Blogs - Let's Talk Comparison

There has been a small confusion in my corner of the web, aka Patrick Henry College. I was talking to a good friend, Kirsten, and she mentioned her blog. This led to an exchange of IM addresses, and I made a mental note to look up her site later.

Then I went home and got snowed in with only two schoolbooks. Ergo, there was time to update and modify my blog. "I think I'll break down and add other people's blog addresses to my sidebar," I told myself. I had been rebelling against this for some time, because I knew that, if I once I began, it would be hard for me to stop.

"I'll just add my family's blogs."

Easy enough, but no sooner done than I realized: we don't all have blogs, except in the most technical sense. Technically, the umbrella term "web log" (abbreviated to "blog" by our society's love for soundbites) applies to all kinds of personal online journals. De facto, when someone says "blog," they could mean just an online journal, which includes things like Xanga and LiveJournal, but they probably mean a Blog proper, that is, an online journal powered by Blogspot, which has a distinctive template and "look" of its own.

My blog, for example, is a Blogspot. In appearance it is very different from Davy and Mike's Xanga sites, or Nate, Mom, and Dad's LiveJournal (LJ) sites. On the other hand, any casual viewer can at once see a similarity between my blog layout and that of my sister Charity, whose online journal is also Blogspot-based.

Via IM profiles (which often contain links to personal web logs), I stumbled across the PHC blogring, which I had not supposed to exist. There I found my friend Kirsten, and all manner of other people, as well as their siblings, friends, and extended relations. The connective power of the internet is truly astonishing, in case you hadn't noticed lately. However, I was surprised to discover that what she had referred to as her "blog" was actually a Xanga site.

Now, I do not wish to peer down any lengthy proboscisi (long noses), but personally I must confess, having had an LJ of my own, that I prefer the Blogspot blogs. They are crisper, more professional, and easier to read. The same opinion goes for Xanga. I have also found that many, if not most, professional "bloggers" use Blogspot (if you don't believe me, check this out.) A Blog --in the Blogspot sense of the word--takes a little more effort than a Xanga or LJ, and is more serious (you won't find them scattered with smiley faces, which is a feature I kinda miss, being a former LJer), but the benefits are worth it.

Now, in speaking of these three--Xanga, Blogspot, and LJ--I might choose a cell phone simile. The Xanga site is a colorful phone, probably with bright green, pink, or blue plastic hull and moderately good reception. It is popular with teenagers and perfectly functional. The LJ, a more adult model, uses quieter colors but is essentially the same 5-inch rectangle of communicative capabilities. I would compare Blogspot, however, to the sleek, slim, silver flip-phones, the ones that have reception almost everywhere, the ones that you see clipped to briefcases.

Having tried an LJ, and having considered a Xanga, I opted for the Blog. I admit it; the Blog just looked more classy to me. It doesn't make me a better writer or a better person than any Xangite or LJer in the land, but the crisp, elegant, gravis format helps me to take what I'm doing seriously. I add here the mild caveat that I have seen highly professional Xanga and LJ sites (for an example, try those of Mike or Davy on my sidebar), sites which make my Blog look like an outdated Dell.

So, here are my two cents. Young hopeful, if you aspire to an online journal, may I advise Blogspot?