A Short Introduction to Blogging
By Ced Solidon • Aug 2nd, 2007 • Category: Features
Some people have asked my why I put up this team blog in the first place since probably not many people back in the province will be able to read this anyway. I answer that I’m not only writing for the present but for the future. I believe that people back in Eastern Samar will be able to realize the power of this technological tool some time in the future.
With that, I now move to the topic of this post. This one will be the first of a series of posts that I intend to write about blogging. By doing so, I hope I can make more and more people (especially those in the province) aware of the importance of this medium.
For this installment, I will be talking about the basics of blogging.
First, let’s talk about the meaning of this word. Anyone who has browsed the web may have already encountered this word but have no idea what it exactly means and how that word came about. The word blog is the short cut for the term ‘web log’ which in this case means a log of some kind of data (textual, audio or video) that is arranged by date.
In the past, blogs have been used by people as a simple journal of what’s going on with their lives. The blog became a medium for people to update their friends and families about themselves especially if they lived far apart from each other.
Today, the blog has evolved to become more than just an online journal. Some blogs, especially those influential ones, have helped form public opinion on issues on politics as well as on other topics. That is the case during the last elections in the United States (you need the Adobe Reader to read the page) when bloggers became a major force in molding the public opinion.
Aside from forming the public opinion, others have turned their blogs into revenue-generating ventures by selling links, posts and putting up advertisements on their pages (I’ll discuss this in a later post). But no matter the purpose for putting up the blog is, there should always be an emphasis on writing one’s posts responsibly since a lot of people will be reading it. A bad advice can affect not only one but a number of people who read it.
Aside from the probability of giving a bad advice or an unsubstantiated opinion, another downside of blogging is the ability of a person to slander other people while remaining anonymous. However, for those who would think of using a blog to do this has to keep in mind that his or her tracks do not remain completely hidden as the poster’s IP address (the unique address of the computer) can be traced and eventually, his or her identity.
With that, I end this first installment. Check out the world of blogging by trying out free blogging sites such as Blogger.com and WordPress.com. In time, I intend to put up some tutorials in using those popular blogging sites.
If you have questions about this particular topic, feel free to leave a comment on the comment box below. Thanks a lot and adios for now.
Ced Solidon is the blog's founder. He currently works as a freelance writer. Aside from that, he also maintains a writing blog, Write Like a Rock Star! He loves to read books and play music.
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the article “a short introduction to blogging” is quite informative especially on the roots of the term “blog.” that is a nice trivia.
i find it agreeable about one of the many essential elements of blogging as discussed in this article. indeed, “web log” truly helps “form public opinion on issues on politics as well as on other topics.” in reality, all aspects of statement or article contains a complex idea of an individual emerge in a specific society and time frame. when individuals come together to form a coalition or group (like team blog), it releases, produces and molds a social viewpoints on a particular issue or topic thus a process towards a “public opinion.”
although there is a current large limitation to this regional site (especially on how to draw numerous viewers from the eastern samar region), i agree to ced that it will increase the number of its viewers “some time in the future.” it is a fact that presently, only a small number of estehanon has the economic ability to access to the web of the internet thereby lessening the audience. still, our “dream” should not stop from achieving this social dream. it is a challenge however to us all.
i hope i can be part of this challenge and ambitious dream…
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