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A few months ago, I mentioned the word “blog” in my column and referred to forums as a great tool to accomplish the same thing. After having several readers ask for clarification on the term “blog,” I decided to make it the theme of this month’s column. So, here goes!
A blog (short for web log) is basically an online journal. Like a journal or diary, the author can write about any topic. Unlike a traditional diary, there are potentially millions of viewers and they can post comments. It’s like many conversations you’ve probably participated in—one person dominates the conversation and others add a snippet here and a remark there—with a blog, you type it instead of talk. Blogs give everyone a voice.
Like most types of non-fiction writing, blogs give the reader a view of the author’s mind, heart, and opinions. Some blogs are funny; some are educational; and some are just plain useless. Blogs are now used by traditional media types, offering a new mass method to communicate their take on the news. Candidates and major corporations use blogs as a means of sending out their message. There are an estimated 112 million blogs, and that number grows daily.
Blogger.com was launched in 1999 as one of the first publicly available blog sites. It caught on quickly because it was easy, like typing an e-mail, and unlike developing web sites in HTML. Another reason for blogging popularity is that it is typically free. Blogs are also interactive and readers frequently begin to feel that they know the blogger and share a connection with them in a private, electronic, anonymous kind of way. Blogging has become so popular, with so many choices for blogging, that we now have the blogosphere, a term used to describe the entire world of blogging and social networking.
Since Blogger.com, blogging sites have become more sophisticated, allowing images and video. They have become so plentiful that there are now indexing services just for blogs. One such site, Technorati, provides a list of the top 100 blogs in the blogosphere. You can view that list by the number of fans (readers) or by authority, which indicates the number of sites that have _link_ed to the blog. As of the date of this article, Technorati lists these as the top 10 most popular blogs:
1. BoingBoing.net
2. ProBlogger.net
3. TechCrunch.com
4. LifeHacker.com
5. Engadget.com
6. Mashable.com
7. Gizmodo.com
8. PostSecret.BlogSpot.com
9. 43Folders.com
10. CopyBlogger.com
Blogs exemplify free speech in the truest sense, so all kinds of ideas are declared; profanity is abundant; and many bloggers demonstrate their lack of writing skills. There are some entertaining and worthwhile postings, but caution should be used for young viewers.
Even though blogs are described above as online journals, be prepared to see lots of pictures, drawings, audio, and video. Blogging has become a multimedia experience.
There are now also vertical markets in blogs. There are learning blogs, technical blogs, marketing blogs, travel blogs—you name it, and there’s a blog for it. Some very big brains and top consultants offer their expertise for free via their blogs, and some very small brains babble away.
So why would you blog? To share your expertise, your ideas, or your thoughts—to proclaim your passions or declare indignation. Some average people blog and make their site available only to friends and family—a method of long-distance communication without the phone bill, and servicing many people at once. One of my friends kept a blog while she was pregnant so every detail could be shared with her family, including ultrasounds, doctors’ reports, and waistline progress. Another friend is launching a blog in support of their political campaign.
Successful bloggers make weekly or daily posts and have hundreds of thousands or millions of readers. They are also likely to be making money through offering advertising or affiliate programs on their blog spot.
If you would like to try blogging, make sure you have something to say and an audience with whom to share it. If you make it publicly available, be prepared for a variety of comments, some of which you may not like.
These days, WordPress.com has also become a major p_layer_, but Blogger.com (also BlogSpot.com) still holds the market share. These sites offer some very useful tools, such as archiving and full blog searches. Blogger.com allows you to submit posts via e-mail. You can also attach your own domain name to your blog, so it’s more readily identifiable as your own.
So whether you want to share your humorous take on life, your interpretation of your favorite Bible verses, or how to hike the Appalachian Trail, a blog might be the place for you to do it!
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