Blog Archetypes, Entry Archetypes, and the Study of Blogging
Liz Lawley makes a compelling argument that if we intend to really understand blogs, we need to study them in much they way we would any social trend. She identifies, as starting points, 5 areas of study (paraphrased here):
Study of the Form - this entails providing a firm definition of what a blog is. Largely, many things are grouped into the blog category based on the appearance of single attributes which inevitably clouds discussions. Part of this she defines as "types of blogs" by way of authority, audience, or interactivity.
Study of Interactions - "the study of interactions between blogs and blog authors, and the clusters (or communities) that are forming in this context"
Study of Ethnographics - "both qualitative and quantitative assessments of these emerging communities". How do different audiences and authors use their blog?
Study of Content and Style - this would look at the various writing styles and resulting communications that are emerging as a result of the unique characteristics of blogging.
Study of Use in Organizational Contexts - "From blogs as coursware to blogs as information-sharing tool in business team settings to blogs as research team project tools, there’s still a lot we need to learn and understand about blogs as tools for specific tasks and contexts."
Hopefully, I've done a decent job of summarizing her points here. I will point out/add that I've also been trying to look into the blogging world, though I've not laid out as long of a roadmap as Liz.
Specifically, I've already attempted to categorize the style and format of blog entries via the Blog Entry Archetypes. Additionally, I've started now to consider the various types of blogs themselves with the Blog Archetypes. Though the approaches are somewhat different, hopefully the efforts are additive (I know I'll be trying to merge some of these points into my final Blog definition).