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October 14, 2004
What is a blog?
By Ken Sands, Spokane Spokesman-Review/Associated Press Managing Editors
The term blog is short for Web log, an online journal that typically consists of short items displayed in reverse chronological order with the most recent entries at the top.
There are two main types of personal journals – ones that essentially are online diaries that chronicle a person’s life, and others that offer links to other Web sites along with commentary on the news.
Anyone can publish a personal Web log, with the help of free software available on the Internet at places such as blogger.com. The availability of this publishing form has led to an explosion in the number of bloggers. One Web site, technorati.com, currently tracks over three million weblogs, up from 100,000 just two years ago.
According to technorati.com, “Weblogs express as many different subjects and opinions as there are people writing them. Some blogs are highly influential and have enormous readership while others are primarily intended for a close circle of family and friends.”
Blogs that offer commentary on politics, such as the DailyKos and Instapundit, are similar in nature to what is written by newspaper opinion page columnists. Generally, the better-written and more-trustworthy blogs get the most Internet traffic.
Another type of blogging has emerged that is more professional than personal. These “journalistic” blogs sometimes are affiliated with the mainstream media. Some of these professional blogs are used strictly for “real-time” news reporting of breaking news events, such as the recent Hurricanes in Florida and the volcanic activity of Mount St. Helens.
Links:
http://www.blogger.com – free blogging software
http://www.technorati.com – site that tracks blogs
http://www.dailykos.com – left-leaning poltical analysis
http://www.instapundit.com – right-leaning political analysis
http://eyeonivan.blogspot.com/ -- South Mississippi hurricane journal
http://www.spokesmanreview.com/blogs/volcano/ -- Mount St. Helens volcano blog
http://www.cyberjournalist.net/cyberjournalists.php#professional – list of blogs by journalists
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