What's in a Blog?
Since the first blogs appeared in 1994, the act of recording thoughts and experiences online has grown significantly in popularity. Today blogging is a huge internet phenomenon. According to the latest research from Technorati, an internet search engine for searching blogs, 184 million people worldwide have started a blog and 346 million people worldwide read blogs.
Blogging is not simply the process of recording a daily routine in a diary-like format. It has become both a viable and powerful way of spreading information to a wide audience and has expanded to such an extent that a blog can be anything you want it to be. Corporate Blogs can be used by businesses both internally, to enhance communication within the organization, or externally, for marketing and public relations purposes. Topical Blogs focus on a particular subject, such as politics, travel, education, fashion - you name it and somebody somewhere will have started a blog about it.
The increase in Blog usage began in 1999 with the arrival of the first hosted blog tools which made the process of publishing web articles much more accessible to a larger and less technical audience. One of the most popular blog publishing tools today is Blogger.com which was launched in 1999 and was purchased by Google in February 2003. With Blogger starting your own blog is a simple three step process. Firstly you create an account, which is usually activated within a matter of minutes. Next choose a name for your blog, which doesn’t have to be a unique name and finally select a template. You can play around with the settings in the ‘dashboard’ which is easy to navigate and once all this is done, you can then start ‘blogging’. You can make your blog as simple or as complicated as you like and should you get stuck, Blogger also offers a variety of ‘How to’ articles and tutorials, to guide you through the process.
If you don’t yet have a burning urge to launch your own blog, but are interested in finding Blogs on a particular subject, there are a whole host of Blog Search Engines to chose from. As well as Technorati there are also, Bloglines, Blogscope and Sphere to name but a few. Or, if you just want to get a feel for what makes for a successful blog across a wide variety of subject areas the following Blogs, are among the most visited on the web* and definitely worth a look.
Techcrunch Since its launch in 2005 it has become one of the most influential news sites across the technology industry and is now ranked as the third most popular blog in the world by Technorati.
Xu Jinglei This popular Chinese actresses Blog is rated by Technorati as the most popular blog in the world and reveals the real person behind the celebrity.
The Huffington Post A flagship liberal blog founded by millionaire socialite Arianna Huffington in 2005 which is now one of the most influential and popular political journals on the web.
Chez Pim With over 10,000 visitors every week Pim Techamuanvit's blog on food is a must for anyone who wants to find out where to eat, how to cook and new recipes to try.
Holy Moly If you’re a fan of Heat magazine this Blog is definitely for you. It attracts 750,000 visitors per month with its breaking celebrity gossip.
Beansprouts If you’ve ever contemplated ‘the good life’ this blog written by Melanie Rimmer is worth a visit. Combining diary, opinion and green lifestyle tips, it documents her family’s green dream.
The Offside A UK based blog covering all things football on a global basis and considered by many to be the best ‘serious’ blog in the game.
Stylebubble In spite of being a simple diary of what she wears and why, Susie Lau’s fashion blog is read by 10,000 people a day, and she is now viewed as a former of fashion opinion.
*taken from The Worlds 50 Most Powerful blogs by The Observer.
