The Word Blog Will Soon be Meaningless

This months newsletter is about blogging– something weve talked about a lot recently.

Im actually pretty convinced that the word blog no longer means what it used to mean. As a fusion of the words web and log, blog used to refer to a way of chronicling ones life online, like having a personal diary on the web (I also have noticed that this Google-aggregated list of definitions for blog illustrates its evolving meaning well). As new applications expanded the capabilities of a blog, it quickly became a format adopted for many different purposes beyond personal exhibitionism. And if it hasnt already happened by now, the blog format and its accompanying mode of conversation-esque communication is likely to become the default means on online information sharing. Dont believe me? Take a quick look at Facebook!

Now, while the overall influence of specific social networks like Facebook remains to be seen, their process of being shaped over the past several years is indicative of a general trend toward making web-based interactions more fluid, like those in the real world. In my recent interview with designer Silas Munro, he remarked that as time goes on, the web has taken on more of a semblance to the non-digital realm. I think hes right about that, and I think this has been brought about largely by the blog. So what does this mean for businesses? Start a blog immediately? Not necessarily (read the newsletter for a more nuanced perspective), because I think eventually all web content will be blog-like: easily shareable, traceable to a particular author, commentable, taggable, etc…