Sideblog
Encyclopedia
A sideblog is a feature on a website, particularly a blog
, that allows one to communicate smaller snippets of information than an actual blog post. The reasoning is that a blog post will require thought, argument and some semantic structuring of the post, while a sideblog typically displays "brief asides". A sideblog is meant to illustrate your immediate thoughts, movements or status update, and is usually less than 200 characters
. Where a blog post may be compared to a newspaper opinion piece, a sideblog would be akin to the "news in brief" column.
Sideblogging is wedded to the concept of micro-blogging
, where one posts brief snippets to interested observers via text messaging
, instant messaging
, email
or the web
. Using the same tools, one can post to one's micro-blog and to one's sideblog simultaneously. Most sideblogs are actually embedded micro-blogs that appear in a small sidebar box next to the main blog posts and use feeds or plugins to display the content.
Frequently updating one's status and frame of mind in an online platform to be viewed by friends gained widespread adoption through social networking tools like FaceBook
and MySpace
. While those tools are still largely desktop-bound, micro-blogs (and, by extension, sideblogs) are designed to be updated from mobile devices as well as desktop computers. Therefore it is more convenient to post one's status with a simple text message, and interested parties can note your status by browsing your sideblog or receiving a text or instant messaging
alert.
Learning Movable Type, a tutorial website, described sideblogs in 2004 thus:
This meaning came to change with the advent of blogrolls, blog engine plugins, and widgets and third-party lists of social media
, like tag clouds and social bookmarks
.
Blog
A blog is a type of website or part of a website supposed to be updated with new content from time to time. Blogs are usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in...
, that allows one to communicate smaller snippets of information than an actual blog post. The reasoning is that a blog post will require thought, argument and some semantic structuring of the post, while a sideblog typically displays "brief asides". A sideblog is meant to illustrate your immediate thoughts, movements or status update, and is usually less than 200 characters
Character (computing)
In computer and machine-based telecommunications terminology, a character is a unit of information that roughly corresponds to a grapheme, grapheme-like unit, or symbol, such as in an alphabet or syllabary in the written form of a natural language....
. Where a blog post may be compared to a newspaper opinion piece, a sideblog would be akin to the "news in brief" column.
Sideblogging is wedded to the concept of micro-blogging
Micro-blogging
Microblogging is a broadcast medium in the form of blogging. A microblog differs from a traditional blog in that its content is typically smaller in both actual and aggregate file size...
, where one posts brief snippets to interested observers via text messaging
Text messaging
Text messaging, or texting, refers to the exchange of brief written text messages between fixed-line phone or mobile phone and fixed or portable devices over a network...
, instant messaging
Instant messaging
Instant Messaging is a form of real-time direct text-based chatting communication in push mode between two or more people using personal computers or other devices, along with shared clients. The user's text is conveyed over a network, such as the Internet...
Email
Electronic mail, commonly known as email or e-mail, is a method of exchanging digital messages from an author to one or more recipients. Modern email operates across the Internet or other computer networks. Some early email systems required that the author and the recipient both be online at the...
or the web
World Wide Web
The World Wide Web is a system of interlinked hypertext documents accessed via the Internet...
. Using the same tools, one can post to one's micro-blog and to one's sideblog simultaneously. Most sideblogs are actually embedded micro-blogs that appear in a small sidebar box next to the main blog posts and use feeds or plugins to display the content.
Frequently updating one's status and frame of mind in an online platform to be viewed by friends gained widespread adoption through social networking tools like FaceBook
Facebook
Facebook is a social networking service and website launched in February 2004, operated and privately owned by Facebook, Inc. , Facebook has more than 800 million active users. Users must register before using the site, after which they may create a personal profile, add other users as...
and MySpace
MySpace
Myspace is a social networking service owned by Specific Media LLC and pop star Justin Timberlake. Myspace launched in August 2003 and is headquartered in Beverly Hills, California. In August 2011, Myspace had 33.1 million unique U.S. visitors....
. While those tools are still largely desktop-bound, micro-blogs (and, by extension, sideblogs) are designed to be updated from mobile devices as well as desktop computers. Therefore it is more convenient to post one's status with a simple text message, and interested parties can note your status by browsing your sideblog or receiving a text or instant messaging
Instant messaging
Instant Messaging is a form of real-time direct text-based chatting communication in push mode between two or more people using personal computers or other devices, along with shared clients. The user's text is conveyed over a network, such as the Internet...
alert.
Learning Movable Type, a tutorial website, described sideblogs in 2004 thus:
- a convenient way to list out interesting links, something akin to a frequently-updated, public list of IE favorites.
This meaning came to change with the advent of blogrolls, blog engine plugins, and widgets and third-party lists of social media
Social media
The term Social Media refers to the use of web-based and mobile technologies to turn communication into an interactive dialogue. Andreas Kaplan and Michael Haenlein define social media as "a group of Internet-based applications that build on the ideological and technological foundations of Web 2.0,...
, like tag clouds and social bookmarks
Social bookmarking
Social bookmarking is a method for Internet users to organize, store, manage and search for bookmarks of resources online. Unlike file sharing, the resources themselves aren't shared, merely bookmarks that reference them....
.