The practice of writing irrespective of language is fundamental to the cerebral development of any individual. It helps us to sort, establish, and, clarify ideas and open up a chance for dialogue to flow.
It also helps one to critically think about the material they are reading, question the ideas, and the information laid out to them.
Two of the major and most popular types of composition writing or journaling as some might call it are essay writing and blogs.
Essay writing has been around, for perhaps centuries now, especially as a part of academia, young pupils are often required to write an essay on any given topic, as an exercise.
Blogs on the other hand are a bit modern and can be called a subtype of journaling. With the rise of technology, blogging has now become a career path of many an individual.
Key Takeaways
Blog vs Essay
The difference between blog and essay lies in the purpose they serve, an essay is more about conveying information or ideas to the reader while a blog is more based on the experiences and personal anecdotes of the blogger.
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Comparison Table
| Parameters of Comparison | Blog | Essay |
|---|---|---|
| What is it | Writing incorporated with humor, sarcasm, and pictures. | A block of text to convey information. |
| Audience | It is targeted to the masses. | Generally used by professionals to convey their messages, in a well-structured and well-versed manner. |
| Style of writing | Informal, personal. | Formal, academically sound. |
| Mostly used by | Anyone can write a blog. | Anyone can write an essay too but as it is mostly fact and information-based, it should be fact-checked. |
| Purpose | It is can be both for entertainment and pass on information. | It is generally used to pass on any information, on a certain topic. |
What is a Blog?
A blog is more of hands-on and personal writing, furthermore, it is generally informal in tone, like a conversation with an old friend.
It more than just writing, one can incorporate images, GIFS, and even humor, or an overall sarcastic tone is not just enjoyed but also applauded.
Blogging started more of an online diary or journal maintained and shared by people with their close ones, however now though it is still personal to some, it is also a business tool to many.
Especially with the rise of affordable internet and better technology, the average person gets on the internet to look for an old recipe or review about anything under the sky than going through a book.
So blogs come in all shapes and sizes, about fashion, education, politics, cooking, fitness, literally anything one can think of and there probably is a blogger out there sharing their experience.
There are many ways to create a perfect blog, the most common being finding an interesting and on-trend topic and making it relatable to the people.
Given the circumstances when people are more connected through technology than in person, sharing personal and funny anecdotes will be way better than all the pieces of information on a given topic.
What is Essay?
An essay is more about getting out ideas and information to the public from a professional point of view. It is generally on a single topic, well-structured, formal, and grammatically correct.
For students, however, essay writing is about developing critical thinking and also expressing one’s ideas about certain things.
An essay consists of three parts, the introduction, which is basically about introducing the reader to your ideas, then the body, which is the major portion of it, and finally, the conclusion, to show how the idea suggested is developed through the body.
The four most common types of essays include expository essays, which include explaining or describing issues, descriptive essays, which as the name suggests is more about describing a certain topic, it’s aspects and characteristics, narrative essays, and argumentative essays, which is structured much like a debate.
Main Differences Between Blog and Essay
- The first and foremost difference is the purpose they serve, an essay is more about passing on information or ideas while a blog is more about an experience of an individual, and in general, a blog is more about entertainment than serious business.
- In a blogging forum, there is a designated area for feedback from the reader/audience. The blogger often takes suggestions from the readers about what they want to know about or just questions in general. There is no such feedback format in essay writing.
- The topics for a blog is not strict, there are not any rules as such where the writer cannot deviate from the main point. A Food blogger may talk about education or the latest technology but there is no such relaxation while dealing with a topic in an essay.
- The overall structure of an essay consists of the introduction, the body, and the conclusion. While a blog consists of not just text but also images, GIFs, etc.
- Blogs can be used for business purposes, be it promotional or otherwise while an essay is more of academic writing.
- https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/lic3.12012
- https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/jcal.1211
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Sandeep Bhandari holds a Bachelor of Engineering in Computers from Thapar University (2006). He has 20 years of experience in the technology field. He has a keen interest in various technical fields, including database systems, computer networks, and programming. You can read more about him on his bio page.
