After you know what exactly a blog is, you will be on your way to passing the final exam of blogging 101.



The definition of blogging is something that is very much in flux, as the new technologies that appear every day redefine what a blog is, what a blog can be, and what a blog should do.

For many years, blogs were defined as text-based websites that kept records of days, similar to a captain's log on a sailing ship. However, this started to change as the group of people who kept blogs became more diverse.

The more bloggers began to explore the limits of the medium and of the technology that made it possible, the more the boundaries of what could be called a "blog" expanded.

Today, there are an abundance of photo blogs, and there are even video blogs as well. Mobile blogging devices may well change the definition of blogging entirely by making it possible for bloggers to create new kinds of posts. Another element of the blogosphere that is starting to redefine blogging is the corporate blog.

As more companies hire writers to keep blogs with the sole purpose of creating positive buzz about their brand, bloggers across the globe are arguing about whether these manufactured blogs are really worthy of the name. Between all of these different forces that are constantly expanding and reshaping the blogosphere, it is difficult to imagine that the definition of what is and is not a blog will ever remain fixed for very long.

Blog is short for weblog, which simply means a series of online posts presented in reverse chronological order. That's all! Most blogs are text, but there are also photo blogs and video blogs. The rest of blogging 101 has to do with the technical side of things. If you are setting up a blog, you will need a platform, a web host, and a domain.

A blogging platform is a computer software program that allows you to write posts and to update your blog. Your platform is also what you use to design the look of your blog, from color scheme to font size. The web host is sort of like the virtual file cabinet where your blog is stored. Your computer communicates with the host when you upload or edit a post. The domain is the online address of your blog, and usually ends in a dot com.

Now that you know what a blog is, what a platform is, and what domains and hosts are, congratulate yourself!

You have passed blogging 101.