An introduction to blogs

A blog can be written by anyone who wishes to share their views with the Internet world. The blogger can write about anything, whether it be a hobby, a business venture, or a day to day online journal.

What is a blog?
A blog, otherwise known as a weblog, can be written by anyone who wishes to provide commentary about a particular subject to the online community. Many of these internet journals are based on topics such as news, entertainment, food or politics; whilst some of the more informal blogs are personal online diaries.

What does a blog contain?
Most weblogs contain mainly text, and can also include (depending on the preference of the blogger) images and links to other blogs, web pages and additional media related to the internet journal. The most popular bloggers update their internet journals on a daily basis, and leave comments as to what the issues of that day are.

Important aspects of blogs
An important aspect of having an internet journal, for anyone wanting to create a blog, is for the readers of the weblog to be able to interact by leaving comments. This can usually be done by offering visitors the option to respond via e-mail or message board facilities. The weblog readers want to visit online journals which are full of interesting information, and they also want to be able to contact fascinating people.

Micro-blogging
There is a type of weblog called ‘micro-blogging’ which consists of blogs with very short posts. This shorter version of an online journal usually contains blogs of about 200 characters or less which, when published, can either be viewed by anyone or by a restricted group that can only be chosen by the blogger. The user can submit these micro-blogs by means such as text messages, e-mail, instant messages, MP3 or on the internet.

Blog recommendations
If you want to view existing blogs that are successful, and are read by many people then we recommend the links below:

UKFast have been voted Best Hosting Provider three years running and the blogs are written by Jonathon Bowers (Communications Director).

Microsoft dominates the home computer market and they post blogs which are written by their employees.

Google specialises in Internet search and online advertising, whose blogs are posted by different employees.

Yahoo! Messenger is a very popular advertisement-supported instant messaging application and their blogs are written by their Product Manager.