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June 28, 2007
a few good not-blogs that say they're blogs
I hope you have all been reading the slow, five-part evisceration of Dick Cheney in the Washington Post this week:
http://blog.washingtonpost.com/cheney/
Reading it has been both delicious and frightening at the same time. He wields so much power, but so little concern for the typical American citizen, who most likely voted for him. In the last election, a good number of people voted for those who least represent their best interests. Anyway, read the story, as it is shaking things up a bit here in DC. This administration is more corrupt, contemptuous (of you!) and underhanded than you can imagine.
You'll notice that the URL of the 5-part "blog" also has the word 'blog' in the address. But there's no comments section so it's not a blog. Perhaps the term is being redefined by those who feel threatened by the actual discourse that ocurrs in real blogs.
Another one-way "blog" can be found at the HRC site. On the right-hand sidebar it claims that it too is a "blog". But the definition of a blog is that it allows for reader discourse and commentary. If it just posts news items it is nothing more than a series of press releases.
Posted by jimbo at June 28, 2007 3:09 PM
Comments
Yeah, what's up with that Post story being a "blog"? I find it annoying, because my company's stupid firewall won't let employees get to any sites with the word "blog" in the URL. Fortunately, your site's address has "weblog" in it, and apparently that's a-ok. Evil dumb Big Brother...
Posted by: Sean at June 28, 2007 4:17 PM
What definition of blog?
I agree that it's almost always better to have comments, but there are plenty of blogs that don't.
Posted by: John at June 28, 2007 4:49 PM
Media alert and press release pages have existed for years, even before blogs became popular. A series of media and public alerts or news items on a web page does not constitute a blog in my opinion. It's just a web page with a list of posted news items. A blog is something that allows a forum for discussion or commentary. I guess it's a matter of semantics and my perception of the universe, which is all that really matters.
>; )
Posted by: jimbo at June 28, 2007 5:18 PM
I agree with you Jimbo, it's not a blog. Blogs are interactive and this is not. I think this is a case of the media using a buzzword to attract more attention and hope for ad clicks. "Ooh, it's a blog. So swank. So hip. So trendy."
Please.
Posted by: J.P. at June 28, 2007 9:51 PM
and then there are the prissy password protected blogs that became such a joke of limp-wristed oversights of false postings and regressive attempts of blogosphere efficacy.
cheers.
Posted by: ricardo at June 29, 2007 9:22 AM
I dunno, the HRC thing reads like a blog to me. Not a thrilling one, but it's not just press releases, they're commenting on what bloggers say about news events, etc. (The Post thing is another story.)
Is Boblog a blog?
Posted by: John at June 29, 2007 12:10 PM