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What Are Blogs and Why Should I Build or Read Them

Blogs (short for “web logs”) are regularly updated Web site with entries posted in revere chronological order-in other words, newest entries on top. Web logs are regularly updated Web sites that provide a continuous stream of content, whether that be links to other stuff or just stuff of the author’s own creation. To me, a good blog is a log of “interesting stuff.” I think of a good blogger as a “pre-surfer”-a trusted person who spends a lot of time online looking for interesting things from the Web and the rest of the world to write about. Technorati.com, a blog indexing site, tracks over 57 million blogs and adds a staggering 100,000 new entries every day. With this many blogs online, it’s a sure bet that there are many blogs out there that you would be interested in, if you only knew about them. So how do you find out which blogs are a good match for your interests? Start by visiting Technorati’s page of popular blogs at technocrati. Here you can peruse the most linked-to blogs, the top search terms on Technorati (that is, the most common keywords used by readers to find content on the millions of blogs that Technorati indexes), and the favorite blogs of Technorati readers. Click the “100 Top Favorited Blogs” link to read short descriptions of blogs and visit the ones that pique your interest. Many blogs have something called a “blogroll,” which is a list of recommended blogs. If you like someone’s blog, you’ll probably enjoy some of the ones on their blogroll.

How Do I Create My Own Blog

Building a blog from scratch is a lot easier than you might think

Why would you want to start a blog? Here are a few reasons: 1.) You want to share photos and anecdotes with family members who live far away.2,) You’re an artist and you want to show off your work. 3.) You have a hobby and you want to connect with people who share the same interest. 4.) You want to keep a record of all the cool Web sites you visit so that you and you friends can go back and visit them. 5.) You work in a company that needs to stay on top to research and development news in your industry.6.) You know a lot about a particular other people, and went to engage in debate and conversation with them. 7.) You’re a budding comedian and want to try your jokes out on the public.
Blogs are so popular because they make it easy for anyone to publish on the Web. Before blogging software was developed in the late 1990s, posting fresh material to your Web site was a complex and tedious task. That’s why so many sites read: “Under Construction.” Usually, the sites weren’t really under construction; the person maintaining the site was just tired of the rigmarole required to keep it current, and gave up.
The history of blogging can be traced back to 1996, when a site called Xanga.com launched a service that allowed people to maintain online diaries. But blogging didn’t really take off until 1999, when a company called Pyra Labs introduced a service that would change the landscape of the Web. It was called Blogger, and it allowed anyone with an Internet connection to create Web pages that were very easy to update with fresh content. Blogger organized the content in to reverse chronological order (so the most recent content would always be at the top of the page, where it should be), and automatically generated a browsable archive and a searchable database. It was nothing short of a revolution on top of a revolution (the Web) on top of a revolution (the Internet).
Today, there are lots of different ways to make and maintain a blog, but Blogger (now owned by Google) and Vox (owned by SixApart, makers of the venerable Movable Type blogging software) are both excellent places to begin. With either service you can create a blog and start publishing to the Web in under ten minutes flat.
Should you use Vox or Blogger? That depends. Vox is slightly easier to use than Blogger, and with it you can create a very nice looking blog in minutes. It integrates well with Flickr, YouTube, and other media sites.Making it easy to add photos, Videos, and more to your blog. On the other hand, Blogger offers greater customization. You can run your own ads on a Blogger blog, add a visitor counter, and even dig into the guts of the HTML and edit them to your heart’s content. Because I like to twiddle with my blog, and I already know HTML, I prefer Blogger. But for a newcomer who wants to make an attractive blog without having to worry about any technical issues, Vox is the way to go.
Creating a blog using Blogger
1. Go to blogger and create a free account. Just enter a user name, a
password, a display name (the name that will appear on your blog posts.,
it can be your real name or a pen name), and your email address. That’s all
you need to create your account. Click “Continue.”

2. Give your blog a name. Provide a blog title, “Mark’s New Blog.” and a address, like marksblog. Blospot.com Blogger will let you know if the address you want is still available.

