In blogging’s demise, a chance to redefine

There are some renewed observations about the decline in blogging. Other forms of expression have taken over – from Facebook to Flickr to Twitter, people are finding other things to do than to write long entries about things that people may or may not care about. This blog declared the death of blogging in March 2007. It’s not that blogging has disappeared entirely, it’s more that commercial blogs have overtaken the personal ones. A quick look through the Technorati 100 shows a definite influx of multi-author, commercially-driven blogs.

But in the demise of blogging, there lies an opportunity. The terms “blog”, “weblog”, and “blogging” have been derided many times by many people. It’s an inelegant term, and one that’s often mistaken for bodily functions of a sort. “I blogged today.” “Really? Did it all come out okay?”

So now is a great time to chuck that old term to the curbside, and start using some new terms. You could say, “I wrote in my web journal today.” That’s what most personal ones are like. It’s a journal and not a “log.” And these commercial, multi-author sites don’t seem much like blogs at all. It’s more of some kind of news site.

It’s time to change our language and point out to people that we can change our terminology. It’s not too late to set things right.