Do blogs offer a plattform for the "ideal speech situation"? IX

4.4.) Key aspects

The weblog, using the model of Van Dijk, is a new medium. It combines the three information patterns, heretofore uncombined, of consultation, registration, and conversation. The strong communicational capacities of weblogs are the possibility of interaction, high storage capacity, large reach, high stimuli richness, and high complexity of information. [...] The biggest difference between web pages and weblogs being the possibility of interaction. Where web pages communication is usually one sided, weblogs invite to two and more sided communication. Comparing weblogs to forums, the stimuli richness and information complexity are added value in weblogs. This makes weblogs a means of communications that bridges the differences between web pages and forums.

The high stimuli richness of weblogs removes the limitation to stick to text. It is relatively easy to add photographs to texts, or even to only publish pictures (so called photoblogs). This makes weblogs attractive to a higher number of people. The high stimuli richness also has the effect that more of the author’s personality can be made visible than e.g. in forums or chat. Control over the communications through weblogs is completely in the hands of the author. The weblog is suited to discuss complex topics because of its high information complexity. [...] The low selectivity of weblogs makes it possible to reach audiences that would have been unreachable otherwise. From that large potential reach asynchronous dialogue can follow. It is through this asynchronous communication that differences in time and space can be bridged with weblogs.