What is Blogging and How Do Get Started?
A blog is very much like an online journal, but it can be authored by numerous people, or by just one individual. Each post is written on a website chronologically, but often appearing in reverse order. The term ‘blog’ or ‘blogging’ can also be used as a verb to mean an action - in other words, that of creating a comment on a blog.
The word ‘blog’ comes from Jorn Barger’s word ‘weblog’ and reportedly sprung into being when Peter Merholz divided it into the two words ‘we blog’ on his website for a laugh.
When people communicate using a blog, they are likely discussing a specific subject of interest for them. So, if anyone wishes to learn what’s the best red widget to buy for his boat, others will write in with their comment on how that particular widget worked - or didn’t work. Blogs are ideal for uncovering what other folk’s experiences have been with whatever you can think of.
If some person is knowledgeable on some topic with plenty of experience that other people can benefit from, then he may start up a blog about it and offer advice. They may also offer links to other websites that promote items applicable to the area of expertise. Also he may offer links to other blogs or other articles about the same topic.
Blogs utilize both images and text, even so, some blogs emphasize art (artblog), videos (vlog), photographs (photoblog) and audio, that is, podcasting or MP3. Blogs can be short or long, but those that are very short are referred to as micro-blogging. Blogs are usually updated several times a day and the technology utilized today allows people who understand very little about it to become confident bloggers with just a brief learning curve.
Early on, bloggers called themselves diarists, journalers, or even escribitionists. A comment or article placed on a blog is called a post, a blog post or an entry. Aged blogs on a topic are sometimes referred to as ‘archives’ and may be maintained on a different page or pages that are accessed via a hyperlink. There are at times a variety of links - like the index at the end of a book and they are found on the left or right of the blogging page.
The beauty of blogging is that people who have the same interests can all join together and talk about, getting to know each other (so to speak) at the same time.
