{"id":4337,"date":"2024-01-31T15:14:13","date_gmt":"2024-01-31T15:14:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/10web.io\/?p=4337"},"modified":"2026-02-20T16:33:14","modified_gmt":"2026-02-20T16:33:14","slug":"blog-online-magazine-difference","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/10web.io\/blog\/blog-online-magazine-difference\/","title":{"rendered":"Blog vs Online Magazine: Which One’s Yours?"},"content":{"rendered":"

So, you\u2019ve decided to dive into digital publishing with a WordPress website. Are you going to start a publication or contribute to one?<\/p>\n

Or maybe you are in the industry already, and all you want is to find out whether your publication is more of a blog or an online magazine.<\/p>\n

Most say it’s up to you to call your project whatever you want: if you call it a magazine, a magazine it is.<\/p>\n

Call it a blog and \u2014 as if with the wave of a wand \u2014 you’re a blogger.<\/p>\n

Not to be a definition purist, but some features do help distinguish between blogs and online magazines.
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Writing style<\/h2>\n

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\nEvery publication follows its own specific style. But the one general thing that helps us tell a blog from a magazine is the latter is more formal.<\/p>\n

Blogging<\/strong> is a way of social interaction. That\u2019s why blogs mostly prefer casual and informal language.<\/p>\n

Even the most complex educational content is way more digestible and simple on blogs than anywhere else. A blog article is a longer version of your microblog update.<\/p>\n

Say, if your tweet limit were 1200 words, you\u2019d still keep it casual, wouldn\u2019t you?<\/p>\n

Magazines<\/strong>, on the other hand, tend to follow precise style guides. They may keep it casual, but only if it\u2019s what the guide tells them to do.<\/p>\n

Press releases or product descriptions appear in magazines more often than in blogs.<\/p>\n

The main difference comes from the fact that magazines are not (or were not) meant to maintain direct public contact with the readers right after publication.<\/p>\n

Readers always<\/strong> wrote letters to the editorial office, which was way more bureaucratic than today\u2019s commenting.<\/p>\n

So, returning to the question of “blog vs magazine,” if you are for setting certain borders, a magazine is the right choice. If you want to keep it casual and personal, you are probably more of a blogger.
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Author count<\/h2>\n

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\nHow many authors do you have? Is it just you? Maybe you outsource for a variety of content or have a team of staff writers? A lot of the time these factors factor in determining whether you run a blog or an online magazine.<\/p>\n

Blogs<\/strong> originally evolved from personal online diaries.<\/p>\n

Today, on the backdrop of multi-author blogs and corporate blogging, millions of personal blogs are still popular. So, no wonder the minimum number of authors for a blog is one.<\/p>\n

Actually, the number has no limits. A couple of cooks telling their recipes can make a perfect blog, and so can a content department in a big enterprise. That\u2019s the main thing about blogging \u2014 there are hardly any limits.<\/p>\n

Interestingly enough, this absence of limits often leads to typical blogger mistakes and disappointment. If you’re considering starting a blog, read about which common mistakes to avoid in this article.<\/a><\/p>\n

Magazines<\/strong> tend to have strict limitations in every aspect, and editorial teams with fixed structures set those limits.<\/p>\n

Every magazine has an editor-in-chief who is the head of the publication, and often there are also editors for each section, like a style editor or gardening editor.<\/p>\n

You\u2019ll be hard-pressed to find a magazine with just one or two authors.<\/p>\n

Editors write editorials, some authors have their columns, and there\u2019s always a number of staff writers and\/or freelancers who pitch their articles for every issue or get assignments from the editors. So, if your publication has only one or two authors, you\u2019re most probably a blogger.<\/p>\n

If there are more, it could be either a magazine or a blog, so keep reading for other hints.
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Curation and editing<\/h2>\n
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Pretending this is still how it’s done<\/p><\/div>\n

Whether you choose a blog or a magazine, you need to set a clear direction, target audience, and focus area. And the editors are the ones responsible for keeping every single post within the chosen direction.
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