SpikeTheLobsterBlogging Basics 1: What Is A Blog?
March 13th 2009 14:15
Blogging Basics
After a bit of thought, today sees the first post in another occasional series: this time with the subject of blogging. Surprising as it is to geeks like me, there's a lot of folks out there who are still unfamiliar with this wonderful medium. There's also a lot of folks who'd like to blog, but don't know how to start. That's where Blogging Basics will hopefully be useful.
The series will cover blogging from the very basics (hence the name), looking at what a blog is, different types of blog, how to start one, definitions of terms and so on, right through to questions of style and other techie bits that mean I'll have to go and do some research!
What is a blog?
A blog, or weblog to use the full name, is a frequently-updated web page with (usually) dated entries. Technically speaking, it's different to a traditional web page because of the software that sits behind it. Normal web pages need to be created, checked, then uploaded individually (using FTP or some kind of content management software) onto the server to make them active. Blogging software manages all that for the writer: they simply go to a posting page, type in their content and hit 'publish'. Frequently, visitors are invited to comment on the entries.
The style is very similar to that of a diary and, in reality, the majority of personal blogs are just that: online journals of some kind. Whatever the content of the blog, the important difference is that the site's owner is personally involved: visitors get to know the individual behind the words more than on other forms of web site.
That, in itself, is not enough of a definition, so perhaps it's best to compare a blog to other types of web page. Take an imaginary company's site as an example: it may consist of static pages, product pages, a forum, user content and a blog.
The first two types are rarely confused with a blog. The static pages are traditional web pages where content doesn't change frequently. They may contain contact information, a company profile and other such details. Product pages, although they are updated more frequently, are generally created automatically by some kind of scripting process on the site, which links to the product database. There's no human interaction.
Forums, user content and blogs are the three parts that are sometimes confused. A forum is an area where staff and visitors discuss issues. Someone posts a subject and each response is 'threaded' underneath it, so that the debate can be followed easily. The difference here is mostly in the format: all the posts, be they the first or last, have the same format and the same importance. Any forum member can post the initial entry, too.
User content sites, such as article and review sites, are not blogs, either. Although the format may look very similar - a main piece of writing with comments left by visitors - their intention is different. They are generally built to publish bigger documents, rather than short, diary-style entries and the comments left centre completely around the content instead of the writer and their opinions. They also cater to a huge number of publishing visitors, rather than one individual or a small group.
In practical terms, blogs stand apart from other types of page because of the personal involvement and frequent updates. They have only one author (or small group of writers) that is authorised to publish the initial article. Visitors can leave comments, but they cannot post entries.
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