“I started a new blog recently,” I volunteer into a conversation during a meeting break yesterday.
“Blog?” asks the friend.
“Hmm. A sort of online daily commentary.”
“A website?” he probes.
“Not exactly a website. More like an online diary. Except that a diary, in the past, was a personal record by the writer, probably only read by him or her. A blog is more for public viewing because the writer posts his or her thoughts and opinions on the Internet and hopes others will read what he or she writes. However, most blogs only have a readership of one or two people. That writer, and his or her mother. Mostly, not even the mother.”
“So, how is a website different from a blog? In structure?” persists the friend.
“Well a website tends to be one way. A bit didactic, like a teacher lecturing in a classroom. Listeners can ask questions, but in general the info flow is one way. Some people contend that a blog is intended to be like a conversation. Someone writes their opinion and readers leave comments. If the bloggist is famous and gets lots of readers, like thousands, chances are someone will leave a comment augmenting or amplifying, or challenging or questioning what the writer says. Especially if it is a contentious issue.”
“But a conversation is spoken, isn’t it?”
“Well, you can refer to an online exchange as a conversation, but yes, writing comments means the exchanges occur asynchronously, not in real time. The writing often looks like someone is writing as they would speak.
“So a blog becomes like a website. Static?”
“ Well, not really. Usually it is the intention of a website designer to organize information with main topics and subtopics so the visitor can find information quickly. A blog tends to be chronologically linear, that is, the writer writes about one topic one day and usually changes to a completely different topic next day. Much like a newspaper columnist.”
“So you can’t find anything on blogs? They are just random ramblings?”
“Well, some bloggists tag keywords so you can search for something they have written about. But many who are only writing for themselves and their mother are less than rigorous about labeling their content.”
“So it might be a good place to exchange information with others who share your interest?”
“Exactly. Many blogs have links to other similar blogs and bloggists
leave comments on each others blogs so it comes close to a discussion.”
The future is here. It's just not evenly distributed. William Gibson.
Labels: blogs, conversation, diaries, websites, William Gibson
