Blogs &
Blogging
Sunnyvale Public Library
December 5, 2007
Garrett Kuramoto
What’s a blog?
An online journal
And so much more…
Blogs
vs
traditional web
sites
Andy Wibbels’ definition
an easily, instantly, and
frequently updated Web site,
focused around a topic,
industry, or personality
Frequently updated
Blogs automatically format to highlight the
most recent content
Updating doesn’t necessarily mean
redesigning the entire site
Instantly updated
Can be created with no experience in
minutes
Blogs are ready to edit and publish
immediately
Changes are reflected throughout the
entire blog immediately
Easily updated
Writing text and adding multimedia content
is all done in one easy-to-use interface
All the updating is automatic
anatomy of a blog
Advantages of a blog
Bottom line:
A blog is a quick, easy, and free way to create web pages,
communicate ideas and ultimately, change the world
Why Blog?
Why blog?
Fun!
New!!
Amazing!!!
Re-grows hair!!!!
Why blog?
Blogs are a:
revolutionary,
incredibly popular,
often better way
to publish content.
Interesting statistics
•
From Technorati’s April 2007 report:
•
Tracked 70 Million blogs
•
Growth: 3M/month, 120K/day
•
April 2006 tracking around 36M (+21M in 6
months)
Interesting statistics
•
From Technorati’s Apr. 2007 report:
•
Posts: 1.5M/day, about 17/sec
•
Posting spikes with current events
Interesting statistics
•
From Technorati’s April 2007 report:
•
Mainstream media and the long tail:
•
9 of Top 50 news sites are blogs, 13 more
in the next 50, blogs take over by Top 5000
•
example
Interesting statistics
•
From Technorati’s April 2007 report:
•
Top 4 languages: Japanese (37%), English
(36%), Chinese (8%), Spanish and Italian
(3% each)
•
Farsi has entered into Top 10, with posting
in correlation with increased conflict in
Middle East
10 practical ways to
use a blog
1. Personal Weblog
2. Professional Interest Blog
3. Website for Your Company
4. Online Resume
5. Publish A Newsletter
10 practical ways to
use a blog
6. A Communication Platform for
Companies
7. A Brainless Instant Publishing Site to
Make Money
8. Project Development and Status
Announcements
9. Collaboration Project Logs
10. A Chatroom Creator
10 practical ways to
use a blog
11. Photoblogs
12. Personal TV station or Radio
13. Art portfolios
14. Research Tool
from Kian Ann Tan’s Blogopreneur blog
Examples
How to Blog
1: decide what to blog
Great products start with a great idea
Be open to inspiration from anywhere
Find your niche
2: choose blog site
Start simple, think free & easy
You can always export (switch) later
3: create an account
Read instructions carefully and completely
Be aware of one-time-only decisions
4: choose a template
Remember your theme
Don’t be afraid to be bold
Concentrate on content
5/6. customize
•
Review settings
•
Begin setting up a user profile
•
Experiment with widgets
5/6: write
Go For It!
Proofread for style and content
Post before it’s too late!
BUT...
Better late than never
7: experiment
Think “beta”
You can’t break it
Go back to Step 5 and customize more
Remember your theme/mission/goal
8: communicate
Make sure people can find you (SEO:
Seach Engine Optimization)
Reach out and touch someone
(comments/trackbacks)
Check yourself (be diligent – Always Be
Promoting)
9: repeat steps 6-8
Write. Experiment. Communicate.
Write. Experiment. Communicate.
Write. Experiment. Communicate.
Do it again, and again, and again.
Aim for consistency in frequency
Congratulations!
You
=
A blogger blogging on your very own blog
Now What?
next steps
Now What?
next steps
Read (and subscribe to) other blogs
Read books on blogging
Learn HTML and CSS
Explore Web 2.0
Read other blogs
“Good bloggers read other blogs”
Try blog search engines
Scan comments
Subscribe with an RSS feedreader
(Bloglines or Google Reader)
Read books on
blogging
Browse the Nonfiction Area beginning at
006.7
Search the catalog for ‘Blogs’
Learn HTML and CSS
HyperText Markup Language
Cascading Style Scripts
Browse Nonfiction at 005.75
Thousands of guides, how-to’s, and cheat
sheets on the Web
Explore Web 2.0
a 2nd generation of web-based services
that emphasize online collaboration
social networking (MySpace, Facebook)
wikis (Wikipedia, PBWiki, WetPaint)
communication tools (Meebo, Twitter)
Explore Web 2.0
tagging (del.icio.us, ma.gnolia)
media (YouTube, Flickr, Pandora vs.
last.fm)
wired life (Yelp, LibraryThing, Digg, Google
Docs, Geni)
Questions?
Thank you and
Goodbye!
Garrett Kuramoto
gkuramoto@ci.sunnyvale.ca.us
sunnyvalelibgk (AIM, MSN, Yahoo)
Extra handouts posted at the class blog:
sunnyvaleblogclass.wordpress.com