Explanations

[To a fellow Malaysian blogger]

I've been asked the question "What is a blog?" so many times, both offline and online and in print. I needed to have an answer, not just because people asked, but because i needed to understand it myself. I looked hard on the Internet for a suitable definition, looked around at bloggers who have been around for a long time, looked around at what existed before the word "blog" was ever even mentioned. The answer i finally settled on, even back then when i first spoke about it in public, was certainly an answer that i knew would provide two separate outcomes:

# Many existing bloggers would disagree, some, very much so.
# For many others, expecially newer bloggers, it would act as a guide and provide a direction, in case they needed one.

There almost always is a positive and negative reaction in such decisions. I weighed both very carefully, and settled on my current course of action with a clear conscience.

I've never said to anyone, in any forum, that a blog isn't a personal journal, or diary (in fact, i would argue that 95% of blogs are the personal thoughts of an individual in an online format) . I've never said either that a blog must be about a particular topic, subject or matter. I've also never said that a blog can't be what you want it to be. All i have said is that the content should be presented in a particular manner so as to adopt the features of a blog. What are those features? I've publicly voiced my opinion for the answer to that question numerous times, as you know. That's all. I've never said that my opinion is better than anyone else's nor have i said that i think all other definitions of what a blog is was wrong.