Saturday, September 27, 2008

Have You Wondered What A Blog Is?

By Don Bethune

With the popularity of the internet has come a new way for people to communicate with each other. Besides email, instant messenger, and chat, some individuals are even taking up a form of journal keeping that allows everyone to read and participate in their writing. Blogs are becoming increasingly popular, and are starting to be maintained by celebrities, and even businesses. But really, what is a blog?

A blog can be a personal journal that is written online and shared with all and sundry or it can be a forum for your political statements. A blog can allow you to track media events or connect with customers on a more personal level. Family members now have blogs simply as a mechanism to stay involved and in contact with their far flung family members.

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.

Blogs allow their owners to share personal pictures or actual videos of their daily activities. Other blogs have postings by other people who want their thoughts to be visible to a wider audience. Bloggers commonly link to other web sites that they appreciate, or sites owned by their friends, and even web sites owned by visitors that leave comments on the blog.

Itas amazing how popular blogs can be and how much website traffic they can generate. Several of the webas most well-liked blogs are the personal blogs of people we would otherwise have no chance of knowing. Some people have become famous for their blogs.

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.

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