{"id":4584,"date":"2003-09-13T20:59:53","date_gmt":"2003-09-14T00:59:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.law.harvard.edu\/formerlyknownas\/2003\/09\/13\/what-kind-of-blogger-are-you\/"},"modified":"2011-08-05T15:00:40","modified_gmt":"2011-08-05T19:00:40","slug":"what-kind-of-blogger-are-you","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/2003\/09\/13\/what-kind-of-blogger-are-you\/","title":{"rendered":"what kind of blogger are you?"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Wea<\/EM>kend Special:  Do names exist for the various informational formats used on weblogs?  If so, please let me know.   Until I hear differently, I’m going to think of the major info formats as:<\/FONT><\/DIV>
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Blurt Blog:  the bare mention of noteworthy, hyperlinked material, perhaps with its title\/caption<\/FONT><\/DIV>
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<\/FONT> <\/DIV>
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Blurb Blog:  pointing & linking, plus a couple of sentences of commentary or description <\/FONT> <\/DIV>
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<\/FONT> <\/DIV>
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Bloat Blog:  mini-essays that point and link, often as a pretext for opinion, pontification and prolixity<\/FONT><\/DIV><\/BLOCKQUOTE>
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The same categories might also be called:<\/FONT><\/DIV>
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Pointer Blog<\/FONT><\/DIV>
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Point of View Blog<\/FONT><\/DIV>
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Pointillist Blog  [many points, very particularized, possibly professorial]  <\/FONT><\/DIV><\/BLOCKQUOTE>
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If law-related, the blawg categories might be:<\/FONT><\/DIV>
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Citation Blawg  [Point, Link & Short, LLC]<\/FONT><\/DIV>
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<\/FONT> <\/DIV>
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Headnote Blawg<\/FONT><\/DIV>
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<\/FONT> <\/DIV>
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Full Opinion Blawg<\/FONT><\/DIV><\/BLOCKQUOTE>
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Of course, the formats can blend into eachother, and bloggers occasionally stray from their primary format.<\/FONT><\/DIV>
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Two of Professor Bainbridge’s postings on his new blawg, <\/FONT>Corporation Law and Economics<\/FONT><\/A>, got me off on this tangent.   First, on Sept. 11, he responded to a comment about his prolific initial output by saying: <\/FONT><\/FONT>“Well, the pace will probably slow as the novelty wears off, but for right now the short answer is: I don’t have kids or a life, but I do have tenure.”  [thanks to <\/FONT><\/FONT>Denise<\/FONT><\/A> for the pointer] Second, on Sept. 12, he wrote about “Academic pomposity,” quoting from <\/FONT>Critical Mass<\/FONT><\/A>.<\/FONT> <\/DIV>
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Those postings got me thinking:  with very few exceptions (e.g<\/EM>., the thoughtful Stuart Levine<\/A> and Carolyn Elefant<\/A>), the only blawggers who consistently write lengthy postings (at times, like my own, longwinded, preachy) are professors, retired guys, and law students.  Or, put another way, persons actually practicing law only have time for very short posts<\/U>, with an occasional full paragraph.   Then, my twisted brain synapses wondered what to call those different formats, and this frivolous piece resulted.   Please pass on your own suggestions for format nomenclature, as well as thoughts on other demographic differences that might account for the different formats (e.g.<\/EM>,children or spouse at home, starving\/underemployed solo practice).<\/FONT><\/P>
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