A Blog Is...

7 comments

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1. (name not saved), December 13, 2003

   I also struggle trying to explain blogging. I think that this definition is a good start, but most bloggers are referring to the end result (the website) when they refer to their blog. So, just calling it a tool does not accurately describe it to non bloggers.
   I like this definition - "A blog is a website with built in tools that make it easy to update on a regular basis"

2. (name not saved), December 16, 2003

   Well, I guess there needs to be distinctly different terms to describe the tool and the resulting web site. When people hear the word "blog," they think of a specific type of content -- which is more a result of what type of people become early adopters (i.e. the current users of these tools) than limitations imposed on the content by the tool. If "blog" is the correct way to describe this type of content, then I don't think it's the right term for the tool. After all, the format of a weblog is essentially the same as that of almost all online newspapers -- but they're not called blogs. Then again "Content Management System" makes the listener's eyes glaze over (if not adopting the rabbit-in-the-headlights look).

3. (name not saved), December 16, 2003

   The description should also draw limits that implicitly acknowledge what the tool is not good for -- the usefulness/clarity of a definition is a result of how much it excludes.
   Blogware is for building one type of web site and not another -- but the types are not defined by the content. e.g. It's not for building an e-commerce site with a shopping cart. It's not for building a brochureware site, or most other types of sites that are infrequently updated.
   It's the best option for a site where new content is added regularly, and the effect should be cumulative (you want the older content to remain available -- it's not for the tool for frequent updates where "updating" means "replacing the old content with the new content"). The most basic term that seems to describe this activity is "online publishing." What I've been saying is: Blogware is the tool for publishing almost anything online.

4. (name not saved), December 17, 2003

   In any case, a blog-as-in-the-type-of-website is not what we're selling when we sell blogware. To have this perception in customer's minds is like selling a word processor and having people think it can only be used for writing fiction.

5. (name not saved), December 17, 2003

   Yes, I think its more useful to separate the definition of "a blog" and that of "Blogware".
   In my mind, one is a website and the other is a tool that gets used to publish a website. Although I do this in my original statement, it would be fruitless to try and change that.

6. (name not saved), December 18, 2003

   But the name "blogware" implies that it's a tool for making blogs -- it would be nice to unhook it from that concept all together. Perhaps the next logical step in the explulsion of blog-jargon? I guess it's easier to deal with a product with an opaque name (as most products do have) than a feature with an opaque name. But I'm still going to have to explain what a blog is and it really doesn't matter what a blog is -- the point is what you (the customer) can do with this tool.
   Then again, I guess the reseller can now customize the header and the url so I can make the word blogware disappear all by myself if I want to, and blogware is probably an easy way to communicate to the resellers what this product is all about.

7. (name not saved), January 2, 2004

   Of course, you are right. My secret wish is that people would just talk about their websites and talk about the tools that they use separately. The term "blog" sucks and I wish it would go away.
   And from now on, I'll refrain from redefining it until it does. ;)