[Thoughtstream] What even IS a blog?

 

So, I’m sitting here with an empty Word document, and a thought comes to mind: What really is blogging?

Well, a weblog, or blog for short, is an online journal of some sort. Entries are typically found on a public-facing website running a blogging platform of some kind, such as Wordpress, Blogger, or Dreamwidth. Not all entries have to be public-facing, as the blog itself can be placed behind password protection. A vast majority of blogs have some sort of update feed, using RSS or Atom files that are updated with new entries. Many of them also allow for comments from readers.

However, with cloud services like OneDrive, Dropbox, and even Github…do we really need blogging platforms to create a blog?

OneDrive and Google Drive allow folders to be shared publically or privately, with participants informed of new additions. With OneDrive, you can create a DOCX doc online for free with Word Online, or through OneDrive Client and Word 2016/Word Mobile on your local machine. With Google Drive, a Google Docs document can be easily created online. Technically, an RSS feed could be set up with links to new additions as well.

Github also allows for native blogging through Jekyll, and uploads can be done through git pushes.

The storage-based options only have one real issue, and that’s comments. I don’t think public comments are possible with GDrive/OneDrive documents. However, this isn’t an issue for everyone, as comments aren’t a requirement for a blog. Some people prefer Twitter/Facebook replies, or even comments via email.

The only other problem is that storage-based solutions typically aren’t able to get that information into Google/Bing/DuckDuckGo. Again, this isn’t an issue for everyone, as some people prefer not to have their personal blogs indexed. That doesn’t mean the solution isn’t viable.

In all honesty, this has mostly been a pointless thoughtstream, but it’s one that makes me wonder just what it means to be a blogger in this day and age, especially with the options available to everyone.