One technique I use and always recommend, when designing information structures, is (usually, as a first step, but in general) to try to create a version of the structure that is totally flat, without hierarchy. (So, that's why I talk about "lists" in the iCite net, rather than outlines or tree or graphs, etc.)

So, one of the things I've been doing is looking at blog information structures flat, where, in particular, comments, trackbacks, and entries are all on the same level.

At the same time, I'm creating another structure (first as a list, of course) that is ultimately a hierarchy that is related to the contents, i.e., so that it is possible to display the contents as a hierarchy when that is the desired way to see it.

One of the advantages of using two structures that are related (i.e., a flat structure related to a hierarchy) is that the flat structure really can be flat and the hierarchical structure can be really hierarchical—no need to worry about one being too much one way or the other.

Anyway, the reason for this post is that I'd like to come up with a single name that encompasses all of the possible type of blog "comments" including comments, trackbacks, pingbacks, and even referrers. Right now, I'm thinking that "annotation" is the best term, though "commentary" is another option.

So, the hierarchy currently looks like this:

Items
	Entry
	Annotation
		Comment
		Backlink
			Trackback
			Pingback
			Technorati
			Referrer

You might read this as: a comment is an annotation which is an item. Or, a pingback is a backlink which is an annotation which is an item. And, obviously, an entry is an item.

The ideal term to use would be "comment", but the word comment is already used specifically to mean a comment left on a blog post. In other words, if you make a comment about this post on your blog, that is not a comment, that is a trackback or a Technorati cosmos link, etc.

So, I don't feel I can use comment (and, to be more specific, this is a term I will be using in a vocabulary that appears in RDF and XML namespaces, and other places).

"Commentary" seems too general, and "annotation" seems too specific. Technically, both terms would be accurate, but I'm thinking about how the terms might be perceived by people (e.g., techy bloggers) who might be using them. And, in that context, commentary seems like it would be more loaded, because commentary might imply critique.

Of course, then annotation might imply something less than critique. But, between the two, in the context of blogging, annotation comes across to me as a more structural description than a description of the intended purpose of the comments.

Annotation is the term most like the way I imagine the action: one tacks a something on a blog post. What's a general name for what we call that something that we tack on?

So, I'm thinking it's annotation. But, I wanted to post this to see if anyone had other suggestions or comments, because I'd love to consider some other good terms. Now, remember, the last team to arrive in this leg of the race will be eliminated. . .