What is a Blog?
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There are many types of blogs.
CREDIT: Sergej Khakimullin | Shutterstock |
Blogs, short for “web logs,” are websites that are the delivery vehicles to countless personal diaries, news sources and company information. Through this simple content creation tool, individuals and companies are able to establish an online identity by sharing content with online readers. Millions of blogs can be found on the Internet, with tens of thousands being created almost daily.
The origins of the blog
The modern blog was a byproduct of the online diary, originally meant for tracking one’s personal life in private. However, as the Internet became more popular in the mid-1990s, an insurgence of online writing took place via journalists who pushed toward making these diaries public. The earliest blogs were simply manually updated websites that required the writer to possess some understanding of HTML or easy access to the website administrator.
Tools came into existence that facilitated easier updating of websites, presenting content in the reverse chronological order you now see on modern blogs. The availability of publishing tools made the entire blogging process much more accessible to a less technical audience.
Since then, the use of browser-based software has become a typical attribute of blogging. Blog moderators need only have an Internet connection to access and update their blog no matter their location, much like Facebook and Twitter.
[Video: Top 10 Tips for Blogging]
The qualities of a blog
Blog entries, called posts, appear in reverse chronological order — the newest post first. Posts may contain text, images and video, as well as links to other websites. Typically, readers are invited to interact with the content by leaving comments.
There are many different types of blogs that are defined by the content and how it’s delivered. Personal blogs have the closest ancestral ties to the online diaries that started the blogging movement, and are still published privately or for family and friends only. Microblogging involves posting content with the intention of creating a communication method that feels unplanned and natural to readers. Corporate blogs tend to take a more business-oriented focus and brand the company or writer as a thought leader sharing value-building information.
Blogs can focus on a wide range of topics, cater to specific media types, and make themselves available only on specific devices, ultimately creating a truly diverse and rich community of unique content that addresses many needs.
Blogging tools
Numerous blogging tools and websites exist online and offer not only the software, but also the Web space you need to publish your own blog. The most popular blogging applications are WordPress and Blogger, and they’re offered free of charge. Each will host your blog and offer intuitive software through which you can immediately begin writing and publishing content for your audience.
