Blog Writing
❖ What is a Blog?
A blog (a shortened version of “weblog”) is an online journal or informational website
displaying information in reverse chronological order, with the latest posts appearing first, at the
top. It is a platform where a writer or a group of writers share their views on an individual
subject.
Some blogs operate mainly as news filters, collecting various online sources and adding
short comments and Internet links. Other blogs concentrate on presenting original material. In
addition, many blogs provide a forum to allow visitors to leave comments and interact with the
publisher. “To blog” is the act of composing material for a blog. Materials are largely written, but
pictures, audio, and videos are important elements of many blogs. The “blogosphere” is the
online universe of blogs.
❖ Quick History of Blog
It’s generally recognized that the first blog was Links.net, created by Justin Hall, while he
was a Swarthmore College student in 1994. Of course, at that time they weren’t called blogs, and
he just referred to it as his personal homepage.
It wasn’t until 1997 that the term “weblog” was coined. The word’s creation has been
attributed to Jorn Barger, of the influential early blog Robot Wisdom. The term was created to
reflect the process of “logging the web” as he browsed.
1998 marks the first known instance of a blog on a traditional news site, when Jonathan
Dube blogged Hurricane Bonnie for The Charlotte Observer.
“Weblog” was shortened to “blog” in 1999 by programmer Peter Merholz. It’s not until
five years later that Merriam-Webster declares the word their word of the year.
The original blogs were updated manually, often linked from a central home page or
archive. This wasn’t very efficient, but unless you were a programmer who could create your
own custom blogging platform, there weren’t any other options to begin with.
During these early years, a few different “blogging” platforms cropped up. LiveJournal is
probably the most recognizable of the early sites.
And then, in 1999, the platform that would later become Blogger was started by Evan
Williams and Meg Hourihan at Pyra Labs. Blogger is largely responsible for bringing blogging
to the mainstream.
The Growth Period
The early 2000s were a period of growth for blogs. In 1999, according to a list compiled
by Jesse James Garrett, there were 23 blogs on the internet. By the middle of 2006, there were 50
million blogs according to Technorati‘s State of the Blogosphere report. To say that blogs
experienced exponential growth is a bit of an understatement.
Political blogs were some of the most popular early blogs. Some political candidates
started using blogs during this time period, including Howard Dean and Wesley Clark.
One important event in the rise of blogging was when bloggers focused on the comments
U.S. Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott said regarding U.S. Senator Strom Thurmond in 2002.
Lott, while praising Thurmond, stated that the U.S. would have been better off if Thurmond had
been elected President in 1948. During that race, Thurmond was a strong supporter of racial
segregation (though his position changed later in his political career). The mainstream media
didn’t pick up on the comments and their potential implications until after bloggers broke the
story.
In-depth topic blogs were also becoming more popular during this time. They often
delved much deeper into current news and pop culture than mainstream media sources, in
addition to commenting directly on what traditional media was reporting.
By 2001, there was enough interest in blogging that some how-to articles and guides
started cropping up. Now, “meta blogs'' (blogs about blogging) make up a sizable portion of the
most popular and successful blogs out there.
A number of popular blogs got their start in the early 2000s, including Boing Boing,
Dooce, Gizmodo, Gawker (the first major gossip blog to launch), Wonkette, and the Huffington
Post. Weblogs, Inc. was started by Jason Calacanis in 2003, and was then sold to AOL for $25
million. It was that sale that helped to cement blogs as a force to be reckoned with rather than
just a passing fad.
A couple of major blogging platforms got their start in the early 2000s. Version 1.0 of
Movable Type was released in September of 2001.
WordPress was started in 2003, though parts of its development date back to 2001.
TypePad was also released in 2003, based on Movable Type.
Some peripheral services to the blogosphere also started in the early 2000s. Technorati,
the first major blog search engine, was launched in 2002. Audioblogger, the first major
podcasting service, was founded in 2003. The first video blogs started in 2004, more than a year
before YouTube was founded.
Also launched in 2003 was the AdSense advertising platform, which was the first ad
network to match ads to the content on a blog. AdSense also made it possible for bloggers
without huge platforms to start making money from when they first started blogging (though
payments to low-traffic blogs weren’t very large).
Once bloggers started making money from their blogs, the number of meta blogs
skyrocketed.
