Firstly, what is blogging?
Some definitions and explanations:
According to the BBC, “blogging is a way of collecting links to webpages and sharing thoughts and ideas with people online. Blogs (or Weblogs) are basically online journals or diaries which are great for sharing information and ideas.”
Blogger.com says: "A blog is a personal diary. A daily pulpit. A collaborative space. A political soapbox. A breaking-news outlet. A collection of links. Your own private thoughts. Memos to the world."
According to CNET.com and Technorati, a well-known blog-tracker, a blog is born every half second: “the blogosphere has doubled every six months for the last three years. That's 175,000 new blogs per day worldwide. Technorati added its 50 millionth blog on July 31, 2006.”
The term blog was developed by one of the founding fathers of blogging, Peter Merholz. He playfully turned Weblog into we blog.
Not only are individuals blogging, many companies and CEOs have started corporate blogs as well. Even governmental organisations in Singapore and abroad have started blogs. Blogs have also been used in politics.
A brief history of blogs
In the early days of the Internet, each new page was a cause for celebration. The early pioneers watched in excitement as the network grew, and they wanted to keep people informed about this growth. In 1992, Internet pioneer Tim Berners-Lee created the first What’s New page; later, another pioneer, Marc Andreesen, put up a similar page. Each had hotlinks to the new pages springing up on the Net.
As the Internet grew and the World Wide Web came about, other programmers created hand-coded pages with their recommendations for surfing the Net – they “filtered” the Net. Justin Hall started his filter log in 1994. In 1998, Jorn Barger coined the term “weblog.” Soon, the “link-driven sites” were very popular, and webloggers became a community. Each weblog included a list of similar filter sites.
In 1999, websites Blogger and Pitas began to offer a simpler way to create a weblog. These hosted services allowed any person to easily sign up, create a blog, and write numerous postings, without the need to know HTML.
Since then, millions of weblogs have been created. The term is now pronounced web-log or we-blog, or shortened to blog. And these blogs evolved into personal diaries or journals.
Besides text, blogs also often contain audio, music, images and video.
Some common elements of a blog
Date: The date of pasting is an important feature of the blog, which structures the blog posts in reverse chronology, so that the latest post is the one first seen when you access the blog (unless you typed in the address for the particular blog post).
Headline: Each post has a headline or title to tell you what the post is about. Try to have something catchy to draw the reader’s attention, but it should also contain key words that can act as tags to help readers find your post when using a search engine.
Blog post: The main text or the article, sometimes with photos or videos and usually with links to other relevant articles or blog posts.
Permalink (permanent link): A web address that will bring you to that particular blog post.
Comments: Forum that accompanies each blog post that allows readers to give their own opinion on the post. Bloggers can turn comments on or off, or can filter them to keep out abusive commentary or spam. (Be aware of a recent controversy regarding the ‘censorship’ of readers’ comments.)
RSS feed: A news feed that allows you to subscribe to a blog, thereby getting headlines or full text from the blog in your RSS news reader or personalized news page.
Bio or About page: Explanatory page that explains who the blogger is, what the blog is about, and how to contact the blogger.
Blogroll: This is a list of other blogs, often on related topics that the blogger would like to recommend to others, in the form of a list of links to other blogs in the sidebar of a blog.
Trackback: A way to show other blogs that have linked to a particular blog post.
Activity:
Choose a particular blog. Review it and consider the following:
Identity: Who is behind the blog? Is the author an individual, or a group of people? Is the blog a personal or professional project? Is its presentation formal or informal?
Design: What does the visual design of the blog tell you about its purpose and intent? Is the site easy to navigate?
Content: Is this a topic-focused blog? Is the content informative, educational and/or entertaining?
Time: How long has the site been around? How often is it updated? What does searching through the archives, from the first post forward, reveal? Has the blog changed over time?
Linking: Are there many links with comments in the posts? Does the blogger appear to mainly link to a particular type of blog or website?
Blogroll: What other types of sites does the blogroll link to? Does the blogroll indicate what type of community the blogger is trying to identify him or herself with?
Inbound links: What are the sites link to this blog. What community of readers links to the site?
