Independent Websites

I want to change the way we talk. I would like to see the words "Independent Website" used in more formal settings or in discussions instead of the word "blog."

Recently I started contributing as Sports Editor for the American Digest. Now the American Digest is in the top 200 sites in the TTLB Ecosystem but saying "it's one of the top 200 blogs on the Internet" just doesn't sound as impressive as saying "it's one of the top 200 independent websites on the Internet."

I know this is like calling a garbageman a sanitation engineer but it works. I have friends who are journalists and trust me if I say that I now write for one of the top 200 independent websites on the Internet - they are impressed. However biased and ignorant it is on their part - they still hold their noses when the word "blog" is mentioned.

I know that some may think this whole idea pretentious. I understand that. I also know that some people love the word "blog" (I do too). A rose by any other name still smells as sweet. The MSM (old journalism) won't eat snails but they may shell out big bucks if we call it escargot.

That's all I'm saying.

(PS - as an aside - my spellchecker wants to replace the word "escargot" with "Eucharist". I found that amusing.)