What is a blog?

A blog is an online diary/journal. It is a personal log of thoughts published on a Web page; also called Weblog or a Web log. Blogs can be regarded as personal Web sites, often reflecting the personality of the author.

• Blog = Diary + Log

We record personal opinions and feelings in a diary. We record all the happenings in a log. A blog has both these characteristics. That is the reason bloggers try to keep a blog up to date by writing into it in a systematic or regular manner. Postings on a blog are almost always arranged in chronological order with the most recent additions featured most prominently.

• Blogging » Blogger

The activity of updating a blog is called blogging. The person doing this act is called a blogger.

• Posting

Blogger is a term used to mean all the activities in relation to a blog. The specific activity of writing or entering content into the blog is called posting. The content of the posts takes different forms like text, images, audio or video.

Structure of a Weblog/Blog

A blog is a single web page. Every time you write something into it, you are said to be making a post or posting something into the blog. Each post forms a small part of the total web page. Generally, the latest postings take the top most position of the web page.

As you keep posting into the blog (i.e. the web page representing the blog), the number of postings making up the blog keep growing. Therefore, postings which are older are archived and are put aside in separate pages from the main blog page.

Blogs » Content_Usage

• What Does/Can a Blog contain?

A blog may contain anything and everything that a user may put up (write) on a web page. It may contain anything that you can think about on a web page. The content and purposes of blogs vary greatly - the personal opinions of the bloggers, updated headlines and news articles of other sites that are of interest to the user, journal entries, commentaries and links, commentary and recommendations about other web sites

compiled by the user, news about a company/person/idea, diaries, photos, poetry, mini-essays, project updates, even fiction.

• What Can we use a Blog for?

Blogs can be used for purposes that are varied. Many blogs are personal, "what's on my mind" type musings. Others are collaborative efforts based on a specific topic or area of mutual interest. Some blogs are for play. Some are for work. Some are both.

Blogs are also excellent team/department/company/family communication tools. They help small groups communicate in a way that is simpler and easier to follow than email or discussion forums.

You can use a private blog on an intranet to allow team members to post related links, files, quotes, or commentary. You can set up a family blog where relatives can share personal news. A blog can help keep everyone in the loop, promote cohesiveness and group culture, and provide an informal "voice" of a project or department to outsiders.

Ready to Blog?

Blogger.com

• http://www.blogger.com/

You can access the blogger.com home page by entering blogger.com or www.bloger.com or http://www.blogger.com/ in the address bar of your browser and clicking the GO button to the right of the address bar or pressing the ENTER key on your keyboard.

You will be redirected to the URL http://www.blogger.com/start. You can notice this in the browser's address bar. The blogger home page with a login box to the top right corner is displayed.

If you have a blogger user account and have not yet converted it to the new google account, click the "Claim you Old Blogger account" link present above the login box.

Setting up a blogger blog is very simple, and in order to show you exactly how to do this, I have found a YouTube video that outlines the process step by step. This video is much easier and more effective than me trying to explain the process to you in words. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BnploFsS_tY

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