A blog is a bit like an online journal, although it can be written by various people, or by just one individual. It's written on a website in chronological order, although usually appearing in reverse order. Blog or 'blogging' are also used as verbs to imply an action - in other words, the action of making a comment on a blog somewhere.



The term 'blog' is derived from Jorn Barger's term 'weblog' and is said to have sprung into being when Peter Merholz separated it into the two words 'we blog' on his site as a joke.

When many people communicate using a blog, they are likely discussing a specific topic of interest for them. Thus, if someone desires to know what's the best blue widget to buy for his office, others will post with their comment on how that particular widget worked - or didn't work. Blogs are perfect for discovering what other folk's experiences have been with whatever you can imagine.

If someone is knowledgeable on some topic with plenty of experience that other people can benefit from, then he might start up a blog about it and offer advice. They might in addition offer links to other sites that promote products applicable to the area of competence. Also he may offer links to other articles or other blogs regarding the same subject.

Blogs utilize both images and text, but some blogs emphasize art (artblog), videos (vlog), images (photoblog) and audio, that is, podcasting or MP3. Blogs can be long or short, but those that are very short are referred to as micro-blogging. Blogs are typically updated frequently and the technology utilized today permits people who understand very little about it to become competent bloggers with just a tiny learning curve.

Early on, bloggers called themselves diarists, journalers, or even escribitionists. A comment or article placed on a blog is called a post, a blog post or an entry. Aged blogs on a topic are sometimes referred to as 'archives' and may be maintained on a different page or pages that are accessed via a hyperlink. There are at times a variety of links - like the index at the end of a book and they are found on the left or right of the blogging page.

The great thing about blogging is that individuals who have the same interests can all come together and talk about, getting to know each other (so to speak) at the same time.