Editing Web conferencing (section)

==Etymology==
The term "webinar" is a [[portmanteau]] of [[World Wide Web|web]] and [[seminar]], meaning a presentation, lecture, or workshop that is transmitted over the web. The coined term has been attacked for improper construction,<ref name="Editorial Emergency: Webinar">{{Cite web|url=http://www.editorialemergency.com/component/content/article/386|title=Editorial Emergency: Webinar|access-date=2016-12-14|archive-date=2017-05-10|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170510091552/http://www.editorialemergency.com/component/content/article/386|url-status=dead}}</ref> since "inar" is not a valid [[Root (linguistics)|root]]. Webinar was included on the Lake Superior University 2008 List of Banished Words,<ref name="2008 List of Banished Words">{{Cite web|url=http://www.lssu.edu/banished/archive/2008.php|title=2008 List of Banished Words|access-date=2015-01-14|archive-date=2013-10-17|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131017001524/http://lssu.edu/banished/archive/2008.php|url-status=dead}}</ref> but was included in the Merriam-Webster dictionary that same year.<ref name="Merriam-Webster Dictionary: Webinar">{{Cite web|url=https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/webinar|title=Definition of WEBINAR|website=www.merriam-webster.com|access-date=2020-10-26|archive-date=2019-09-15|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190915111405/https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/webinar|url-status=live}}</ref>

The term "[[webcast]]" derives from its original similarity to a radio or television broadcast. Early usage referred purely to transmission and consumption of streaming audio and video via the [[World Wide Web]]. Over time, webcast software vendors have added many of the same functional capabilities found in webinar software, blurring the distinction between the two terms. Webcasts are now likely to allow audience response to polls, text communication with presenters or other audience members, and other two-way communications that complement the consumption of the streamed audio/video content.