Is it a blog or a website?

June 25, 2009 10:10 AM

I'm trying to understand what distinguishes a blog from a website. Is it technical? Content? User?
posted by Pineapplicious to computers & internet (8 comments total)

A blog is a website which gets periodically updated with new entries, generally in reverse chronological order.
A website can have pretty much whatever the hell you want on it.
posted by dunkadunc at 10:12 AM on June 25

Degrees of specificity. A blog is a type of website. All blogs are websites, all websites are not blogs.
posted by qwip at 10:23 AM on June 25

A website is a book, any kind of book. A blog is a special kind of book: a diary.
posted by rokusan at 10:25 AM on June 25 [1 favorite]

Remember that "blog" is a contraction of the word "web log." So like qwip said, it's a specific type of web site -- one that acts as a log, i.e. is regularly updated by the author with new entries.
posted by ludwig_van at 10:30 AM on June 25 [1 favorite]

Nthing the above.
A blog is a type of website similar to how a truck is a type of vehicle.
posted by 2oh1 at 10:38 AM on June 25

A blog is a type of website. It is distinguished from other types of website by being regularly updated, consisting of posts (usually with the newest at the top), and often offering content which can be syndicated.
posted by Happy Dave at 10:59 AM on June 25

Wikipedia says:

A blog (a contraction of the term "weblog") is a type of website, usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in reverse-chronological order.

Which is pretty much what everyone else said above.
posted by Brian Puccio at 11:16 AM on June 25

A blog (a contraction of the term "weblog")

As always, credited to peterme. User number 27. I made sure he kept credit in the Wikipedia article, too.

There were some early debates over whether content mattered -- whether it was a web log (in the definition of Jorn, a log of web finds) or whether a diary or something mundane like a .plan file (overwritten daily) fell under the definition. There was even conflict with the E/N (everything/nothing sites) movement, and questions whether a "group weblog" like MetaFilter counted. At the time I advocated a broader definition that comprised all of the above and that has, happily, basically held.
</oldtimer>

As Happy Dave notes, blog content is often syndicated, which means that it may not even reach readers through the web per se. So while it's almost always true that a blog is hosted on a website, it isn't necessarily true that it's only a type of website.

The main thing, though, is that is has to be updated. Which means most blogs, including mine, don't actually fit.
posted by dhartung at 2:06 PM on June 25