What is a blog?
This may sound like a crazy question but hear me out. National news sites look like blogs. They have authors, comments, RSS and all DNA of a blog. However they are a online newspaper. There are millions of sites that take feeds and call them posts. They also get comments etc. There are sites that just publish voucher codes with no little or no editorial. What is the TRUE definition of a blog?
Submitted by SeededBuzz on 23rd Apr
This is a fantastic question and I love it. Mostly because there's this assumption that a blog is...well a blog - whatever that may be and no one questions anything it at all or maybe we've just not got around to it yet.
So here's my theory and answer to your question, which you are free to consider or not.
The true definition of the term 'blog' came from the word weblog (Jorn Barger) and the word 'blog' was coined by Peter Merholz, who split the word (as a clever play on the word) to 'we blog' in his sidebar at his own blog.
Thereafter it was used as both a verb and a noun and eventually became part of our mainstream language and understanding and for all intents an purposes a blog is a place that you can gain some kind of information from, comment on that information and share it.
The main origin I can see for a blog, is more of a personal diary really, which has been developed into what we see today as a blog, but back in the day was usually a personal account, thoughts about the world and events that people could connect with.
The second part of your question I liken to the development in films from their inception to what we know of them today.
You can have personal blogs, photoblogs, newsblogs, genre specific blogs and goodness knows how many more, but like film they all have the same core elements.
Your comment on the online newspaper is an interesting angle too - as there are those who are participatory journalists (not part of the mainstream) and it could be said that we are responsible for how they look and how we interact with them, irrespective of whether they are newspapers or someone's blog about new technology.
Personally I don't believe that a site that takes only feeds from other sites is really a blog - maybe it's a psuedo blog and is designed to make us think it's something that it isn't and indeed if something is offering voucher codes and no editorial then it is not a blog in my mind at all.
There does need to be some kind of human 'warts and all' element to it - something that I believe Chris Brogan has spoken of.
I hope this is of some use!
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