Tuesday, November 29, 2005
Types of Blogs
There is no general consensus regarding types of blogs. PC Magazine contributing editor, John C. Dvorak and President of Knowledge Jolt, Inc., Jack Vinson, claim there are only two basic categories of blogs. For Dvorak, they are: 1) the Traditional Blog, "where a Web surfer shares his online discoveries," and 2) the Web Diary, "where a person shares his or her thoughts of the day" (my emphasis).[1] Vinson's categories are very similar, if not essentially the same: 1) the Filtering Blog, which links to websites, frequently with commentary, and 2) the Exposition or Expository Blog, which is primarly about writing, rather than linking. Two examples of Dvorak's Traditional Blog and Vinson's Expository Blog are Robot Wisdom and Daily Kos. Two examples of the Web Diary or Expository Blog are Stephanie's Diary Blog and My Poetry Blog.
Wikipedia,however, identifies ten basic categories of blogs, which are based on differences of the primary focus of the blog:
Content is as diverse as the subjects that people talk about. Consequently,, one could could easily add the following and much much more to the above list:
Another interesting approach was used by Krishnamurthy, who proposed a classification scheme that divides blogs into four basic types along two dimensions: personal versus topical, and individual versus community, to create four quadrants.[2] The first type of blog combines the personal and individual, which is best illustrated by online diaries, such as. The second type combines the personal with community, and is represented by support group blogs, such as the Online Support Group for Those With MS. The third type combines the individual with topical, which is like an online column, such as Baghdad Burning. The fourth types combines community with topical, which has collaborative content, and is illustrated by online book clubs, such as Women Who Dare to Read.
Finally, as for my own attempt to classify blogs, I think one can propose that there are three basic categories, with each having multiple sub-categories. The first category would be blogs that are all links, no commentary, such as Robot Wisdom, that are structured solely to direct the viewer to other websites. One could say these blogs are externally driven. The second category would be blogs that include links and commentary, such as filter blogs. The third category would be blogs without links, such as diaries, which are structured solely to keep the viewer's attention within the blogger's webpage. Without links, a blog can be said to be internally focused. Each sub-category would be connected to the primary focus on the weblog, that is the content, such as news, politics, health, etc.
[1] That the author used "his" and not "her" to describe Traditional Bloggers and both "his" and "her" to describe the Web Diarist is included within an exploration of perceived gender differences in blogging in a future post.
[2] Herring, S.C., Scheidt, L.A., Bonus, S., and Wright, E. (2005) "Weblogs as a Bridging Genre" in Information, Technology & People, 18(2), 142-171.
Wikipedia,however, identifies ten basic categories of blogs, which are based on differences of the primary focus of the blog:
- News and Political: These blogs break, shape, and spin news stories and discuss political issues, usually from a particular ideological perspective. Popular examples are the right-wing blog, InstaPundit, and left-wing blog, Daily Kos. Other examples are Josh Marshall's blog, which was instrumental in forcing Trent Lott to resign his position as Senate Majority Leader, Scripting News, Wonkette, AndrewSullivan.com, and Howard and Jim Dean's blog, Blog for America.
- Personal: These blogs focus on personal thoughts and experiences, and include diaries, poetry, prose, photos, and so on. Examples of these blogs are Stephanie's Diary Blog, Random Thoughts from a Random Girl, My Poetry Blog, David Byrne's Journal, and Judith Polakoff Photography.
- Topical: These are blogs that focus on particular topics. Wikipedia divides this category into 7 sub-categories:
- Health: These are Patient and Caregiver blogs. Two examples of Patient Blogs are My Breast Cancer Blog and Online Support Group for Those With MS. Two examples of Caregiver Blogs are The Patient's Doctor and The Caregiver's Blog.
- Literary: These blogs are about literature. Three examples of Literary Blogs are Bookslut, The Elegant Variation, and Rake's Progress.
- Travel: Travel Blogs focus on the journey of an individual or journeys of many. Examples of Travel Blogs are Arun's Travel Blog, Lorenzo Gariano's Everest Ascent 2005, and Travel Blog.
- Research: These blogs present individual or group research or report findings of recent research. Examples are Medical Research Blog, Cross-Media Entertainment, and Schizophrenia Research Blog.
- Legal: Blogs about the law that are created by lawyers and law students. Examples of Legal Blogs are Energy Legal Blog, a law student's blog by Nicholas Holtz, and Ars Boni Et Aequi, a blog about German law in English.
- Media: The media is the focus of these blogs, with some serving as media watchdogs. Examples of Media Blogs are Bewildered Herd, Who Owns the Media?, and HypergeneMediaBlog.
- Religious: These blogs discuss religious topics and aetheism. Examples of Religious Blogs are Velveteen Rabbi; SmartChristian Blog; The Buddhist Blog; the Quaker Blog, Consider the Lilies; and My Scientology.
