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| Image: geralt |
Not only is a blog a kind of database, but a defining characteristic of a blog is having database superpowers.
Namely, the ability to filter posts in different ways.
On Blogger, give a post a label and the post will automatically appear on a built-in search page for the label, with others with that label.You can tag posts with more than one label, putting them on multiple search pages.
All blogging platforms do that. It is a signature feature that separates blogs from other websites, and from newsletter services and social-media platforms.
Blogs not blogs
The many newsletter sites that are currently in vogue also aren't blogs, unless they allow their newsletters to be tagged with multiple categories.
Multiple user-defined categories.
These services fill their niches very well. But (and I am being a stickler here) they are not blogging platforms. At least not yet.
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Photo: Ono Kosuki Yup, drawing the line. |
That's not so important if you have a news site, but plenty of blogs include "evergreen" content that stays useful for years.
So, newsletter sites have their place, and so do social media platforms.
But they aren't blogs.
That's my story and I am sticking to it.
Update: Database superpowers in Blogger
I use one of my blogs as a database. On that blog I create several posts about industrial regulation and industrial statistical code. I can use search and tags feature if I want to get the pdf files or the code that I need for my work.
ReplyDeleteA #database lets you apply #multiple #user-defined #tags to #items - that what you are saying?
ReplyDeleteThis was a key insight for me when I was getting started. It's not just one random thing after another!
DeleteThinking about how this works helped me to visualize and plan the growth of my first blog (and others since).