The definition of the term "blog" is short for web log, and describes what is essentially an online public journal which lists each journal entry in reverse chronological order so that new journal entries are placed on the top of the page, and older entries are placed down below.
Who Blogs?
Anyone can create a blog, providing that they have a basic understanding of the way the software works. There are privately owned blogs on individual webpages, which require a little more know-how when it comes to putting webpages together, but there are also blog creation services which allow you to quickly and easily set up your own journal, which can be added to as often as you like, and can say practically anything that you want. Blogs are created for a whole host of different reasons, and by many different people. Young people blog, old people blog, and famous people blog. "Blogging" is the term which is used for updating a blog, and people who regularly write in a personal blog are often called "bloggers".
What Are Blogs About?
There are many themes that a blog may adopt, depending on who is updating it and why. Many blogs provide commentary or news in response to a particular subject, like local news, politics or even hobbies. Food blogs are popular for people who want to share recipes, and many political activists and writers have blogs which are used to respond to hot political topics. Many blogs also function as much more personal online diaries. Blogs are also quickly becoming popular for actors, writers and musicians as a way to update fans on tours, new releases, and special events and so on. There really is no limit to what can be written about in a blog, and the more interesting the subjects are, the more readership you are likely to attract.
Blog Classification
Typical blogs are comprised of a combination of text, links and images. Blogs also typically contain an option for readers to leave comments, which is an important interactive option that many bloggers prefer. Your typical blog is mainly textual, based on news and commentary, although there are other types of blogs which are gaining popularity as the blog movement spreads. Artlogs are blogs which focus on art, Photo-blogs focus on photography, Sketch-blogs focus on sketching, and so on. There are also a few specialized types of blogs, including Vlogging which is video blogging, and Podcasting which is audio blogging. These social media outlets are similar to blogging in the sense that they offer news or commentary on a specific subject, only they use audio and video rather than text in order to convey their message. Another new type of blog which is quickly gaining popularity is the Tumblelog, which is essentially a mixed media blog with shorter posts and a combination of text, video and audio. Blogs can also often be defined by the device that they are composed on, so for example a blog that is written or created by a mobile device is called a moblog, regardless of whether it was composed on a mobile phone, a PDA or something else.
Locating Blogs on the Internet
Blogs can easily be found on general search engines simply by performing searches combining the term 'blog' with a term for whatever theme you are looking for. Blogs usually rank high in search engine searches which mean they are easy to find when searching for specific topics, because search engines like Google prefer websites that have a lot of fresh content, and blogs are the kings when it comes to fresh content, as long as they are updated fairly regularly. There are also blog-specific search engines which can be used to search directly in the content of certain blogs. Some of these blog search engines include BlogDigger, Feedster and Technorati. These blog search engines are a great tool for people who are not sure exactly what they are looking for, because they can type in a simple keyword such as "food recipe", and will be given a list of blogs on similar topics, or blogs which have posts regarding the keyword topic. Another great method of locating blogs online is via blog directories such as Bloggeries.
Creating a Blog on the Internet
Have you found a niche that does not have enough blogs devoted to it, or are you thinking about creating your own commentary or personal diary style blog to share with the internet? If you have a thorough understanding of webpage design and development, you may be able to create your own blog on a personal website. You can find free open source code for blogs in a great number of places, as many people have developed blog software that is easy to install and use. Otherwise, your best option is to choose a website that does the setting up for you, so that all you have to do is join, customize a little and begin to write. There are many blog or journaling websites like livejournal (www.livejournal.com), blogger (www.blogger.com) or even Myspace blogs (www.blogs.myspace.com) which will allow you to quickly and easily create your own blog, and will typically give you the power to set security levels on each entry in your blog, in case you want to allow only friends, only registered users or only yourself to be able to read them. Once you begin to have a better comprehension of website building, creating your own blog can be a snap and will offer you many more customization options that were not available elsewhere.
Blog Popularity
Blogs are becoming increasingly popular for many reasons; including the fact that they offer a wealth of information on a whole host of different topics, but also because they drive traffic to websites by hooking new visitors with interesting blog column commentary. Blogs are a great tool because they allow just about everyone to express themselves on the internet. If you are looking for a way to express yourself online, or to share information regarding a favorite subject of yours, beginning your own blog is the best way to go because it will keep all of your entries organized in a neat way. Additionally, if you are looking for information regarding a subject or enjoy reading opinion pieces about certain topics, searching blogs may be the best option for you because everyone has an opinion on the internet, and soon enough everyone will have their own personal weblog too.
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