Styleforum › Forums › General › General Chat › How do I explain what a blog is: TO MY MOTHER
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:

How do I explain what a blog is: TO MY MOTHER

post #1 of 14
5/27/10 at 12:36pm
Thread Starter 
I suppose some of you have been in this position before. My mother asked me what a blog was. She is a kind, well-meaning lady, but I was unable to explain it succinctly in language she can understand.

Perhaps I should have just said "public scrap book" or something.

Anyway, if anyone has a good, simple explanation and some examples that would be great. Most of the blogs I read have a very narrow focus (like tax law, or the city I live in).
Reply
Reply
post #2 of 14
5/27/10 at 12:45pm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blog?
Reply
Reply
post #3 of 14
5/27/10 at 12:46pm
Your own inane newspaper column -- on the internet -- that no one actually reads.
Reply
Reply
post #4 of 14
5/27/10 at 12:46pm
public diary, ppl
Reply
Reply
post #5 of 14
5/27/10 at 12:47pm
would probably help if you explained the etymology (weblog) altho dont blame me if that just confuses things further
Reply
Reply
post #6 of 14
5/27/10 at 12:56pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by oman View Post
would probably help if you explained the etymology (weblog)

altho dont blame me if that just confuses things further

Tried that. It did.
Reply
Reply
post #7 of 14
5/27/10 at 1:09pm
This sounds like a Microsoft-style interview question. I was once asked "Explain to your grandmother how a database index works."
Reply
Reply
post #8 of 14
5/27/10 at 1:19pm
A blog is a public diary where entries mostly take the form of short essays combining the written word with multimedia, usually concerning an overarching topic that the blog discusses at lenght.
Reply
Reply
post #9 of 14
5/27/10 at 1:22pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Fuuma View Post
A blog is a public diary where entries mostly take the form of short essays combining the written word with multimedia, usually concerning an overarching topic that the blog discusses at lenght.

See, the problem with nailing down a definition of the blog using the diary as a point of comparison is that not all blogs are personal or diary-like. There are many types of blogs: some of them large and commercial, taking their cues from news sites; some of them are personal and diary-esque; some of them are aggregations or feeds of other blogs; some of them are aggregations of one's own status updates (Twitter is, in this sense, a "blogging" site); some of them have a single author; some of them have multiple authors and staff; etc.

Otherwise, I agree with you.
Reply
Reply
post #10 of 14
5/27/10 at 1:28pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ataturk View Post
Your own inane newspaper column -- on the internet -- that no one actually reads.

This.
Reply
Reply
post #11 of 14
5/27/10 at 1:29pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Arrogant Bastard View Post
See, the problem with nailing down a definition of the blog using the diary as a point of comparison is that not all blogs are personal or diary-like. There are many types of blogs: some of them large and commercial, taking their cues from news sites; some of them are personal and diary-esque; some of them are aggregations or feeds of other blogs; some of them are aggregations of one's own status updates (Twitter is, in this sense, a "blogging" site); some of them have a single author; some of them have multiple authors and staff; etc.

Otherwise, I agree with you.


I just relayed the basic idea and how they started. Further developments and subcategories can be added easily once you relay the main concept (multiples entries, actual diaries, news aggregation, etc).
Reply
Reply
post #12 of 14
5/27/10 at 1:50pm
Usually somewhere between an opionion column in a newspaper and a public diary. But with no editorial oversite, and any idiot can have one.
Reply
Reply
post #13 of 14
5/27/10 at 3:51pm
People publishing their diaries on the Internet.
Reply
Reply
post #14 of 14
5/27/10 at 4:39pm
The internet is not a big truck
Reply
Reply
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:
  Return Home
  Back to Forum: General Chat
Styleforum › Forums › General › General Chat › How do I explain what a blog is: TO MY MOTHER