When thinking about this question, I initially was leaning toward the discussion board as the format I preferred more. I was thinking that it was more organized in structure, but then I realized that the discussion board was actually sort of clunky in the way that you have to navigate up and down, back and forth, in order to read the various threads and replies, while the format of the blog displays and lists all of the replies and the entirety of the thread on a single page in one chronological progression. I like this more. It’s easier for me to follow the discussion this way, where I don’t have to navigate back to some previous post, searching hither and yon for some statement of fact or opinion that I vaguely remember the point or basis of. I would agree that the discussion board seems more disciplined in terms of moderating or maintaining the topic of the discussion. But why can’t a blog be maintained with that same standard?
Wow, do I agree with your analysis of discussion boards being “clunky”! I appreciate the structure, but I am often annoyed with how much navigation it takes to find where you want to be if it isn’t in the exact order of the threads. I keep thinking I’m missing something, but I don’t see what that might be. My biggest hurdle is figuring out how to underline something! People do it, but even if I write in a Word document and copy it over to the thread, no underlines!