In late 2004 the idea of a podcast was born. In the early days things are typically simple. I believe that most early adopters of podcasts defined them as media delivered via an RSS 2.0 feed with enclosures. If you know the terminology then it seems pretty simple.

A podcaster was a person who created an audio (and later video) file, uploaded the file to the web and then generated an RSS 2.0 feed with enclosures to allow podcast receiving apps (or podcatchers) to automatically download the content. The definition of the podcast itself was centered around the media file. A podcaster might ask, “Have you listened to my latest podcast?” In saying that they are obviously referring to the media file.

I believe it’s a universally agreed upon fact that a podcast isn’t really a podcast unless you have the media wrapped in an RSS 2.0 feed with enclosures. Very early in this process podcasters learned that the best way to generate an RSS 2.0 feed was to use a blogging tool. As I stated in Part I of this series, blogging tools have advanced to the point where they are the natural choice for this type of functionality.

In addition to realizing that blogging apps were a natural tool for generating their podcast RSS feeds, podcasters also realized that the post by post functionality of blogging apps was the perfect fit for them to provide a face for their podcast on the web by allowing them to chronicle each post with show notes.

Notice how I used the word podcast in the previous paragraph. I used the word not as a reference to the media file but in a more general sense. As the idea of podcasts moved from the very basic, early interpretation to a more accepted medium, things became more complicated. The idea of a podcast shifted from just the media file to the idea of a podcast as a channel. So when a podcaster refers to, “my podcast” they are referrring to more than just the media. They’re referring to the whole package of the media plus the face of their channel on the web. So their becomes a logical separation between individual podcast episodes and the overall podcast.

As time has gone on the difference between a blog and a podcast has blurred even more. Many podcasters didn’t know much about blogging at the outset of their experience with podcasting. I had maintained a blog using Blogger for four years when I started podcasting but definitely didn’t consider myself a blogger. As such I really didn’t understand some of the advanced techniques that bloggers used to get the word out on their blogs while making connections with other bloggers. Ah, but we learn.

Since early 2005 when podcasting first came into the light of the mainstream, podcasters have begun to treat the web face of their podcasts just like bloggers do with their blogs. Podcasters typically maintain comments for each of their podcast episodes. Podcasters use Technorati Tags to allow for easier indexing of each of their posts. Some even (Gasp!) write blog posts in between podcast episodes.

What do you call a site where someone posts regularly. generates RSS feeds (sometimes with enclosures but sometimes not), accepts comments and trackbacks while utilizing Technorati Tags to assist with post discovery? Good question, but don’t answer too quickly.

Head over to Technorati and search on a popular topic. After all, Technorati postitions itself as the leading blog search engine. But there’s a real good chance that you’re find some podcast sites showing up in the results.

So I ask the questions again. What’s a Blog? What’s a Podcast? I’ll throw in a third question that I’ll answer in the next post along with the other two. Where do you draw the line between a blog and a podcast?

To be continued…

[tags]Social Media, Blogging, Podcasting, Analysis[/tags]