Is there really a difference between a web site and a blog? – Pito Salas

Pito Salas has written a useful educational series on blogs. First, he provides some clear distinctions between blogs and web sites with examples in his useful post, Is there really a difference between a site and a blog? Pito sees it as shades of grey and I agree. The basic components of a blog are: Organized as a series of posts; Each post has a title and a body; The most recent post is near the top of the page; There is an RSS or similar feed; There are links to see all the posts by category. It is also generally written in the personal voice of the author or authors. He offers a list of blog books and includes ours so this is appreciated.

Blogs can complement regular web sites and Pito goes on to write about how to put a blog on your web site. Why do this? He writes: “With a blog you get two important add-ons:

1) Instead of a one-shot visit to your site, you will appeal to people who want to subscribe to your blog, giving you an ongoing rather than a one-shot relationship with them.

2) It is now really easy to have a site that is constantly changing and updating. Posting to a blog is so much easier and less formal than fully updating your how page. Your site will be more interesting and dynamic.”

He offers some useful steps to get started with your blog. Then he shows how to add it to your web site and some suggestions to make them appear complementary.

Next, Pito offers tips on keeping up with current affairs through the blogosphere. Main stream media organizations like the New York Times and The New Republic now make much content available through blogs. He also gives a list of more provocative bloggers, as well as other mainstream examples. web 2.0

Comments

[Stephen Downes]

A blog is a type of website. So asking whether there is 'any difference' between blogs and websites is like asking "is there any difference between cats and animals"?

Now when we create the answer to this question, does it really make sense to say that, because of the overlap, there are "shades of grey" between being a cat and being an animal? I wouldn't think so.

Yes, cats complement other animals. But they are still distinct from dogs - quite distinct, with no overlap.