BlogOps

As the title suggests, the prevailing definitions of blogging don't sit well with me. I believe they tell an incomplete story and fail to communicate the the big picture about blogging.

However, their biggest transgression is they don't adequately telegraph the benefits of blogging to the people who stand to benefit most from this disruptive new technology. I found this quote on Google Quote of the Day today, and thought would get us started down this train of thought rather nicely: 

"There are no whole truths; all truths are half-truths. It is trying to treat them as whole truths that plays the devil." - Alfred North Whitehead

Point being--the real truth is all volumes of knowledge and then some.

You may of heard some of the following definitions in your quest to find out more about this whole "blogging thing." If you doubt that the predominating definitions are this substance-less for a second, just search "blogging definitions" in google and check out the top results. However, as you will see, they are all rather flacid definitions for something that's been on the popular mind for a long time, and none of them really make the business case for blogging.

Three prevailing blogging definitions and what they don't say

Tell me if you've heard some of these:

1. "Think of blogs like an online journal" - Almost every blogging definition I've read starts out with these words. Excuse my  lack of excitement but this really get's my goat. Think about it. Literally 90% of the definitions of blogging written for professional audiences attempt to explain blogging in terms of how kids write & consume them. 

2. "Blogs are a new marketing channel"- Ahh... marketing experts at their finest. There are only two kinds of people who use this definition: people who are pretending to know anything about blogs and real, in-the-trenches technologists speaking to business people in their native language: "Business." This definition is one step better than the last since we're at least calibrating our message to the audience. But anyone who's been involved in blogging for more than an amateurish period of time know's that blogging is more than just another marketing channel in a marketer's toolbox. They are an extremely effective marketing tool but their results aren't directly quantifiable like your typical marketing arrangements.

3. "A blog is a website with content presented in reverse-chronological order" - While this explanation certainly applies to 99.9% of blogs, as a definition which describes the range of value blogs present their authors, it completely misses the point, or essense, of what makes blogs noteworthy (or read-worthy). Displaying content in reverse-chronological order is a feature of blogs, not a defining characteristic.

These definitions emanate from such credible sources as: Wikipedia, high-tech companies, and--drum roll please--other blog consultants. As to that I have no explaination. I have a pretty good idea of why they're allowed to persist in the blogosphere though...

Why are inadequate blogging definitions allowed to prevail?

I think why the original definitions of this "new" medium have stuck around for so long is the exact same reason that blogs are so powerful. Whenever new ideas are introduced into a groups' vocabulary it takes some time for them to find their legs. But then they seem to take on life of their own as they creep into the vocabulary. Next thing you know, they are dominating the conversation. 

We might not have this overwhelming abundance of misinformation if people who blogged weren't the same people that blogs were supposed to silence: namely blind followers who have no ideas of their own. I have a feeling it's only going to get worse as the tidal wave of first-movers peters out and blogging goes completely mainstream. 

Now, wouldn't you like to harness this kind of insidious staying power for your own ideas?

Here's a bonus, 3/4 truth to get your wheels spinning

4. "blogs are changing the way businesses communicate" - Just thought I'd throw in a fourth misconception for your enjoyment. This one's not so much a misconception as it is a misnomer. What they mean is blogs enable mere humans to communicate (and organize) over the internet in the same way they always have. 

I know how I define blogs and my definition has worked pretty well for me, but what do you think? Btw, I don't want you to receive an innaccurate or incomplete blogging education, so I'll be sharing all my theories on why blogging is important in my next couple articles.

Fundamental to the hype generated around blogging is the question "So, what can a blog do for me?" Many people don't realize that the blogging bottom-line is predicated more on indirect benefits than the direct ones. This is one of the many under-explored topics I plan to go into in my next post and I hope you will stick around to read it.