3. Choose a template. You don’t need to be a professional designer to make a pretty blog.Blogger offers a bunch of predesigned layouts you can use.

That’s it. you now have a blog and a Website address that you can print on a
business card or email to your friends.
Now that you have your own blog on Blogger, you can start publishing your entries. If you aren’t logged in to your Blogger account, go to blogger and sign in.

1. Create a new entry. Click the image of the green cross, labeled “New Post”, and you’ll see a window.

2. Give your entry a title. When you title a blog entry, don’t be clever at the expense of clarity. Think like a Newspapers editor and summarize your entry in a single descriptive sentence. people skim blogs the same way they skim Newspapers-they’re on the lookout for something that caches their interest. Also, an RSS newsreader (learn about RSS) may not display anything but your headline, so that may determine whether or not a reader clicks through to the entire entry.

3. Wirte your entry. If your’re writing about another Web page, always summarize whatever is on that page. For instance, if your’re wirting a blog entry about a video of a skateboarding dog, describe the video in your blog entry. The worst thing you can do is write something like: “Check out this amazing video- you’ll be blown away!” you shouldn’t force people to click a link to learn what it is. A much better approach is to say: “Here’s a video clip of a bulldog riding a skateboard. It knows how to steer, push with one leg, and how to jump on and off the board at curbs.” Your readers will really appreciate the effort and come to rely on you as a curator of cool stuff.

4. Add images, links, and formatting to your entry. The icons on the top of the Blogger draft window allow you to add bells and whistles to the text of your entry. You can highlight any portion of the text and make it italicized, boldface, or colored. you can turn any text into a link by highlighting that text and clicking on the icon of the globe with a chain link. If you want to add a picture, click the icon of the photograph. Note that there are two ways to add photos to your blog entry. One is by selecting an image that’s already on your computer. You do this by clicking “Browse” and navigating to the image you want. The other way is by entering the URL of an image already on the Web. The problem with the letter method is that Blogger will simply point to the URL of the image in your blog entry. Why is that a problem? Because the owner of the URL might become angry that you are “hotlinking” to an image on his or her site, which uses some of his or her monthly data transfer allowance. Also, sometimes images become unavailable on other Web site, which will leave an unsightly broken link in your blog post. That’s why I recommend you use the first method-selecting an image on your computer. When you do this, the image is stored on Blogger’s own image server, and it’s perfectly OK to use Blogger’s bandwidth!
5. Preview your entry. Click “Preview” to see what your entry looks like before you publish it. Now would be a good time to proofread your entry for any spelling or grammatical errors.
6. Publish your entry. Click “Publish Post.” Congratulations! You’re now a bona fide blogger.

What Are Some Tips for Running a Popular Blog?

