WHAT IS A 'BLOG'?

Dr Andy Phippen, senior lecturer in the School of Computing,  Communications and Electronics at University of Plymouth, gives  an expert insight into the world of blogging: 

 

WHAT IS A “BLOG”?

A blog (an abbreviation of “web log”) is a term generally given to  a website where a person, or group of people, write about  themselves, their experiences, their interests, their job, etc., in a  diary format, regularly “posting” new entries in a manner similar  to someone keeping a diary.

 

HOW IS IT DIFFERENT FROM A DIARY?

The major difference is that a blog is online and available for all to  see. Many blogs also provide the mechanisms for readers to  feedback on blog posts, providing the means for dialogue between  the blogger and their readers.

 

WHEN DID IT START?

Blogging started almost as soon as there was a web to post  information on to, and began taking the form of bulletin boards  and forums where people would post up messages related to a  common topic - the “virtual community”.

 

This developed when people started to become more autobiographical, rather than contributing to a discussion.

The earliest blogs, in the form we now accept to be “blogs”,  appeared in the early nineties, but they really grew in popularity  with the increased availability of blogging platforms and software  such as Blogger and WordPress.

 This meant that non-technical people were capable of posting  blogs online because the platforms did all the technical work for  them.

 

HOW MANY ARE THERE?

There are many millions of blogs - Technorati, a blog search  engine, tracks more than 112 million blogs.

 

WHY DO PEOPLE BLOG?

There are lots of reasons - some of them showing off, some because  they believe they have something to say they wish to share, others  to support a community or social group. Businesses realised the  power of blogs as informal "windows" into their organisations, and  political parties see them as ways of reaching the public in an  informal manner.