- Health: These are Patient and Caregiver blogs. Two examples of Patient Blogs are My Breast Cancer Blog and Online Support Group for Those With MS. Two examples of Caregiver Blogs are The Patient's Doctor and The Caregiver's Blog.
- Collaborative (which are also called Collective, Group, or Community Blogs): Everyone or individuals within a group can create posts in a Collaborative Blog. Two previously mentioned, Online Support Group for Those with MS and Travel Blog,, are Collaborative Blogs. Three other examples of Collaborative Blogs are dane101.com, Whedonesque, and the widely known MetaFilter.
- Educational: These blogs are created by students or teachers or are about education. Two examples of Student Blogs are Earthshine Student Blog and this blog, Sunshine Skyways. Two examples of Teacher Blogs are Bernard's Blog and Teacher Blogs, which allows teachers to communicate with parents of their students. Two examples of blogs focused primarily on education are Dave's Educational Blog and pharyngula.
- Directory: These blogs are about links; they collect numerous websites with interesting content. Robot Wisdom falls into this category, and so do a lot of News and Political Blogs. The Cosmetic Surgery Directory is another Directory Blog.
- Forums/Other CMS systems: These blogs facilitate online discussions about topics selected by one of a few site owners. Only the site owners can post a new topic in Forum Blogs. Examples of Forum Blogs are Monterey Peninsula Real Estate Discussion Forum/Blog.
- Business: There are 3 sub-categories of the Business Blog: Entrepreneurial, Corporate, and Advice.
- Entrepreneurial: Blogs by entrepreneurs or about entrepreneurship. Examples of Entrepreneurial Blogs are Canadian Entrepreneur and The Entrepreneurial Mind.
- Corporate: Blogs that are published by or with the support of a corporation. Examples of Corporate Blogs are KowaBunga! Technologies Corporate Blog, Google Corporate Blog, and HiWired's Corporate Blog, written by its tech support team.
- Advice: Blogs that provide business advice or advise clients. Examples of Business Advice Blogs are All Business and Small Business Marketing Toolbox, which is offered by Hewlett Packard for its customer.
- Personification: These blogs are written for a non-human, such as a cat or dog. Examples of Personification Blogs are I Crap in a Box, Bosco Dog, and The Shirley Letters, a hamster's blog.
- Spam: Spam Blogs are divided into two sub-categories:
- Link spam: Link Spam (also called Comment Spam) is spam found within a comment to a legitimate blog: the bogus comment includes links to the spammer's website. For more information and illustrations of Link Spam, check out the report, Detecting Spam Web Pages by Marc Najork.
- Splogs: These are bogus websites, which doesn't have any written value; basically, it's a advertisement dressed up to look like a blog. Examples of Splogs are Refinance to a Low Rate Mortgage and Breast Enlargement Information.
Content is as diverse as the subjects that people talk about. Consequently,, one could could easily add the following and much much more to the above list:
- Investment Blogs, which are blogs that give investment advice, such as The Big Picture.
- Celebrity Blogs, such as actor Wil Wheaton's blog.
- Food Blogs, which are all or mostly about food, such as Cooking With Amy.
- Sports Blogs, such as a New York Yankees' fan's blog.
- Movie Blogs, such as Film Fodder.
- Tech Blogs, such as Tech Dirt.
- Homelessness, such as The Homeless Guy, and
- Sex Blogs, such as Twiddly Bits' Sex Blog.
Another interesting approach was used by Krishnamurthy, who proposed a classification scheme that divides blogs into four basic types along two dimensions: personal versus topical, and individual versus community, to create four quadrants.[2] The first type of blog combines the personal and individual, which is best illustrated by online diaries, such as. The second type combines the personal with community, and is represented by support group blogs, such as the Online Support Group for Those With MS. The third type combines the individual with topical, which is like an online column, such as Baghdad Burning. The fourth types combines community with topical, which has collaborative content, and is illustrated by online book clubs, such as Women Who Dare to Read.
Finally, as for my own attempt to classify blogs, I think one can propose that there are three basic categories, with each having multiple sub-categories. The first category would be blogs that are all links, no commentary, such as Robot Wisdom, that are structured solely to direct the viewer to other websites. One could say these blogs are externally driven. The second category would be blogs that include links and commentary, such as filter blogs. The third category would be blogs without links, such as diaries, which are structured solely to keep the viewer's attention within the blogger's webpage. Without links, a blog can be said to be internally focused. Each sub-category would be connected to the primary focus on the weblog, that is the content, such as news, politics, health, etc.
[1] That the author used "his" and not "her" to describe Traditional Bloggers and both "his" and "her" to describe the Web Diarist is included within an exploration of perceived gender differences in blogging in a future post.
[2] Herring, S.C., Scheidt, L.A., Bonus, S., and Wright, E. (2005) "Weblogs as a Bridging Genre" in Information, Technology & People, 18(2), 142-171.
