To put in the simplest terms, a Blog is a “web log” (which is where the term originated) where a person or group of people can publish content online.
The world wide web has always been a place for people to share their thoughts with the rest of the world, and a blog is basically a streamlined and enhanced way to do that.
There are a few key factors that set blogs apart from a standard personal webpage:
- Blogs typicaly run on specific software packages that are extremely user-friendly and require little techinical knowledge to start up.
That means that you can start your own blog without purchasing additional software, registering a domain name, or worrying about learning HTML or Javascript or any other computer languages. If you have a computer with a working internet connection, the hard part of setting up a blog has already been accomplished.
- Blogs utilize RSS Feeds for easy online syndication and distribution.
You may now be asking yourself what an “RSS Feed” is. Think of it as an advanced way to mark a blog as a “favorite” or “bookmark”. Each blog publishes an RSS Feed that can be used by a variety of programs, such as Google Reader, Bloglines, and MyYahoo (just to name a few), to keep people updated with news and information from the blogs they want to read.
If a similar technology could be applied to a newspaper, it would be like having your own customized front page where all the news that you want to read gets pulled to the front for you. Obviously though, there’s no way a newspaper could print different versions of their front page for each and every subscriber based on their personal tastes.
- Blogs generally have more of a focus than a standard “personal” homepage.
Sure, a blog can be about any topic you want it to be about. You could blog about your pets if you really want to, but unless you’re an interesting creative writer (or have really crazy pet stories) probably not a whole lot of people are going to read your updates.
Most bloggers choose to narrow their focus to a specific interest, whether it’s a casual hobby, or something on a more professional level. There are blogs for local musicians. There are blogs for local political pundits. There are blogs featuring local restaurant reviews. There are a lot of blogs about OSU football. Everyone has some sort of topic that they take interest in, so why not share it with the rest of the world? If you apply a local theme to your blog, you’ll start to find other people around Columbus who share a similar interest as you, and might wind up making some new friends in the process.
Are you ready to start your blog yet? Check out the following pages for more information:
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