Sunday, October 5, 2008

A Blog Is....

By Don Bethune

The World Wide Web, ever increasing in its popularity, has become a novel way for people to share information with each other. Although people continue to make use of the old standbys of email, instant messenger and chat, they have now begun to communicate in the form of an online journal that allows others to participate and comment on their writing. These journals, or Blogs, are becoming all the rage, some being written by stars and others by corporations.

Your blog is whatever you want it to be: it can be a personal diary that you share with the world, or your outlet for your political views. It can keep track of stories in the media, or connect a company to its customers on a personal level. Blogs are even being kept by family members to keep other family members who live too far away involved in their daily lives.

And what is the purpose of a blog? First, it gives the author a mechanism to share his complete thoughts on topic without censorship of any type. Many blogs give their readers a way to comment on their topics. Still others are created solely to create debate or generate discussion.

Some bloggers post pictures they have taken online, some even post videos of their activities. Others may share items that other authors allow to be shared online. Bloggers frequently post links to other favorite websites, such as those belonging to friends, or even sites owned by those who comment.

Some blogs are all the rage and are visited by many people. Some of the most admired web sites on the web are simply personal blogs, written by individuals whom we might never have learned of otherwise. The creation of a blog allows some people to even gain stardom.

Authors can earn income from their blogs. The primary method for making your web site profitable is simply advertising. Large numbers of bloggers offer space for advertisements on their site in exchange for a little money. There are also online programs that manage multiple advertising campaigns that bloggers can enroll in, and that provide content-targeted ads which generate money for the blogger for viewership.

Blog owners may use many methods to gain some free website traffic, such as holding small contests, or offering some interesting and unique content elsewhere on their web sites for their visitors. They may even invest money in some paid website traffic, to get raise their popularity and perhaps create more revenue for them through advertising.

So the next time you wonder, really, what is a blog? You know itas now more than just a random collection of someoneas thoughts; it can be informative, entertaining, or thought-provoking. It can create extra income for the author, or if it gets popular enough, even become a full-time job. - 15359

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