Sunday, May 21, 2006

blog futures: the linear format

A blog... what is it? Well, we all know the simple answer as our brains engulf the ubiquitous concept that has defined a weblog - a linear flow from the brain onto the web. Media gives us the notation and buzz while new-industry gives us the tools for an overwhelmingly simple ability to post thoughts via the web. The simplicity of this publishing medium is exemplified by the fact that all I had to do to create this "article" was take 2 minutes to sign up, click a few self-guided buttons... and presto - an idea/concept/story "published" online with the potential to reach any web viewer.

The issue I am grappling with the blog-state currently, is its linear format. If you want to get to a particular article or idea, one must scroll through the entire log to find what one seeks. Sure, you can "search", but really how effective is that? At least in a magazine (still linear of form), editorials and articles are organized by the type of magazine in which they reside. However, in blog-town-USA, it seems to me a countless array of people posting an unending flow of text with no order; just ever-flowing thoughts.

How do we as people, already overloaded with information, digest these blogs? Perhaps this digestion is exactly as it implies; read the blog, digest it, and forget it. but as the blog and the publisher evolve, I would imagine there should be a better way to organize this information.

Perhaps, the advent of this new publishing methodology is driven as a means to create capital from either corporate buy out, or IPO. But if the system is grown successfully, it can effectively match the easy task of giving people a voice, with the much more difficult task of matching a voice to an ear.

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