Arianna Huffington has launched a new section called “College” on the Huffington Post website, no doubt capitalizing on all those college journalism students eager for online clips. The lively sub-site offers news from campuses nationwide, reflecting the reality that serving communities can mean communities of interest and not just geographic communities.

But what to call this new entry? Is it a new beat, a new newspaper or a new online magazine? My point is that the web is beginning to make these distinctions meaningless. Yes, there are easily identified differences between the Detroit Free Press and The New Yorker on paper, but how will we talk about such distinctions online – as the difference between breaking news and long-form journalism? Or will we continue to use the terms newspaper and magazine? Or will the online world develop its own terms?

While I would agree that the terms used might not matter, I also wonder whether our outmoded mindset about what we can do in print risk stifling online creativity. Should The New Yorker online also offer tasteful and provocative slideshows and witty Flash cartoons?