Written on February 7th, 2008 at 06:02 am by Darren Rowse

Do You Call Yourself a Blogger?

This might sound like a strange question for someone behind a site called ProBlogger to be asking – but do use the word ‘blogger’ to describe what you do? In this post I want to explore some reasons why I’m using the term less.

In short there are three reasons why I’m using the term ‘blogger’ less and less to describe (and think about) what I do:

1. Your Competitors Don’t Limit Themselves – Why Should You? – to think that you’re competing just with other blogs can actually limit the potential that your web publishing might have. I spoke to one blogger recently who told me that he had one of the biggest blogs going around in his niche – he spoke as though he’d ‘made it’. I congratulated him but then pointed out three other sites in his niche (a review site, a forum and a news site) which had significantly bigger traffic than him (according to Alexa).

2. Your Readers Don’t Really Care What Format Your Site is – I’ve lost count of the conversations that I’ve had with friends who tell me that they’ve never read a blog before – but whom when I question them about the sites that they read find that they read blogs everyday week without knowing it. As bloggers and web savvy people we are often very tuned in to what type of site a site is – however most web users couldn’t care less and read sites not because of their format but because it meets a need for them in some other way.

3. Positioning Yourself for the Future – blogs have had a ‘cool’ factor about them for a year or three now – but there are constantly new types of websites constantly being developed. More and more we’re seeing bloggers morph with other types of websites. While they continue to have a blogging component – they’ve been adding forums, social networks, bookmarking, newsletters and other mediums to them.

Let me say before ending that there’s nothing wrong with calling yourself a blogger or even marketing your blog as a ‘blog’ – however there are good reasons to explore stepping out of this mindset also.

What do you think? Do you call yourself a blogger? Why? Why not?

I’m looking forward to some good discussion.

What next?

172 Responses to “Do You Call Yourself a Blogger?” - Add Yours

Beth

February 7th, 2008 6:57 am

“Web Publisher” — I like the sound of that! There are far too many people out there that still say, “Huh?” when I tell them I am a blogger.

Plus, as far as newly made up words go, “blog” is not one of the more mellifluous ones.
Dennis Bjørn Petersen

February 7th, 2008 7:23 am

About a year ago I read a post somewhere (unfortunately I can’t remember where), where the blogger preferred to call himself Conversation Architect instead.

For some reason that term has stuck with me. I think it describes more what a blogger does. Sets up conversation, like this post just did.

Another thing you could ask is, should you call your blog writings posts or articles?

Many sites, including this one doesn’t use the classic blog look anymore, but more of a magazine-style theme.

Is that a blog or an online magazine instead? ;)
Thomas Sinfield

February 7th, 2008 7:45 am

That is a great point! I call myself a blogger because I have never been challenged otherwise! I guess you could call yourself a business person ‘providing a service that is wanted by others?’

I don’t know, I am going to have to think about it now!
Anthony Lawrence

February 7th, 2008 7:50 am

Not usually. “Consultant” is how I usually refer to my profession.

But with regard to the “blog”, being old school (started with the web in ‘91) I tend to call it “my website” or “my site”, and I “post” rather than blog..

I have also been known to get annoyed when people use “blog” to refer to sites that very obviously are NOT blogs at all.. but then again I get annoyed by ads that urge us to “log in” when there obviously is not any login needed..

But, I am “old school” :-)
theblackactor.com

February 7th, 2008 7:50 am

My present thinking is that I am a blogger. I publish and manage a blog.

I do not feel compelled to come up with a euphemism for what I do.

Perhaps I’ll feel differently later.
Sherman Haywood Cox II

February 7th, 2008 7:55 am

I have long since stopped calling my blog a “blog” because many of my readers simply don’t know what taht is…And I must admit I have a hard time explaining it to them…lol

So my blog is simply a “website.” Because they are of a religious nature, I used one of the following terms: “Web Minister or Web Pastor…

I also use the following terms at times: “Web Editor” and “Web publisher.”

Thanks for bringing this up…
Simon

February 7th, 2008 7:56 am

“Web publisher” how long till we see prowebpublisher.net – still available last time I checked.

I have a blog http://www.newslite.tv but would not call myself a blogger.

I recently quit my job as a newspaper journalist and use the blog as a ’shop window’ for stories. Newspapers contact me for full length versions of blog articles.

My blog has sold me around £1,000 worth of stories in the past two weeks but would still consider myself a journalist not blogger.
Natalie

February 7th, 2008 7:59 am

Great question!

I call myself a writer; i write fiction offline and my online non-fiction writing is akin to writing for a music magazine (as my blog is about songwriting and music recording), except it’s my own ;)

I have to add i came into blogging through the zine scene; i was one of those kids spending a lot of time near Xerox machines to make copies of my music zine back in the 90s! So for me, having a blog is a continuation of that; what i like about the internet is that it brought the DIY punk/post punk ethics to a whole new lot of people.
Dan Cole

February 7th, 2008 8:01 am

I think it’s better to refer to yourself in a more generalized way. I tell people I’m going into electrical engineering and they ask why I’m limiting myself to a simple electrician job and not going into a career that involves designing electronics or computers. …what? An electrical engineer designs electronics and computers. Where did electrician come from?

Relating this to blogging… I don’t call myself a blogger, because people have a lot of misconceptions about it. Instead I call myself a web developer.
Dan Cole

February 7th, 2008 8:03 am

I think it’s better to refer to yourself in a more generalized way. I tell people I’m going into electrical engineering and they ask why I’m limiting myself to a simple electrician job and not going into a career that involves designing electronics or computers. …what? An electrical engineer designs electronics and computers. Where did electrician come from?

Relating this to blogging… I don’t call myself a blogger, because people have a lot of misconceptions about it. Instead I call myself a web developer.

DARREN, YOUR HAVING SERVER PROBLEMS!
Lid

February 7th, 2008 8:05 am

When I was living in Australia, I was working as a producer (television/TVC/Video), mostly about all things Internet.

While my job was producing, most of my day consisted of research (finding new and interesting content), sometimes scripting, and always pulling together the best people to surround me (cameramen, sound, editors etc.) to ensure the best product.

Since moving to the US (late 2005), I’ve been blogging, and it all started because I needed a way to share information (I still report for a small radio show in Oz). Anything that I discussed on the show, I would blog about and include links for listeners – so at that point, I was (and sometimes still am) described as a reporter.

While I blog now about even more topics, I still don’t consider myself a blogger. I’m just using a blog as a way to pass on any information I think may be useful to others.

Over the past year, I’ve been setting up blogs for classrooms at the school my little people go to. What is interesting, is the principal – when I started – asked me not to use the word blog as it would put off quite a few of the teachers.

Funny, don’t you think – the birthplace of Silicon Valley (Palo Alto) and mid 2007 that was his comment.

Since then I’ve built quite a few class sites and recently a teacher approached me about helping her set up a similar site. When I told her I was using blogging software, she looked shocked and replied “No, no way is that a blog – blogs are those horrible …diary like…[contorted face] …places people whine (they dont say whinge here) and moan about what they did that morning since they got out of bed…”

I live in Silicon Valley, I don’t create blogs, I create mini-sites…but, at the heart of things, I’m still someone that produces ‘things’ that are meant to be useful, informative, and help others get to know the Web and the Internet better – :)
Lid

February 7th, 2008 8:07 am

Darren, I second Dan…weird server problems….
Alex Thompson

February 7th, 2008 8:11 am

I think that you were a little harsh with the blogger who made it in his niche. Asking a blog to compete in a non-blog genre (i.e. some topic where blogs are not the subject) is a severe standard. In particular, forums and news sites are massively collaborative efforts. A healthy forum has hundreds of contributors, and a news site aggregates the efforts of many journalists. Expecting someone, or some small group, running a blog to compete isn’t that reasonable . . . at least not in every circumstance.

That said, I’m a guppy, little minnow, tiny plankton, in the blog realm, so maybe I’m full of it.
DJ at Fermentarium

February 7th, 2008 8:16 am

I’ve actually gotten into the habit of calling myself a “blogger”. When you say “I have a blog” it seems to make my website more approachable. People show more interest in it because it sounds more “personal”. When I say I have a “website”, people seem to be less interested in it.
DJ at Fermentarium

February 7th, 2008 8:17 am

I’ve actually gotten into the habit of calling myself a “blogger”. I didn’t refer to my blog as a “blog” for a while. When you say “I have a blog” it seems to make my website more approachable. People show more interest in it because it sounds more “personal”. When I say I have a “website”, people seem to be less interested in it.
DJ at Fermentarium

February 7th, 2008 8:19 am

I’ve actually gotten into the habit of calling myself a “blogger”. I didn’t refer to my blog as a “blog” for a while. When you say “I have a blog” it seems to make my website more approachable. People show more interest in it because it sounds more “personal”. When I say I have a “website”, people seem to be less interested in it.

