As I look at the many different features that one could include in his or her blog, I’m wondering what people’s thoughts are on what features are absolutely necessary to blogging.
There are some features which are a part of all blogs regardless of platform:
- All blogs have an audience.
- Posts are dated in reverse chronological order and can be linked to directly (permalink).
- Posts are “labeled” or categorized with tags.
- Posts are edited by none other than the author.
- Posts are written in the first person, author chooses what to say.
Then there are many features of a blog which are debatable such as:
- It has to have frequent updates.
- It should have a feed.
- The posts need to be brief.
- It has to allow comments.
- It has to incorporate external links.
I would argue that blogs should allow comments and incorporate external links because blogging, to me, means bringing in outside voices as a way of bouncing ideas off of people, getting feedback and rethinking your positions or making better arguments to support them. And one way of bringing in outside voices and supporting your positions is to link to other blogs or websites that do so.
Which features do you feel are necessary to blogs? Would you add others?
Entries (RSS)
October 10th, 2007 at 7:37 pm
Playing devil’s advocate, but I could see a private blog being useful. Perhaps either as a private diary or a tool to use in a small group. I suppose that’s what you mean by a “relative term.”
The one thing I’d add as a pretty universal and useful feature is categories. To me, it’s an important way that a blog organizes itself over time.
October 11th, 2007 at 2:51 pm
Categories is a useful feature, I agree. Is it necessary though?
As for my interpretation of “public” — a small group does fit that definition. And I’ve read enough on blogging that many would say that if you’re not putting it out there for others to read, then it isn’t a blog.
The private blog is interesting to me because as Peter Elbow would say, you’re still writing for an audience…you. You are making your personal thoughts available in text format maybe as a process of self-clarification — as if to answer the question, “Where do I stand on this issue?” The fact that you’ve put it down in an online though closed environment is a much more public way than to write it on paper in a notebook.
Maybe I need to say that all blogs can be made available to the public.
October 11th, 2007 at 7:31 pm
I’d agree with John that categories should probably go somewhere on the list. Many blogs, like the LSS departmental blog, for example, serve both to provide recent updates, and to make it easy for people to find resources on particular topics, like wikis or podcasting. (Union Blend is like this too!)
On the LSS blog, it turns out that a few of these category views are clicked on more often than any particular post. In some respects the blog is used both to provide news, and to be a light content management system that keeps an organized record of our resources, services, and activities.
Categories also provide a quick and easy way to give users links to posts on related topics and ideas, which, for me, is pretty central.
Nice post Ron! And John, thanks for kicking off the discussion!
October 12th, 2007 at 11:38 am
You know, now that I look back on my notes, categories is something that I should have included on my original list. Thanks for the input, John and Doug!
October 15th, 2007 at 10:29 pm
I changed the first point as well. Putting public in quotations was unclear.