Before blogging, there were other ways for people to communicate online, such as chronicles, diaries, email lists, bulletin board systems, and more. When the Internet came about, users wanted a way to communicate with people all over the world. Before the Internet, many of us had pen pals to mail to every now and then. Today, we can have that with multiple people nearly anywhere.
Following the 1990s, the blog was born! The actual word, “blog”, comes from the term web log, which was eventually shortened to its new term.
In the beginning of blogs, they were mainly online diaries of people. Others could comment on the person’s blog, and therefore communicate. Now there are countless different kinds of blogs. They are still those who use it as a digital journal, but there are also corporate blogs, marketing blogs, topic-specific blogs, private blogs, and even blogs that are simply blog search engines!
There are so many possibilities with blogging. Using your imagination and creativity, there is no end!
A blog entry usually consists of a title, headline, body, post date, comments, tags, and more. One great thing about blogs is that they are almost always customizable. You can select your template (which determines how your blog looks, including its layout), which is usually provided by the blogging company you are using. You can also find other templates by searching on other sites, which I will discuss in a later article.
You can create a blog on whatever topic you like, use the template you want, and write in it when you want. Nearly all blogging sites offer registration for free. You can vent to the world, write about things that you care about, discuss your life…there is no limitation. Well, except for the terms and conditions you must agree to when you register! Blogging is fun, especially if you take joy in writing. It is a great stress reliever, and you can have it any way you want. If one blog isn’t good enough for you, create more! I currently write in four different blogs. It’s a lot of fun.
Blogging has reached new heights of popularity, with certain websites that look at the popularity of a blog through how many citations it has, or how the affiliation is has. There have even been a few lucky people who have blogged, and were contacted by publishers to write and publish a book!
Blogs are usually (but not always) written by one person and are updated pretty regularly. Blogs are often (but not always) written on a particular topic – there are blogs on virtually any topic you can think of. From photography, to spirituality, to recipes, to personal diaries to hobbies – blogging has as many applications and varieties as you can imagine. Whole blog communities have sprung up around some of these topics putting people into contact with each other in relationships where they can learn, share ideas, make friends with and even do business with people with similar interests from around the world.
Blogs usually have a few features that are useful to know about if you want to get the most out of them as a reader. Lets examine a couple briefly.
Archives – You might look at the front page of a blog and think that there is not much to them. A few recent entries, some links to other sites and not much else. However its worth knowing that there is a lot more going on under the surface that might initially meet the eye. For example in addition to the main page of this blog – at the time of writing this post there are over 520 other pages or posts below the surface that I’ve written over the past few months.
When I write a post like this one it goes to the top of the front page. As it gets older and as I add more current posts it begins its journey down the page until it disappears from it. This is not the end of its life however, because it goes into the ‘Archives’ of my blog. It sounds like a dusty dark place but its really just like a filing cabinet that is easily accessible in a couple of ways. You can read my ‘archives’ simply by looking on the ’sidebar’ (over on the left of this blog) at the ‘archives’ or ‘categories’ section. There you will see links to all my old posts which you can access either by category. You’ll see a category for ‘Advertising’ – click that link and you’ll see all my old posts on the topic of Advertising with the most recent at the top and the oldest at the bottom.
Comments – Not all blogs use comments – but most do. This blog is not a monologue but a conversation. You can give me feedback on almost everything I write simply by clicking the ‘comments’ link at the bottom of each one of my posts. This will take you to a little form where you leave your name, email and a link to your own blog if you have one as well as your feedback, comment, critique, question, essay on why you love my blog, promise of money…. etc). Try it now. Scroll to the bottom of this page, click ‘comments’ and fill in the blanks with a little introduction to yourself.
A great way to learn about blogs is to read a few. Leave some comments, ask questions and bookmark your favourites. An even better way to learn about blogs is to start your own. Ok – you might be laughing at me now – you think you are not web savy enough to have your own site? You wouldn’t know where to start? You don’t know how?
My Secret
Let me share a secret with you – three years ago I knew nothing about blogs, I had never used the internet for anything more than email, surfing and chatting to friends and I could only barely do any of that! But one day I discovered a blog and after surfing from one to another (blogs tend to link up to other blogs a lot) for a few hours I was hooked and wanted to start my own. I found that there are free blog services that almost anyone could set up in a matter of minutes. Really it is that simple. Literally millions of people blog from around the world. Its not just something for young people, or geeks, or cool folk, or Westerners, or even for people with their own computers – instead its something virtually anyone with access to a computer and the internet once or twice a week can start up.
Are you still confused? Would you like more information? Below are a few helpful articles on the topic – there are many more on the web – just do a search on your favourite search engine. Otherwise shoot me an email using my ‘contact’ button with your question and I’ll do my best to get back to you.
Update: If you’d like to start a blog I would recommend you to get a copy of the programm''BLOGGING TO THE BANK 2010 BLUE PRINT'' this program is the best blogging course on the internet and its content would be of great usefulness to both internet newbies and professional bloggers – it is specifically written for bloggers. I hope you find it helpful.
If you are new to blogging and want some hints on how to get started – keep an eye on my Blogging for Beginners Page for more ways to explore blogging
So now you know WHAT a blog is – learn how to start one and use it to build an online income with the
The possibilities with blogging are endless.
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