My weblogs vs. websites experiment is over. I have concluded that weblogs, although not perfect, are very good. I now believe that a weblog can be the main publishing platform for any website, including a law firm website.
On 02/21/02, Rick Klau (http://www.rklau.com/tins/) sent me an e-mail about his “blog.” My first reaction was that weblogs looked pretty cool, but I wasn’t quite sure how they fit in with web publishing in general. (Plus I still prefer to call them “weblogs” rather than “blogs” for the same reason I prefer “Internet” over “cyberspace.” Then again, I’ve never been a big fan of buzzwords.)
Rick and I have been writing together for the ABA since 1994. For the better part of four years, we reviewed law firm websites for RedStreet (http://web.archive.org/web/*/www.redstreet.com), a company we co-founded. Plus we wrote a book about the same topic. In general, we both preferred the same sort of websites. Simple is better than complex. Content is more important than presentation. Consistency is key. Our 1998 articles about website design statistics and methodology have been republished on this website. Much of what we said about website design then applies to weblog design today. But one thing is clear. Weblogs provide simplicity, consistency, and content in a way that we could not have imagined in 1997.
In short, I now believe that a weblog can be the main publishing platform for any website, including a law firm website. And weblog software is much more powerful than traditional web publishing software. So I have retired my old website home page and converted this website to a nearly 100% weblog model. Some remnants of the former website remain. The static pages in the “navigation” section and a few other pages are in the old format, and the old website home page has been archived for safe keeping.
Rick and I also enjoy taking different sides of various technology arguments. I would characterize Rick as an early adopter of technology. I would characterize myself as a pragmatist. I prefer to evaluate technology to see if it fits in with my principles before adopting it. I believe that technology should be simple, interactive, timesaving, and fun so that it ultimately improves users’ quality of life.
Weblogs are not perfect but they are all of the above.
