6. Blogs
6.1 Definition
A blog, short for ‘web log’ is a modern online writer’s column. A blog is a web site like
any other, but it is intended to offer personal opinions of people on their hobbies, interests,
commentaries, photo blogs, etc.
Initially, blogs started out as online personal diaries, but in a technology-driven world,
now they have also been taken up by businesses as an informal method of communicating
with customers and clients.
Blogs can also be used for commercial purposes, too. Absolutely anyone can start a blog,
but some people make reasonable incomes by selling advertising on their blog pages.
Social network companies also realise how popular blogs are and many offer free blog
space (e.g. MySpace).
Another feature of popularising a blog is the ability of visitors to add comments to the
stories.
There are two ways of starting your own blog:
1. Free blog hosting: You do not need a server to start your own blog. There are plenty
of free, open source blogging software you can install. For example WordPress and
Moveable Type.
2. Paid blogging: Another way is when a company provides you a limited amount of
space or a column on their website and the blogger has to pay for the same till the
time he is using the available space.
6.2 Types of blogs
There are millions of blogs on the Web. But they are categorised into these types:
❖ Personal blogs
Basics of Internet 15
❖ News and views
❖ Company blogs
❖ Micro blogs
Personal blog
By far the most popular among all types of blogs is the personal blog, after all, blogging
started off as a way of giving words to your thoughts. A typical blogger may be keen on
posting stories about his interests.
News and views
These days, we find a number of news and television companies having professional
journalists who post stories and views about the latest events. Visitors can comment their
opinions as well. BBC is a popular example of the same.
Company blogs
Many companies run blogs to let their customers and clients know about the new products
coming up or progress being made on some project.
Micro-blogs
This is a new type of blog where you post very short comments that others can follow
and a powerful way for professionals to keep in touch with each other. Twitter is the best
example.
6.3 Bloggers
Those days are now a thing of the past when journalists had only pens and papers or
specific websites to write on because now they have websites and blogs on which they can
express their views. A person who writes a blog is simply known as a blogger.
Associating this to social networking websites allows you to get viewers and readers who
would then promote these amongst other people.
A good blogger should keep a few things in mind:
❖ Write unique but meaningful content. Try keeping the language simple and concise
and incorporate some surprise elements. Find a topic that would intrigue your readers
or an issue that people are looking out for more information. Remember to BE
ORIGINAL. This will increase the credibility.
16 Information and Computer Technology
❖ Don’t make it boring. Avoid clichés. Keep your writing informal, if possible funny or
quirky and create a perfect balance between keeping the mood light and professional
enough to suggest you are serious about your matter.
❖ Knowing your topic is good but not enough. You need to express it in a right way
and communicate properly to your readers. Write crisp, short, active sentences with
powerful verbs. Ensure that your content is error-free, proofread and edit your work
meticulously and only when you are satisfied with it, hit the publish button.
❖ The title is the crux of any content. Your best quality content will hold no meaning
if the title itself is not catchy. The first thing readers notice is the headline. You have
to tempt them to open the link and leave satisfied but still wanting to know more
about other blogs. This eventually increases traffic to your site!
Advantages of Blogging:
1. We can work on blog anytime and anywhere in the world, all you need is your laptop
or a desktop computer and wireless internet services.
2. You are your own employee. When blogging, you can blog any time you want to
whenever you think of something that is relevant to your blog.
3. As a blogger, you are flexible and can choose to write about anything in the world
as long as it benefits you and befits your opinions and thought process.
4. Very quick and easy to set up, do not need much technical knowledge.
5. Easy and quick to update or add new posts. People can leave comments on your blog
and you can comment on other persons’ blogs, too.
Disadvantages of Blogging:
1. You need to be patient because you don’t start earning in a single day. Readership
takes time to develop within people.
2. Blogging is time-consuming. You need to be disciplined. Finding time to write regular
updates can become a chore.
3. You need to be very active as a blogger so that people can read your blog posts. If,
for example, you fall ill, you won’t be able to blog and this would result in losing
followers.
4. As you know the public to everyone, you need to put a check on your language.
5. There are many very dull blogs around. You may have to look at many before you
find some worth reading.
