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Ms Feverish, who is studying blogs and bloggers posts the eloquent suggestion that blogging is new form of expression - a new personal art form. This post should be required reading for bloggers and blog readers. The blog post /comment structure defines the relationship between blogger and audience - more active and intimate than most conversations between artist and audience, but more hierarchical than a conversation of equals.
I have been talking to the webmaster for my sailloft's site about incorporating a blog. He suggested at forum or set of forums. My experience has been that web based forums, which are, by structure, conversations between (often anonymous) equals, are predominately trivial - not something I want our site to become. It seems to me that the advantage of a blog for our business is that we can set the agenda - while with luck painting a picture of our business as an active and vibrant enterprise - yet allow visitors to enter a conversation with us, something we are as likely to learn from as they are.
If an MSP blog results, loft reports like the last post and other sailmaking trivia will probably move there.
By the way, is it just me, or does anyone else find "blog" an unfortunate locution? For me, it conjures up an unholy combination of "Blob", "Slog", and "Bog" with all the sorry connotations of each. I would love it if someone would invent a more elegant word for this new form. I am afraid I don't have one to offer. Even if I did, I fear it might be too late to turn the tide. Any ideas?
January 4, 2005 in Web/Tech, Weblogs | Permalink
Comments
I dislike the word "blog" for about the same reasons, and likewise the unfortunate neologism "blogroll" which sounds too much like "bogroll," which I think is British slang for a roll of toilet paper - not the connotation its users are going for, I think.
Posted by: pjm | Jan 4, 2005 9:47:34 PM
I agree that "blog" is a very ugly word. But as you suggest, it's probably too late to turn the tide. I recall that George Wallace of A Fool in the Forest once promised not to use the word on his site, and came up with some alternative, but I can't find the post. He uses "weblog" though.
I suppose there are other ugly words that we've grown used to as they are incorporated into the language. I've always used the word "blog" on my blog, ugly or not. I'm getting used to it.
I've never liked the word "cookie" though, for some reason. Something that happened to me in my childhood I guess.
Posted by: Evan | Jan 4, 2005 10:21:21 PM
