Blog Day 2008

Thursday, August 21, 2008

BLOGS, BLOGGERS AND BLOGGING


Still now a days, number of people are asking the same question again and again “What is Blogging ?” Blogging has become a source of daily income for the bloggers. Blog is a web site, usually maintained by an individual, with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events or other materials such as graphics and video. Entries are commonly displayed in reverse-chronological order. “Blog” can also be used as a verb, meaning to maintain or add content to a blog.

Moreover, there are some other definitions that can be found on the web; such as:

“A blog is a website where entries are made in journal style and displayed in a reverse chronological order.”

“Online journal. The term BLOG comes from web log.”

“A frequent, chronological publication of personal thoughts and Web links.”

“A Blog style within Mambo is the listing of records in a summary form. Example: It could be by link only, or showing just the introductory text with a link to the complete text. Often the "News" page is written in Blog style.”

“Web LOG is a journal kept on the internet. This journal is often updated daily and contains all information that the person maintaining the BLOG (Blogger) wishes to share with the world.”

“A blog is basically a journal that is available on the web. The activity of updating a blog is "blogging" and someone who keeps a blog is a "blogger." Blogs are typically updated daily using software that allows people with little or no technical background to update and maintain the blog.”

“An online Journal.”

“An online diary where people can post messages and others may view and respond to the posts.”

“A Blog style within Mambo is a listing of some or all content items in a certain section or category. Often the "News" page is written in Blog style. The term relates to the Mambo style and does not have the exact same meaning as Blog software, such as Wordpress.

“This is a web log or online diary hosted on specific sites such as www.blogger.com. It offers readers the opportunity to reply to opinions and link to their own blogs."

“The word blog is derived from the combination of the two words web and log. Blogs are virtual diaries created by individuals and stored on the internet. Blogs generally consist of text and images and can appear in a calendar-type format.”

“BLOG is short for Web log, and our Web pages that work as a journal that our normally updated daily. Blogging sites can provide excellent information on many topics, although content can be subjective.”

“A blog (short for "web log") is essentially an online journal or diary where one can post messages, photos, music and video on their own mini website. They have become very popular in recent years and are excellent for personal and up-to-date opinion and information.”

“Blog is short for weblog. A blog is generally a journal or newsletter which is updated frequently. Blogs are easily updated and may allow comments from readers.”

“Short for weblog. A blog is a webpage that serves as an online personal journal for a person and is usually updated daily.”

“Is an online diary used by an author to share information on a particular subject at regular intervals.”

“Is a web-based publication consisting primarily of periodic articles (normally in reverse chronological order) posted by individuals or groups. Chatmine identifies relevant blogs in your market with proprietary metrics.”

“A blog is information that is instantly published to a Web site. Blog scripting allows someone to automatically post information to a Web site.”

“A blog (short for Weblog ) is a personal online journal that is frequently updated and intended for general public consumption. Blogs are defined by their format: a series of entries posted to a single page in reverse-chronological order.”

“This is a term coming from the combination of the terms web log – it is a web page that serves as publicly accessible journal for the author. It can be formal or informal, is usually updated daily and reflects the personality of the author. More Information.”

“Web log: a shared on-line journal where people can post diary entries about their personal experiences and hobbies; "postings on a blog are.”

“A blog (a portmanteau of web log) is a website where entries are commonly displayed in reverse chronological order. "Blog" can also be used as a verb, meaning to maintain or add content to a blog. “

“A personal or corporate website in the form of an online journal, with new entries appearing in sequence as they are written, especially as dealing with reflections or opinion, and typically incorporating links to other articles; To contribute to a blog; To blag, to steal something; To acquire.”


So, A blog (short for weblog) is a personal online journal that is frequently updated and intended for general public consumption. Blogs are defined by their format: a series of entries posted to a single page in reverse-chronological order.Blogs generally represent the personality of the author or reflect the purpose of the Web site that hosts the blog. Topics sometimes include brief philosophical musings, commentary on Internet and other social issues, and links to other sites the author favors, especially those that support a point being made on a post. The author of a blog is often referred to as a blogger. Many blogs syndicate their content to subscribers using RSS, a popular content distribution tool. “

Why do you blog ? What motivates you to write every single day ? Ask this question to any of your blogger friends and they will share a variety of reasons - some do it for sharing opinions, for the love of writing, for money and then there are souls who blog just because everyone around them is blogging.