“Third” on the server problems…
Ron Pereira

February 7th, 2008 8:19 am

I am definitely trying to move away from the word blog. I am also calling the things I write articles and not posts.
Troy

February 7th, 2008 8:23 am

I tell people I’m a blogger, but lately I’ve just been saying “website” so that I don’t have to explain what a blog is, then explain that I don’t write about what I had for dinner etc… Also, when talking to people who aren’t familiar with blogging, I usually use the term “articles” instead of “posts”.
Parth

February 7th, 2008 8:43 am

I def call myself more of a consultant, and refer to my website as a website, or site, not a blog. But I’ve recently realized that I should think of myself as a blogger so that I can develop a website that is more interactive, and hence a blog.
Caitlin

February 7th, 2008 8:44 am

I am a blogger but that is just one of the hats I wear. I am also a journalist, a travel writer, a consultant, and that’s just in my professional life. I would regard http://www.thegooseberryfool.com (food) as a blog, but http://www.roamingtales.com (travel) is a website with a blog as the static article pages are equally as important as the dated posts.
Patrick Burt

February 7th, 2008 8:49 am

I tell people that I blog when they understand what a blog means. Other then that, I just say I have a website. People usually understand that part. ;)
Jason Clegg

February 7th, 2008 8:54 am

I like the term “Web Publisher” too. Sometimes, though, I use the term “Writer” just to remind myself to prioritize writing in my daily work. Content IS still king. ;)
Louis

February 7th, 2008 8:55 am

I have been calling myself a blogger since 2001 when I started my site. But back then, the people that actually blogged were a small minority, and I miss the close-knit communities we had back then. I still like my blogger tag because it reminds me of the “good-ole days”. However, it really depends on who I am talking with whether or not I refer to my site as a blog or myself as a blogger. The current trend right now is creating more news portal type of blogs, and I think that will distance the label “blogger” even more. Great point Darren.
Kelly Wissink

February 7th, 2008 8:58 am

Hi Darren!

I believe it’s in the eye of the beholder.
I like to say I’m a Network marketing writer with my own blog. Keep it simple. Be authentic. Have fun.
We all are taking baby steps. Imagine when I reply to your comment in 5 years.

Thanks,

Kelly
Simon

February 7th, 2008 8:58 am

I refer to it as “my website.” If a client or friend asks a question, I say either “I posted something about that on my website last week — I’ll send you the link” or “That’s a question I bet more people are interested in and I’ll note it for a topic on my website.”

I believe this does two things: It lets them know that they are not the only one who might have the same question. It makes them aware of my website and I have an opportunity to send them a link which they can save in an email message.
JEMi

February 7th, 2008 9:06 am

JEMi. Web Publisher. I like it.

I didn’t have the wording but I did understand the concept that you spoke of in the video. I wouldn’t want InMyHeels to be limited because I have many ideas I would like to try out on there, one by one

I always like to have room available to expand and to adapt new technologies that will develop my site and ultimately be feature rich and enjoyable to my readers

Funny – when I thought of your tax return, I just figured you wrote ProBlogger :) *shrugs* hey – it’s a livin’ :)
Domestic Divapalooza

February 7th, 2008 9:18 am

When I’m not ‘blogging’ or referring to myself as a ‘blogger’ I call myself a patient advocate.
Duncan Macleod

February 7th, 2008 9:21 am

My business card says Online Journalist. I’m writing on blogs as well as in online columns on other sites.
Jay F.H.

February 7th, 2008 9:22 am

I call myself a genius. Whatever follows is of no consequence.

/sarcasm

Honestly though, I’ve had a problem with “blogger” for as long as I’ve been “blogging” ;o)

So I agree – I tend to sway in the direction of “Web Publisher.”
shawn

February 7th, 2008 9:28 am

I definitely agree with Sherman with the use of web publisher. It’s more encompassing and seems to be more easily understood. Web publisher has been around for a while and the broadness of it should allow it to stay for a while. A publisher can publish many different things – blogs, newsletters, press releases, ebooks.
Tejvan Pettinger

February 7th, 2008 9:28 am

I used to be a webpublisher. But it sounds cooler to call yourself a blogger. Even it is only a parttime blogger and not full time blogger.
Mike

February 7th, 2008 9:32 am

I refer to myself as a freelance webmaster. Which is my way of saying “I’m a student who makes the odd bit of cash here and there making sites for people”.
Though my email signature calls me three different things – to try and make people interested enough to talk to me more.
Let’s see if it works here:

Michael Walker, Webmaster, Blogger and Poet;
http://www.yarrt.com | http://blog.yarrt.com | http://www.flamingcold.com
Justin McKean

February 7th, 2008 9:37 am

My card says “writer/performance artist” because that’s just vague enough to cover what I do and yet specific enough to mean something. Especially to other writers or other theatre people.
Angela (Cottage Magpie)

February 7th, 2008 9:51 am

Though I tried to use the term “blogger” last year because it seemed expected, I’ve never been comfortable with it. I have lots of things I’d like to write in my subject area but aren’t specifically “blogging,” like informational posts or educational posts. I think they’re useful, but they also don’t seem to be as well received as more personal posts (in my category, anyway) and require more navigation to keep them organized. I am still working out how to add them and what to call them. A wiki, perhaps?

At any rate, my tax papers say “content developer” but I almost always just say “writer” when I’m meeting someone new. Inevitably they get excited and ask, “what do you write about?” and then I can tell them about my site and the other writing I do. So far, it’s working. And maybe I’ll meet a print publisher someday who’ll want to talk ink!

~Angela :-)
ashok

February 7th, 2008 10:05 am

I’m a grad student who writes essays and posts them on a blog.

I use the term “blogger” to introduce my work, I don’t want to toot it like it’s the greatest stuff ever right off the bat, but blogging is only the medium.
Yasmin

February 7th, 2008 10:14 am

I have only recently started blogging, but I’ve been reading blogs for years. I wouldn’t consider myself a full time blogger, but I am noticing the undeniable benefits of blogging to boost my online business. My blog actually resonates with people who might not otherwise ever contact me! Do we want to pigeon hole ourselves with a label? Mmmm, gotta think on that one for a while.
Bennie

February 7th, 2008 10:16 am

I call myself a programmer and sometimes a webmaster.
Andy MacDonald

February 7th, 2008 10:30 am

Hey Darren,

Well as i mentioned, im new to blogging, so at present, i do call myself a blogger, but i guess as i grow, my blog grows, and i (if) become well known, i probably will want to go into other area’s and not ‘just’ be a blogger. an interesting question, with some interesting responses.

I also like the fact this is a video blog, maybe you could do a post at some point about how current bloggers should approach the new ‘video’ age, and making the migration from blogger, to video blogger. it would be a post that i would certainly love to see.
Mohit

February 7th, 2008 11:16 am

I don’t call my self a Blogger because I created my website ( http://www.mohitaneja.com ) to share my knowledge with others and keep myself updated with the current web standards and technology..
Daniel

February 7th, 2008 11:22 am

This is the predicament I find myself in. My site is a blog on AFL (Australian Rules Football) and while there are not many blogs out there on that topic there are other sites eg. forums that have huge traffic streams.

I have now realized that it is now not my goal to be the biggest blog in my niche but one of the biggest sites in my niche. When I first started I thought of myself as a blogger (I guess I still do) but to the general web user they see the site not so much as a blog but a opinionated / news type site. Where as people that read sites like Pro Blogger or are bloggers themselves see it as a blog.
ChowMunga!

February 7th, 2008 11:28 am

Small business owner for me. I don’t like bloggers. Kidding Darren.
Bruce Keener

February 7th, 2008 11:41 am

Your point is a good one, Darren. I call myself “blogger” too often … that is, too often I think of myself as a “blogger” instead of as a person who blogs. But, I have recognized, as you have, that it is very limiting to “bound oneself” with such labels.

I have been retired for a little over a year now. Before I retired I never even considered that I might blog. Now, largely because I too often label myself as a blogger, it consumes a lot of my time. Too much, really.

Just shows that what you call yourself impacts what you think of yourself, which impacts where you spend your time, etc.

I have recognized that I want my site to be something more than a blog, but I don’t know what I want it to be. Perhaps if I can stop calling myself a blogger for long enough, I can figure it out.
Abhijeet Mukherjee

February 7th, 2008 11:41 am

And here we go….we now have the revered ‘problogger’ looking at the term,which he himself made so popular,with suspicion and trying to step out of that mindset….a mindset which is now almost synonymous with his name in the world of the internet.

