So I think it started some time earlier, but the most recent occurance happened over the holiday weekend. I was up at the family cottage and like any nosey mother, mine just had to ask what I was reading when she saw Naked Conversations by Robert Scoble and Shel Israel sitting in front of my on the coffee table. The “oh it’s about blogging” did NOT suffice! We can all guess what her next question was, “What’s blogging?”

After i’m sure my 5 minute explaination was good enough but it got me wondering. Surely my mother who is fairly up to speed on technology (she keeps asking me when i’ll get a UMPC) wasn’t in the dark about blogging? Well no, i wasn’t entirely wrong. She knew it was “like a journal” in her words.

According to Wikipedia:

A weblog, which is usually shortened to blog, is a website where regular entries are made (such as in a journal or diary) and presented in reverse chronological order. Blogs often offer commentary or news on a particular subject, such as food, politics, or local news; some function as more personal online diaries. A typical blog combines text, images, and links to other blogs, web pages, and other media related to its topic. Most blogs are primarily textual although many focus on photographs, videos or audio. The word blog can also be used as a verb, meaning adding an entry to a blog.

Now, our conversation lasted a little more than 15 minutes on the topic of blogging, me explaining how people like Scoble could blog and that it wasn’t “trade secrets” that were written about, but i made sure to mention that sensitive content could just as easily be posted. I explained that in this day and age blogging is as much publicity as it is a diary. So what’s with blogging? Not too sure, but it’s not going away. I think it may just be one of the best tools for a person to sell themselves, post their images from a family party, or keep in touch with buddies from high school.

What purpose does your blog serve?