Many writers are bloggers. This post is for them.
Have you ever wondered the difference between a blog and other forms of web content? What makes a blog a blog? Is it the ability to leave comments? Is a blog more opinionated than other web content? Or, is a blog a blog because it is more personal?
In short, yes — a blog is all these things.
However, some blogs defy convention.
Here are some interesting online discussions and definitions about what a blog is:
I hope that you found these links as useful and interesting as I have. Incidentally, what is the exact definition of a blog? Opinions may vary.
All that I know is that I know a blog when I see one.
Contents (c) Copyright 2007, Laura Spencer. All rights reserved.
10 responses so far ↓
1 Laura // May 4, 2007 at
Hi Yvonne!
I found it an interesting topic because blogging styles vary so much. Some blogs contain posts that are mostly informational (and could double as articles). Others are completely personal and conversational in nature.
I just think it’s interesting to ask where the line is drawn.
Laura
2 Wendy // May 4, 2007 at
This is interesting. I have had a lot of friends ask me this question even after looking at my blogs! lol A lot of blogs look like websites and sometimes it’s hard to explain the difference.
3 Mihaela Lica // May 4, 2007 at
Why do we have to define it anyway? If we must… then a blog is a publishing platform. Or better: a self-publishing platform. 🙂
4 Lisa // May 4, 2007 at
To me a blog is an opportunity to share whatever I feel like sharing at a particular moment with a community of fellow bloggers. It is a place to help others, as well as find support and feedback from people who care and have opinions of their own.
I agree with you, Laura, that styles vary a lot. It seems to me that blogs are as individual and unique as those who write them. They are their very own personal and creative expressions. My blog is a very intimate expression of who I am. I want to share it with all my family and loved ones who care to know who I really am. I express myself on a much more candid level than I ever do in real life. My blog is about what I am most passionate about in life.
5 Deb // May 5, 2007 at
I think blogging is mostly about community. When a blogger writes a post she does so with her audience in mind, in hopes of stirring up discussion. At least that’s what I try to do.
6 Laura // May 5, 2007 at
Hi Wendy, Mihaela, Lisa, and Deb!
I do think that it is sometimes different to tell the difference between a blog and a website. This is especially true if comments are turned off and the posts are more factual than opinionated. I do agree that it is a self-publishing platform, but I don’t think that it’s the only self-publishing platform. Lisa, I think that you are like many people when it comes to being more open than in real life. Deb, I think that blogging can generate a community, but I know that I tend to frequent blogs where I can learn something too.
Good comments!!
7 Gack Ink BYOB // May 7, 2007 at
[…] Writing Thoughts – Laura is discussing what makes a blog a blog. […]
8 Matt Keegan // May 8, 2007 at
I have always thought of a blog as being an online journal. Not necessarily wide open where everyone reads about everything on your heart, but the highlights thereof.
Truly, there is no way to neatly categorize blogs as they defy easy categorization.
9 Laura // May 11, 2007 at
Good point, Matt! Each blogger is in control of his or her own blog, and they make of it what they want to.
Personally, I’m of the philosophy that blogging should be a conversation with some learning thrown in, but I’ve seen blogs with the comments turned off and I have seen blogs that contain only pictures.
10 Is Blogging Journalism? : WritingThoughts // May 23, 2010 at
[…] back when I started this blog I addressed the question of What is a Blog? I posted a stack of definitions for blogging at the time, and most of them are still valid. The one […]