That‘s right, blogging. First, what is a blog?

The word blog comes from the combination of the terms web and log: weblog, which was shortened to blog. A blog is an online collection of thoughts, ideas, reflections, responses, and opinions, or simply a means of communicating with an audience. Blogs have become a hot business tool, used for grass roots communication between companies and their various publics.

However, blogs actually originated as online diaries. The traditional hand-written diary segued into electronic form, especially among techies and computer geeks. Now blogs are mainstream, and a tremendous political, business, and personal force. Some say blogging is the catalyst for the re-enactment of true democracy. Okay, democracy, politics, and business aside, what can a blog do for you in making new friends?

Lots. Let‘s take a look at a few aspects of blogging to help you get started:

1. Setting up

2. Deciding what to write about, and

3. Making connections Setting Up

Please forgive me if you already know this stuff, but I‘m sure some of you may not, and so to the others: please bear with. There are a number of free online sites where you can set up your own blog. Three of the most popular are:

www.blogger.com

www.livejournal.com

www.wordpress.com

The setup for all three is pretty straightforward and the instructions are clear.

The main challenge you‘ll have is in coming up with a name for your blog that hasn‘t already been taken. Deciding What to Write About Now that you‘ve got this thing set up, what do you write about?

Okay, the premise that brought you here was to meet people, right?

Preferably people of the opposite sex? Well, most of the tools and techniques we‘ve been talking about relative to dating and relationships hold true here as well. First, write about stuff that interests you, stuff about which you are passionate. Now, you can approach a blog in one of two ways.

You can:

1. Write about a single topic; say the upcoming presidential election, or your passion for horses.

2. Keep a reflective blog where you comment on a variety of issues, problems, and your daily life.

Making Connections Now, here‘s where you‘ve got to do a little work.

Your goal is to make connections. So to do that, you need to find other blogs with topics that appeal to you and/or are on topics that you‘re also writing about. When you come upon these blogs, you should comment on entries that inspire you in some way. Go back to the same blogs on a regular basis, leaving more comments, as well as a link to your blog. After keeping in contact with selected bloggers on a regular basis, you will find yourself developing new friendships and relationships based on topics of mutual interest or passion.