The term "blogging" has become nearly meaningless because blogs have gotten so simple and so complex they can look like nearly anything these days. Is Twitter a blog? Yes. Is MarkDrapeau.com a blog? Yup. Is Mashable a blog? That too. So is Gawker. So is WashingtonLife.com, which is technically a magazine hosted on WordPress. Looks kind of like MarkDrapeau.com. So I argue that anything with continuously updated content, particularly if it's hosted on WordPress, Blogger, TypePad, Posterous, etc. is a "blog" no matter what it is marketed as.

Not really a profound idea. But I want to argue here that having a blog means that you are performing on a digital stage for an audience. Your readers, or viewers, or fans or whatever are your audience. And the content you provide for them - text, audio, data, video - is your performance that keeps them engaged. And especially in a time when people are selling advertising based on eyeballs and engagement, keeping your audience engaged in your performance is important.

So I say that Weird Al is the best video blogger ever. Why not? His performances of parody videos post well to YouTube and other online video platforms, and many are so good that not only do you watch them, remember them, talk about them - you watch them again and again and again. How many times can you watch a Cheerios commercial? What about that "Chocolate Rain" video guy?

This is the quality stuff that separates the talented from the talentless within the "cult of the amateur" in which everyone can produce content but very few tell a great story and craft a wonderful performance for an audience. The quality is poor, the storyline makes no sense, the message doesn't resonate, it's too long, or too short, and so forth. There's a reason Scorsese makes so much money.

So relax as I explain what I love about Weird Al and some of my other favorite nouveaux video bloggers.

Weird Al's "White and Nerdy" video is genius. He takes Chamillionaire's original "Ridin' Dirty" video and not only parodies it but inserts a lot of fun comedy extensions (like Donny Osmond and Seth Green). This is about as good as a one-man show on YouTube gets.

The boys at Lonely Island (the Andy Samburg-led subcontractors to Saturday Night Live) come really close. The "J*zz in My Pants" video is two-and-a-half-minutes of painfully funny stuff (plus great cameos including Justin Timberlake). No one ever forgets this once they've seen it.

Next, a pair of classic videos from Jimmy Kimmel and Sarah Silverman. In case you didn't know, they've been dating Matt Damon and Ben Affleck.

Sarah and Matt (Pat O'Brien cameo)

Jimmy and Ben (note Josh Groban cameo)

Finally, my new bud Taryn Southern and her crew (including Scott Baio!) has a video that's slightly dirtier and almost as funny as the above video. This is what I'm talking about. New faces, great humor, high production value. It's called "Wrong Hole" (NSFW).

See a pattern emerging? Yes, they're all a bit dirty, each one more than the last. That's just good online humor. And they all have cameos you're not expecting (did you catch Brad Pitt as a FedEx delivery guy?). But most importantly, they all tell a coherent "story" with a beginning, middle, and end, that keeps the audience engaged until the finish. They're interesting, they're funny, they're surprising, and you don't forget them easily. Wouldn't you like people to think that about your company, or your cause, or your public service announcement? Yes, you would.

Watching something for two or three minutes straight - that's something. How long do you spend reading an average written blog post or newspaper article? If time equals money, eyeballs mean cash. This kind of long engagement is hugely significant for online journalism, marketing and advertising, and generally making money in business. It's also important for the government interacting with citizens. No, not everyone should start making raunchy videos. But if you aren't at least watching these videos and thinking about what lessons you might learn from them to apply to your own work, you're missing out.