Darren,I am an avid reader of blogs since the last 3 years but couldn’t start one due to some twist of fate.Now I am going to start a blog soon and I have even included the word ‘blog’ in the domain because it will be a blog after all.So when I read this post and the comments by various bloggers on it,I have had mixed emotions.I see people generalizing the term ‘blogger’ and I see people preferring to call them ‘web publishers’ instead of bloggers.Today professional bloggers here in India or I should say in most of the countries(as we can see) as a matter of fact,find it awkward to reveal their profession correctly to others.Thats because they think people won’t understand it.But aren’t they doing more wrong by not spreading awareness about this profession and camouflaging it with some other term.Haven’t you strived to spread awareness about professional blogging since the day you stepped into this field?…and aren’t you still mostly doing the same thing?…then why thinking about not calling yourself a blogger?

As professional bloggers,most of us tend to restrict the blogging horizon.Why can’t a professional blogger do blogging,blog consulting and designing and call himself a problogger?Why can’t we expand the term itself instead of trying to go beyond the term?

I look forward to that day when people(like your wife-to-be or in-laws-to-be) ask you about your work and you say professional blogger and they,instead of saying,”I am sorry?”,say,”Wow,thats cool!” and that day won’t arrive if bloggers stop calling themselves bloggers.

So lets not be skeptical about the term “blogger”…lets be proud of it.
Duncan Macleod

February 7th, 2008 11:43 am

My business card has the phrase “online journalist”, referring to my work on blogs, online magazines and other sites.
jhay

February 7th, 2008 11:53 am

This issue has been brought up before in another blog that I read regularly, some time a few years ago.

I agree that referring to one’s self as a blogger is somehow limiting in many ways. So other terms were coined like the ones already mentioned by the other commenters above. These are very good terms, most even have an extra ‘omph’ to it compared to the term ‘blogger’.

For me, I use the terms ‘New Media Publisher’ or ‘Knowledge Technologist’ in most conversations and my CV/Profile/Resumes. It sounds way more cooler and more fascinating compared to ‘blogger’ which some people think and dismiss simply as ‘online diary writers’.
Tom Beaton

February 7th, 2008 11:55 am

A blogger is surely just a specific type of writer. We write blogs. Novelists write novels. Both bloggers and novelists are writers.
Amanda Fazani

February 7th, 2008 12:02 pm

I do call myself a blogger, because I am simply so passionate about my blogs. Unfortunately for me, few of my offline friends even know what a blog is, much less appreciate the power of this internet medium.

More and more these days, I’ve found myself reaching out into other directions too. I love web design too, and have begun to realize the benefits of social networking.

So my newest blog, Techiboo is all about “living a life online”, bringing together all the things I have come to love about the internet through blogging.
Kelvin Kao

February 7th, 2008 12:11 pm

It depends on who I’m talking to, I guess. When I look at my stats, I realized that a lot of my viewers still use 800×600… not exactly the same crowd that checks TechCrunch every day. And many blog templates/themes don’t look good in 800×600. In that case, there’s not really a reason to call yourself a blogger. However, when talking to the people that would actually use MyBlogLog, EntreCard, etc., I would use the term blog cuz it’s more specific.
Luke Kohler

February 7th, 2008 12:12 pm

I usually refer to myself as a freelance writer, or a web developer, but rarely a blogger. In some circles, “blogger” or “blog” can seem less professional. So I guess I have a different answer for everyone, depending on who is asking.

Mostly “freelance writer”, though.
Mary Corbet

February 7th, 2008 12:23 pm

Good question. I never really call myself anything. And I don’t call my blog a blog, I call it a website. Though I use a blog platform to publish, and it has the look of a blog, it’s set into a … what do you call it? static website?

I’m not super savvy about any of this stuff – I just started doing it, and it seems to work out ok. I LIKE my website, but it’s very (very) niche-oriented. I guess overall I prefer people to think of it as a website, rather than a blog.

I’ve been bad this week, though, and haven’t posted much – so I better get back into the swing of it. That’s why I like popping in here – it gets me excited about… blogging / writing / website managing – or whatever the heck you want to call it!
Ginny

February 7th, 2008 12:35 pm

@Mary – I feel the same way; reading problogger inspires me to get to work!

I’m learning the ropes myself. I love the idea of developing themes and stuff when I get more knowledgeable just for fun. I find that I usually tell folks I’m a “web developer / designer” because I like the idea of “act like where you’re going instead of where you are”. :-) I’m still learning though. I’m not even “monetized” yet. I want to write more content.

But first I am a writer. I say this because I’ve done other writing besides blogs. I am, thus, a writer.

I hope Darren doesn’t start working to phase out the word “blogger” because “blogger” sounds neat.
Jody Mitoma

February 7th, 2008 12:41 pm

I, personally, look at myself as a blogger. I haven’t really put much thought into the word itself, or how it describes someone, but ever since I’ve started blogging, I have in fact looked at myself as a ‘blogger’.

Albeit, my blog does also have a forum attached along with it, and I do try and make more out of it than just blogging, calling myself a ‘blogger’ is just what stuck out the most, since it is in fact the main focus of the website entirely.
Daniel Bates

February 7th, 2008 1:15 pm

I don’t use the words “blog”, “blogger”, or “posts” I don’t think I refer to myself as anything in particular and call my blog a “site” or “website” because my users are mostly behind the times in computers. I call my posts “articles” in keeping with a newspaper as most people relate my site as a source of news.
Tina

February 7th, 2008 1:23 pm

I’m a marketer, communicator, designer. A blog is a medium that I use for those ends. So no, I do not call myself a blogger. However, I do enjoy talking about the rewards/satsifaction of blogging. :)
The Cubicle Guy

February 7th, 2008 1:29 pm

Well, to be honest, it’s better to call yourself what you really do. If that is blogging then so be it. But you, Darren, do more than just blog, from what I can tell. You don’t simply blog about an item as in make a web log of it. You write informative articles or make videos posts, or run other websites whereby you also interact with your audience.

So in a way you are a publisher. Many others may still be just web loggers logging about their daily news.

Maybe the term blogging has also changed to mean a whole lot more. Either way, it’s better to say you are:
– What you really are because of what you do.
– What you really strive to be.
– And what you envision yourself to be.

In other worlds, if publishing is where you want to be identified as an authority that’s what you should do and tell. :)

Good article.
Bruce

February 7th, 2008 1:40 pm

I like this way of thinking, Darren.

As a new blogger, I was beginning to think of myself as a blogger, even though I am about to market my book online and am enrolled in the Teaching Sells program in order to develop distance learning/teaching modules.

I like the idea of “Web Publisher”, but I’m also considering doing motivational speaking, as some people tell me I should, so I’m not exactly sure what to say that I do, but your post motivates me to think more deeply about it.

I’m also a marketing professor, and one of the things we teach is to ask yourself, “What business are we (you) in?” Most great businesses and organizations do this.
I think this applies here as well.
Mad Mike Media

February 7th, 2008 2:08 pm

Great Video indeed! You make a very good point about the way Blogger sounds compared to Web Publisher. I do refer to myself as a Blogger but then again, I am new in this online world. I do however, write comments and do other things online like writing reviews and such that would make me reconsider calling myself a Web Publisher. Thank you so much for opening my eyes. I think it sounds more professional also, so for now on, I am a Web Publisher… LOL. Thanks Darren.
Blogging For The Money

February 7th, 2008 2:20 pm

For the first four years or so of ElectricVenom.com I told people I was a blogger, but I got tired of everyone thinking that meant I was on MySpace and/or running an online diary complete with naughty pictures.

So then I started calling myself a “problogger” in the hope of convincing people that I’m far more attractive and accessible than you, my Aussie friend.

But that failed.

I think I’m going to go with “Web Publisher”. It has a nice ring and implies that I sometimes change out of my pajamas. (Which is seldom the case, but no one really needs to know that, do they?)
Neena (NeenMachine)

February 7th, 2008 2:28 pm

I tend to call my site a “website” as opposed to a blog, so you bring up an interesting point. Most of the people that I know offline don’t really get what a blog is but if I say “website” then it seems to add more credibility.
Internet Business Blogger

February 7th, 2008 3:01 pm

Sadly yes I call myself a blogger. I have 10 or 15 blogs and sometime late last year as I tried to keep up some kind of posting schedule I realized that I wanted to be in on the conversation with my readers. So I stopped writing so much and started just concentrating on one blog in particular.

Now I think of expanding, why just be a blogger. You are right Darren pigeonholing is bad after a while.

I feel that expanding and becoming the instigator of communication is a much better role now.
Katy

February 7th, 2008 3:08 pm

Even though the term blog has been around, many people I come across still do not know what it means. Web publisher means nothing to them either.

Rather than explaining, I say I just tell them I have a website with resources for parents. The more specific I am, the more it can lead to conversation about my site’s topic.

Why be lumped with the other zillion bloggers in the world?
San Francisco Photos

February 7th, 2008 3:19 pm

I’ll have to find another name as well. Blogger is not really what I do anyway so this is perfect timing!
RHM

February 7th, 2008 3:43 pm

I consider myself part blogger and part educator. Honestly, I identify with the educator part a bit more.

