One of the best (and some could argue worse) things about the Internet is that literally any user can have their say on absolutely anything they want. It has never been easier for the common man on the street to broadcast his viewpoint to such a large audience and one of the technologies helping with this is known as `blogging´
The concept of blogs dates back to the earlier days of the Internet when if you wanted to communicate an idea you got yourself a personal website. These websites would be used to put across your personal opinion on usually quite irrelevant matters as well as providing links to external sources you thought the reader might appreciate.
One reason for the current popularity of Blogging is that it is so simple to set up and there are usually absolutely no costs involved. Of course although the technology is in place it is important to bear in mind that the hardest part is writing well structured, frequent and interesting blogs which others would enjoy reading.
One website which takes care of all the technical side of things so you can just concentrate on the writing is Blogger.com. First and foremost you should decide on a subject that interests you and that you would feel comfortable and capable writing about - this could be about absolutely anything such as a hobby of yours or you could make it slightly more encompassing by using your blog as something more along the lines of a life journal. Once you´ve decided on subject material head to blogger.com set up a free account, create a first post introducing yourself and then just keep heading back on a REGULAR basis to add new material. When you´re a little bit more familiar with the system you can start networking with other bloggers to discuss topics that interest you as well as co-operating together to create a collective work.
The good news is that Blogger.com makes it easy for readers to search for topics that interest them so as long as you write about something fairly interesting you´ll soon find that you have a fairly loyal following.
Another variation on Blogging that you may hear about is `Podcasts´ (a combination of the words `iPod´ and `broadcasts´) which are essentially the same thing but in audio format rather than simple text. You also have videoblogging and I´m sure that none of you need any help working out in which way this is enhanced over the standard text based blogging. Of course both of these variations are a little bit more involved as not only do you need equipment for the task but additionally you´ll find it harder to get hosting for your files due to the blogs that you create being substantially larger than if they were text based.
Personally I don´t have a blog and probably never will do due to the fact I can´t imagine anyone wanting to know about my fantastic interest in print cartridges. Many of you out there have fantastic hobbies and interests which you probably want to discuss and a blog is a perfect, free way of doing this. If you happen to be one of these people then do look in to blogging as I may have just introduced you to a new hobby which will result in meeting and sharing your thoughts with like-minded people.
Computer Articles 2007