Bloggers
like
Darren
Rowse
(of
Problogger.net
and
Digital-Photography-School.net) and John Chow made sizable amounts of money telling other
bloggers how they could turn blogging into a full-time career.
One early event that highlighted the rising importance of blogs was the firing of Heather
Armstrong, the blogger behind Dooce, for comments posted on her blog regarding her employer.
This event happened in 2002, and sparked a debate over privacy issues that still hasn’t been
sufficiently put to rest by 2011.
“Dooced” became a slang term to describe being fired from one’s job for something
you’ve written on your blog, and has made appearances in Urban Dictionary, and even on
Jeopardy!
Blogs Reach the Mainstream
By the mid-2000s, blogs were reaching the mainstream. In January of 2005, a study was
released saying that 32 million Americans read blogs. At the time, it’s more than ten percent of
the entire population. The same year, Garrett M. Graff was granted White House press
credentials, the first blogger ever to do so.
A number of mainstream media sites started their own blogs during the mid to late 2000s,
or teamed up with existing blogs to provide additional coverage and commentary. By 2004,
political consultants, candidates, and mainstream news organizations all began using blogs more
prominently. They provided the perfect vehicle for broadcasting editorial opinion and reaching
out to readers and viewers.
Mainstream media sources are also teaming up with existing blogs and bloggers, rather
than just setting out on their own. Take, for example, the regular posts on CNN.com from
Mashable editors and writers. Another good example is the purchase of TechCrunch and
associated blogs by AOL, which, while not a traditional media source, is one of the oldest
internet companies still in existence.
During this time, the number of blogs grew even more, with more than 152 million blogs
active by the end of 2010. Virtually every mainstream news source now has at least one blog, as
do many corporations and individuals.
The Rise of Microblogs and Tumblogs
A lot of people only think of Twitter when they think of microblogging, but there are
other microblog (also called tumblog) platforms that allow for a more traditional type of
blogging experience, while also allowing for the social networking features of Twitter (like
following other bloggers).
Tumblr was the first major site to offer this kind of service, starting in 2007. They allow
for a variety of different post types, unlike traditional blogging services, which have a
one-size-fits-all post format (that allows users to format their posts however they want, including
adding multimedia objects).
It also makes it easier for users to reblog the content of others, or to like individual posts
(sort of like Facebook’s “like” feature).
Posterous is another, similar service. Launched in 2008, Posterous allows bloggers to set
up a simple blog via email, and then submit content either via their online editor or by email.
Posterous is sometimes considered more of a lifestreaming app than a blogging platform,
though it’s technically both.
The Future of Blogging
Eight to ten years ago, blogs were becoming the primary point of communication for
individuals online. But with the advent of social media and social networking in the past five
years, blogs have become only one portion of an individual’s online persona.
Vlogs and podcasts have also taken on a bigger role in the blogosphere, with a lot of
bloggers opting to use primarily multimedia content. Services that cater to these kinds of posts
(like Tumblr and Posterous) are likely to keep growing in popularity.
With new services like Quora coming onto the market, there’s the possibility that the
blogosphere will shrink, and more people will turn to sites like these to get information. But
services like Quora also provide valuable tools for bloggers, as they give insight into what people
really want to know about a topic.
Blogs are unlikely to go anywhere in the foreseeable future. But there’s a lot of room for
growth and innovation in methods in which their content is found, delivered, and accessed.
❖ Blog Structure
The appearance of blogs has changed over time, and these days blogs include a wide
variety of items and widgets. However, most blogs still include some standard features and
structures.
Here are common features that a typical blog will include:
● Header with the menu or navigation bar.
● Main content area with highlighted or latest blog posts.
● Sidebar with social profiles, favorite content, or call-to-action.
● Footer with relevant links like a disclaimer, privacy policy, contact page, etc.
❖ Types of Blogs
There are many different types of blogs, differing not only in the type of content, but also
in the way that content is delivered or written.
Personal blogs
The personal blog is an ongoing online diary or commentary written by an individual,
rather than a corporation or organization. While the vast majority of personal blogs attract very
few readers, other than the blogger's immediate family and friends, a small number of personal
blogs have become popular, to the point that they have attracted lucrative advertising
sponsorship. A tiny number of personal bloggers have become famous, both in the online
community and in the real world.