RHM
rodel

February 7th, 2008 4:10 pm

well..i consider myself as a entrepreneur not a blogger..fact is, this blog platform is my business. and basically all blogs are considered business since we sell something. its just these so called bloggers don’t realized it.. why bother placing some ads in your blogs/sites if your just plainly writing something who have no interest for earning? better get your traditional diary and do it there.

others would also brag that they’re just having fun? oh really? are they? the way i see it? those people who’ve been having fun while blogging are the ones basically earning a huge chunk. why not check on those so called hobby bloggers and get their traffic stats and how often they update their blogs. you’ll see the big difference…

in short, business bloggers or businessman who use blog platforms, better start considering ur blogs as ur business for you to love and take good care of it thereby reaping the benefits afterwards..

my two cents..
Mark - ProBloggers Matrix

February 7th, 2008 4:20 pm

I like to think of myself somewhat as a blogger, but what I am, is an instructional media designer.

Think of it this way: Blogs are only one way I publish to the Internet.

Internet forums are another. Camtasia-generated videos are another. Static landing pages are still another; I use those for running surveys. Another form of instructional media that I use is a hybrid of the above which utilizes several different types of media: The Interactive Learning Environment (ILE). You’ll be hearing more about them soon.

So, I happen to be an instructional media designer who uses blogs as part of his instructional media toolset.
Lipton

February 7th, 2008 4:44 pm

I call myself an web entrepreneur :) and one of the things I do is blogging.

Blogging and SEO, marketing, design, coding 0_o

All with the goal of one day calling myself a successful web entrepreneur :)
Tn

February 7th, 2008 5:01 pm

Abhijeet mukherjee, your answer is a slap to this guy who is hesitating to call himself a blogger NOW, I really liked your idea and look at these other sheeps bleating the same song lol.. Darren, I came to know about you, when I first searched about the ‘most search keyword’ i.e Blogging and you were there somewhere on third or fourth search result. Just because, people don’t understand what does it mean, is not an enough answer to tell them or say.. lie them your profession with some different sophisticated looking name as ‘ web publishing’. huh ?? are you dreamweaver, frontpage,namo webeditor?lol.. web publisher may be the new term you are about to define.. or what? enlighten us.. don’t try to change things please when people are just about to get knowing what blogging is :)
Jim | UTurnAhead

February 7th, 2008 6:06 pm

YES! Someone said it! I’ve felt this way since I got into blogging, um, Internet publishing. A blog is just one format for web publishing…and the lines get more and more blurred each day. Traditional websites are learning that regularly updated content is critical to repeat visitors. Well, isn’t that blogging? We just put a date on our content updates.

Great post, Darren. You hit a home run with this one.
Dimitrios Matsoulis

February 7th, 2008 6:12 pm

It is great to find out that other people had similar experiences. A friend to which I gave my site’s address asked me the following day “what the hell is that?” LOL
Thanks Darren for the article :-)
Your videos are quite good and self-explanatory. So maybe it is a good idea to say what you have to say in that form and not include the same stuff in text.
I am young in the web field but I felt like saying my thoughts. Great site!
http://electronrun.wordpress.com/
Angela (Cottage Magpie)

February 7th, 2008 6:54 pm

This topic got me thinking so I cam around for another round. It occurs to me: maybe the thing to consider is what you hope to accomplish with your answer?

For example, in my case, saying “web publisher” creates a following conversation about what exactly a web publisher is. “Blogger” leads to a conversation about whether that’s a profitable venture or not. In contrast, “writer” generally leads to a conversation about what I’m working on. In my particular case, that last one is the best fit for my objectives: marketing my site. For someone else, it might be completely different.
Slim

February 7th, 2008 7:41 pm

That is a great point! I call myself a blogger because I have never been challenged otherwise! I guess you could call yourself a business person ‘providing a service that is wanted by others?’
jamie

February 7th, 2008 7:56 pm

Me! I am a mountaineer, I just happen to use Wordpress to run my site – as it is easy peasy. There a re loads of cool themes and it took me about 5 mins to load with fantastico, no more pouring over dreamweaver late into the night.
Haron

February 7th, 2008 9:25 pm

I call myself a writer, because that’s the way I want to be seen. A person who writes: blogs, magazines, books, whatever tickles my fancy at the time. My blogs are doing well, and I love them, but over the last couple of years I got several other writing gigs off the back of my blogging, and it felt sweet.

The fact that I also do all the design and SEO and web-related stuff for my sites is neither here nor there – I treat it like building a printing press and a little shop downstairs so that I can create and sell my writing.
markowe

February 7th, 2008 9:55 pm

Yes, I consciously started using the term “site” rather than “blog” a while back for the very reasons Darren mentions.

What with loads of static pages and plenty of other stuff going on, I think the term “blog” detracts from the site.
Catherine L

February 7th, 2008 10:49 pm

Hi Darren – I don’t call myself a blogger, partly because I only do it part-time. I just call myself a business owner. Even if I blogged full-time like you, I would still call myself a business owner, because I don’t want to limit myself.

Before my last wedding – the registrar insisted that I put on my marriage certificate – the service my last business offered as my occupation. I found it offensive because it sounded very limiting and also although I owned the business, I also did other things; and I didn’t actually physically provide the service myself.

Point number 2 you made is important. Before I found your blog, I didn’t have a clue what a blog was. And I should imagine that many other people don’t either – they’re just browsing the web for information and a blog is just another medium which provides that information.
Daniel Scocco

February 7th, 2008 11:26 pm

Web Publisher for me as well, thanks!
Darren Rowse

February 7th, 2008 11:28 pm

I should emphasize again that I have nothing against the term blogger. I think it’s a good term to describe what many bloggers do – however…. I guess the main point of this video was to challenge ‘bloggers’ to widen their perspective a little and to consider a change in mindset with a bigger picture mentality.

Alex Thompson – I tried not too be too harsh on the blogger and I certainly didn’t confront him in an aggressive way. All I tried to do was to lift his eyes a little to what else was going on in the niche. He seemed to have mindset that all he was ‘competing’ (wrong word) with was other blogs – yet the real competition was outside the blog niche in terms of where the real traffic is. I agree with you that forums have a lot more resources to draw on – to an extent – however so can a blog when their readership comes together around a topic.

Abhijeet Mukherjee – I’m not sure I made the term ‘blogger’ popular by any means – it was pretty widely used before I even knew what it meant. I’m not suggesting it’s a term to view with suspicion either – but rather I’m encouraging bloggers to take a step back from the term and look at things a little differently. By all means use the term if you feel it fits for you – I guess all I’m saying is that many bloggers are now discovering that their ‘blogs’ are becoming bigger than just being blogs. But that’s not everyone and I guess it’s up to each blogger to make a call on that for themselves.

Tn – again, I don’t have anything against the term – except that in some cases I think it limits people in their thinking. I’m not abandoning blogging or the word – just want to encourage bloggers to consider that there are other mediums out there and that thinking of your blog as a website which can be expanded in lots of directions can be a really freeing thing for a blogger.
amypalko

February 8th, 2008 12:03 am

It’s funny that you posted this now, Darren, as I just wrote yesterday about how much I dislike being categorised and pigeon-holed. I find it limiting when others do it, but even more so when I do it to myself. I watched a clip of Salvador Dali on Whose Line Is It Anyway? on YouTube the other day there, in which Dali refuses to allow himself to be reduced to the category of Artist. It’s really hilarious, and I thoroughly recommend watching it, not just because it’s funny, but because I think it has something interesting to say about why we should be questioning the ways in which people are defining themselves and their websites.
Mandy

February 8th, 2008 12:47 am

This is a really good point. I have limited myself as a blogger and not looked at the bigger picture, which isn;t a surprise as I seem to have fallen into every trap there can be for bloggers.

When people ask me what I do, and I say a blogger they never know what one is which can be a bit disheartening. And until now I have been unable to explain it any better.

I look to the future though and I do want to expand on what I am now doing with my blogs. But not having a clear label in a sense that people can understand limits that as well.

So I have to thank you again Darren for helping me to see my situation from another angle. Web publisher is a much more up to date term and also easily recognisable, even if people don’t understand how you publish they still understand what you do.

And with it being a much broader term it isn’t limiting or hard to understand, I will definitely be moving away from labelling myself a blogger and take up the web publisher route!
Andrea

February 8th, 2008 1:14 am

I got into blogging long before it was called blogging, so it’s been interesting to watch. before blogs, there were websites, and some personal ones that were frequently updated (by hand-coded HTML even) were called “online journals”. Now, in terms of scope, these were more personal and longer daily (or less) entires.

Blogging, as you know, came about with new automated software to post content, and the original blogs were seen as sort bits of information. Cool links, small thoughts, until the lines between online journaling and blogging were indeed crossed. toss in using it as a business model and, in my mind , we’ve got a very rich definition for blogger these days.
d.a.

