Blogs: A Simple Definition

July 5, 2007 Blogs 1 Comment

The simplest definition of a blog is: a blog is a type of log, which is a journal or written diary, that has been published on the Internet.   It literally means “web blog”, which has been abbreviated to “blog.”

A blog is usually written by a single author, who is referred to as a “blogger” although many blogs are written by companies or groups of writers.

Each time a blogger writes a new article on the blog, it is posted online with the title and date it was written.  Each entry is called a “post”.

In most blogs, the most recent post appears at the top, with earlier posts below in date order.  Whenever a new post is written, a new link is created and automatically added to the navigation menu for easy access.

The navigation menu usually shows the most recent posts in one section, then the links for the posts organized by categories.  There are often links to other blogs or websites, which are grouped as “links” or “blogroll.”

There are personal and commercial blogs with the subject matters varying wildly with everything from family news and photos to detailed product information to consumer advice.  There are funny blogs, rant blogs, political, press and media blogs, hobby blogs… there are blogs on just about every subject you can think of.

Many blogs feature photos, images, audio and even video. Many blogs display syndicated news content, full blown shopping carts and art galleries and other sophisticated interactive features.

A popular feature of blogs is the comments feature.  Visitors to the blog can respond to articles or posts and leave links to sites related to the post.  Not all blogs enable comments, many turn them off because of problems with spammers. 

Socialization is one of the important aspects of blogging.  Bloggers often link to other blogs that they find interesting or informative.  People make friends online and become part of entire networks of blogs.

Blogs are extremely popular for several reasons:

• They are relatively easy to install and set up
• You don’t have to have much technical know-how to manage them
• Writing posts is usually as simple as writing a document in your favorite word processor
• It’s easy to get a blog listed on blog directories such as Technorati
• Search engines visit directories like Technorati and so quickly find your blog and index it
• Online visitors like the more personal approach of a blog

To give you an idea of the wide variety of a blog, here are some example blogs:

http://googleblog.blogspot.com/
http://mckenzieartstudios.wordpress.com/
http://smartwebcenter.com/blog/
http://www.thecyberworldtimes.info/blog/
http://www.theplugg.com/
http://christakay.wordpress.com/