Collaborative blogs or group blogs
A type of weblog in which posts are written and published by more than one author. The
majority of high-profile collaborative blogs are organized according to a single uniting theme,
such as politics, technology or advocacy. In recent years, the blogosphere has seen the emergence
and growing popularity of more collaborative efforts, often set up by already established
bloggers wishing to pool time and resources, both to reduce the pressure of maintaining a
popular website and to attract a larger readership.
Microblogging
Microblogging is the practice of posting small pieces of digital content—which could be
text, pictures, links, short videos, or other media—on the Internet. Microblogging offers a
portable communication mode that feels organic and spontaneous to many users. It has captured
the public imagination, in part because the short posts are easy to read on the go or when waiting.
Friends use it to keep in touch, business associates use it to coordinate meetings or share useful
resources, and celebrities and politicians (or their publicists) microblog about concert dates,
lectures, book releases, or tour schedules. A wide and growing range of add-on tools enables
sophisticated updates and interaction with other applications. The resulting profusion of
functionality is helping to define new possibilities for this type of communication. Examples of
these include Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr and, by far the largest, WeiBo.
Corporate and organizational blogs
A blog can be private, as in most cases, or it can be for business or not-for-profit
organization or government purposes. Blogs used internally, and only available to employees via
an Intranet are called corporate blogs. Companies use internal corporate blogs to enhance the
communication, culture and employee engagement in a corporation. Internal corporate blogs can
be used to communicate news about company policies or procedures, build employee esprit de
corps and improve morale. Companies and other organizations also use external, publicly
accessible blogs for marketing, branding, or public relations purposes. Some organizations have
a blog authored by their executive; in practice, many of these executive blog posts are penned by
a ghostwriter, who makes posts in the style of the credited author. Similar blogs for clubs and
societies are called club blogs, group blogs, or by similar names; typical use is to inform
members and other interested parties of club and member activities.
Aggregated blogs
Individuals or organizations may aggregate selected feeds on specific topics, products or
services and provide combined views for its readers. This allows readers to concentrate on
reading instead of searching for quality on-topic content and managing subscriptions. Many such
aggregation called planets from the name of Planet (software) that perform such aggregation,
hosting sites usually have planets. subdomain in domain name (like http://planet.gnome.org/).
By genre
Some blogs focus on a particular subject, such as political blogs, journalism blogs, health
blogs, travel blogs (also known as travelogs), gardening blogs, house blogs, Book Blogs, fashion
blogs, beauty blogs, lifestyle blogs, party blogs, wedding blogs, photography blogs, project
blogs, psychology blogs, sociology blogs, education blogs, niche blogs, classical music blogs,
quizzing blogs, legal blogs (often referred to as a blawgs), or dreamlogs. How-to/Tutorial blogs
are becoming increasingly popular. Two common types of genre blogs are art blogs and music
blogs. A blog featuring discussions especially about home and family is not uncommonly called
a mom blog. While not a legitimate type of blog, one used for the sole purpose of spamming is
known as a splog.
By media type
A blog comprising videos is called a vlog, one comprising links is called a linklog, a site
containing a portfolio of sketches is called a sketchblog or one comprising photos is called a
photoblog. Blogs with shorter posts and mixed media types are called tumblelogs. Blogs that are
written on typewriters and then scanned are called typecast or typecast blogs. A rare type of blog
hosted on the Gopher Protocol is known as a phlog.
By device
A blog can also be defined by which type of device is used to compose it. A blog written
by a mobile device like a mobile phone or PDA could be called a moblog. One early blog was
Wearable Wireless Webcam, an online shared diary of a person's personal life combining text,
video, and pictures transmitted live from a wearable computer and EyeTap device to a web site.
This practice of semi-automated blogging with live video together with text was referred to as
sousveillance. Such journals have been used as evidence in legal matters.
❖ Examples of Free Blog Sites
Wix (www.wix.com)
Wix is a free website builder that can be totally managed from the front-end. The main
characteristic of this platform is that it comes with drag-and-drop options, so you don’t have to
handle anything in the back-end. The design is very intuitive and modern, which can be used by
both beginners and advanced learners.
The nice thing about Wix is that it has free hosting included, so you just need to arrange
the layouts, pick a template, and you’re all set. It provides a nice collection of free and premium
themes and templates for different purposes, including blogging.