February 8th, 2008 1:26 am

I say that I write for a couple of blogs, one for technical reviews, and another for healthy lifestyle tips. Saying what I write about tends to interest folks more than saying “I’m a writer”. I also prefer not to peg myself with one word descriptions, i.e. writer, teacher, sysadmin. For some, I realize that this is a great shorthand, or that the word does indeed describe what they do. For myself, it simply feels limiting.
Lisa Marie Mary

February 8th, 2008 1:34 am

I had always thought of myself as a webmaster/small business owner/internet marketer. Then a little over a year ago, I noticed that people were making livings from their blogs alone, so I focused more in that area. And that is when I found ‘paid blogging’….and everything else went by the wayside. I was a blogger, and I was having a blast. Was all my content great? No. As the year went on, my reviews got better and better, though, and not so much like some crappy infomercial.

Then the bottom fell out of that arena – for me. I got G-slapped and everything changed. And I was forced to return to looking at all of my old ways of generating an income – and developing web properties – and developing my brand. And in a way, I am grateful. I would like to eventually return to doing some paid blogging, just some. But I think I was really limiting myself when I was ‘just a blogger’.

The education I’m getting from studying some of the big online marketing geeks is absolutely priceless. So even though I miss paid blogging, I am so glad to be back in the ‘Warrior Forum frame of mind’.
Tom Volkar / Delightful Work

February 8th, 2008 1:39 am

I call myself a Career Transition Coach because that’s what I am. I’m a blogger in the same way that I’m a Dad; it’s one of many roles we all get to play but I don’t introduce myself as a Dad.

I think we ought to call ourselves according to the main value we offer the world. For me it’s defintely in guiding folks to find and engage in their true calling. I am what I am a coach all they way.
Chris Jacobson

February 8th, 2008 2:31 am

Let’s see more of your HQ 2.0. :)
rach@lid.cc

February 8th, 2008 2:59 am

“Artist” works.

… it’s not like “Webcomicer” is any more prestigious…
Ted

February 8th, 2008 3:40 am

Am I a Pro-Blogger, Sure am, I made a total of 78 cents (.78)
yesterday.

http://www.campingsierra.com
Chase Roper

February 8th, 2008 4:30 am

I write for my blog, for PunchlineMagazine.com, as well as screenplays and comedy material. So I consider myself a writer above and beyond anything else.
supermom_in_ny

February 8th, 2008 4:37 am

In the offline world, I don’t call myself a blogger even though I do own several blogs. There are several reasons for this. I’ve found most people don’t know what a blogger is. (That leads me into a 15 minute crash course of blogging 101. Which confuses them even more.) I also dabble in affiliate marketing and online businesses which don’t fall under that category.

So, what do I say when I’m asked about what I do?
I earn money online in several ways. I write articles and run online businesses. I don’t even talk about affiliate marketing because that takes another 20 mintues of explaining!

Besides, blogging is not as well known as we think (in the offline world). Imagine my surprise, when two of my children’s teachers asked me, “What’s a blogger?” (My kids mentioned it.)
:)
Jill at GoalGuru.com

February 8th, 2008 4:38 am

I refer to myself as a DotComPreneur

Jill
Blogging Mama

February 8th, 2008 5:01 am

I post on my website which my kids call a blog. It’s a website and the blog software that powers allowed me to update it easily that I could not have done myself. I just post with anything.
BeatlesLane

February 8th, 2008 5:40 am

I would welcome LESS use of the word “blog” or “blogging” or “blogger”, especially when a lot of the sites are more than that (they have other aspects to them). I would call those a “website”. Plus, I just don’t like the sound of the word “blog”, I guess……
Ed

February 8th, 2008 5:40 am

I never think about what I call myself in relation to my web presence. I provide health tips on my site. I like the blogging format because it makes it easy to add content when I feel like it, and it makes it easy for me to interact with my readers.
Alex Thompson

February 8th, 2008 6:17 am

Rowse,

Word, thanks for the response! I figured it was gentler than I interpreted it to be (is that a non sequitur?) When a blog’s comment section functions so much like a forum then certainly competition is becomes feasible, and maybe even if that’s not the case.

AT
Alex Thompson

February 8th, 2008 6:18 am

Rowse,

Word, thanks for the response! I figured it was gentler than I interpreted it to be (is that a non sequitur?) When a blog’s comment section functions so much like a forum then certainly competition becomes feasible, and maybe even if that’s not the case.

AT
Karen Putz

February 8th, 2008 7:03 am

I’m a Writer. I finally felt comfortable with this new path in life after picking up some freelance gigs that sent out regular paychecks. I’m discovering this new label has a nice sound to it at parties. When people prob further and ask, “What do you write?” I explain that I produce web content for several different companies.
maria

February 8th, 2008 7:09 am

I consider myself a writer and that is what is on my business cards and what I tell people I do when they ask. My blog is more a series of essays/articles rather than centered around links or current events. I also try to stay away from having it be a journal of what I did that day. I don’t make money from my writing (yet) but my day job is just that – a day job- and I don’t even like talking about it. My writing and blogging on the other hand is something I am happy to discuss and promote.

I, too find that many people don’t know what blogs are or think they are just a series of links. I try to avoid that. Interesting topic, though!
Paul Martin

February 8th, 2008 7:19 am

My thought was always: I have a blog, therefore, I am a blogger. It was interesting looking at it from a differant point of view.

Paul @ http://www.ptlblog.com
Tn

February 8th, 2008 9:42 am

Darren, thank you man, I thought you’d disapprove my comment but glad you responded with your words(you’ve ability to turn bad into good, thanks again), I’m glad to see you as a great human being and thanks for clearing things up.

I take back those words which I posted as my comment here before.
Dara

February 8th, 2008 11:07 am

Something I think should be touched upon is the limited box that the term ‘blogger’ connotes. Especially in the political and entertainment arenas, bloggers like Perez Hilton trivialize the field, in my opinion.
Justin (Pusha)

February 8th, 2008 1:14 pm

My site highlights artists and their web sites. I like to think of it as a sort of online art gallery. When people ask me, I say I’m a curator. If you saw my blog you’d notice I really write short posts but try to keep the content unique and thought provoking. Although the site by definition IS a BLOG I usually just refer to it as a Web site or online gallery.
Clare

February 8th, 2008 1:18 pm

Interesting conversation!

I, too, dislike the term blog: a couple years ago I went to a talk by Chicago Tribune cultural editor Julia Keller, who described the word “blog” as “unfortunate.” It reminded her of something you might expell onto a Kleenex and then dispose of as quickly as possible…

“Web publisher” — that’s more like it!

Clare,
(no longer blogging at Always Advent. Now web publishing instead. Thanks, Darren! Love your Australian accent!)
Repmarc

February 8th, 2008 3:24 pm

I guess it’s pretty true what you have said on readers don’t really care about the format of information that the sites are in.

What bloggers missed out is the fact that The Internet isn’t just about blogs. That’s the problem when a phenomenem gets too big that it overshadowed other equally important sites.

Regards
Repmarc from http://la-critic.blogspot.com
Jon Bishop

February 8th, 2008 8:41 pm

To not limit myself to any one thing, I call myself a ‘New Media Marketer’ that way whatever comes up in the future, it will be considered new media all I have to do is stay up to date the with benefits of it.

I also hardly ever refer to myself as a blogger (noun) but rather that blogging (verb) is a very tangible/sellable skill that falls under my title, alongside many other relevant skills.
Brett

February 9th, 2008 5:09 am

I could never and still do not use the term blog. I have always thought of myself as a website publisher. I agree that a person may be limiting themselves with the label of blog or blogger; however, for many, some are content to only publish articles and have no interest in online advertising. To each his/her own.
james

February 9th, 2008 5:18 am

So much great info, thanks. Even though I blog to market, my blog also has the purpose of passing on useful knowledge, just like this one, lol.
Barbara Segal

February 9th, 2008 7:56 am

ABSOLUTELY! I have has been contracted by many clients to blog since 2005. Our portfolio of clients are in the fashion industry, interior design field, infant market, film industry, and corporate public relations.
Alex

February 9th, 2008 10:06 am

Oh no! Another interesting post!

Funny you should bring this up. To some people I’m introduced as a blogger – this is no problem for me, but, I’ve been questioning whether I really am a blogger.

I had a brief discussion about whether bloggers are journalists with a journalist on my blog the other day. Apparently I’m not a journalist because what I write could be pure imagination, whereas journalists only write facts…

Not sure about this, but anyway. This guy intimated that bloggers were a bit like columnists, only without the sophisticated prose (again, not sure about this – lots of bloggers do write very well)

In some respects I agree that many bloggers are really ‘columnists’.

But, what the heck. I don’t care what I’m called, I like what I do and I hope the enthusiasm reaches my readers and thus builds my site into a type of one-man magazine that is supported by site generated revenue.

