Jeremy Zawodny, ace MySql geek and part time fighter pilot (or maybe i have those confused, but the silk scarf doesn't help) posted a comment about Blogs vs. Message Boards. i both agree and disagree, but not for the points that he raises.
What i agree with is the fact that serial free-for-all message boards are probably not long for the net. i'm just not quite sure that blogs are going to replace them.
Blogs, from my limited exposure and strong point of view, are basically "This is my opinion" followed by one or more individuals stating "You are an asshole". Ok, so maybe the comments usually are more relevant than that, but in effect successful blogs like Jeremy's are a singular expert's statement followed by random comments.
There are certain unwritten rules to those comments too; keep 'em short, keep 'em on target, and know that the person leading the circus has ultimate say. That's one of the reasons that i'm posting this here instead of his comment area.
Another element of blogs is the fact that the discussion is eminently temporal. Discussion on this will last about a day or two until it falls of the top page. Eventually, i'll run short on disk space on my MySQL server and will simply prune out everything older than n number of days.
Plus, while my rambling drivel is searchable here, yours isn't. (Ok, i could fix that, but for most blogs, it's just not going to happen).
Threaded message boards, like the ever popular slashdot, seem to straddle both areas. They start with an expert's comment, then quickly degrade into threaded discussions.
Believe it or not, i think that's the model that works. It's the same model that MySQL, and php.net use. Granted, it does involve some editorial control, but hey, that's how you make things valuable, and give them some form of anchor in the sea of time.
i'll also agree that pingbacks, and trackbacks are "good things" but spammers will abuse them. They too need to be editorially controlled for large sites.
Doesn't mean i haven't been looking at them anyway.
Blogging is good, it's the CB radio of the new millennium. Eventually, however, the vast majority of folks will move on and discover the next cool thing leaving behind the folks that actually have worthy blogs and BarbieTM.
