Sunday, January 15, 2006

Buzzing through the blogosphere "Buzzwords" will be a good topic for the Online Publishing class this week, and where better to find examples than right here in the "blogosphere." First up, Rex Hammock points out the difference in some "blog..." words: I don't mind being called a blogger, but it's not what I am. Jackson Miller picks up a riff from my "business blogging" presentation in Nashville the other day: my prediction that the term "blog" is here to stay, but the term Blogger will have a shorter life span. (Are we called emailers?) . . . I use a blog to communicate, but I also use flickr.com/photos/rexblog and del.icio.us/rexblog and kaboodle.com/rex and a phone and email and IM and iChat AV and several other things. I don't mind being called a blogger -- in fact, I like it -- but that's not really what I am. [rexblog: Rex Hammock's Weblog] Picky editing department: I'd lowercase the B on Blogger when talking about the term and I wouldn't link it to the website by the same name. But Rex did, so it stays. (See comments. Definitely the coolest publisher I know.) Speaking of blogs, will the new PBS Web feature, MediaShift, be one? Its introductory page describes it this way, without the "b" word: Your media world is swimming with music, movies, television, radio, newspapers and the Internet. In jumps new forms of media such as blogs, podcasts, wikis, citizen journalism, and RSS news readers -- all to help you gain control and take action. MediaShift is your guide to the digital media revolution. Mark Glaser hosts, but you're the star. Well, Cyberjournalist says it's a blog, quotes Glaser calling it one, and offers some more details. Here are some of the most-linked-to definitions on the Web: http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/whatMakesAWeblogAWeblog http://www.rebeccablood.net/essays/weblog_history.html http://www.blogger.com/tour_start.g http://www.marketingterms.com/dictionary/blog/ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blog http://tinyurl.com/koca Those last two sites will be good places to continue our buzzword exploration on Tuesday or Thursday. I've kept the full addresses visible as a reminder to discuss the sources, and a useful little tool called TinyURL. The three-syllable mouthful I started this item with will be another word to explore. Usage examples: Blogosphere: The emerging media ecosystem Content delivery in the blogosphere Into the blogosphere The blogosphere by the numbers A Quick definition of "blogosphere" That last one, which calls itself the coining of the term, suggests that the first syllable rhymes with "Pogo," not with "log." Keeping the "logos" together does make the word sound less like bass-o-matic and its ilk. 4:46:50 PM    comment []

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