In the last 30 days I have heard at least a hand full of times that “blog” is actually a negative thing to be labeled. Most of the time it is from secular tech news sites, but at least once it came from a Christian individual. The conversation sounded as such:
“I don’t want to call you a blog. You’re a content platform.”
“Blogs are so 1990s.”
“You’re just a blogger? I don’t think you’re content will work for us.” (Just a blogger? And that came from the Christian.)
ChurchMag Is A Blog
We will get into the particulars of what people see as blogging, content distribution platforms, and news sites in a minute. But let me say up front that ChurchMag and its staff identify as a blog with a group of writers. I won’t speak for everyone, but for myself, I’m satisfied with being called a blogger, that’s what I identify as.
Now to untangle the mess and give some push-back.
The Blogging Haters
For those that talk down on blogging, they see that form of writing as nothing more than a personal site.
Take my personal blog as the epitome of what they see as a blog. I vlog about my life, family, and whatever is bugging me in that moment. Everything is inconsistent. I even attempt to do a weekly Let’s Play series. Very unprofessional, which is where the haters want to distinguish things.
News sites include places like CNN, BBC, and others who are strictly dedicated to news, or at least that’s what they claim. (I could show you many instances where these news sites look more like blogs than many blogs do.) These function within the strictest of journalism standards (Again, this can be debated but it is what they at least claim) and go through a whole process to get published.
Content distribution platforms appear to be a hybrid of the two and yet neither. These sites, The Verge, TWiT, and TechCrunch.com report news articles but indefinitely discuss their own opinion on the content as well as predictions for use. They are going through the formal editorial process that is included with the news sites but become less fact based with the constant op-ed pieces
In a very generalized understanding, blogs are personal, news sites are professional, and the content distribution platforms are op-ed sites.
A Blogger’s Viewpoint
Let me first say something. Titles and names are important. This is what I am gathering from the perspective of “we are not a blog.” They want to distinguish themselves from other sites that have ten minutes of free time in their day to post their thoughts. This is after all their job.
That being said, why did being called a blog become such a disparaging remark?
My thought on the matter? There is definitely some elitism happening. We are better than you, so we clearly do not deserve to be in the same category. But content wise, I see no difference between what a full-time writer, a hobbyist or part-time entrepreneur posts.
Sean Leacy says
I think, as you mentioned, that it’s hard for people separate the association of the random ramblings of someones personal blog with that of something like ChurchMag or another “hybrid” content platform where you have multiple writers creating content. Though blog is defined as, “a regularly updated website or web page, typically one run by an individual or small group, that is written in an informal or conversational style.” it’s easy to see it as a site dedicated to one persons personal thoughts and ramblings. Though ChurchMag follows the standard of the technical definition of a blog I believe there needs to be better definition of blogging substructures to include sites like this and those of the ones you mentioned. It’s all pretty muddy right now.
Jeremy Smith says
It’s not like blogging has been around for a long while…
Sean Leacy says
It’s been around long enough that I’d think some other term would have stuck by now to identify this middle market. “Content Platform” seems way too vague.
Eric Dye says
I think this is why some people prefer terms like “online magazine.” I suppose it depends on the focus, too. While TechCrunch, Mashable, and Wired may be blogs at the core, they are considered news sites. And large sites like Relevant probably fall under online magazine. But when you’re niche and don’t post more than five times a day, then you’re a blog I suppose. I think it’s important not to get too hung-up on terms and be who you are on a medium that is still somewhat trying to figure itself out…