In fact, I reckon, in may respects, ProBlogger is more an interactive online magazine than a blog. And this is the way I want my site to go too.
Laura

February 9th, 2008 8:05 pm

There are very few people I would call bloggers. Most of those who say they are bloggers are a hybrid of blog and splog. A blogger, to me, is still someone using weblog software to create art, write a journal or some combination of those on a personal level.

The traffic and readers are a fun side effect, not the point of the whole thing. I have seen many so called bloggers who are obsessed with seo and monetizing to the point where the blog content has been left to rot or is stolen from others. I’d be glad to see blogging be left to fall back to what it began as, something fun and creative.
Roland Hesz

February 9th, 2008 9:44 pm

No, I don’t. And here are my exact thoughts.

http://heszroland.hu/2008/02/09/who-are-the-bloggers-and-what-do-they-eat/
Christian Cawley

February 9th, 2008 10:14 pm

You know reading this it has occured to me that my main website @ http://www.kasterborous.com is to all intents and purposes a blog – we just don’t refer to it in that way.

Personally speaking, as someone up there said, I refer to myself as a freelance writer and web developer (although of late I’ve been working more as a web developer than a writer, for some reason).

Excellent topic for discussion Darren, eye opening as always.
resim

February 9th, 2008 11:38 pm

I would welcome LESS use of the word “blog” or “blogging” or “blogger”, especially when a lot of the sites are more than that (they have other aspects to them). I would call those a “website”. Plus, I just don’t like the sound of the word “blog”, I guess……
Tibi Puiu

February 10th, 2008 12:06 am

Great video post Darren, I like to think of myself as a blogger, after all I run a handful, but I have some other regular websites, so I guess a fair term would be either “web publisher,” as you finely put it or as I prefer “internet entrepreneur.”
Bookie

February 10th, 2008 12:57 am

I have thought of myself as an ‘internet publisher’ for several years now. I started out with websites well before blogs and I use blogging software like Wordpress as I would any other CMS.

I think blogging became such a powerful term because it was a convenient point of convergence for several key technologies.

1. RSS (and feed readers)
2. PHP – cheap, reliable, efficient server-side scripting
3. MySQL – cheap, reliable, efficient database

Wrap this up in a nice package and you have a dirt cheap database driven website that anyone can operate update as easily as typing a letter. Eight years ago, this was out of reach for most.
Christopher

February 10th, 2008 5:27 am

I’ve NEVER called myself a blogger although many of my websites use or include a blog format.

I normally say I’m an Internet Marketer, writer, teacher, or just I have websites.
ganis | scholarships

February 10th, 2008 6:14 am

I often been asked “what are you doing?” or “what is your jobs?” Each time, i answered “Web content management” or “web content manager” .

I believe they got smal figure what it was all about. Then usually they asked “so, you manage a website?” and I say “you can say so”
David Scrivner

February 10th, 2008 9:35 am

I’d say that you are definitely expanding your potential without just using the term Blog or Blogger. I still use that to describe myself, but I am going to shift from that after your words here.

Although I do not make any money doing what I do, I do have fun and when people ask what I do I say I blog. Since I am actually a film critic, I think that may be a more suitable title. However, no one likes a critic so web publisher sounds great too. Thanks for the advice.
David Berkowitz

February 10th, 2008 11:02 am

It took me awhile before I called myself a blogger, well after I was blogging on group and corporate blogs in 04 and branching out on my own blog in late 05. But it stuck, and it’s still relevant to people. I was just guest blogging at a conference the other day, and marketers were genuinely interested in talking to a blogger because it meant that I inherently got blogging, and much more about social media by default. Most importantly, being a blogger by name helps connect me with other bloggers out there.
Mr. Javo

February 10th, 2008 2:06 pm

I describe me as partial time blogger, explaining what I do in my blog, about my posts and my mission. Everybody I tells get wondered knowing that you can earn money online from your home.
BoggingForBillions.com

February 10th, 2008 4:15 pm

Great question…I consider my self an entrepreneur that runs a blog that is evolving into more than just a blog. Hopefully a resource or portal. But really I consider myself an entrepreneur that blogs about entrepreneurs.

Rob West:)
Mark

February 10th, 2008 5:09 pm

Hello Darren, I have found your site very useful setting up my blog. Thanks for the info.

I don’t call myself anything. I’ll leave that to others. I do what I do because I love doing it. If I didn’t I’d soon give it up. Blogging is just how I tell people what I do or am. It wouldn’t matter what it is called.

If someone asks me what I do I might tell them I run a blog, or a website. It’s a question of what people understand. If Garbo or God described what I do I’d say that. Whatever defines it to the listener.

The reason to call yourself anything is to set yourself apart, which is what a ‘blogger’ was (and still is), apart. For some perceived gain, expression, feedback, status, position, money, etc.

Then the time comes when the field you’ve set yourself apart in, the name, is no longer enough and you have to call yourself something else to keep up with the need to identify, or gain more.

Whatever you call yourself the day will come when you will call yourself something else. The trouble is the name is not what you are and the need to define yourself is endless. Even superman got unhappy with his lot.

It comes down to what you can get by changing what you call yourself. Self interest rules. Whatever you call yourself will be a limitation on your potential.

But I see the point, people are ‘blogging’ the question.
Nithya

February 10th, 2008 6:27 pm

Darren,
I agree with you. I consider myself as a web publisher, rather than a blogger, which opens up my perspective.
God Bless.
Rita

February 10th, 2008 7:57 pm

I’ve just started my blog. I’m a consumer specialist writing about baby boomer issues. I have referred to myself as the Boomer Consumer Blogger. I’ll have to see how it goes. Maybe I’ll call myself a blogger. Maybe I won’t. I’m sure having fun blogging.
Jeremy

February 11th, 2008 3:59 am

It’s funny because I just watched your video this morning, but last night I was at a birthday party for one of my young son’s friends. Several of the parents that I met for the first time asked me what I did for a living. Since I am involved in several website projects, I told them that essentially I was a “Web Publisher.” Of course that lead to several follow-up questions, which was a great way for me to network about my various sites, and, hopefully, get some new subscribers.

I really enjoyed your perspective on this, and I couldn’t agree more with your point of view. Thanks!
Ransom Place

February 11th, 2008 7:18 am

Again, Daren, you’ve taught me something else I can use. Before hearing your audio, I told people I publishe on the web. I felt guilty using the word “pubisher” because my blog (I’ll start calling it a site now), is less than a few months old and the income from AdSense ads is negligible. And I loved your thought of publishing “web properties.” Sure, why stop at one. Hearing your opinion is a lovely way to end the weekend. Thanks.
Aaron Cook

February 11th, 2008 1:06 pm

Great video and post on this topic, Darren. I definitely agree on this point and believe that we are much more than “bloggers.” Through our blogs, most of us wear many hats and do many things simultaneously. We entertain, we inform, we educate, we build communities, the list goes on and on. In essence, we help shape the entire online world.

We help companies bring their good products/services to market by propelling them further into the spotlight, just as we help them to improve upon those products/services by publishing our thoughts, opinions and experiences with them for all to see. So in essence, we’re also helping to shape the entire offline world as well.

All this involves and encompasses much, much more than what “blogging” did when it originally came into existence way back when, which is why I’d have to agree that labeling ourselves solely as “bloggers” is indeed quite limiting.

The future of blogging is wide, wide open. And so, too, should be our way of defining it…and ourselves.

Shine on,
Aaron
Mike Dammann

February 11th, 2008 1:16 pm

I started blogging before it was cool, so heck yeah!
violet

February 11th, 2008 3:38 pm

so, I am a student doing a large paper on blogging mostly from a political standpoint. I stumbled upon this article and all of your replys and learned a lot more of what bloggers would and wouldn’t like to be called.
I have always loved reading blogs mostly because they crack me up and give me some extremely interesting reading material (part of my downfall of this paper cuz i get so sidetracked reading stuff).
But, I was hoping that you as bloggers could help me by giving me some ideas, from your point of view, on why bloggers blog and why it is such a good idea.
Some, I realize, simply provide good conversation, some are used as a way to pass on info that might be useful to others, and some are just making money telling their opinion. But what else? My friend says she blogs because she finds it therapeutical. Do you?
Any and all imput would be helpful especially from a bloggers opinion. Thanks so much!
Ai Ling ONG

February 11th, 2008 3:40 pm

I often find myself referring to my site as “website” as it seems like most people are more familiar and be able to associate with website rather than blog.

Well, if my audience are students and the younger generation, I will add on to say that it’s a blog as it is something that is fashionable to them.

Personally, I dont call myself a blogger as I have yet to do it on a full time basis. I see my sites, some of which as platforms for me to document my thoughts and learning experiences for myself and at the same time for the rest of the world who might find them useful.

Cheers!

