B-L-O-G, I’ll Tell You What It Means To Me

 

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By Jael Strong

One of history’s greatest difficulties is defining new things.  The internet has expanded our vocabulary by opening a universe of new ideas, tools, and products that only exist because of and for the world wide web.  Blogging is one of those new tools.  While the internet abounds with definitions for this activity, that definition is so multifaceted that individual definition may best apply. What does blogging mean to the blogger? 

What does blogging mean to me?

I think of blogging as an editorial. For me, it is an opportunity to present information and to add my own commentary.  It is a chance for me to quietly spout off.  What is my simple definition for a blog?  A blog is an online venue that allows the writer to present his/her viewpoint paired with evidential facts.

Of course, I recognize that this definition doesn’t fit every blog.   For example, there is a thin line between an editorial blog and an advertising blog.  An editorial blog may lean in one direction as opposed to another (For example, a blog post may lean toward liberalism as opposed to conservatism.).  An advertising blog though is promoting one product at the exclusion of others, often without even acknowledging the competition’s validity. 

There are blogs also that do neither of these things directly.  There are blogs that are truly online diaries, a catalogue of the events in a writer’s life.  There are news blogs that are designed to only inform the reader of what is happening in the world.  Any political, social, or personal leanings are incedental to the blog and not the thrust of the blog.   

So…What is a blog?

There are millions of blogs, just as there are millions of books. “Books” used to be parchment with writing on them.  Then they became hard-covered, bound volumes with printed words on the pages.  Now, we have electronic books.  A blog is like a book.  A blog is a means to an end, something that holds content.  But what it holds is up to the writer and is defined by the writer.

There are of course some key elements to blogs. For instance, they only exist online.  You can’t run to the book store and buy a blog.  You won’t find it on the magazine stand.  Also, the response of readers is essential to a blog.  The interactive nature of blogs makes them so appealing.  Something can hardly be called a blog if the readers aren’t allowed to respond to the blogger. 

Saying a blog has comments is like saying a book has page numbers, or pages for that matter; it doesn’t really provide a definition.  So, tell  us, how do you define your blog?

Jael Strong writes for TheWriteBloggers, a professional blogging service which builds clients’ authority status and net visibility.  She has written both fiction and non-fiction pieces for print and online publications.  She regularly blogs at Freelance Writing Mamas .

Thanks, Jael

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