To launch a Wix blog, just sign up and make a choice: you can either let the Wix ADI
create a site for you based on a questionnaire or build your blog yourself – which includes
selecting a template and arranging the layouts via the WYSIWYG editor. If you go with the
second option, all you need to do is to find a beautiful template and start customizing everything
on the front-end, in a live preview mode.
You can add multiple elements to your pages, from multimedia widgets to backgrounds,
menus, typography, forms, video boxes etc. When you think the site is ready, click Publish and
start blogging your stories. After publishing, you can return anytime to edit the content blocks.
WordPress (www.wordpress.org)
WordPress.org is the king of free blogging sites. It is a free platform, but you need to
build the site mostly by yourself afterward. You also have to host the software yourself. While
you can find some free WordPress hosting, a better long-term strategy is to pay a moderate
amount for a solid WordPress host.
This is where Bluehost comes into play. Not only is it very cheap (the Basic plan starts at
just $2.75 per month when you sign up for three years), but it also provides solid features,
including a free domain name, 50GB of disk space, unmetered bandwidth, free SSL, and 100MB
of email storage per account. At this very moment, Bluehost is the cheapest sensible WordPress
hosting you can find out there.
Because you’re hosting the WordPress software yourself, you have full control over how
your site looks and functions, as well as how you make money from your site. But the flip side is
that the setup process is a little bit more hands-on.
LinkedIn (www.linkedin.com)
You probably didn’t see this one coming. LinkedIn isn’t most people’s first choice when
considering which of the free blogging sites to choose. That being said, it really does deserve
some attention!
Two main reasons for this: easy to use tools, and pre-existing audience.
About that second thing – the audience – what’s great about LinkedIn’s user base is that
those are highly focused users, professionals and business owners. In fact, it’s reported that more
than 30 million businesses are active on LinkedIn. And they’re not just there for the sake of it.
Other data indicates that 94% of B2B marketers use the platform as one of their primary lead
sources.
In short, LinkedIn just works as a platform where you can get exposure, and this makes it
one of the best free blogging sites of them all.
From a technical point of view, publishing on LinkedIn is easy. Just go to your LinkedIn
feed and use the “Start a post” widget at the top of the page. To convert your status into a full
post, click on “Write an article on LinkedIn” to open the full-screen editing window.
This is where you can find all the editing tools that you’re used to – for text formatting,
adding images, and more.
Weebly (www.weebly.com)
Weebly is another website builder that you can use not only to blog but also to sell
products or showcase your portfolio. It is somewhat similar to Wix to the extent that it provides a
WYSIWYG editor with drag-and-drop elements. If you want to add a certain button, you can
simply drag it to the page and customize it. The same happens with photo galleries, slideshows,
and any other multimedia element.
Weebly provides sidebars, media boxes, forms, ad spaces, social media icons, newsletter
subscription, and many more. Moreover, the platform comes with built-in analytics and lets you
use your own customized domain (for which you need to pay).
On the free plan, you get five custom pages, a Weebly subdomain, 500MB storage, and
ad spaces.
Blogger (www.blogger.com)
Blogger is one of the oldest free blog sites, though its popularity has dipped in recent
years.
It’s a solid solution for personal blogs, but it’s not the best resource for professional use.
It works just like the other hosted platforms: you need to create an account first in order to use it.
After you create it (which is simple), you have to pick one of the default themes and you can
start writing your thoughts down. This platform has an interface similar to a Google+ profile and
the editor looks like a Word page.
Blogger delivers a bunch of themes to choose from, each providing different skins,
advanced color filtering, and various minimalist gadgets (aka widgets). But nothing too fancy or
any advanced design customization. In general, Blogger has simple appearance options, so the
focus stays more on the writing part. A nice part about this site is that it comes with ad spaces
that you can place within your content pieces.
Tumblr (www.tumblr.com)
Tumblr is one of the original free blogging sites on the web. It’s just a bit ‘milder’ than
the others on the list. Unlike the rest of the platforms that are mostly created for publishing
purposes, this one here is more oriented to multimedia or social media-like content. The interface
of Tumblr is more playful and is easy to get started with – you can simply sign up and then
you’re allowed to start posting.
Just like a regular blogging platform, it provides multiple post formats for different types
of content. The thing with Tumblr is that it is purely for personal use and wouldn’t put up a great
solution if you have business-oriented plans. It is simplistic, offers basic customization options
and, like I said earlier, has more of a social media vibe.