RSS is the component that has not been around long before the internet A blog without an RSS feed isn’t a blog to me. That’s where I draw the line, I guess, instead of at the comments.

That allows me, you, anybody to subscribe the way we choose in the reader of our choice and aggregate what we read into one easy interface of our choice. While I personally choose to visit the blog posts of most interest to me at the blogger’s website (and perhaps even leave a comment if it’s available) the RSS feed enables me to read a lot more in a customized newspaper of sorts and scan through what is of interest to me.

We can even subscribe to the comments RSS feed and then keep up with the conversation that way (for those who have comments enabled). Again, I try not to classify what is a blog and what isn’t a blog because that’s a minefield, but that’s one component that didn’t come along until the late 90s anyway and well after the internet was around

To go back to this article, in reply to TDavid, part of the reason I have a narrower definition of blogging and said that blogging without any kind of return communication wasn’t really blogging is because that kind of diary-like writing has been around long before the internet; the only difference tended to be posting frequency. Most newspapers have their op-ed sections and columnists, after all. To me, a blog without comments is simply a translation of that into the electronic world; it seems odd to call it something new and different when that’s the only difference.

Good to see Heather and Martin over here. Heather, I just subscribed to your blog after reading your comment on mine and following the link to your site. Looking forward to talking with you more in the future.

For me, anyway, and I’m just one opinion in a sea of opinions, a blog is anything in a journal type format with dates (and times) and at least one RSS feed that is regularly updated, usually but not absolutely or always written in a personal tone or style. Comments and trackbacks are preferred, but aren’t required. I’d still consider what Winer and Spolsky are doing blogging.

As for meeting new people, yes, yes, yes! I see all these social networks popping up and wonder why I’d want to immerse myself in some third party site like MySpace or Facebook that could be acquired and changed (and ruined) when I already have a social network that will be here as long as I want it to be — in the comments section of this blog

Thanks for stopping by, I hope you’ll hang for awhile. Lots of things to check out and offer your input

I totally agree with you on welcoming comments. For me the whole point of having a blog is the two-way communication. Otherwise it just ain’t no blog. “Blog” without comments is really a web 1.0 website with a database behind it.