Updated blogging software is a nod to the convergence of blogging and social networks

Movable Type Pro launched today combines blogs with social networking, not unlike the WordFrame platform used for IT Counts: “The type of Web site that you build with Movable Type doesn’t have to look like a classic two- or three-column blog,” said Chris Alden, Six Apart’s CEO.

“It can be structured to look like any Web site you see surfing the Web. Web publishing is moving from a heavily process-driven activity to being something more decentralized, something more inclusive of community, and being able to build Web sites in a more rapid and agile fashion. We really view Movable Type as part of sea change in Web content management toward a social publishing direction,” he added.  

Hmm, thanks Chris, nice comments. <Update> I mentioned this in Twitter just yesterday, taking the essence from another report: “Blogging is getting social + social networking is fragmenting. Means niched sites attracting more visitors, with more qualified audiences.” Kinda reminds me of IT Counts. Though Dennis didn’t think so, I wasn’t gonna argue with the guru.

More slander than libel in online setting?

On Saturday I posted a piece on slander and libel in online networks, thanks to a piece from Matt at FreshNetworks, which followed a recent court case where defamation on a bulletin board was decreed to be slander rather than libel due to its conversational nature. Talking about it today with my IT colleague Paul (who has a precise way of thinking and is a master of MS Excel), he wondered whether defamatory blog posting as publication would be libel whereas a defamatory comment to a blog, would as conversation be counted as slander?