Darren: Tks for sharing the perspectives of wideinng our potential in the field of blogging/web publishing
violet

February 11th, 2008 4:16 pm

my question was just answered with the post “Why do you Blog?” that I only just found.
great answers there that are really going to help me.
If anyone wants to add anything that’d be great but my question was answered pretty well. Thanks tho :)
johno

February 11th, 2008 6:46 pm

Thought-provoking. It’s got me to thinking that perhaps most blogs have outgrown the term (we)blog. Perhaps we’ll see the introduction of a new nomenclature (there’s a job for you, Darren). I’m always in two minds as to how to refer to my own web-space; is it a blog; is it a web site, and edu-site…?

I guess you’ve already bought pro-web-publisher.com :) Another great video, and I have all the more to think about for watching it.
Jan Sterrett

February 11th, 2008 9:47 pm

I call myself both a writer and a blogger. It actually was kind of exciting to refer to myself as a blogger, as I put off starting a blog for some time.

For me blogging and writing articles, and journaling can be very therapeutic at times. It gets the stuff out of my head and onto the computer screen, and then into my posts, so I don’t have to keep thinking about it or remembering it. Even if it’s something no one ever sees. Nothing else seems to get those words out of my head, like my pounding on the keyboard, or writing in longhand.

But that brings me to a question, that might be somewhat off topic to this discussion.

Many people recommend writing to a specific niche. Can’t that be somewhat limiting as well?

My blog started out to be about Affiliate Marketing, now it’s got posts about my two cats, writing, crafts, whatever I feel like writing about.

I find it difficult to believe that some Affiliate Marketers might not also be pet owners. And some writers might not enjoy crafting. Or that Some Affiliate Marketers also like to write.

Which goes back to this discussion about limiting ourselves. So even though it’s what most people recommend, I don’t seem to be able to write for only a specific targeted niche audience, so far, and I’m not yet ready to start separate blogs for each different topic I might want to write about.

I like writing about whatever I want to write about, when I feel like writing it. I like writing about different topics. In school I had to write about whatever topic the teacher assigned me. At Article Sites, I have to make sure to follow their publishing guidelines.

But on my own blog I love being able to write about whatever might come to mind. I don’t have to concern myself as much with minimum/maximum word lengths. I don’t have to be as picky about grammar and spelling, as I try to be with my submitted articles.

Now I view blogging as being very freeing and very empowering for myself. Now I wonder why I waited so long to start a blog of my own.
Simon Sage

February 12th, 2008 5:18 am

My official job title is Editor, even though I’m really a blogger.
The blog reads like a news site, so adopting journalistic titles like “Editor” is really natural. I hear ya on being a limiting term, Darren, but it’s also a focused one. I studied in school to write, and now I get to – I don’t want to do website design, or community management, or any of the other jobs within arm’s reach of blogging. What title you take is really dependent on the range of work you do on your blog.

As for what I tell other people, I say “I write for a website”. I agree with resin that the word “blogger” sounds odd to those not in the sphere.
Rockk

February 12th, 2008 4:08 pm

Well to be honest I don’t that often. I tell some folks I have blogs and write for them, but in reality I do a bunch of things so no one tag seems to fit the bill. For certain the old one of webmaster seems long gone. That seems antiquated now.

I blog but am I a blogger? Hmm on Tuesdays I am a blogger for sure. The other days I wear other hats too.
randomguru

February 12th, 2008 4:22 pm

i’m a musician who’s kept an online journal since May 1998 but have come to embrace the term “blogger”.

very good question, though. as i get the same thing when i tell friends and relatives in RL that i am a blogger.

“web publisher” is a very good term and has a more broader, versatile meaning for what we do online.
Neil Miller

February 12th, 2008 6:17 pm

As a blogger in the world of film journalism, I have always been torn over this very topic. You are right, there is still a very ‘cool’ factor to strutting yourself as a blogger, especially one that can survive as a full-time blogger.

Then again, in the world of movie studios, there is a serious taboo to being labeled a “blogger”. Movie studios look down on online outlets and reporters to begin with, but show serious disdain to bloggers. They site the fact that bloggers can be irresponsible with sensitive information, erratic and uncontrollable. They prefer the very controlled, traditional style of media presented by magazines, newspapers and major television networks.

Thankfully the legions of movie fans seem to be migrating online, forcing the studios to have to deal with bloggers as we are the ones reaching their audience. My hope is that as a new generation of leadership comes into the studio system in Hollywood that we will see more change, but for now calling myself a “blogger” is not always the best thing to do, as it may cost me reputation points with those who control the information I need in order to make my blog run.
Emmet

February 12th, 2008 7:30 pm

For the longest time I have struggled to tell people what a blog is. Nobody who isn’t tech savvy really understands, so I just refer to blogs as websites now whenever I speak with someone who isn’t actually a blogger. I definitely agree that it isn’t wise to pigeon hole yourself by calling yourself a blogger, and the title of “web publisher” has always made more sense to me. The title of blogger doesn’t sound nearly as serious or professional as “web publisher” in my opinion.
David C Schupbach

February 13th, 2008 1:47 am

Terrific Perspective!
So much of what we do is determined by our perspective of what we do, and who we are. If we limit our perspective, we limit our results. Thanks Darren for a very encouraging and educational perspective!
Robert Parker

February 13th, 2008 4:13 am

Darren, I agree with your comments about what we as bloggers…call ourselves and like you have been tending to lean toward the term ‘online writer’ these days. Blogging is afterall, mostly writing and require well honed writing skills.

However, when I also consider that I currently have over 25 blogs on the go, I suppose I am somewhat of a web publisher as well.

I think the ‘blogger’ label has a connotation that is very well accepted in some areas, not accepted in others, or in many cases, just not understood by the general public. I still have people ask me what a blog is even though to us the term is quite commonplace and well understood.

I also agree that we need to be careful not to limit ourselves into thinking as a blogger and possibly missing the next web development because maybe it doesn’t seem to be blog related.
However, having said all that, I still in many situations refer to myself as a blogger. It is not a term to be taken lightly and I think does to some extent set us apart from the crowd, the website publishers and others who may not have the writing skills etc required to be a true blogger, but are still able to produce excellent websites.
Over the last couple of years blogging has gained some ground and some voices of distinction are starting to be heard. Here in Canada one of the television networks produced a show called Test The Nation where they posed a series of questions about the world etc that you could answer at home. They also had teams of folks in the studio answering the same questions. One team was made up of bloggers…guess who won? The bloggers of course.

It is that kind of exposure that makes blogging much more mainstream, which is where we need to be. As far as it becoming a passing fancy, I doubt it. Books have never gone out of fashion, nor have magazines. The benefit of blogging, and the problem with it, is the ease of which anyone can become a blogger. That tends to minimize the value of the job, but at the same time allows anyone a chance to be heard. As much as I might hate to think it, to some degree that is why making an income from a blog might be most important in terms of distinquishing the professional from the amateur.

Blogs, good quality blogs, like your own, that add value to the web should last a long, long time. At the same time, hopefully the less useful blogs will eventually dry up and blow away.

Well..I apologize, I didn’t intend for my comment to become a blog post all of it’s own. I enjoy Problogger. Please keep up the good work!

Robert Parker
http://adsensemakesyoumoney.blogspot.com
Third World Engineer

February 13th, 2008 11:09 pm

Since blogging is not my primary profession, I hardly ever get to call myself a ‘blogger’. I do consider myself one though, just like an office worker who hunts in his spare time calls himself a ‘hunter’.

Normally, though, people would not refer to me as a ‘blogger’.

Recently, though, I’ve been caught up in blogging that I would be proud to call myself a ‘blogger’.
Money Making Student

February 14th, 2008 11:31 am

For me there is a divide between being a blogger and ‘web publisher’. Blogger sounds more cool, intriguing, trendy, but to me and my friends it sounds more like a hobby. Although introducing the word blogger to someone who hasn’t heard of the term, seems to draw them in. Whereas web publisher sounds boring and less interesting, but more professional sounding title. So it depends on who’s asking!
Ned

February 14th, 2008 1:26 pm

I’m a writer and a publisher. I think the blog has more potential than what we’ve seen so far… I’m not so quick to dismiss it. It’s helping to improve my writing and get to know who I’m writing for…

However, I do think it’s funny that the first time I visit your site, your talking about being something besides a blogger and how the blog is passe.
sarah

February 14th, 2008 2:40 pm

It is certainly difficult to call yourself a true blogger these days with so many blogs out there. I have had some great success in monetizing my blog using Muvar to ensure I am using the best variables to ensure sales. I guess in that regard I don’t care if anyone considers me a blogger everyone has their own style and mine is working out for me.
Sangeeta Sinha

February 14th, 2008 4:21 pm

I am new to blogging, a very recent interest infected in me by my friends. As I am new, I am slowly learning this. At this point, I will not call myself a blogger though I write articles. I find the question asked by you very interesting. Value added blogs, I think, add more zest to reading.
Michelle Greer

February 15th, 2008 4:20 am

Here in Austin, there are quite a few people who call themselves “visionaries.” There are also “evangelists”, but these go beyond blogging. For me, I just see myself as a “co-conspirator.” I have no idea why.

