The word “blog” has a short and bumpy history. I would say the meaning has morphed a fair bit too. “Web Logs” were quite different to the kinds of blogs we see around today. As people have already picked out on my blog names article over on my own site, I’m starting to think the word does not have long.
I am not against the word, I have no problems with people using it. My problem is what other people “hear” when I say “blog”, if they understand the word at all:
- Amateur
- Diary
- “What my cat ate today”
- Simplistic, brief
- Opinions rather than facts
- Limited
- Armchair quarterback
- Spam
It’s even worse when talking to businesses, particularly larger businesses. Unless someone brings up the “blog” word first, I have taken to talking about “online publishing”, “content and articles”, “community building”, and so on.
What do you think? Will we still be using the word “blog” in 5 years? 10? Please share your thoughts in the comments …
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I hate the word “blog.” I’ve named a bunch of my blogs (one went through 4 different incarnations) with the word “blog” in the name but I started to hate the word “blog” in early 2007.
This morning watching the local news one of the anchors kept saying “blog” in the way that makes me hate the word.
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As of now the word blog is not familiar to even most of the computer users.Many times I had to explain what blog means, when I say Iam a blogger. Definitely some transformation is required.
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I agree some transformation is required. I recently had to pitch an idea to a client, who also reads my personal blog, saying “for lack of a better word…blog.” I really needed a word that conveyed a URL that contained frequently updated content comprising short, somewhat informal articles with lots of linking. Definitely not amateur or personal, but definitely not static or ’starched’.
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People still say “xerox” something for photocopying.
Granted they’re in their 50s, but they say it.
Blog will stick, for part of the generation anyway.
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I think to a certain segment of people that the word “blog” does have the connotations that you describe. I’ve done several things now to make it clear that my sites are professional sites.
First, I started an LLC and that name appears on my sites, as “This site is property of Balalaberry Media LLC. All Rights Reserved”
Second, I try hard not to describe myself as a blogger. I try to use things like “online media” “blog network” “websites” and such. Because blogging has taken on a personal connotation, like an online journal, to a lot of people, and I see myself much more as an essayist or journalist, depending on the site. The content is frequently not personal to me AT ALL.
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I think a lot of technologies are going to blend, so what is a blog might fade out as just a group of subcategories in the great scheme of publishing content and building a community.
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I thinkg the word Blog is pretty cool A real modern word.
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I dislike the word. It invites condescension from the MSM and has a nerdy feel to it. If you write a diary, call it a blog, but otherwise just call it a website.
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I love blogging it keeps me sane