Follow a few simple rules to ensure your blog gets the readership it deserves

I love blogging. The idea that anyone with a cheap computer and a $20-a-month Internet connection can publish words, pictures, videos, and audio to a potential audience of a billion people never fails to excites me. This kind of media broadcasting power would have cost millions of dollars just a decade or two ago. I’ve been posting to my own blog (internetbillionaires.net), since January 2009, after I wrote an article about blogging for a business magazine called the Industry Standard and fell in love with this form of self-publishing. (The Standard killed the article because the editors thought blogs were a passing fad! The Earth Review ended up publishing the article in its Winter 2000 edition. Today, internet billionaires has turned into a profitable business, thanks to advertising revenue.
Through all of this, I’ve thought about what it is that has made internet billionaires (and other blogs) successful and interesting. Here are some tips that should come in handy:
1. Write about what you’re interested in. The cardinal rule of blogging is to write about the things that fascinate you. It may sound obvious, but I’m surprised at the number of people who post things just because they think they will attract more readers to their site. Nothing is further from the truth. if you aren’t passionate about the thing you’re writing about, readers will quickly become bored and never return. If you happen to love collecting vintage guitar-string envelopes, then by all means start a blog about it. I promise you that the other thousand people around the world who share interests will find you and become loyal readers. In short, create the kind of blog that you would like to read yourself.
2. Don’t worry about being the first person to post something. Some bloggers think it’s crucial to be the first to blog a story. Chasing after scoops is foolish. With literally millions of blogs out there, and thousands of new ones appearing every day, it’s unlikely you’ll be the first one in the blogosphere to cover a news event. Instead, focus on finding things that interest you (rule#1, again) and adding your unique perspective. And re-member, if a piece of new to a lot other people as well.
3. limit the number of links you have in an entry. On internet billionaires, we usually try to include just one link per entry, and place it at the bottom of the entry. That’s because each entry should be about one idea, not a bunch of scattered thoughts with links going in all different directions across the Web. there are exception to this rule, of course, and sometimes you really do need to have two or more links in an entry for comparison purpose, but the “one -entry/one link” restriction is a good starting point.
4. Write at least one entry every day (weekends excepted). Think of your readers as laboratory animals in an experimental cage that’s equipped with a bunch of levers. The leavers are blogs. If the lever you control dispenses a tasty morsel each time it’s pushed, the animals’ effort, the animals will stop pressing your lever and look for a more reliable source of nutrition. That’s why it’s good to post at least one blog entry a day, because people will get used to the idea that your blog will deliver a treat each time they visit.
5. Use pictures. If you own the rights (or have the permission from the rights holder) to a photo or illustration that pertains to the subject you’re writing about, by all means use it. Images are the quickest way for people to determine whether or not a blog entry is worth the time to read. I always include the cover of any book, DVD, CD, or comic book I’m reviewing because it makes the blog page look more interesting. (I don’t worry about securing permission to use them in these cases, because I feel confident that my use of them in a critical review constitutes “fair use”). A few good places to find photos that you can see for free are Open Photo, Flickr, and Creative Commons.
Another option is paying to use photos on your blog. iStockphoto is a royalty-free stock photograph community where you can buy the rights to use over a million images on your blog for as little as $1 each and videos for $5 and up. The quality of most photos is excellent, and I guarantee that if you use images that illustrate you writing in a creative and appropriate way, it will make you blog more successful. (If you’re a photographer or illustrator, you can upload your work to iStockphoto and collect royalties when other people use your images.)
6. Include a way for people to suggest links for you to write about. internet billionaires has a “Suggest a Link” form to let readers send us ideas for things to write about and link to. Web get lots of good leads from, you can either install a Formmail script (like the one here: nms-cgi.sourceforge.net/scripts.shtml), which requires some technical know-how, or you can use a form service like Formmail. to (which charges $1 a month) to handle everything for you. Of course, you can also include your email address on your site (or use a Gmail address especially for handling link suggestions), but if you go that route, you should “mask” the address from email-harvesting software used by spammers.
7. Credit your sources. When someone tells you about an interesting link, or you write about something you discovered while reading another blog, credit that source by providing a link to it. Your source will appreciate it, and will repay you in kind the next time they blog something they came across on your blog.

Can I Blog Anonymously?

if you want to be heard but not seen, blog anonymously

I always attach my name to anything I write online, because I feel that it’s important to stand behind what I say in public. But I also understand that anonymous speech is sometimes necessary. Corporate whistleblowers and political dissidents living under oppressive regimes have a right to be heard without getting fired or imprisoned.
For example, in 2004, a young Internet journalist from Tunisia, Zouhair Yohyaoui, wrote an entry on his popular TUNeZINE blog asking his readers to vote on whether Tunisia was a “republic, a kingdom, a zoo, or a prison.” Soon after, six Tunisian secret policemen arrested him while he was in a cybercafe. Yahyaoui was held without charges and tortured until he revealed his blog password, after which the Tunisian government removed his blog from the Internet He was held in prison under appalling conditions, and died there in 2005.
That’s one reason I like the idea of anonymous blogging. BlogSafer is a guide for blogging in conntries that frown on free speech. It offers guides for bloggers in Saudi Arabia, Iran, China, Malaysia, Zimbabwe, and other countries where bloggers must live in fear that they’ll suffer the same fate as Zouhair Yahyaoui.
Does anonymous blogging have a potential for abuse? Sure it does But to me, the benefits of anonymous speech outweigh the dangers.

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