PROS and CONS of blogging

As my last blog post on this topic I wanted to present a list of the pros and cons of my blogging experience. This might helps other evaluate and decide if blogging is something they would like to try. Please remember that this is based on my own experience only.

PROS

• blogger has an easy to use interface


• sitting down to write a blog is actually very relaxing


• researching information on various topics is very informative

CONS

• thinking of writing a topic EVERY day can be daunting


• lack of comments can be discouraging

I hope you've enjoyed my blog and found it somewhat helpful and informative to your needs.

Writing a good blog post

On this blog we've discussed blogging and how to go about starting your own blog, now let's take a look at what makes a good blog post.

One of the first things a reader will notice is the title of the post. This is the first opportunity to capture a reader's interest and attention. Depending on the topic the writer might either try for a funny title or something very descriptive. Either way the reader needs to know what the post will be about.

Keep blog entries simple and to the point. People reading blog want quick and concise information. If they wanted a long read they would have picked up a book instead. Keeping this in mind the writer should write blog that are simple, informative and to the point.

Wherever possible the writer of a post should use picture, diagrams , videos and lists to convey information. This minimizes the writing and offers the reader a quick access to the information he/she needs. This does not only apply to serious blogs, a funny picture can go a long way.

Make sure to edit and format your posts accordingly, bad grammar does not make a post look professional or believable.

And last, if a reader chooses to respond to a post by leaving a comment be considerate and send them a quick than you. If they have their own blog then be sure to leave a comment on their blog as well. This helps you gain new readers as well as advertises your blog.

These are my tips to a successful blog post, utilizing them will enable a writer to write effective posts.

A History of Blogging

Blogging has an interesting history. According to many sources blogging itself is not a very old concept. From the variety of sources that I have looked at, this article summarized all the events that led to blogging's unparalleled popularity best.

CLICK HERE FOR THE ARTICLE

The following is a time line based on the above article of important occurrences in blogging

1994 -First blog created by college student Justin Hall
1997 -The term “weblog” created by John Barger
1998 -The first traditional news site blog is launched
1999 -The word “weblog” is shortened to “blog” by Peter
Merholz
-Blogger started by Evan Williams & Meg Houriham at Pyra
labs
-23 blogs exist
2001- Meta Blogs (blogs about blogging) begin appearing
Version 1.0 of Mobile Type released
2002- Technorati (a blog search engine) released
-Blogger Dooce is fired for comments about her boss on her blog
2003- Type Pad released
-Audio blogger founded
-AdSense advertising platform launched
2005- 32 million Americans reading blogs
2010- 152 million blogs in existence

As you can see by this time line, blogging started out slow and then experienced rapid growth. As many things on the Internet blogging did not turn out to be just a fad.

Blogging is many different things to different people. There are a variety of blogs on the Internet on just about any subject a person can think of. There are blogs about cooking, celebrity gossip, news, personal journals and many more. Anyone can find a blog on any given topic they might be interested in reading.

These are the pages that I looked at while searching for information regarding blogging's history. If you are looking for more in depth information I encourage you to take a look at these sites.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_blogging

http://www.blogherald.com/2005/03/06/a-short-history-of-blogging/

http://www.webopedia.com/quick_ref/history_of_blogging.asp

Registering and Initial Set up

Today I will talk about the early stages of starting a blog. On most sites, including this one, anyone wanting to write a blog must first begin by registering.




The reigestering proccess consists of a few short steps that allows the website to verify the user's information. Information such as name, address and e-mail are required. Further on, the person then must chose a screen name that he or she will use to identify themselves with on that site. This aspect is particualrly useful when a person who is writing the blog chooses to do so anonymously. This way the person does not have to reveal his or her real name. This feature is also useful when leaving comments on other people's blogs.





When starting a blog the user must also choose a name for it. This name will be present in the blog adress. For example I chose to name my blog acct108humbercollege reffering to the course I am writing this blog for. Therefore, in order to access my blog the website adress to use would be http://acct108humbercollege.blogspot.com/.

A neat feature on this site is the ability chose a pre set layout. This is useful for people who have little knowledge of computer programming language such as HTML. These preset layouts allow a person to start blogging right away simply by typing just as they would normally do in a word proccessing document or e-mail. There are easy to use features designed to facilitate this such as changing fonts, colours and inserting pictures. There is even an easy to use feature that allows a user to link over a word to take the reader to a particular spot on the web like I have done --> HERE

For those more advanced, the site allows the user to costumize these pre set layouts however they choose. This can be done by using HTML or by using the options provided to make these changes.

The registering and set up process is simple and allows anyone to create their very own blog in minutes.

Come back tomorrow where I will take a more in depth look at blogging and some history behind it.

Welcome Reader!

You have come to a blog devoted to....blogging!

In this blog I will be discussing various advantages as well as disadvantages to this popular past time.

I will also be highlighting some of the features of this particular blogging site.

This blog is intended for the Humber College ACCT 108 course. More information on this as well as the author can be found in the info section of this blog.

Please check back often, this blog will be updated daily with new content.

I welcome comments and suggestions from all readers.