words web and log (Web log). “Blog” can also be used as a verb, meaning to maintain or add content to a blog.”
Umm! It’s a fairly comprehensive definition but I think it underwhelms quite frankly.
These definitions give you a feel for the mechanics of blogging and blogs.
What adds the flesh to the bones is to list the current applications of blogs and blogging. If I leave any out please feel free to let me know which reminds of a great Socrates quote - “I am the wisest man alive, for I know one thing, and that is that I know nothing.” so true!
How are blogs used?
1. Personal diary.
2. Disseminator of information to friends and family.
3. Disseminator of information to the world.
4. Public Relations tool.
5. Research tool.
6. Sounding board for opinions, views, products, theories or just about anything else you care to mention.
7. Test bed for business ideas.
8. Online magazine.
9. Online community.
10. Creating the basis of a book.
11. Marketing and advertising.
12. Earning money!
13. Keeping a video diary or “Vodblog” as I like to call them. Others call them Vlog’s which doesn’t really roll off the tongue in my view.
14. Increasing your search engine presence. I can’t find anything better for SEO.
15. Making friends.
16. Finding love. I don’t know of cupid striking a couple of bloggers, but my hunch is that there might be a fair few out there. Would love to hear any stories.
17. Letting off steam in print. Not usually a good idea, but can be better than blowing a gasket elsewhere!
Some of these maybe overlapping but I wanted to ensure most facets were covered. Nonetheless, I think this list demonstrates that the humble blog of old is now much, much more.
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