Discussion/comments: Is this a discussion-oriented blog? If so, how active are the comments on the blog? Do many of the same people comment often? Are there any trackbacks from other sites?
Audience analysis: Taking into account all of the above, how would you describe the blog's target audience?
Creating and sustaining a new media site assignment:
For your assignment, you will need to create and sustain a blog over a period of time. Consider the above questions when you are working on your blog proposal. I will be discussing the assignment more in class.
Tips for creating a blog
Most blog audiences are small, but over time, and with regular updates, your readership is likely to develop a readership.
The following tips will help you to create and maintain your blogs.
1. Keep it updated & keep to schedule
It is not necessary to update your blog daily but do keep the information and news on the blog current. No one wants to read about news a few months’ old. Having a schedule and keeping to it will help you to be more disciplined in updating your blog. Of course, you can take a break, but if you have regular readers, let them know how often you update your blog. Also, if you update the blog content frequently, search engines will tend to spider the pages at regular intervals.
2. Keep focused on a topic
Unless you are a celebrity with people hankering to read about every single detail of your life, often, blogs that focus on day to day living and those with no clear focus will not keep readers for long. Blog posts should relate to a general theme, so define a topic and keep to it. This will help you to create a following of readers.
3. Keep it accurate
Ensure that what you post is accurate. You do not want to mislead your readers with inaccurate information. If you are offering an opinion, do make that clear.
4. Keep it simple
Write your blog entries in a clear and easy-to-understand manner. The Internet is global and local expressions and slang terms may put off international readers, so some brief explanations may help.
5. Keep it error-free
Do a spell check and grammar check before publishing your post. Remember, any mistakes will be archived for posterity!
6. Keep the keywords
If you wish to have more blog traffic and increase your visibility, include related keywords in the title of the blog. The title can act as a headline to capture interest and should be no longer than 10-12 words. Make sure that the title is relevant to the blog post or your readers may feel cheated!
7. Create Links
Create links to your sources, as well as other supporting sources, as you allow your readers access to other material, so as to let them make informed judgements. Linking to other sources also creates a network of information across cyberspace.
8. Keep the RSSRSS will increase your blog's reach. It is important that you include your blog's content in an RSS feed to increase readership and distribution.
Discuss:
Blogging etiquette and blogger’s code – should there be one? If so, what should be included?
Some blog samples:
Blogs about food:
http://chubbyhubby.net/blog/
http://epicurative.blogspot.com/
http://www.foodieparadise.sg/
http://thebakerwhocooks.blogspot.com/
Blogs about Singapore:
http://www.blogger.com/profile/06763161027217510499
http://beyondsg.typepad.com/beyondsg/2006/10/george_yeo_in_d.html
Blogs about the Internet, technology and gadgets:
http://blogs.sun.com/jonathan/
http://www.engadget.com/
http://scobleizer.com/
http://www.techcrunch.com/
http://radar.oreilly.com/
or even fake ones:
http://fakesteve.blogspot.com/
http://fakebill.wordpress.com/
Blogs on hobbies and interests:
Knitting and craft:
http://needleandhook.co.uk/journal/
Plastic model kits:
http://t4besttime.blogspot.com/
Travelling:
http://www.travelblog.org/
http://www.gridskipper.com/
Music:
http://ymusicblog.com/
http://www.arjanwrites.com/
Blogs on copywriting:
http://www.copyblogger.com/ (this is also a good site with useful tips on blogging)
Blogs on entrepreneurship:
http://sgentrepreneurs.com/
Blog about blogging and new media:
http://www.blogscapes.wordpress.com/
http://www.problogger.net/
Activity:
Take a look at some of the blogs around today and share your comments on them with the class. Try to answer the following questions:
Why do people and organisations blog?
How is a blog different from a website?
How do people use blogs?
Activity:
While a blog is born every half second, many also die a quiet death. How does a blog have longevity?
Look at the popular blogs, and those that have lasted. What makes them popular and lasting? Share your views and findings with the class.
Activity:
Look at a few blogs. What are some features you can find on the blogs? List them and share them with the class.
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