With a blog title of “Visible Procrastinations” you know that sometime you are in for some investigation of personal opinion, a bit like looking into the Pensieve from the Harry Potter books.
After some discussions during the last week or so todays question is “What is a blog?” Why this question? I have heard “That is not a blog because it doesn’t have feature-X” a few times over the last fortnight. Personally, I don’t think the blogging software defines the blog but makes blogging available to people who otherwise wouldn’t/couldn’t publish.
[...] In early 1999 Brigitte Eaton compiled a list of every weblog she knew about and created the Eatonweb Portal. Brig evaluated all submissions by a simple criterion: that the site consist of dated entries. Webloggers debated what was and what was not a weblog, but since the Eatonweb Portal was the most complete listing of weblogs available, Brig’s inclusive definition prevailed. [...]
– Rebecca Blood (2000) weblogs: a history and perspective [1]
Starting from the basics; a Blog = Web log
Blog
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia [2]
A blog is a website where entries are made in journal style and displayed in a reverse chronological order.
Blogs often 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. Most blogs are primarily textual although some focus on photographs (photoblog), videos (vlog), or audio (podcasting), and are part of a wider network of social media.
The term “blog” is a contraction of “Web log.” “Blog” can also be used as a verb, meaning to maintain or add content to a blog.
Looking into some more semantics;
- Log = A journal file that reports connections to a server; A ships written record.
- Log File = A file that records events
- Web log = An online journal/written record.
- Journal = A private journal is usually an elaborated diary.
Journal
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia [5]
A journal (through French from late Latin diurnalis, daily) has several related meanings:
* a daily record of events or business; a private journal is usually referred to as a diary.
…
This would mean that a ‘Blog’ is an online diary, hence a daily written record of (usually personal) experiences and observations.
Note that at this point there is NO requirement for Movable Type, syndication (RSS), a comment system, permalinks, concentrator pinging, ranking systems, calendars, blog rolls, add_your_technical_requirement_here, or any other functions.
[...] The blogger, by virtue of simply writing down whatever is on his mind, will be confronted with his own thoughts and opinions. Blogging every day, he will become a more confident writer. A community of 100 or 20 or 3 people may spring up around the public record of his thoughts. Being met with friendly voices, he may gain more confidence in his view of the world; he may begin to experiment with longer forms of writing, to play with haiku, or to begin a creative project–one that he would have dismissed as being inconsequential or doubted he could complete only a few months before.
As he enunciates his opinions daily, this new awareness of his inner life may develop into a trust in his own perspective. His own reactions–to a poem, to other people, and, yes, to the media–will carry more weight with him. Accustomed to expressing his thoughts on his website, he will be able to more fully articulate his opinions to himself and others. He will become impatient with waiting to see what others think before he decides, and will begin to act in accordance with his inner voice instead. Ideally, he will become less reflexive and more reflective, and find his own opinions and ideas worthy of serious consideration. [...]
– Rebecca Blood (2000) weblogs: a history and perspective [1]
I think a lot of opinion/definition of a Blog is actually a list of features available through modern blogging software. eg. Is a blog still a blog if it doesn’t have comments? I would think an online diary without a comment feature is still a blog.
[...] Weblogs are unique in that only a weblog gives you a publication where your ideas can stand alone without interference. It gives the public writer a kind of relaxation not available in other forms. That might mean that in some sense the “quality” of the writing is different, but I would not say lower, assuming the purpose of writing is to inform, not to impress. I would choose a few spelling or grammatical errors over factual errors. [...]
– Dave Winer (2003) What makes a weblog a weblog? [6]
[1.] weblogs: a history and perspective (07-Sep-2000) [Rebecca Blood]
[2.] Blog [Wikipedia]
[3.] define: blog [Google]
[4.] define: log [Google]
[5.] journal [Wikipedia]
[6.] What makes a weblog a weblog? (23-05-2003) [Weblogs At Harvard Law]
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