You should do Blogging to :

As mentioned earlier, blogging helps you to express freely, most of which normally not possible physically. The expression could be your own or your response to others point of view or current events. I think this is the most important trait of blogging.

Blogs can give you tremendous exposure. As you build content on the blog, like minded people join in. Lot of people find your blog through search engines, looking for things of similar interest as yours, thus giving you quite a bit of exposure. Blogs being inherently Search Engine friendly help quite a bit.

With exposure comes power. Especially, if your blog content is either controversial or popular. If you have build credibility over a period of time, people will be influenced by what you say and write. This gives you power and self gratification.

Yes, I have experienced it first hand. When you write a blog you will always be interested is what is happening around you and what are others writing. This process itself will give you information overload. And when you have information/ knowledge you are very confident !

When you start blogging you may or may not be too confident about your writing skills. However, if you blog consistently and frequently you are bound to improve your writing skills. I find myself asking this question a lot of times.

Whether you are a CEO, a manager or just a employee, blogging lets you connect with your superiors, colleagues, or sub-ordinates. In many cases your blog becomes your effective way of communication. This helps you in getting your point across at your own convenience.

Yes, this is the fact. The Industry leaders are always on watch out for what people are saying about them or about their companies. There have been many instances when these biggies have directly communicated with bloggers. I do not think any other medium is simple enough to put you in touch with them !

Blogging can make you decent money. Earning money takes a bit of time, but if you write regularly and monetize your blog sensibly, you can surely make decent sum.

One of the reason why blogs have been so popular is the amount of knowledge sharing that takes place. Also, this knowledge gets so refined over period of so many iterations that many people now only refer to blogs to get information- it is also because they can ask questions and interact with the person who has knowledge- unlike a static website that gives you a lot of information, but does not answer to your questions.

This is another important aspect of blogging. You can easily bring in lot of new business, because of the personalized communication you have through your blog. People trust individuals not businesses. Blog is also an excellent medium to get instant feedback on your products and services, thereby giving you continuous platform for improvement.

In conclusion we can say that Blogs is an abbreviation of 'weblogs' - web sites which contain dated entries in reverse chronological order (most recent first) about a particular topic. Functioning as an online newsletter, blogs can be written by one person or a group of contributors. Entries contain commentary and links to other Web sites, and images as well as a search facility may also be included. A blog with video clip entries instead of text is a "video Weblog" .

The term "weblog" was coined by Jorn Barger on 17 December 1997. The short form, "blog," was coined by Peter Merholz. He broke the word weblog into the phrase "we blog" in the sidebar of his weblog in April or May of 1999. "Blog" was accepted as a noun (weblog shortened) and as a verb ("to blog," meaning "to edit one's weblog or to post to one's weblog").

Justin Hall, who began eleven years of personal "blogging" in 1994 while a student at Swarthmore College, is generally recognized as one of the earliest bloggers. After a slow start, blogging rapidly gained in popularity: the site Xanga, launched in 1996, had only 100 diaries by 1997, and over 50 000 000 as of December 2005.

The definition of blogs is constantly evolving as blogs move into the mainstream, shedding their image as the bastion of the self-obsessed who just have to self-express. Thousands of new blogs are being created every day, for all sorts of purposes. Rather than existing to catalog someone's personal life, many blogs serve as discussion communities about particular issues.

Nor does a blog have to have one author. Some of the most interesting blogs have multiple regular contributors. And some large corporations are using blogs internally as communications channels.

Blog usage spread incredibly due to the "tool" which is known. RSS stands for Rich Site Summary or Real Simple Syndication. Either way, RSS is a real important technology that information specialists and educators would be well advised to harness sooner rather than later. In simple terms, Weblogs (and an ever-growing number of other sites) generate a behind-the-scenes code in a language similar to HTML called XML. This code, usually referred to as a "feed" (as in "news feed"), makes it possible for readers to "subscribe" to the content that is created on a particular Weblog so they no longer have to visit the blog itself to get it. As is true with traditional syndication, the content comes to you instead of you going to it.

There is a real-time search engine - Technorati - that keeps track of what is going on in the blogsphere — the world of weblogs. Technorati displays what's important in the blogosphere — which bloggers are commanding attention, what ideas are rising in prominence, and the speed at which these conversations are taking place. Technorati makes it possible for you to find out what people on the Internet are saying about you, your company, your products, your competitors, your politics, or other areas of interest — all in real-time. All this activity is monitored and indexed within minutes of posting. Technorati provides a live view of the global conversation of the web.