Is the Word Blog Holding Us Back?

Apr 23, 2008
13 Comments

Feed readers: watch this video at Vidder: Is the Word Blog Holding Us Back?

Is the word “blog” holding us back?

It might be. The problem with “blog” and “blogging” is that these words are connected to a specific technology or tool. The tool itself is a means to an end. What is that end? I believe it is human interaction and communication, without which there is no marketplace for business and art becomes an exercise in futility.

The mind-blowing thing about blogs is NOT that they make publishing web content easy. Any damn CMS does that. No, the kick in the head part about blogs is the comments and the syndication (RSS feeds). These things helped spur the giant rush that we now call “social media.” I think blogging is social media. Social media is just another word for tools we use to… well, be social.

I am not suggesting that blogging is dead, or that there is no point in having a blog. Far from it. I’m only speculating on how we limit ourselves by the very words we use to try to name or describe things. In Web design/development, and in business, we need to have an informed knowledge of the technology. We need to understand what is made possible by the technology and the tools, but we focus on the results we want to achieve with them.

The reason why blogging is so huge for business of all sizes is because it offers such a high return in trust and relationship “capital,” and these are the cornerstones of good business.

Are the words “blog” or “blogging” holding us back? And if so, from what?

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  • I find that if I call it my e-column (not to be mistaken for e-coli, but just as easily spread)


    Har har! :)
  • That's actually a pretty big issue for me, since all my branding clients either aren't online or only have one foot in the door.

    I don't call ComHacker my blog (except occasionally in my mailing list). I find that if I call it my e-column (not to be mistaken for e-coli, but just as easily spread), they get it.
  • @Patrick - Email is interesting in a couple ways. For one thing, you never see the protocols used by email (smtp, pop), they are hidden from the user. And email truly is an electronic version of its analogue counterpart. But what is a blog an electronic version of?

    It's a specific form of publishing technology with a variety of uses. Diary? Sure. News wire? No problem. Serialized fiction? Have at it. I guess in the early days of blogging, they wanted a way to differentiate between this new thing and a "normal" Web site.

    @Chris - I'll take all the people on my "side" that I can get! :)

    @Thomas - What's ironic is that a blog probably a much better story-telling tool than a "normal" Web site. We get stuck with the words, but the meanings can and do change.

    @Sandie - Just send him a link to my post on how Twitter is Like Sex. :)

    @Meryl - There's a LOT of stupid words being made up and used for things now. A list of them would sound like the vocabulary list from the collected works of Dr. Seuss.

    @Dave - Yeah they sent me the C&D.; I'll forward it to you.

    @Vijayendra - "Blogumn"? Now THAT's a stupid word. Haven't been to the forums much, lately, no. My blog consulting business has taken off and left me with little time for it.
  • I once came across a blog by a journalist that the man himself called a 'blogumn'.

    Many still see 'blog' as a personal diary. Perhaps that is what is limiting it.

    Because of that, people fail to imagine (and therefore try and exploit) the immense potential blogging has for furthering business, social, and even administrative causes.

    PS: Read a few old posts of yours on Authority Blogger Forum. You are not frequent any more?
  • Personally, I refer to my site as a DaveJournal. (just kidding, I'm sure LiveJournal would sue me into oblivion)
  • Interesting insight. Personally, I thought blog was a blah word. When I say it out loud, I feel like I sound stupid. Granted, I have imperfect speech, but not many words make me feel this way.
  • What a great post! My husband gets all caught up in the term "blog." He can't fathom why having a "journal" is so important to me. The same can be said of social media - he simply doesn't "get" it and I have no idea how to explain it (he's the teacher, not me).
  • Are the words "blog" and "blogging" holding us back from anything?

    You bet they are! From what? They're holding us back from telling our story.

    I wonder how many more people would be more comfortable with sharing their story if blogging were called "self-publishing" or some other friendly name?

    My bet? Tons more would "join the conversation."

    When someone asks me "if I do video" or "can you make me a video?" I say no but "I can capture your story on video and film." Big difference.

    Thanks for writing about the importance of language :-)

    Thomas Clifford
    -Corporate Filmmaker
  • I've been known to rant on this subject for a while. Blog is a tool or format, not WHAT a site is. It gets into semantics a little bit, but I'm with you 150%. Glad to see someone else thinking this too.
  • How come on the Internet it's called blog but in print it's called a Column or at a live event a conference where people can come to the mic. I love blogging but I hate the word. Not such much hate it for myself but trying to explain it to the masses puts up an unneeded barrier. Why do we have to give differnet names in the electronic world? E-mail seemes to be the only one that has escaped the overly techy monkier. Maybe that why even to non-techie people have an easier time with e-mail because they know it's mail but electronic so to speak.
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