# Is the Straightdope a 'blog'??
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-straightdope-a-blog/156240
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
**Created:** [February 20, 2003, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-straightdope-a-blog/156240 "2003-02-20T00:24:28Z")
**Posts on this page:** 13
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@flapcats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flapcats)
#### Post date: [February 20, 2003, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-straightdope-a-blog/156240/1 "2003-02-20T00:24:28Z")
See here: [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/2775249.stm](http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/2775249.stm)
Though that’s about Google buying a weblog company.
I’m still not sure what a blog is, I hear that Slashdot is one.
Is the SDMB one? How many links to it does it need to become a 'blog? Does it have to have lots of links going out as well (Like Slashdot) to be a blog???
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### Author:  [@interface2x](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/interface2x)
#### Post date: [February 20, 2003, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-straightdope-a-blog/156240/2 "2003-02-20T00:28:28Z")
I always thought that a blog was generally an online diary of sorts. Someone just writes in there on a regular basis about their life and experiences or whatever they fancy. In that respect, this place is definitely not a blog. This is a web board.
I could be off, though.
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### Author:  [@White\_Lightning](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/White_Lightning)
#### Post date: [February 20, 2003, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-straightdope-a-blog/156240/3 "2003-02-20T00:31:21Z")
No. It’s a message board.
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### Author:  [@ProjectOmega](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ProjectOmega)
#### Post date: [February 20, 2003, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-straightdope-a-blog/156240/4 "2003-02-20T00:32:30Z")
Yeah, I think blogs are just personal online diaries. [Somethingawful.com](http://Somethingawful.com) went on a purging spree a couple of months ago and dug up some of the most hilariously pathetic blogs on the web and verbally crucified them.
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### Author:  [@flapcats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flapcats)
#### Post date: [February 20, 2003, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-straightdope-a-blog/156240/5 "2003-02-20T00:42:32Z")
So why would Google be interested in buying a blog?
What use is an online diary to Google?
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### Author:  [@flapcats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flapcats)
#### Post date: [February 20, 2003, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-straightdope-a-blog/156240/6 "2003-02-20T00:48:45Z")
So why would Google be interested in buying a blog?
What use is an online diary to Google?
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### Author:  [@Cessandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cessandra)
#### Post date: [February 20, 2003, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-straightdope-a-blog/156240/7 "2003-02-20T00:49:41Z")
Um, blog does not equal diary. A blog is a specific format with many entries on one page, like so:
> [@](#):
>
> January 21st
> I read about x on the internet, and boy is it dumb!
>
> January 20th
> My boyfriend is so hot.
>
> January 14th
> Cats are furry, and puppies are cute.
>
> January 13th
> Welcome to my blog!
Slashdot is an example of a blog that is not a journal. For an example of a journal that is not a blog, look at [my site](http://unidentity.net).
Also, if you want to be strict about it, blog originally only referred to pages in the above format that discussed things on the internet. It was a weblog – a log of the web.
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### Author:  [@Improv\_Geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Improv_Geek)
#### Post date: [February 20, 2003, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-straightdope-a-blog/156240/8 "2003-02-20T02:22:04Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by flapcats \*
> \*\*So why would Google be interested in buying a blog?
> What use is an online diary to Google? \*\*
While they haven’t come out and said it the main consensus seems to be that Google may have another way to get a leg up on the news and on the linking infrastructure which it relies on.
With weblogs it can get near instant updates on events, the blogosphere is it’s own ecosystem for the internet. Even people at MIT study it to see how it affects the Internet. On the flip side, many think it is a passing fad.
Whichever the case, blogs have changed the way many people see the Internet. Google would gain instant access to one of the largest databases of blogs, to their links and their data.
It’s another way to make their search more powerful and remain ahead of the game.
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### Author:  [@Mooney252](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mooney252)
#### Post date: [February 20, 2003, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-straightdope-a-blog/156240/9 "2003-02-20T02:32:19Z")
> [@](#):
>
> So why would Google be interested in buying a blog?
Some blogs are newsletters, seeking advertising to expand their news coverage and distribution. Google’s benefit to a nascent online newsletter business should be apparent.
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### Author:  [@Kalashnikov](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalashnikov)
#### Post date: [February 20, 2003, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-straightdope-a-blog/156240/10 "2003-02-20T02:38:50Z")
Neither Slashdot nor the SDMB are blogs, they are message boards. LiveJournal and Blogger are sites that host peoples’ blogs, that is, their sites run software that lets people create blogs on the site, kind of like Geocities or Angelfire host peoples’ personal websites.
Presumably Google would like to host people’s blogs so that either the people who have a blog or those who read them will see ads (however subtle) that Google will place on the pages.
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### Author:  [@Improv\_Geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Improv_Geek)
#### Post date: [February 20, 2003, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-straightdope-a-blog/156240/11 "2003-02-20T15:24:50Z")
Slashdot is a blog in the sense it is focused content posted in short blurbs, but it has the message board for the user comments.
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### Author:  [@White\_Lightning](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/White_Lightning)
#### Post date: [February 20, 2003, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-straightdope-a-blog/156240/12 "2003-02-20T19:21:26Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by \*\*flapcats \*\*\*
> So why would Google be interested in buying a blog?
Google didn’t buy a blog. Google bought a software company.
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### Author:  [@Crusoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crusoe)
#### Post date: [February 20, 2003, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-straightdope-a-blog/156240/13 "2003-02-20T19:24:24Z")
Exactly. Google bought one of the biggest names in blogging software. Depending on how much they paid, it could reap them a nice dividend.