6.1 Definition
A blog, short for ‘web log’ is a modern online writer’s column. A blog is a web site like
any other, but it is intended to offer personal opinions of people on their hobbies, interests,
commentaries, photo blogs, etc.
Initially, blogs started out as online personal diaries, but in a technology-driven world,
now they have also been taken up by businesses as an informal method of communicating
with customers and clients.
Blogs can also be used for commercial purposes, too. Absolutely anyone can start a blog,
but some people make reasonable incomes by selling advertising on their blog pages.
Social network companies also realise how popular blogs are and many offer free blog
space (e.g. MySpace).
Another feature of popularising a blog is the ability of visitors to add comments to the
stories.
There are two ways of starting your own blog:
1. Free blog hosting: You do not need a server to start your own blog. There are plenty
of free, open source blogging software you can install. For example WordPress and
Moveable Type.
2. Paid blogging: Another way is when a company provides you a limited amount of
space or a column on their website and the blogger has to pay for the same till the
time he is using the available space.
6.2 Types of blogs
There are millions of blogs on the Web. But they are categorised into these types:
❖ Personal blogs
Basics of Internet 15
❖ News and views
❖ Company blogs
❖ Micro blogs
Personal blog
By far the most popular among all types of blogs is the personal blog, after all, blogging
started off as a way of giving words to your thoughts. A typical blogger may be keen on
posting stories about his interests.
News and views
These days, we find a number of news and television companies having professional
journalists who post stories and views about the latest events. Visitors can comment their
opinions as well. BBC is a popular example of the same.
Company blogs
Many companies run blogs to let their customers and clients know about the new products
coming up or progress being made on some project.
Micro-blogs
This is a new type of blog where you post very short comments that others can follow
and a powerful way for professionals to keep in touch with each other. Twitter is the best
example.
6.3 Bloggers
Those days are now a thing of the past when journalists had only pens and papers or
specific websites to write on because now they have websites and blogs on which they can
express their views. A person who writes a blog is simply known as a blogger.
Associating this to social networking websites allows you to get viewers and readers who
would then promote these amongst other people.
A good blogger should keep a few things in mind:
❖ Write unique but meaningful content. Try keeping the language simple and concise
and incorporate some surprise elements. Find a topic that would intrigue your readers
or an issue that people are looking out for more information. Remember to BE
ORIGINAL. This will increase the credibility.
16 Information and Computer Technology
❖ Don’t make it boring. Avoid clichés. Keep your writing informal, if possible funny or
quirky and create a perfect balance between keeping the mood light and professional
enough to suggest you are serious about your matter.
❖ Knowing your topic is good but not enough. You need to express it in a right way
and communicate properly to your readers. Write crisp, short, active sentences with
powerful verbs. Ensure that your content is error-free, proofread and edit your work
meticulously and only when you are satisfied with it, hit the publish button.
❖ The title is the crux of any content. Your best quality content will hold no meaning
if the title itself is not catchy. The first thing readers notice is the headline. You have
to tempt them to open the link and leave satisfied but still wanting to know more
about other blogs. This eventually increases traffic to your site!
Advantages of Blogging:
1. We can work on blog anytime and anywhere in the world, all you need is your laptop
or a desktop computer and wireless internet services.
2. You are your own employee. When blogging, you can blog any time you want to
whenever you think of something that is relevant to your blog.
3. As a blogger, you are flexible and can choose to write about anything in the world
as long as it benefits you and befits your opinions and thought process.
4. Very quick and easy to set up, do not need much technical knowledge.
5. Easy and quick to update or add new posts. People can leave comments on your blog
and you can comment on other persons’ blogs, too.
Disadvantages of Blogging:
1. You need to be patient because you don’t start earning in a single day. Readership
takes time to develop within people.
2. Blogging is time-consuming. You need to be disciplined. Finding time to write regular
updates can become a chore.
3. You need to be very active as a blogger so that people can read your blog posts. If,
for example, you fall ill, you won’t be able to blog and this would result in losing
followers.
4. As you know the public to everyone, you need to put a check on your language.
5. There are many very dull blogs around. You may have to look at many before you
find some worth reading.
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