Today my partners and I were doing a GoToMeeting for a large organization we just developed a forum solution for and the question came up about what is the difference in a forum and a blog. We actually have had this question a few times in the past so I thought that I would post an entry here in an effort to try to clarify the difference between the two applications.
What are Forums - An Explanation
I can probably best summarize Forums as user generated content that is organized in categories, sometimes subcategories, topics, and threads. Forums are usually pretty organized and easy to find content by search. Forums are generally managed by an Administrator and a group of moderators. Forums are also usually populated by a higher number of subscribers or members than a blog. Often times forums are called “communities” because that is usually how they are organized. I will frequent a few forums on the web that are related to my industry to gather information about a particular topic or to ask a question. Forums are usually “subscribed to” by email by members who login and respond to questions or opinions offered by other members, all in all it’s a collaborative effort by many users. I have a few examples of Forums can be found here…
What are Blogs - An Explanation
While Blogs are usually maintained by either one person or a closely related group of people they usually lack the collaboration that is seen in forums. Blogs exist today in just about every industry and have been coined as Social Networking and Web2.0 by industry insiders. This blog that you are currently on is maintained by myself but I do have a few visitors that are registered users that will comment on posts that I make. A lot of Blogs simply offer up opinion but some do provide useful factual information about products and services. I try to incorporate a mixture of business, personal, and fun information in my blog. With Social Networking and user generated content being popular buzzwords these days we have seen a lot of requests from our corporate clients to add blogs to their corporate websites. I have a few Blog Examples posted here…
How to Get Started -
There are a ton of free Blogging Platforms available out there today, free meaning that these blogging platforms are usually supported by the provider placing advertisements on your blog. The proceeds and editorial control of these placed advertisements usually go to the owners of the Blogging Platform and the Blog Owner using their service has little or no input as to what is shown on their site. I have seen some horrific screenshots of Blogs with ads flashing that strongly contrast what the blog is about. For example I recently ran across a Christian Blog that was hosted on one of the free Blogging Platforms that had a banner ad for “male enhancement products” on it. While it was funny to look at, it was kind of sad knowing that the Christian Organization had no editorial control over the ads served on their blog that they have spent a lot of time and resources bringing to fruition.
Where Pleth Comes In…
We have experience developing high-end custom Blog and Forum Solutions for our clients that are ad-free and feature an appealing layout that blends well with any other web presence our clients may already have. We also have a close working relationship with Enom and Demand Media who recently relaunched the .tv domain that offers a revenue sharing ad placement model. In short, we have a blogging solution for everyone!! If you are interested in establishing a Blog Solution for yourself or your business / organization please feel free to contact us regarding your project.
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