FOR THE PAST FOUR years I have endured snarky comments about what makes a blog a blog. Some commentators have suggested my take on things is no better than comparing sizes of things. Today, Robert Scoble rows in with his oft-stated view on the matter and they deserve repeating. A blog is not a blog unless:
1. It is easy to publish. Blogging is simpler than publishing scores of web pages or revising tons of web content.
2. It is discoverable. Your blog must ping weblogs.com or technorati or some other ping server.
3. It engages conversation. This happens with trackbacks, active referrer logs, and aggregated memes.
4. It incorporates permalinks. A blog must be inherently linkable.
5. It syndicates. All content must be available in RSS feeds.
Robert Scoble -- "If you don't have those five, you shouldn't call your stuff a blog. Especially if I can't link to it from here." (Justin Mason -- "I can go for ... the last point.")
