Blogging and micro-blogging are both forms of social networking. Of course you’ve already sussed that micro-blogging is a shorter version of blogging, and it is, as a more concise, focused version.
Blogging allows you to express yourself in a chatty, conversationalist manner in as many words as you like. How long your posts are is open to contention and depends on what purpose you write your blog for, but I think they should not be over long. Blogs are newsy and should be aimed at your readers who don’t have a lot of time, and are looking for a quick fix to get their information or be entertained with knowledge that is in the ‘now’. (Anything that is over 750 words could be termed as an article, especially if it is extreme in its technical language and the audience it is aimed at, and really should be allocated to online article directories.) Posts can also be controversial, argumentative, opinionated, poignant, show-stopping or thought-provoking. There is room for expression as well as pictures and other media such as videos and audio. They are also archived for researchers and for reference in the future, and posts are shared with your audience through subscription services and RSS to feed them into other social networking profiles or streams.
Micro-blogging is also known as Twitter. (It could also be considered as updating your social status fields in your social networking profiles, or chatting with your friends on msn or other communication methods.) The nature of this activity is that it is short, quick-fire, concise and limited to a small number of characters (Twitter is 140, on other social media it is more). Because you are constrained in what you can say, it is mostly in letter characters, and if you want to expand your thoughts you need to direct your readers through a (usually shortened) link to a blog post or Facebook fanpage or LinkedIn Group or whatever source you like. This is the same for other media such as pictures, video, audio, etc. But the main reason is to share information with an immediate audience as a real-time updating service, revelling in the concept of ‘now’ or otherwise it has gone, catching your audience as it passes through and hoping your contribution is suitable enough for them to share it with their followers.
Great post Alice! How about All Blogging is blogging,but not all “microblogging” is blogging.
Micro-blogging is usually referred to as Twitter, since it is confined to 140 characters and you are free to say what you want within these restrictions.
Hi Alice Elliott,
You describe the difference between blogging and micro-blogging in best and easy words.
Thanks for sharing such a nice post.
You’re welcome Jigar.
Also there are more benefits through this. We can get the clear convergence and regular convergence along our customers. It’s also like a facebook status too. Anyway recently i heard about this term. Thank you for posting here.
Thank you for your comment Aasha. Microblogging is like any response on social media, especially if it’s done correctly.
I have an question. Why have microblogging platforms become popular when regular blogging platforms already exist?
This is because social media works in real-time, giving and receiving immediate responses. Whereas blogging requires comments to be moderated to clear them of spam. Also social media doesn’t require full answers every time, whereas blogs need to have comments that are well written with a proper structure.
Why do you think microblogging platforms have become more popular when regular blogging platforms already exist?
Microblogging works in real time, so the response is gratifyingly immediate. You don’t need to write a long, detailed comment, because whatever you contribute can start a discussion if your readers give suitable answers.
Blogging requires comments that are more sedate, expect a fuller construction, and you have to wait for moderation to happen before you get to see your comment published. This much slower process does reduce the popularity stakes somewhat.
First time I hear about micro-blogging, interesting article!
Thank you Fortunelord, even though the concept is a little out of date.
Hey there, great article for a beginner. I tried reading this at other places too but nobody explained it like you, including figures and examples.
Thank you for sharing this, Cheers!
Thank you Komal for your kind comment. I’m glad I was able to help.