Blog Entry Archetypes: Special Purpose Entry
Next in the Blog Entry spectrum is a relative newcomer to the overall blogosphere, but an increasingly important one, the Special Purpose Entry.
- Summary
The Special Purpose Entry has grown in popularity as the use of blogs has expanded over time. This form of entry provides blog authors with the ability to communicate often hard-to-categorize pieces of information to their audience.
The Special Purpose Entry is in many ways a catch-all for many soon to evolve Entry Archetypes. In many ways, tracking the content makeup of the Special Purpose Entry provides insight into the edges of the blogosphere and where the next wave of content will look like. For example, Special Purpose Entries are most commonly used today to present photographs, conference and event notes, and polls or surveys.
Looking ahead, it seems very clear that the Blog Entry Archetypes will be expanded to include both an Event Archetype and a Media Archetype.
- Format
The Special Purpose Entry is often the most visually distinctive entry used in a blog. The nature of the content often requires the author to dedicate more time and attention to the layout of the entry.
Event-centric content, the entry will either involve a narrative approach to the proceedings or a more structured timeline-like description of the events. Multimedia-centric content usually is formatted in much the same manner as the Reference Entry; the subject matter is highlighted or framed by relevant annotation.
- Effort
Since the Special Purpose Entry generally involves the development of material outside of the online world, there can be significant effort required to produce the entry.
Event Entries not only require attendance of the event or conference, but also note-taking and editing before being usable for the entry itself.
Multimedia Entries require that the subject matter be recorded, be it audio, video or photo. In addition, the image must be processed and prepared for use on the web and finally a caption or other description prepared.
Poll Entries require cultivating the topic, reducing the topic to a digestible format, and deployment of the poll itself.
- Deployment
Definitive numbers have not yet been determined for the use of the Special Purpose Entry. Anecdotally, there is tremendous evidence of their popularity and growth. Photoblogging and the rise of camera-phones and Moblogging have led to a preponderance of photo blogs. In addition, the growing use of technology at conferences across all industries is leading to even greater entries of this nature. Lastly, the news media and other outlets are increasingly turning to blogging as a timely form of publishing.
- Examples
The following posts show several examples of the Special Purpose Entry: