What is a Blog?

Andrew called me this morning wanting a definition of what a blog is. I searched the internet for the definition and was amused to find many varying definitions. While the name comes from a shortened term "weB LOG" I feel it's definition is continuing evolving. In reality the term blog is probably a broader term for an easily maintainable website were content can be added, viewed, edited and commented upon by anyone invited to do so. Many times one individual controls the adding and editing of content and letting pretty much anyone that happens upon that blog to view and comment. I am more or less trying to use this blog as a family enriching experience. I see multiple ways for us to use this tool. In fact I am using ONE of those ways right now, by responding to a question from someone. Without this tool I could only respond to a question by the phone, in person or by email. All of these ways would usually just answer the question to only Andrew ( or anyone listening in) and if it is something complicated I would probably have to say it a few times and they might even have to write it down. By posting (entering my thoughts) to the blog "ONE TIME" anyone and everyone that is interested in the subject can view it, print it out, even start a conversation or ask a question by using the comments section. Then the answer to that question will be forever available, so if in six months you forget the answer you return to the blog to fresh your memory. I know I may sound a little patronizing at this point, but I am just trying to spell out ALL the details. So this way to use the blog would be great for ... recipes, instructions for just about anything, invitations, etc. Along those same lines but just a little different, the blog could help make family gatherings more enriching by knowing more about someone without having to specifically track someone down and ask them "What's been going on?" That part of the conversation would have already been serviced by the blog. That way you could get right into "So it sounds like Cancun was a lot of fun. The pictures looked great. We are thinking about trying that resort that you linked to next time. It looked really cool" It would also relieve the person that went to Cancun retelling the same story 5 times during the night, writing down the name of the resort, passing around the photos from the trip and even sending an email (with large photo attachments that take up space on your hard drive and open you up to viruses) around to everyone that gets forwarded from person to person. Instead you could send an email with a simple link to the blog. It may take a little while to get used the format of the blog or comfortable writing something about yourself, but I think if you can get yourself to use it, it could turn into something exciting for the family to enjoy. Be sure and tell your family member to sign up and start blogging. If someone needs to be invited to the blog send me their email and we'll get them started. I'd be happy to help anyone with issues or problems they run into while trying to get signed up or posting or commenting to the blog. Don't hesitate to email me at tim@barelyblue.com

Hope 2CU on the blog!