By Kevin Dugan
Expert Author
Article Date: 2005-10-19
CBS joins the fake/character blog fray for one of its sitcoms, How I Met Your Mother. "Barney's Blog" is named after a character played by Neil Patrick Harris.
Barney's Blog is not the first character blog; it's not even the first TV character blog. What is unique is that Barney references his blog in one of the episodes. So now we're even seeing the promotion of a TV show embedded in the show itself. Oy.
Blog Ingredients? But I'm not interested in revisiting the fake blog meme. Examine Barney's Blog and riddle me this: Is it a blog? There are no comments, no trackbacks and no RSS feeds. Each item is a key element that makes a blog the highly-networked tool we know and love. Content does not apply to this discussion, not to mention who actually wrote it.
What are the minimum, essential elements are that make a blog more than just a web site?
*Some may recall Harris also played Doogie Howser. M.D.. Considering Doogie always ended each episode by posting to his personal, computer-based journal (not online in those days), he was an appropriate choice.
