[Air-L] Using the term weblog/blog

[Nishant Shah]

Personally, I would prefer to use the term 'blog' over 'weblog'. As Conor
has already mentioned, the term 'weblog' might be interesting to use while
doing a history of blogging or the emergence of the blogosphere, but it
feels outdated and doesn't role off the tongue too easily.

However, there is also another reason why I would choose to use 'blog' over
'weblog'. Blogging refers to a particular cultural phenomenon which has
significantly affected the information societies around us. Blogging is now
accepted in dictionaries of urban slang as well as standard usage as a noun
and a verb and specifically refers to the larger politics and mechanics of
blogging. Also, in technical language, especially within computer sceinces,
weblog is still an expression that refers to logs maintained by machines,
artificial intelligence and processes about different systems and
transactions. An emphasis on using the term 'weblog' might be confusing for
an audience because it might suggest that the arguments you are making are
also about these kinds of logs rather than the (presumably) social
networking sites and digital platforms of expressions that you are refering
to.

regards
Nishant
On Mon, Apr 20, 2009 at 10:05 PM, Ann-Charlotte Palmgren <apalmgre at abo.fi>wrote:

>
>
> I've received a message that my article about blogging and eating disorders
> will be published in a Scandinavian journal. At the same time I received a
> message from the journal's language expert about my use of the term weblog.
> They are questioning the use and asks why I don't use the term blog. For
> some reason I have imagined that the term weblog is being used more often in
> research. Now I'm not so sure about it. What is your impression? Does it
> matter if I use the term weblog or blog?
>
>
> Ann-Charlotte Palmgren
> doctoral student
> Åbo Akademi University
> Finland
>
>
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-- 
Nishant Shah
Doctoral Candidate, CSCS, Bangalore.
Director (Research), Centre for Internet and Society,( www.cis-india.org )
Asia Awards Fellow, 2008-09
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