What is a blog?
During a recent speaking engagement with a group of entrepreneurs, I was shocked to discover that several people were still unfamiliar with blogs. Many of them even have well-established websites, many have heard of blogs, they may even be vaguely familiar with the concept but never considered the possible advantages of creating a blog or looking into it any further. So if this description applies to you, and you’re still a little fuzzy on blogs - here is a brief explanation for you.
The word “blog” is actually an abbreviation of “Web Log” and is a website (or a part of a website) maintained by an individual, updated regularly with new content. There are many types of blogs, most are highly editorial - giving one person’s perspective on any number of topics. There are millions of bloggers out there speaking their minds on specific topics or maintaining personal online diaries.
Blogs are usually a combination of text, pictures, video, and links to other blog posts - either within the same blog or to other blog sites with related content. The process of interlinking different blogs together creates a network of people speaking on similar topics, networking themselves together and forming a type of online conversation. In addition, most blogs allow the readers to post comments on each post for the purpose of adding additional thoughts, making corrections, or continuing the conversation with the author or other readers. So much of the content (or value) of a blog can actually be generated by the readers, which gives an interactive community-type feel to the “blogosphere”.
One of the great things about the community created by blogs is the sense of being connected to the author and other readers. Readers of blogs tend to be very loyal to the author and allows many bloggers to monetize their blogs through advertising and affiliate programs. People who follow blogs generally simplify their lives by subscribing to the “RSS Feed” of the the blog to avoid having to go back and check regularly for updates. That way people can get updates from any number of their favorite blogs delivered to them within their RSS readers.
Blogging started out as an alternative to traditional mass media, and in essence gave a voice to the “average Joe”. As the power and influence of the blogging world became clear, the lines have now been blurred as larger corporations are now blogging to get in on the blog phenomenon. It can sometimes be difficult to tell the difference between a genuine personal online diary, and a corporately sponsored blog with an agenda to sell you toothpaste, get you to vote a certain way… etc
In recent years blogging has expanded dramatically and has also become more diverse. To search for blog on a given topic, there are a number of blog search engines available - such as Bloglines, Blogscope and Technorati. As of 2008, Technorati is now indexing over 133 million blogs - just to give you an idea of the scope.
The blogosphere is huge and incredibly diverse, to get an idea of the variety of blogs out there - visit one of the blog search engines mentioned above or check out our post on “types of blogs“.
Related posts:
- Types of Blogs There are many types of blogs out there, each one...
- Creating a blog? Try a host with one-click Wordpress install Wordpress has become the standard when it comes to creating...
- Wordpress Virtual Host Combo SPECIAL OFFER: 20% discount on Just Host 12/24 mth plans....
- The Ultimate Wordpress Theme: THESIS by DIYthemes.com Looking for a design solution for your website? When...
- Just Host Blog: Just Host Video Review SPECIAL OFFER: 20% discount on Just Host 12/24 mth plans....
Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.
{ 2 trackbacks }
{ 0 comments… add one now }