Definition of Blogging
By Donovan Baldwin
While most people have heard of blogging and have at least SOME concept of a definition of blogging, many have not really thought about the subject.
So, with that in mind, what IS a possible definition of blogging?
While a simple string of words defining the subject may be easy to come up with by most, the broad definition of blogging is something that is very much in flux. As new technologies appear every day redefine what a blog is, what a blog can be, and what a blog should do, the possible definition(s) keep changing.
For quite some time, blogs could commonly be defined as text-based websites that kept records of days, somewhat similar to a captain's log on a sailing ship. In fact, in my first attempt at blogging, I was traveling a great deal and simply started to keep track of what I encountered on the road. This was much like what I had seen others doing with their blogs.
However, this started to change as the initially small group of people who actually kept blogs became more diverse.
The more bloggers began to explore the limits of the medium and of the technology that made it possible, the more the boundaries of what could be called a "blog" expanded.
Today, there are an abundance of photo blogs, and there are even video blogs as well. People blog in every imaginable way about every imaginable subject, it seems.
The explosive growth of mobile blogging devices may well change the definition of blogging entirely by making it possible for bloggers to create even newer kinds of posts as yet unimagined.
Another element of the blogosphere that is starting to redefine blogging is the concept of corporate blogging. As more companies hire writers to keep blogs with the sole purpose of creating positive buzz about their brand, bloggers across the globe are arguing about whether these "manufactured blogs" are really worthy of the name. Perhaps they are simply nothing more than "advertising" in blog form, or maybe they actually serve a purpose in the dissemination of important, or at least interesting, information to a selected demographic.
Between all of these different forces that are constantly expanding and reshaping the blogosphere, it is difficult to imagine that the definition of what is and is not a blog will ever remain fixed for very long. However, for the moment, a blog might be essentially defined as a regularly updated set of sequential webpages containing text, images, video, or combinations of all.
I guess that's as good a definition of blogging as any!
Many people are less interested in the definition of blogging than they are in blogging for cash. All who are interested in THAT aspect of blogging should read Rob Benwell's book, Blogging to the Bank.
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