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?

Weigh in with your opinion. And for an update on character blogs, check out Business Week, Ad Freak and Movie Marketing Madness.

*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.

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