Many people are talking about “blogs” or “blogging” lately. It has become a social trend to keep a “blog.” If you have heard these terms and been curious what they refer to, this article is for you.
What is a blog? Many people define a blog as a journal which is kept online. This is only part of the definition. A blog is more than just a journal, it is a frequent, chronological publication of one’s personal thoughts and web links. A blog is often a mixture of what is happening in a person’s life as well as what they encounter on the web. The term “blog” is a contraction of the words “web log” or a shortening of the single word “weblog” as blogs were first called.
Blogs have been around longer than the term has. People began putting their thoughts and links onto the World Wide Web many years ago. The Web has made it easy and convenient to publish one’s own thoughts and opinions; certainly it is much easier than being published in traditional print media. The advent of sites like www.blogger.com and www.livejournal.com has made the publishing of a blog easier and more convenient than ever before. This has led to an explosion of blogs all over the Web.
A feature of these blog repositories also provides a way to find and connect with other bloggers. You can search blogs based on location or common interests. These blogging “communities” are described as being the best way to meet new friends from all over the world as well as providing an excellent community spirit as you learn the ropes of blogging. They generally have certain constraints that you have to work within, however, many bloggers will create their own, separate blogs on a web hosting service.
A web host (such as those offered by XMission) allows for heavy customization of the design of a blog. They also allow more freedom with file uploads and downloads and the ability to create private mailing lists to communicate with readers. In short, if a blogging service doesn’t offer what you want, you can build your own. Content software can help when building and maintaining your own blog site.
Software like MovableType (movabletype.org), or WordPress (wordpress.org) can be used with XMission Select, Deluxe or Pro Hosting packages and have many features to streamline and allow for customization of blogs.