Appletom
06-15-2006, 07:18 PM
OK - I have been a heavy internet user for over ten years now. I was participating in forums back in the mid 90's, probably before many of you could use a keyboard. It is time to admit that I am getting old and don't understand something.
What good is a blog? I've seen the personal ones, they are of no interest to me. But some businesses now have a blog and I've got to got aboard. Am I foolish in trying to compare features on forums and bulletin boards, like this one, with blogs?
It is such a simple matter to jump onto GEH, and click "New Posts". In no time at all, there is a listing of every post and reply that has been made since the last time I was here. I can't figure out how to do that with a blog. Someone told me I needed to subscribe to an RSS newsfeed, that would allow me to see at a glance if any new comments have been added. I use something by Google, and I tried something by NewsGator. Both appear to show me when a new topic is posted, but neither appears to notify me if a response has been posted.
The blog I am currently trying to figure out is http://www.blogsouthwest.com/ - but I have to click through and scroll down to see if anything new has been posted since I last visited. So if somebody started a topic a month ago, and somebody posts a reply today, I have no way of knowing about the reply unless I look through each and every post, and scroll down.
What am I doing wrong? Could some young'un please let me know what the advantages of a blog are over a forum? In a forum, I can start topics or reply to other topics. In a blog, I can't start a topic. In a forum, I can search easily for any word in any post. In a blog, a search only looks at the posts, not at any replies.
Again, I am extremely computer literate - but I've got some kind of mental block over blogs. I know that any new technology (blogging) is generally an improvement over older technology (forums/bulletin boards), but I see nothing but a huge step backwards here.
Thanks,
Jim
What good is a blog? I've seen the personal ones, they are of no interest to me. But some businesses now have a blog and I've got to got aboard. Am I foolish in trying to compare features on forums and bulletin boards, like this one, with blogs?
It is such a simple matter to jump onto GEH, and click "New Posts". In no time at all, there is a listing of every post and reply that has been made since the last time I was here. I can't figure out how to do that with a blog. Someone told me I needed to subscribe to an RSS newsfeed, that would allow me to see at a glance if any new comments have been added. I use something by Google, and I tried something by NewsGator. Both appear to show me when a new topic is posted, but neither appears to notify me if a response has been posted.
The blog I am currently trying to figure out is http://www.blogsouthwest.com/ - but I have to click through and scroll down to see if anything new has been posted since I last visited. So if somebody started a topic a month ago, and somebody posts a reply today, I have no way of knowing about the reply unless I look through each and every post, and scroll down.
What am I doing wrong? Could some young'un please let me know what the advantages of a blog are over a forum? In a forum, I can start topics or reply to other topics. In a blog, I can't start a topic. In a forum, I can search easily for any word in any post. In a blog, a search only looks at the posts, not at any replies.
Again, I am extremely computer literate - but I've got some kind of mental block over blogs. I know that any new technology (blogging) is generally an improvement over older technology (forums/bulletin boards), but I see nothing but a huge step backwards here.
Thanks,
Jim