An Introduction to Blogs and Blogging

An Introduction to Blogs

A blog is a website that consists of a series of articles or entries known as "posts". The posts are shown in reverse chronological order so that the newest post is displayed first. The word "blog" is derived from the term "web log."

To better understand blogging, think of a blog as a newspaper column. Newspaper columns are typically short articles, written by a single author, covering a particular subject and published at a regular interval. Blogs share a lot of these characteristics but have a few distinct differences.

Blogs, like newspaper columns are typically maintained by one author, who covers a particular topic, and publishes new posts on an ongoing basis.

Blogs, however are different from newspaper columns in several important ways.
1. Anybody can write one, Anyone can read it.
2. Blogs are dynamic.
3. Authors and readers can interact.

I will now discuss each of these differences in detail.

Anybody can write a Blog, Anybody can read it

With free tools like Blogger.com anybody who wants to create a blog can do so for free in a few easy steps. No HTML knowledge is required. In the past, only employed journalists could write columns to be read by the masses. Now, with blogs, anybody who wants to, can publish their thoughts so that anybody, anywhere in the world can read them.

Blogs are Dynamic

Newspaper columnists typically have limited space in which to write, also their column can only be published when the newspaper is printed. Since newspapers are printed on paper, articles cannot be changed once printed and they cannot contain any multimedia content such as audio or video.

Blogs eliminate all of these restrictions. There is no limit to how often or how much a blogger can write. Once a post is written, it can be edited and updated whenever the author chooses to do so.

Another advantage of blogging is that blogs are not limited to text and pictures, bloggers can augment their articles with photos, illustrations, embedded videos and links to external references (such as other blogs).

As you can imagine this gives bloggers a tremendous amount of freedom in chosing their content.

Authors and their readers can interact

Almost all blog systems have a way for readers to respond in a comment section below the post. This adds a whole new dynamic to publishing. Authors can now receive feedback, good or bad, from readers. Comments are typically published right below the article. Other readers will often read the comments along with the article and join in a discussion of the topic in the comment section. Many readers find that this can broaden their understanding of the topic and provides a way for them to share their opinion.

Readers often have their own unique perspective and experiences to share and therefore, the comments section is seen as an integral part of this new publishing model.

Types of Blogs

There are many types of blogs covering many types of topics. Not all blogs are textual. Some consitst of video clips, photographs, or art and the term "blog" has increasingly become synonymous with any form of self-published expression of opinion on an ongoing basis.

Another form of blogging that is growing in popularity is micro-blogging. Micro-blogging is where people publish really short updates or thoughts. A post could be as simple as "Having lunch at Denny's" or "I'm bored out of my mind."  Twitter is generally credited with introducing this form of blogging to the Internet.

The Impact of Blogging

Bloggers and Mass Media

Now that anybody can publish on the Internet, readers have a much greater variety of reading material to choose from. As a result, traditional newspapers and other news outlets are facing increasing competition for their audience of readers.

The industry is continuing to evolve to meet this challenge and many regular news columnists now maintain some sort of blog along with their printed columns.

A Glut of Content

As you can imagine, the freedom for individuals to publish whatever they wish has led to a tremendous amounts of available content. The difficulty for the reader is to sort through it all to find trustworthy, high-quality content.

This is a problem that search engines such as Google and Yahoo! try to solve for readers by attempting to display the most popular and relevant content for a given search term. However, these systems are not perfect.

Finding ways of judging and rating content is vital in this new paradigm of self-publishing. As more and more blogs are added each day, this becomes and increasingly difficult and important issue.