Everyone in business has their own form of jargon and such a familiarity with what they do it becomes easy to forget that others do not share that particular jargon, they of course have their own. I am often guilty of assuming that because everything tech and web related has become so ubiquitous, everybody understands me! You know what they say about assumptions, Hee-Haw.
Had an interesting experience recently and I thought it might be helpful to expand a little on the conversation relating to blogs, newsletters and RSS feeds.
The first question that threw me – “I am I getting your blog?” And, after pausing to wash my mind out with soap, I answered, (as usual) “that depends…did you sign up to receive it.” My reply was met with a blank look so I said “it’s a blog not a newsletter.” When clarity was achieved I started thinking about just how easy it is to get all this terminology in a muddle, especially when words start to get used interchangeably. Now I don’t want to talk down to those of you who know the difference between a blog and a newsletter, but did you know you can sign up to receive blogs by email in exactly the same way, and indeed, in a number of other ways too?
Blog – the word is a contraction of web log – a personal website or web page on which an individual records opinions, links to other sites, etc. on a regular basis. Gak, the bottom line is, it’s ON-LINE. Here’s a link to a veeerrry long and boring if thorough explanation from Wikipedia.
Newsletter – though newsletters are normally produced through online portals, and a copy is held and can be viewed there, they are usually delivered by email to your inbox. Usually much less frequently than a blog, e.g., once per week or less.
RSS – stands for Really Simple Syndication – ha bet you didn’t know that! Well basically this isa way for an individual to aggregate the what, how, when and where they see posts from blogs they chose to follow. Some people like to go online, some like to get a delivery (digest) to their inbox and either can be set up as often or infrequently as desired. Yes Virginia, you can have control!
Signup and/or Subscribe – these terms are used interchangeably by most people.
J