- Forum Software: First and Not So Fab
- Blog Software
- Intersections
Intersections
Of course, forum software can offer blogging software some hard-earned technical and social wisdom, and vice versa. Blogging software could benefit greatly from some of the security features offered via forum software, and the addition of a variety of comment types such as threaded discussions could really enrich the community aspects of blogging.
Some forums implement RSS feeds and could do well to expand the use of that and other aggregate technologies such as Trackback, which could be used not only to bring conversation to a wider audience (which might not be desirable for a given community) but also to allow cross-posting between like communities.
That forum and blogging software intersect is undeniable, but upon examination of their differences, particularly in their histories and social applications, it becomes clear that forums and blogs are distinct in character, each with an important role to enrich and extend community on the Web.