Forums v. Blogs

Whats the difference between a forum and a chat room? I'll tell you. Chat rooms seem like transient things, where you type something into the ether, and it disappears forever (although its been years since I've 'chatted,' that's how it seemed back then). In some respects, IMing is the same thing, but IMing is more tangible because depending on your client, it saves the IM log and you (or your guardian/parent) can review the entire conversation at a later time. Plus - with IMing, you can send files, and also Video chat, which is cooler.

But back to forums. Forums are just cool - admit it. The nice thing about a forum is that you can post something, and it never goes anywhere, provided the host doesnt disappear. Second plus is that this posting feature allows the poster to leave a cogent thought, and other members to read it, think about it, and post something cogent (or not) later. Lengthy, well-thought out posts are more prevalent in forums, allowing for expanded discussion on more in-depth topics. Plus - forums have edit features, so if you have an attack of conscience, or suddenly see the light on stupid comment you made, you can always go back and delete your idiocy.

Really good forums turn out some really good like mini-columnists. Kind of like when you plop in to read a Op-Ed piece in the newspaper - except now you can respond to the column and generate even more discussion!

To me - Blogs are nothing more than a natural progression of forum posting. Forums gather large numbers of people in one common place about a common theme, whereas Blogs allow for the same type of comment/answering post feature, save for the fact that Blogs instead gather a large number of comments from ONE person in one page host, and allow for external commentary.

Blogs pivot on 1 person w/many themes.
Forums pivot on many people w/one common theme.

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