When is a Blog, A Blog?

Ethan Zuckerman, of wonderful program Global Voices Online, made an interesting observation at a recent Berkman lunch series which I will get to in a minute but first the context. Christopher Lydon and his team from Open Source radio were leading a discussion about their program. Open Source has a blog, Open Source: A public radio program with Christopher Lydon. There is very long and well written “about” section, Why a Blog. It says:

“Open Source will not be a show about blogs. It will use blogs to be a show about the world. For this, however, to pull in the people who read and write blogs, to help them tell their stories — and the stories of the people they know — on the radio, we need to give a little, too.”

The blog is used to present topics that will be covered in the show, receive comments, and continue the dialog beyond the 30 minutes of radio air time. The about section concludes with the following:

“More generally, however, a blog is a way of thinking. It’s a way of recording the argument you are having with yourself, admitting that you may be about to be wrong, and ensuring that, when you are wrong, you make your wrongness available as a public record. A blog is Socratic that way; it knows that it does not know. So we begin a blog, as we begin a show, as an act of good faith, a sign that we are working hard to get this right.”

Ethan said they were not doing a blog, but rather an RSS enabled content management system. In other words, they were using blog software to present ideas and collect comments. Ethan explained that most blogs are connected to an ecosystem of other bloggers who engage in online dialog. In the case of the Open Source blog, they announce events, get comments, and provide response. If it was to be really a blog it would need more of Christopher Lydon’s personal perspective and lees neutral journalism.

This raises and very interesting question: What is a blogs? Is a blog a style more than a tool? I have been defining blogs to audiences that are not familiar with them as possessing the following characteristics:

- Simple Web pages designed for frequent updates
- Require little or no coding, require little or no cost – eliminating entry barriers
- Each entry, or post, has its own unique Internet address
- Posts can contain links to other posts or sites
- Blogs can accommodate comments
- Posts are arranged in reverse chronological order
- Posts are placed in searchable archive that can have categories for browsing
- You can subscribe to updates through RSS
- Usually written from personal or individual perspective
- Accessible nature promotes transparency
- It is only the beginning – new features constantly emerging (e.g. audio, video)

These characteristics do include reference to the individual or personal perspective but I would include as a blog The Open Source blog and many other uses than take advantages of the combination of transparency with a searchable archive that blogs offer. I think that we should be inclusive and look for many other innovative uses of the qualities that blogs offer. We may then decide not to call them blogs but I think the labels are less important than opening up the conversations.

What do you think makes a blog, a blog?

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