Blog, Blogs, and Blogging, Part 2 of 2
(A Blog is Another Way to Express Our Selves When Writing on the Internet)
What distinguishes a collection of posts from a traditional home page or Web page?
- Primarily it's the reverse-chronological order in which posts appear.
- When a reader visits a weblog, she/he is always confronted with the newest information at the top of the page.
- Having the freshest information at the top of the page does a few things: as readers, it gives a sense of immediacy with no effort on our part.
- We don't have to scan the page, looking for what's new or what's been changed.
- If content has been added since our last visit, it's easy to see as soon as the page loads.
- Weblogs demonstrate that time is important by the very nature in which they present their information.
- As weblog readers, we respond with frequent visits, and we are rewarded with fresh content.
- A weblog post can be identified by the following distinguishing characteristics: a date header, a time stamp, and a permalink.
- Oftentimes the author's name appears beneath each post as well, especially if multiple authors are contributing to one blog.
- If commenting is enabled (giving the reader a form to respond to a specific post) a link to comment will also appear.
- Links, and the accompanying commentary, have often been hailed as the distinguishing characteristic of a weblog.
- The linking that happens through blogging creates the connections that bind us.
- Commentary alone is the province of journals, diaries, and editorial pieces.
- When we talk about weblogs, we're talking about a way of organizing information, independent of its topic.
- What we write about does not define us as bloggers; it's how we write about it (frequently, continuously, peppered with links).
- As bloggers, we're in the middle of, and enjoying, an evolution of communication.
- The traits of weblogs mentioned above will likely change and advance as our tools improve and our technology matures.
The Anatomy of a Post
A Communication Evolution
Meg Hourihan is an independent Web consultant and freelance writer. She is a co-author of the book, We Blog: Publishing Online with Weblogs.
If you want to leave footprints in the sands of time,
don't drag your feet.