The newer technologies out there allow us to involve others so much more in our ideas. The term “blogger” indicates the “I talk, you listen” mentality. Since social and multimedia elements are becoming better incorporated into blogs, a blog is becoming a platform rather than a specific activity.
Sangeeta Sinha

February 15th, 2008 4:44 am

No I donot agree with you. Blogging and web publishing is totally different. The only thing of concern is that blogging gets immediate attention but web publishing takes time.
Sangeeta Sinha

February 15th, 2008 4:53 am

Sarah, every one has own style and do not bother what people are saying. Carry on the way you want. Self satisfaction is the main thing.
durrob

February 15th, 2008 2:46 pm

I am just a part time blogger, I think a full time blogger should be called a blogger, a part time blogger should be called a blooger.
B.T.

February 15th, 2008 5:03 pm

Hi, Darren! Web publisher sounds great to me! Now: what about “e-publisher”? Thank you for sharing your thoughts!
Happy Valentine’s!!
Tom LeDree

February 16th, 2008 4:09 am

I consider myself more of a website developer. Even though all my sites are build using Wordpress I feel that I am building up and developing websites rather than blogs.
Brian Zafron

February 16th, 2008 11:48 am

I prefer to call myself a Superblogger. Actually, I like to add the prefix “Super” to every thing I do. That means I am a “SuperFriend,” “SuperEater, “SuperAirBreather,” the list goes on and on. Maybe it sounds silly to you, but it makes me feel pretty darn good about myself. … BRIAN OUT
Mushfiqur Rahman

February 17th, 2008 12:35 am

Well, at the time being I consider myself as a blogger. I’ve yet to see my blog take off so I’m only worried about it at the moment. Maybe, as time goes by and my blog becomes well established, will I consider expanding.
jim

February 17th, 2008 7:31 am

I am an information publisher and I do some blogging.
oqbo

February 17th, 2008 3:58 pm

I think you actually have to do it, rather than thinking up the idea.
Bloggeritaville

February 17th, 2008 11:03 pm

I do identify myself as a blogger when it makes sense to. You can use blogs for other templates that are search engine friendly beyond blogging like affiliate marketing, etc. I think you have to look at your target audience, ask yourself what their perception of your title is going to be, and then label yourself accordingly. It’s all in what you are marketing.
The Yogi

February 18th, 2008 5:28 am

Darren, I completely agree with you. Blogging is simply a form of web publishing and web publishing continues to evolve as more and more of the various media technologies are being merged into the web. I was an early adopter of the web in my business, but then sort of went away from it and now getting back into it from a personal perspective because I have something to say and share and also because I have some time to learn and relearn things I put away, Intuitively I understand what you are saying. I just started two blogs within the last 4 weeks. I am very interested in learning more about how to attract more readership. So I will be coming to your site often and want to have conversations with you. Peace

The Yogi
The Yogi

February 18th, 2008 5:34 am

Darren, What blogging software do you use to publish your blogs. I would be very interesting in trying it. Also what do you think of ning, the social networking software.
Gaje Master

February 18th, 2008 3:28 pm

I would have to say that I call myself a blogger. I have heard many people call themselves something else or even switch the name up a bit. This is a very interesting subject to talk about and i don’t think that anyone has ever really asked me what I wanted to be called or what i call myself. I am also a freelance writer so I guess that would make me a freelance blog writer who also writes other articles, maybe?
Sangeeta Sinha

February 18th, 2008 5:22 pm

I am little in disagreement with you on your second point. Any site, as a matter of fact, has to look simple but attractive. If the site is full of ads and information, one may get lost in it. A site has to be well laid out.
MySuccessGateway

February 18th, 2008 6:23 pm

More than info being laid out. What you are talking about is information mapping. where information is broken down in to chunks, 7 to be exact. There is a company that specilaizes in it called http://www.infomap.com, they derived it from the US Military having to train fighter pilots by having them learn reems of documentation in order to fly a fighter jet. it is applied to the web as well as print.
Brian

February 19th, 2008 6:34 pm

Just stumbled on your site – again, I remember seeing it about 6-12 months ago. It really looks different, Great! Thanks for the video- I will be checking back to see how I too can blog and hopefully do so as a career choice- thanks again- Brian Morgan / USA / Indiana
Alan Hocking

February 20th, 2008 3:38 am

Really enjoyed the video especially as it is a subject I have never been comfortable with. I discovered blogging only last year and for me it was a fantastic and very easy not to mention cost free way of reaching more people looking for sales tips and help that you don’t normally get when starting a career in Timeshare. In Europe it’s bad enough to admit you work in timeshare without adding that you also blog about it. So I prefer to tell people that I am a professional sales trainer and marketing consultant (Which I am) and I also have a website that I update weekly with the latest Timeshare sales and marketing techniques and industry news.
Alexander

February 20th, 2008 6:12 am

You are absolutely correct! And thanks for helping me make the turn simply by saying that using the term “blogger” is “so 2007…even possibly 2006.”

Makes me want to make sure I stay awake for coming attractions!
ITrush

February 21st, 2008 2:50 am

Well, I consider myself a blogger even though I only have a little time working on my site. But I’m really looking forward to become a full blogger someday, who knows right? nice post Problogger!

http://www.itrush.com
Shukree Abuwi

February 21st, 2008 6:49 am

I personally like blogging because it’s a lot easier to manage and deal with very cost effective. I do agree that we shouldn’t limit ourselves to just blogs but they are great for beginners like myself. Great Post.
metal

February 21st, 2008 10:27 am

is this a weekly video or biweekly?
May be you didn’t have time to do another video.
Gigi

February 21st, 2008 11:58 am

Hi … I don’t really think of myself as a blogger. I think I’m a “noticer”. My inspiration is everywhere. I simply take the opportunity to “notice” and then I like sharing it with friends.

On my site, I have a Blog tab. I should probably change the name though because instead of it being a daily log of my life I actually post a tip to inspire, challenge or motivate others.

Blogger … noticer … I dunno … just a girl trying to make it in this webworld! And workin’ at being Sexy!

http://www.sexyinthesouth.com
Darren Rowse

February 21st, 2008 12:29 pm

metal – i’m on a biweekly(ish) schedule at the moment
Cindy Szponder

February 21st, 2008 12:40 pm

I’ve been calling myself an Infopreneur and like the sounds of that but have to admit that I like the term Web Publisher. To me, it has very broad connotations. As a web publisher, you could work with any publishing medium and publishing outlet. I may have to rethink what I call myself after listening to your video. Thanks for the brain stretch.
jessie

February 21st, 2008 2:35 pm

Darren,

There had been many times when I called myself a blogger in my blog only to realize that maybe (just maybe) I’m more than just that. Why? Because I usually use my blog as a medium of instruction as most of us do (unconsciously).

Perhaps at this time when I have gained a deeper insight on “blogging”, I might as well call myself a web educator. The topics in my blog are varied and I just can’t force myself to stick to a single topic (I admit). Despite that, my first and foremost objective in writing my articles is to educate my readers and provide them information that they can possibly use. Whether they care or not about the things that I write about is out of the question. For as long as my objectives in writing the article is fulfilled (which is primarily to educate) are fulfilled, then, that’s just fine with me.
Sangeeta Sinha

February 21st, 2008 9:35 pm

Cindy Szponder, you call yourself infopreneur. I like the sound of it. This word is whose invention?
uner

February 22nd, 2008 1:17 am

i like the word blogger, yet hardly to explain to colleagues and friends/family about the thing i do, and then i decided to tell them i have a website, and thus make me an admin. that’s how i explained.

took me years before i can actually make them understand that i am a blogger

surprisingly i love the word ‘blogger’, and till i came to this, you really make me think. something normal that look and feel better with just a little twist
Make Money Online

April 25th, 2008 5:13 am

Wow! I wish I would’ve seen this video post earlier Darren, lols most of these people completely didn’t get the point. What Darren is trying to say is bloggers are only considering other blogs in the same niche as competition and nothing further, as opposed to considering both blogs and large websites with large companies backing them. If you have a blog in a certain niche look at your blog as better then anything else in that niche, websites, forums, everything not just other blogs in that category. Giving you a wider realm of what you can call yourself. But don’t limit yourself to just “blog” not in terms of what you call it but in terms of your “mindset” sure you can call it a blog but you should know that your blog is out to beat websites and everything else in its niche. Broaden your horizons people

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Written on February 7th, 2008 at 06:02 am by Darren Rowse

Do You Call Yourself a Blogger?

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Written on February 7th, 2008 at 06:02 am by Darren Rowse

Do You Call Yourself a Blogger?

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172 Responses to “Do You Call Yourself a Blogger?” - Add Yours

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