Blogging: What You Need to Know to Get Started

Prepared by Kristine Visanen, Netaid.org volunteer

A blog is a web page made up of usually short, frequently updated posts that are arranged chronologically— like a "what's new" page or a journal. The content and purposes of blogs varies greatly—from links and commentary about other web sites, to news about a company/person/idea, to diaries, photos, poetry, mini-essays, project updates, even fiction.

In case of any queries or requests for tips, please write to techtips@wougnet.org.

Blog Posts Are Like Instant Messages to the Web

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. (Adapted from Blogger.com.)

A crucial blog mission is to link to other Web sites — sometimes even other blogs. Most blogs list other blogs the blogger thinks other bloggers should see. Bloggers even joke about "blogrolling" — as in, "you link to my blog and I'll link to yours."

The first blog arguably can be attributed to Tim Berners-Lee — if the early World Wide Web, his 1989 invention, can be loosely defined as a blog. Berners-Lee envisioned the Web as a tool to aid collaboration among high-energy physicists by allowing them to link their Web pages together. People outside the field quickly caught on, and the Web revolution was born (along with blogging).

The population boom has been driven in part by Web-based services such as Blogger and software such Radio UserLand (radio.userland.com), which allow those with scant Web-publishing know-how to easily create and maintain a blog.

How many blogs exist? Estimates range from 300,000 to more than 1 million. However, the biggest jump in the blogger population has arguably been among people who aren't techies, like early bloggers, but experts in other fields. Will you be the next?

How Blogging Works

Generally, you can use a pre-designed template provided by your hosting company that indicates where you want your posts to appear. When you want to publish something, you enter it in a form and hit the "Publish" button that will automatically send your new page to your web server. If you already have a web site you want to use publish to, you simply need FTP access to it. But if you don't already have a web site many sites will create one for you.

What Are Some Interesting Blogging Sites?

• A Taste of Africa: A women's online journal as a development worker in Africa. http://jadedafrica.dekarabaw.com/
• Breast Cancer Blog: Blogging research and updates to breast cancer issues. http://www.researchbuzz.com/bcancer/
• Weblog Madness: Resources for bloggers. http://www.portal.eatonweb.com/wlm/
• The Pepys Project: Blogs indexed by geographical area and country. http://pepys.akacooties.com/
• Blogarama: Search and enjoy weblogs from all over the world, post blog reviews, and list your own blog in the directory. http://www.blogarama.com

Free Services to Get Started

Please visit the following sites for more information on how to start a blog.

• Blogger.com: Basic Blogger service is completely free. http://www.blogger.com/
• Blog Easy: Free for basic service. http://www.blogeasy.com/
• Journalspace: A place for you to post your journal or weblog for free. http://www.journalspace.com/
• Blog Studio: Fast. Free. Simple. Reliable. http://www.blogstudio.com/
• Blog-City: Create your own free blog. http://www.blog-city.com/